3 The Dream - Five Years Prior

"Hello There"            -- Characters speaking

'General Kenobi'          -- Character thoughts

"You are" 'a bold one'      -- Thoughts/Conversations in flashbacks

The Negotiator           -- Titles

"Ah yes, the Negotiator"  -- ??? speaking

------------------------------

------------------------------

Snow. Snow was everywhere. The surrounding trees were covered in the thin embrace of ice while the branches and leaves served as foundation for piles of snow. High above, dark clouds covered the sky serving as a prison that only let in the smallest specks of sunlight. It was quiet as only slight gusts of wind rang out silently throughout the frozen landscape. But it didn't last long as the silence was then broken by a robotic voice, devoid of all emotions.

"COMBINED ENERGY RESERVES AT LOW CAPACITY, SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT."

Suddenly, four figures emerged from the dark clouds, rapidly falling from the sky as they easily broke terminal velocity.

"PREPARING 'THERMONUCLEAR BLITZ' MUTUAL DESTRUCTION PROTOCOL."

Amongst the four figures, two were humanoid. They were similar in size, yet distinct at the same time. The first of the two was covered in black robes with gold and red accents, that also served as an armor. His brown hair was covered under a hat and his emerald-green eyes shone through his mask. The other figure falling alongside him was a buxom beauty with ashy-gray skin and blood-red eyes. She also had two horns growing from her forehead.

"Here it comes, Callie! You know what to do, right?!"

"Yes, I know! This is the fifth time you asked me that!"

The last of the two figures could only be described... as mechanical monstrosities. Though for some people, these machines would be considered the peak of mechanical wonders. The machines had rainbow colored crystals housed in their cores that were visible from the slight gaps left in their design. These crystals were the Exo-Prisms that Erden was trying to acquire. They also housed a single thruster in the rear allowing them to easily surpass supersonic speeds. Although both machines were similar in design, there were a few key differences, notably being their front halves and their color schemes. 

The first of the two machines contained an adequately sized orange shard held by metal beams in the center of the front that fired a giant exothermal beam, capable of melting the hardest of metals and vaporizing the toughest of bones. Parallel to the shard in the middle were two orange-tipped metal blades that were bent at a 45° in the direction of the shard. 

Last but not least, there were four V-shaped arms extended from the middle of its frame. The arms ended in an orange-tipped barrel and formed a 'X' formation. These were the secondary weapons, called Pulse Cannons. They were capable of shooting lasers in a pulse-like manner. This machine, part of the Exo-Mechs made up one half of the Supreme Hunters duo; The XS-01 model, Artemis.

[IMG]

The second machine was almost a mirror image of its laser-shooting counterpart. It only differed in the fact that instead of utilizing shards to emit death rays and lasers, it fired rockets, and bolts of plasma that erupted into major blasts whenever they made contact with anything physical. Instead of any shards, It consisted of a cylindrical-shaped cannon attached between green-tipped mandibles, similar to those of a Giant Stage Beetle. 

Facing away from the cannon were two arms that extended into somewhat blocky wings. The end of the wings were curved, sharpened into blades which were also tipped in green. The wings were sturdy, gifting the machine the capability to ram into its target without suffering too much damage. The machine made up the other-half of the Supreme Hunters; the XS-03 model, Apollo.

[IMG]

Right now, the Hunters were chasing after their humanoid targets desperately. In a last ditch effort, they sought to self-destruct in hopes of taking their enemies down with them and fulfill the purpose they were created for. The distance between the mechanical menaces and the humanoid warriors was only of a few feet. As they inched closer to the ground, Erden grabbed Calamitas and put her in a princess carry as he unfolded his wings. Dyed red feathers, which were once white, covered every nook and cranny of his majestic wings as they themselves were bigger than Erden.

As the humanoid duo was just about to hit the ground, Erden used a majority of his strength to turn his body parallel to the ground, his feet kicking the air as if trying to push off of it in an attempt to not become bloody paste. It was not even a millisecond later that golden flames erupted from the soles of his boots giving him a major boost, allowing him to break through the sound barrier. A feat he thought himself incapable of achieving a few years ago.

Although the machines noticed their targets sudden change of trajectory, they were unable to save themselves in time. Due to the speeds they were falling at, gravity had already taken ahold of their bodies. Their weights and sizes worked against them, contributing to their downfall, as they transformed into the equivalent of a falling warhead. All of this combined, resulted in a crater as they crashed head first into the earth. The crater was then enlarged by an explosion caused by the suicide charge they initiated just before their last moments.

