16 Dream

As soon as Desire got his breathing in order, he tried to stand to search for Liya. No...he tried to stand, but he couldn't.

The moment he spread his limbs to try to balance himself on the bed, his eyes widened to the brim. His sweat accumulated while he was in a 'bad' state was dropping to the floor with a 'Plop!' as he shook his head.

He looked once more...to his limbs that were longer and firmer than before, albeit it was still small and smooth, it was definitely different.

His eyes that held confusion as he stared at his arms were quivering fiercely.

His arms that used to be so small now looked like proper arms. His dumbfounded face looked between his arms and his body.

'M-my field of vision has risen?'

Indeed, when he looked in front, the same height he viewed the world before wasn't the same. He was taller, and he could see a wider view.

'W-what happened?' He thought as he wriggled his dexterous fingers.

It was completely different from before when even opening his fingers seemed quite a chore.

He brought his hand near to his face to feel it and became utterly flabbergasted.

His small face was now larger, and his gray hair was now reaching his shoulders, swaying with his moving.

After getting his wits together, albeit confused, he shouted out.

"What the hell happened to my body?!"

Indeed, a miraculous thing happened to his body. His body that used to be a baby couldn't be seen anymore as it was replaced by a child's.

He tried standing up once more to find that his skill 'Body Control' helped him as he suddenly gained a better balance.

As he stood in his full glory, his height is that of a 5-year-old child, standing under 100 centimeters.

He ran quickly to exit his room, but...

"R-right...I can't open a door here."

As he was but a human, he couldn't open a room to enter or exit a Suckus built. Only a Suckus could have opened it; that should have been the case, but...when Desire stood face to face to the door, it quickly slid open.

"H-huh?"

When he pushed forth to see outside, he found nothing. The darkness of the house that was made out of nothing but trees was preeminent.

Thinking that something must have happened, he walked out. He wasn't used to being alone in the house, so he was quite unsure of what he should do.

"For starters, I should light it up..."

Although he had the night vision skill, he wasn't used to it. He could see, but the reason why he wanted to light it up was of his preference.

He pushed out his hand and began to push forth his mana to activate the light skill, but then a familiar voice spoke to him.

[Light skill has ranked up!]

[Light skill: F]

[Check your Status Window]

At the same time, a light appeared in his hands. It lightened-up the surroundings greater than before. Though it wasn't by much, he could now see in front.

"Hmm, I wonder why it ranked up when I never used it again?"

Indeed, he never once used it after he escaped from the place where it seems appropriate to call it underground.

As he continued to walk, he found out that the house was only composed of two rooms: the meeting room where he first met Liya and the bedroom where the women and he himself sleep.

But, never once has he encountered Liya or Lyra. Finding that fact strange, he took long strides as he hurriedly walked.

'It's pretty big despite it being a house of two...'

Of course, he knew that this house belonged to the village head, and that's what he thought but...

-You...It's not time yet.-

A voice suddenly spoke to him, a different voice than the system.

It seems more correct to say it that it was talking to him...

"Huh"

-Go back; you are not qualified enough to use me.-

"..."

His steps suddenly came to an abrupt halt as he confirmed it that it was talking to him. He began to search around, his eyes looking here and there, but nothing came out.

"Ha, hahaha. What's happening?"

Then, as if to answer his question, he heard it once more.

-How foolish.-

Then the house that only had Desire, darkness, and the light in his hands suddenly distorted right in front of him.

It twisted and spiraled around in front of his eyes. It continued for a while, and when the 'house' was as thin as a needle, it raced up to him.

Startled by this, he put up his arms in front but...the 'house' went right in his eyes.

"Kuhaaaa!"

Shocked and unable to bear the pain of something entering his eyes, Desire shouted in fear.

'W-what the hell is happening?'

Was the only thought that he could think of. Numerous unknown events kept happening. First, when his eyes glowed up. Second, his body suddenly growing, and now, this...it's only natural that he would get shaken.

When the pain receded, his consciousness passed out, and he opened his eyes. It was quite a strange feeling, losing consciousness and opening eyes at the same time.

'T-this is...Am I back?'

Looking around was the first thing he did when he opened his eyes, and sure enough, he was back. However, the changes that occurred remained the same.

His body was now older, and while he didn't notice it, his mind changed as a prerequisite of growing.

"What..."

And when he tried to get up, the sound of the door being opened entered his ears. He looked, and then he saw Liya and Lyra staring back at him.

Their mounts agape, and their eyes widened to the brim as they just stood still.

"Liya...what happened back then?"

His voice was a little bit manlier than before entered the women's ears, and only then did they clear their minds.

"D-desire?! What happened...to your body?"

The one who spoke was Lyra, who didn't know what happened during their 'monster-way-of-training' ran up to him.

Liya slowly closed the door, for it seems like she already knew it, but she just couldn't hide her surprise at the fact that Desire suddenly grew a few years in a matter of hours.

"I-I don't know either..."

Of course, the youth himself didn't know what happened. He was asleep when it took place, and he even had a weird...dream. No, it would be wrong to call it a dream as the experience remained vivid in his mind, and his body remembers the pain.

Without noticing it, Liya has procured a chair for both of them, and she prepared the water that Desire ate.

Offering it to Desire with her magic, Desire gratefully accepted it with his hands. Thanks to his Body Control skill, it seems to be no problem to move around.

Gulping it down in one go, Lyra watched it all with still a shocked expression. It seems the thought of Desire 'growing' so fast was that shocking.

Desire then asked Liya the question that he wanted to know the answer the most.

"So...what happened back then?"

A sigh of weakness leaked out from Liya's mouth before she answered.

"When I brought you here, your body started glowing...and when some time passed, you changed."

"Wait, how much time has passed since then?"

"Two days."

Desire didn't seem to be too shocked about this. He carefully placed his hands below his chin as he contemplated.

'After I got that magic infusion, my body changed, and I had a dream...'

Even though the change was shocking, it didn't matter to Desire as this only meant one thing. His hopes were growing as he thought some more and more.

'D-does not this confirm that I'm not a human...?'

Indeed, if one looked at his growth and magic, no one would think that he was a human. They would be more inclined to think that he was a demi-human born from a strong monster race.

A smile crept up to his face as he couldn't hide his emotions. The one who confirmed his suspicions was the one who shot it down before, Liya.

"Desire, I'm sorry to say this, but I...think that you might not be able a human."

'Not a human.' Those words continued to play in his mind as the expression of happiness was evident on his face.

'H-how joyful this day is!'

It was an event that basically proved that his most hated being, a human, is not his race. He didn't check it with the system, but he doesn't need to do that.

'A monster is saying that I am a monster.'

"It is shocking, but hey, there's news that would be more fun for you, I bet!"

Lyra spoke with a bit of playfulness in her face, her shock completely wiped off from it. Desire didn't pay attention, and seeing this, Lyra threw some more words.

"Hey, you sure you don't wanna listen to me? You might be able to meet a monster more ug- ahem! beautiful than that Percia, you know~."

"What is it!"

"Well, you better listen..."

Talking with him, a smile naturally formed on Lyra's face while a sense of relief was washing over Liya.

And a strange thought passed by Lyra's mind as she talked with Desire.

'Is this guy a fool for a monster...?'