Leon looked at the fire that was twisted into the shape of trees and a girl fighting a three-tailed fox demon. The girl looked much more excited and delighted rather than scared, and this made Leon feel annoyed.
He wanted to see terror in her eyes.
He wanted her to scream and beg for her life.
He wanted her to act like the helpless, powerless little bug that she was.
"You just wait!" Leon spoke to no one in particular, "I'll kill you myself."
The wine glass that was clutched in his hand, shattered into pieces as he gripped it a bit too hard. He was born with unparalleled strength so this wasn't something new. If he didn't want to break something, he had to be extra delicate with it and if he wasn't careful, a small push or squeeze was enough to crush down this entire palace.
He glared at the smiling figure of the girl who was displayed on the fire.
The world mirror that let this girl enter this world without his permission, was certainly broken and this girl was probably the reason behind the damage.
She could have easily been killed, but lucky for her, demons weren't supposed to kill humans and especially high-ranked demons. The higher your rank is, the more the rule applies to you. It was like a handcuff that stopped him from ending this girl's pathetic life.
If only he could get the world mirror fixed and throw her out forever, life would have been peaceful once again.
"I'll get you, little rat." Leon stretched his hand forward and the fire figure of the girl came towards his hand only to be instantly crushed under the strength of his palm. "And when I do, I'll crush you like a bug."
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"Have you ever tried therapy?" Daren asked with a face that didn't seem to be joking.
Alora pursed her lips and glared at him as she smacked his head, "I'm not crazy. I'm telling you, my dreams feel a bit too real!"
"You need psychiatric help, honey. And that is real," The boy responded as he rubbed his head, still not having learned his lesson, "How can dreams be real? It's all in your head. Don't think too much about it."
"But it feels too real," Alora shifted in her seat as she spoke enthusiastically, "Let me tell you, my brain is amazing but not that amazing. It can never create something like that."
"I kinda like you dissing yourself," Daren commented with a small satisfied smile.
"..." Alora glared at him as she ignored his comment and continued, "Those dreams are too consistent! Every single time, I'm dragged to the same place and when I am in there, I feel like... I feel like I was meant to be there, you know what I mean?"
Daren looked at her with an unimpressed expression as he continued drinking the Boba tea that Alora had bought him as compensation for the stolen hamburger.
"I mean, look at my leg!" Alora pulled her pant up as she showed him the bruise on her leg, "It wasn't there when I went to sleep."
"Maybe you were sleepwalking...?"
"My room is always locked and I do not have such a habit. There is no way I was sleepwalking!" Alora slammed her hands on the table as she spoke, "Let me tell you, the dreams are turning more and more real now. It makes no sense!"
Daren sighed as he put down the cup of boba tea and looked at his friend with a sympathetic gaze, "Sorry to tell you this, but life ain't like those comics and games that you are so addicted to. Things like that... Just don't happen in the real world."
Alora rolled her eyes as she crunched her fingers up and tried her best to show her frustration, "Why can't you just believe me?!"
"And what happens if I do?" Daren looked at her with an unimpressed expression as he asked, "What if your guesses are right and it really isn't just a dream? What happens then?"
Alora had never seen Daren turn serious like this and it was only natural that she was left at a loss. There were a lot of times when she had argued about the same thing with the guy, but he had always brushed it off as nothing more than nonsense, so him asking this question was somehow like a development.
Her eyes glimmered as she moved closer to the boy and without breaking eye contact, she spoke, "I want to go there more."
Daren sighed as he stretched his hand out forward to pat the girl's head, "You should grow up from your childhood fantasies. Grow up and enter the real world, honey, or you might just waste away your talent on video games."
"How are we still friends?" Alora sighed as she closed her eyes and her shoulders hung down as she sat back on her seat dejectedly.
"You've been telling me the same nonsense for three years now. You almost made me take psychology as a subject."
"I inspired you?"
"Yes, you inspired me to be a psychiatrist so that I can treat you and your weird obsession with dreams."
"Look on the bright side," Alora smiled, "I inspired you to study something, didn't I? It's still better than wasting away your life on trying to live your mother's dream."
"Talking to you is hopeless," Daren sighed in disbelief as he gave up.
Alora smirked as she leaned in, her chin resting on her cupped hands as she asked, "Let me ask you, if I really was right, what would you do? What if it really isn't a dream, what would you do? Would this confident Daren actually apologize and accept his mistakes?"
Daren squinted but didn't say anything for over a minute. When Alora thought that she was finally going to get an answer from the man, the bell rang and it was now time for them to attend their afternoon classes.
Daren stood up and picked up his bag as he looked at her for one last time.
"I'm guessing you're not taking that class?" The man asked.
Alora smiled brightly as she spoke, "You know me so well, dude."
Daren glared at her but didn't say anything as he walked away from the table without any wasted words.
Alora turned on her phone and looked at her wallpaper.
It was a digital painting that she had made from her memories. There was one important thing that she had never told Daren and it was something that further consolidated her theory about her dreams. It was the fact that she remembered all her dreams clearly.
She had done a lot of research and all of it resulted in only one conclusion: Nobody was able to remember all of their dreams in sequence, without missing anything.
Alora didn't know why but not only was she able to remember all of them, she was also able to remember them by the time sequence they followed.
She would sometimes make digital paintings inspired by the scenes from her dreams and would often sell them online for some nice pocket money, but she only sold them when she really needed the money, which was often...
She was a hardcore gaming and comic fan, both of these hobbies needed money to be maintained and her digital paintings were perhaps her only way of earning some cash to buy games and comics.
"I'll prove that you exist" She mumbled to the wallpaper on her phone which was drawn by her.
This picture was the only one that she would never be willing to share or sell. The painting depicted a face of a man but most of his features were darkened. The only visible part was his eyes that were a bright color of red mixed with golden.
She had only ever seen these eyes once but she instantly found herself captivated by them. Every time she entered the dreamland, she would pray to meet this man again but she was always disappointed to know that the only thing she could meet were hairy creatures that would try to kill her as soon as they saw her.
Alora sighed as she picked up her bag and headed for the nearby internet cafe where she would play till the evening. She came to this place so often that the staff wouldn't even bother greeting her like the other customers.
They would sometimes even give her some work to do as if she was a part of their staff. Alora didn't mind this much since she would happily accept the work they gave her with a smile on her face.
The reason why she didn't mind it was because she would be given coupons for helping out in the internet cafe.
Coupons for free food and drinks while gaming...
It was a really nice offer!