Hearing the sound of the explosion, Erden stopped accelerating and tried to come to a halt. Due to the speeds he was flying at, it took him several seconds to complete to a full stop. As he looked behind him, the first thing he noticed was the long trail he left in the snow as he skidded to a stop. As he observed his surroundings, the second and major thing that his eyes focused on was the giant crater left behind by the demise of the Hunters. As he was about to talk over to the crater, a coughing sound brought his attention to the woman he held in his arms.

"Sooo, can you put me down, like right now? And I mean gently. Don't drop me like last time, seriously."

As he contemplated his choices, he finally registered the feeling of the soft flesh of the woman's heavenly thighs in his arms. This caused the activation of the neurons in his mind, allowing his monke brain to take over. After a few seconds of stillness, he responded with a single word.

"No."

Saying that, he resumed his stroll towards the crater ignoring the reactions of Calamitas, who couldn't decide whether to be embarrassed or indignant. In the end, she chose on a compromise. She lightly pinched his forearms as she pushed her face into his chest in an attempt to hide her embarrassed expression. As she did so, her ears started to pick up the sounds of his beating heart. Even though they were muffled by his clothing, she was able to hear them as clear as day thanks to her superhuman hearing.

Trying her best to snuggle herself fit into his arms, she sought to feel the warmth of his body. Although she wasn't affected too much by the cold of the snow biome due to her heritage as a being of the underworld, in his embrace she felt warmth unlike any other. While the flames from her magic were hot, sometimes reaching the levels of the heat emitted by the sun, nothing could surpass the sensation of being held by him. To her, it felt like... home.

Adjusting his arms so that she could feel comfortable, Erden had finally reached the edge of the crater. From there, he made use of his wings as he glided over to the remains of the Hunters. Descending down on to the ground in the heart of the crater, he tried to examine the destroyed and burnt parts of the exoskeleton that made up the machines. Knowing his arms were occupied carrying Calamitas, he lowered her to the ground, breaking her out of her reverie as her legs touched the ground.

"Hey, you okay there? I'm gonna put you down so I can scavenge for the parts that I need. Once I'm done, we can go back home."

Although she felt slightly sad upon losing her warmth, she cooled her expression as to not show it. She couldn't hope to hog Erden all to herself as he had his own life and needs that he needed to tend to. She tried to console herself the best she could. Erden knew that Calamitas was quite the clingy person, but what he had failed to realize was that over the entire year from the time they met, as she spent more and more time with him, she'd come to obsess over him.

'It's fine. Once we get home, I'll have him all to myself and no one will bother us. If someone dares to then I'll smite them to kingdom come!'

Unaware of the thoughts that ran through her mind, Erden fiddled with the delicate machinery that constituted the innards of Artemis. Reaching deep inside the core, his hand felt the smooth texture of the Exo-Prisms. He moved his fingers around the crystals trying to grasp for any wires or circuitry connected to the crystals. As he didn't feel any, he grabbed the crystals and pulled himself out of the machinery. 

After closely observing the Exo-Prisms he held in his hand and making sure that they were mostly intact, Erden felt satisfied. He repeated the same procedure as he retrieved the crystals from inside Apollo. Once he was done, he walked back over to Calamitas who did nothing but observe him as he extracted the Exo-Prisms from the machines. He put his hand around her waist as he began to teleport back to their home, only to be interrupted by her voice.

"Wait!"

Caught slightly off-guard, Erden threw a questioning look towards her. Knowing that he still hadn't realized, Calamitas pointed her index finger towards the mechanical remains. At the tip of her finger, colored in dark red, an ominous ball of flame formed into existence. Seeing the ball of flame become perfectly round, she bore a satisfied smile. As though it responded to her emotions, the ball shot off into the wreckage, completely decimating it and vaporizing every last piece of scrap metal.

Discerning what she was trying to do, Erden let out a surprised yell as he realized that he had forgotten to destroy the remains of machines. It was something he always did whenever he fought Draedon's creations, all in an effort to spite him. He thanked Calamitas for her reminder, as he knew that it was good manners to show gratitude towards someone when they helped him out. While doing so, he pecked her on the lips to add in a little somethin' extra.

"Ahh! I knew I was forgetting something! God, what would I do without you, Callie?"

"W-Well, you could show your appreciation for me after... we get home..." 

Satisfied, yet also embarrassed by his show of affection; with red cheeks, Calamitas chose to make a request, while mumbling the last part to herself. Overwhelmed by her cuteness, he instantly teleported directly to their shared bedroom. Gently putting her down, he decided to go for the appetizer first so he could savor the main dish later. So with a happy smile, he addressed her.

"Before we do anything, I fulfilled my part of the deal. So now, it's your turn."

Confused as to what he was talking about, her face which had just returned to its normal color erupted back into a full blush as she realized exactly which 'deal' he was referring to. Her face had gotten so red that Ben thought steam would erupt out of her ears. Knowing there was no escape, she sighed as she removed her robe and hung it on the coat rack. Underneath the robe, she wore a dark gray tank-top that clung tightly to her figure and showed small amounts of cleavage. She also wore loose pants that were designed more for comfort and mobility than for fashion.

She moved over to the bed and sat on it seiza style, her legs folded and feet tucked in. With an embarrassed expression, blush and all, she motioned for him to lay down on the bed, head on her lap. Wasting no time, Ben de-equipped his armor and dived on to the bed as it creaked from the added weight of his body. As soon as he laid his head on her lap, his mind registered the smooth texture and the squishy skin of her supple thighs. 

Once his body relaxed, Calamitas started brushing her fingers through his wavy hair. His once shoulder-length hair now reached down to his upper back. It would have been even longer had he chose not to constantly cut and maintain it. Feeling her dainty fingers threading, rowing through his locks of brown hair, he was almost knocked unconscious as he felt his mind drift into the realm of dreams. Only through sheer willpower and the drive to claim his prize, was he able to escape from the vicious clutches of sleep.

A few minutes passed by as they stayed on the bed, accompanied only by the silence between them. She continued combing through his hair, carefully untying any knots that formed as Erden enjoyed the pleasurable sensations from what was basically a head massage. He continued to do so until her fingers stopped in one place and broke skin contact as she pulled them out of his hair. Realizing that the massage had come to end, he was about to whine before her voice resounded through the room, shutting down any incoming complaints.

"Move your head over to the edge of the bed so we can get this over with."

Although her voice sounded firm and her face stern, the bright blush on her face completely destroyed any sense of seriousness that her form exuded. Anticipation filling every inch of his being, Erden shifted over to the edge of the bed as she had asked, his movements controlled yet his body eager. Once he was in position, Calamitas stood up from the bed as she walked over to the edge, where his head lay. She stood right above him facing the opposite side, his face perpendicular to her thick rear. Taking a deep breath, she initiated his departure to the holy land as she slowly descended on to his face, the bed creaking from the pressure of holding up two powerhouses of the realm.

Softness. Softness was what he felt as squashy, plump flesh enveloped his entire face. Even though she was wearing pants, they did nothing to diminish the suppleness of her rear. As he slowly started to breathe under her weight, his nose also absorbed in her scent, an ashy smell like that of burning leaves, pleasant to the mind. For a few minutes, he did nothing inhale and exhale, his chest rising and falling, until it didn't. 

Calamitas noticed this, believing that he might have passed out. Concerned for his well-being, she turned around as she stood up. However, her concerns were unfounded, as Erden bore a serene smile on his face. Noticing the lack of weight and the departure of soft flesh, he opened his eyes and remarked with a calm voice...

"I... have ascended."

...only to be met with a pillow to the face, and a perfectly cut scream that resonated throughout the bedroom.

------------------------------

As the rays of the setting sun cast waning shadows upon the trees, it acted as a signal for the crescent moon to begin its ascent, illuminating the land with its gleaming, shining moonlight. The moon, which once brought an unfounded fear—an unnatural source of terror for the residents of the land; terror that the people themselves could not pinpoint why they felt it. Now though, it was simply nothing more than a light source that liberated the lands from the dark clutches of the night sky.

Situated within a quaint town, inside one of the rooms located within the center building, sat two people on individual chairs across each other, with nothing but a small table separating them. Set on the table were two empty bowls which were once filled with Rabbit Stew. Silence filled the room as both individuals stared at each other, neither saying anything. Even when they were eating their food, they did so without speaking a word nor making any sounds, other than the clattering of spoons and bowls.

Seeing that the woman across him wasn't going to speak, Erden spoke up in hopes of appeasing her and getting her to stop the silent treatment.

"Are you still mad about that?"

Hearing that, she pouted and looked away. Seeing her act that way, Erden wanted to say that the looked like a puppy—a sexy puppy—but a puppy nonetheless. But he also knew that doing so would only extend his suffering even more. After a few moments, with her face turned away from him, she chose to end the silent treatment.

"I'm not mad."

"Uh-huh, and I was born yesterday."

"I'm not mad, okay! Just... a bit happy."

Upon receiving her response, Erden sighed as he stared down at the empty bowl on his side of the table. A few seconds later, he let out a single word hoping to convey all his grievances.

"...Women."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"

"...Nothing."

Recognizing that she won't get any answers out from him, she stomped over to the closet as she took out one of night dresses that she usually wore, whenever she slept. She headed over to the bathroom, stopping just before the entrance as she called out to Erden.

"Are you gonna join me or not? ...Actually, why did I even ask? You would've joined me either way."

Choosing not to respond to her playful jab, Erden wore a shameless smile on his face knowing that she was completely correct. Just like Calamitas did, he walked over to the closet to get his night clothes. Taking his silence as an answer, she shook her head as she smiled at his antics. She entered the bathroom, followed by Erden as they proceeded to spend almost an hour in the bathroom, performing various "exercises". The only sounds that resounded in the bathroom, and by extension the bedroom, were the sounds of moaning and their flesh and bodies clapping against each other.

Once they were done, they exited the bathroom, fully dressed in their respective clothes as they laid down on the bed. Covered under a blanket, their arms were wrapped around each other, and their forms pressed together in an effort to share their warmth with one another. As Calamitas rested her head against Erden's chest, the both of them slowly drifted into sleep, unknowing of what awaited them in the land of dreams.

------------------------------

[Five years ago]

"So, have you calmed down now?"

In the middle of the forest, hidden under the shadow of one of the countless trees, sat two individuals. Both were similar in age and almost had the same hair color, with one having shoulder-length dark brown hair and the other having spiky brownish-orange hair.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine now. Anyways, I probably should have asked you this before, but where are we heading to?"

Ben tried his best to change the subject as he felt uncomfortable talking about it. Joe obviously noticed this change in demeanor, but chose not to mention it. He did not know why his face became pale upon learning of the Tyrant's name. While Joe was curious about Ben, they were only strangers up until now, so it wouldn't make sense for him to pry about Ben's past. 

Seeing that Ben no longer looked like he would keel over in the next few seconds, he stood up while checking his immediate surroundings as he responded to Ben's question. Although he couldn't help himself as he uttered the last part with naught but sheer vitriol and small traces of what seemed to be fear.

"Since you say you're fine, we'll continue making our way to our destination. As for where we are heading to, it's a small village that's about half an hour away from here. If we keep pace, we can get there before sunset so we won't... have to worry about the dark."

Ben took note of his tone of voice, slightly surprised but also understanding his anger as he knew from the game the kind of monstrosities that emerged from the darkness at night, just to wreak havoc across the land. As they began walking, a few moments of silence and tranquility passed among them as neither said anything. That is, until Ben decided to try and break the metaphorical ice.

"So... Guide, huh? That means you must be quite knowledgeable about a lot of things." As they proceeded towards the village that Joe mentioned, Ben tried to initiate some small talk which was actually a disguise to obtain more information about this familiar-yet-unfamiliar world that he found himself in. In an attempt to avoid the awkwardness caused by walking for half an hour with nothing but silence between them, Joe responded to his question.

"Yeah, it's the Job I've had since the day I was born. Pretty much everyone is assigned one when they are born. What about you, what kind of Job do you have?" Not expecting to be put on the spot by such an abrupt question, Ben quickly tried to think up an adequate answer that wouldn't bring any suspicion upon him.

'Uh, crap. I wasn't expecting him to ask me that! Think Ben! Think! Uhh, Status! Menu! System...!'

Seeing that he couldn't think up any proper excuses to hide his status as an Outsider to this world, he instead prayed for a miracle to happen as he shouted random words inside his mind, hoping to awaken his golden finger. On his fourth and last attempt, a miracle did occur; a miracle that would send him down a path laden with strength, greatness, and regrets.

'Maybe... Inventory...?'

As soon as that word resounded in his mind, the left side of his vision was greeted by five rows of empty boxes that took up a quarter of his eye-sight. Each row contained ten individual boxes which added up to a total of fifty boxes with only two containing different types of bags, and the rest being empty. 

Situated at the top-right side of his vision were two bars. The first one being a horizontal bar consisting of five heart-shaped symbols, while the second bar was a vertical bar only consisting of a single five-pointed blue star. These were respectively the Health and Mana bars, with the health bar indicating his vitality and endurance while the Mana bar showed his reserves, which admittedly weren't a lot.

'Hmm, I see. So this is my 'cheat', huh? If I have the inventory, then does that mean... Mini-map!'

Again, as if responding to his thoughts, a three-dimensional holographic image of his surroundings lit up from his left palm. It centered around his position, while also displaying Joe's location. Other than that, it didn't show beyond what his eye sight could see. Joe also noticed the map as he remarked, impressed by the ability.

"A map, huh? That's a pretty nifty ability. Are you some kind of Mapper? It would be quite the useful ability out in the wilderness, especially since you wouldn't have to worry about carrying a map all the time on you. But is that all it can do?"

Although his question sounded offensive, his tone was more curious than anything. He wished to know more about his ability. As a Guide compelled by his Job, it was only natural that he would thirst for all kinds of knowledge. Hearing the Guide's question, Ben tried to mess around with the map, thinking up various commands hoping to discover more about his ability. At first nothing seemed to work, but then he had a creative idea.

He moved his right hand, "pinching" the map before slowly opening his hand back up. As he was doing so, the map slowly expanded in response to the motions created by his hand. The location they were in became smaller as more and more of their surroundings became apparent. But at one point, instead of the tall trees of the forest, black cloud like substance started appearing at the edges of the map, indicating that this was the current limit of his power.

"Hmm, that's as far as I can go right now. Maybe if I explore more of the land, the clouds would clear up...?"

Even though it was a statement, it sounded more like a question to himself. He desired to explore more of the land as not only was he in a completely different world, but his desire was also born from the need to explore more of his abilities. However, he shelved that thought to the back of his mind as from the previous conversations, he could infer that Joe did not like being outside when it was starting to get dark. An understandable thought, knowing exactly the kind of world he was in. 

"Anyways, we're close to the village now. Stay close to me once we get there so I can introduce you to the rest of the inhabitants. It's quite a small village so it won't take too much of your time."

"Sure, sure, whatever you say, boss-man."

"Boss-man? What's with the nickname?"

"No reason. Besides, I'm pretty much broke with not a single penny to my name. So I'll probably have to rely on you for a little while, at least until I can support myself entirely. On that note, how good are you at combat and teaching?"

The only response that Ben was graced with was a deadpan. Joe looked at him as if he was an idiot, because he probably was.

"Dude, I'm a Guide. Hoarding knowledge is pretty much the reason for my existence. And do you honestly think I survived out here for this long without knowing how to fight?"

"Okaayy... in hindsight, that was a pretty stupid question. But could you impart onto this lowly mortal some of your divine wisdom... please?"

By the end of his statement, Ben pretty much had a begging expression on his face. Before being yeet—being sent to this world, the only thing that he did was work, play games, and (barely) socialize with some of his peers. He had no background in combat, camping or hunting and had no kind of training whatsoever. He was thankful for being given things like his inventory and the map, but they were practically useless for him if he ended up dying within the first week of his stay in this world.

"Well... I'll think about it. I'll see if I can set aside some extra time to teach you. If you were to die out here, it would weigh on my conscience knowing that I could have done something to change it."

Hearing that Joe would consider his request, Ben could only let out the happiest smile on his face. He let his gratitude show as he added a skip to his steps, hopping about while he was walking. With a small blush that was caused by embarrassment and NOT because of anything else, he thanked him, while appending a very corny statement at the end of his sentence.

"Thanks Joe! I don't know what I'd do without you. You... really are a good person."

Joe smiled upon hearing his gratitude, but the same smile was wiped from his face as he noticed the blush on Ben's face. Mistaking the blush for something completely different, he moved away from Ben as he let his thoughts show through his mouth while he started speed-walking.

"Sorry man, I appreciate your feelings but I don't swing that way."

"Huh, what are you...?! Oh. Ohhh! Oh no no! Hell no! I do not swing that either, okay! Never! Not in a million years!"

Even after hearing that... Joe did not look convinced... at all.

------------------------------

[Present time]

As the sun started to rise, its brilliant rays could be seen shining before the horizon. Within a room, two silhouettes could be seen covered by a blanket with a head full of brown hair poking out from beneath it. As the sun's rays fell into the room through the slight openings left by the window curtains, Erden sat up on the bed, his eyes rapidly blinking in order to drive away any remaining sleepiness. 

As he thought back to the vivid dream he saw of the time he first arrived to this world, he felt nothing but nostalgia... and some trace amounts of dread. Nostalgia because he couldn't go back to simpler times, when the only thing he had to worry about was putting food in his stomach and learning various things from Joe.

He hoped that the dream was only that, a dream. But he had an inkling, that just like all of the times before, that the dream was perhaps some kind of omen. Whether it was good or bad, he didn't know. But it was something that he decided, he would leave to his future self to deal with. With that thought, he laid back down and closed his eyes, wanting to get some more shut-eye before Calamitas would wake up and demand breakfast from him.