"By the way , boss I just contacted Godfather" "Call him William no need to keep using that overused nickname" "Yes I found that they are using some hybrid technology from higher and ours , I already fooled him and sent an investment to improve the servers I'll use that to connect the higher society's network to mine is that okay"
Karma weight the pros and cons "Sure as long as you don't go too deep" "But I can get deeper information" "That would be trespassing someone's privacy it would be bad if you get caught it's enough for you to send AI's to influence the digital market already"
"Okay boss I'll make sure not to get in trouble" "By the way I'll also be sending the converter to the demons you are going to cooperate I'm just waiting for the equipment to arrive at the location"
"Yeah I heard" ' Isir did have a connection to that ' "Then I hope you get enough rest today my sleep is gonna have to readjust a bit" "Okay goodnight boss" They arrive at a house as Karma checks the status of his two investment plans .
' One is being manufactured and the other is still being delivered , meanwhile , the fencing and construction of the area will take a while but because I left some of these places in good condition ...It should be done by tomorrow the weapons , on the other hand , is going to take a while to finish and delivery will make it so that it will arrive at night '
Karma puts the phone away as he unpacks his luggage while Cain and Lilith are given some essentials Karma orders ' With all these supernatural things going on I believe I might have to use that place again '
Bathing he continues his thoughts ' William is likely to send more assassins Cain put his room close to mine so I should be okay plus they have to get through the tough security and James who is stationed nearby '
He grabs Truth and lights a small candle to bring Ember " Ember can you tell Gale I'll be going to sleep and to take care ? " "Yes" " Thanks also Truth I'll leave you by the desk beside Ember hopefully I can sleep well tonight "
Karma yawns dropping on his soft bed and under the weighted blankets " I know Ember it's a bit bright but I used to sleep with a nightlight I don't really like being unconscious but the body needs it "
' So Ember can also talk through great distance huh it's good that can happen maybe I should ask Ember about the restrictions ' as Karma fell asleep he heard Gale's voice telling him to wake up .
" Gale I thought you would be with the children telling stories ? " " KARMA WAKE UP WERE NOT ON EARTH !? " Karma threw the blanket away looking at the leaves .
" What do you mean we are not on Earth ? " " Just go to the door okay " " okay okay " Karma couldn't stand it ' Did I have a good sleep ' he looked at the clock confirming the time .
' not much at all ' he goes to the door and opens it as he is met with a dark world . He could see the wooden planks connected to his room but anything further wasn't appearing .
" No way I'm back here again ? " " You mean you came here ? " Some light appears as Karma reads it "Is this the place you told Cain about"
" Truth ? no more importantly how come you two are here don't tell me Ember is here too ? " Karma said "Yes I'm here with Ember to talk to you" " That explains the light "
Karma looks down to see a smaller planet that you could probably jog around and say that you ran the circumference of a world .
"You still haven't answered the question" " Yeah I know this place is where the founder met the spirit that helped him " "Have you met him ?" " Take a guess only me and the founder could explore this place and all I found was a passcode , It should be the manifested forgotten memory that the founder placed so that only those who are close to this space could find his diary "
Gale was confused and so was Ember " But Truth we should tell these two about this place too " "Okay should I do it ?" " No , Gale , Ember listen well this world is a secret that the founder found "
" The founder I think I met him before but then I don't think I can remember , " Gale said " That's because the guardian spirit of the count can control someone's mind " " Huh what do you mean " "I read it before the guardian spirit can change their forms other's minds"
' I did remember letting Truth read it not like it's anything I should hide from someone I'm hiding ' " Yep the Guardian spirit also eats memories but showed a preference for forgotten fruits , of course , according to the diary the guardian would be able to pluck out the fruits making people forget about something whether it is a memory or an emotion "
Karma looks down " Over there it's where all that is forgotten goes that is where the count found the guardian eating the forgotten memories " Karma drops scaring Gale as they catch them .
" What if you die ? " " Gale I have explored this place before I just haven't come here for a long time " " So you don't die ? " " Far as I know even if I cut my arm off it will grow back because the arm I have in the real world is still there "
Gale descends as Truth rushes Ember down to the smaller sphere where memories gather " Where is this place " " The diary says that this is where the Guardian lives but occasionally the Guardian would eat this entire small world . "
" The guardian is that big ? " Gale said with surprise sizing up the small spot where memories gather " Yes but then again I should wonder how come you promise keepers can enter this world while Cain who is sleeping can't , So Gale considering you weren't in my room when I fell asleep how did you get here ? " He looked at Gale's leaves waiting for an answer .
" I came through the gap under the door to check on you but when I tried to leave I found all of these " " So it's like that , Maybe it's the proximity close to me the room I woke up to was already in this world so Truth and Ember who were in the room were already in the world and you went into an area of influence "
Karma looks around the small world grabbing a stick drawing two circles and making an hourglass " In the top circle is the real world , these two dots are Truth and Ember , Meanwhile you Gale came into this place by entering my room "
Karma draws three lines " So all of you went through a path I opened and ended up here , Maybe the reason why no one realized was because you weren't so close in proximity or you didn't visit me , Now here lies the questions ... are your bodies at the world still around ? "
Gale recounts their last moment in the real world " I don't know , I only realize that I was in a different place when I left that room " " Guess we'll have to find out but for now maybe we can find something that could help you here "
"What would help us ?" " Gale said that promise keepers gain sustenance from acknowledgement , my theory is that the reason you need to hear someone acknowledge you is what makes you willing to receive their acknowledgement but that's just a theory "
"I don't get it" " That makes sense Ember was acknowledged when a human bowed to them or lowered themselves showing that they acknowledged Ember as a threat as they trembled it doesn't matter what Promise keepers are acknowledged as but how clearly they were acknowledged that allows them to appear "
" Then in Ember's case , they willingly accepted acknowledgment when they were treated as a threat when the human lowered themselves , Meanwhile Gale was acknowledged by someone's thanks the same way as Truth but maybe the way you are all acknowledged is dependent on what you are "
Karma pointed at Ember " You were acknowledged by the visual submission of a human and the two of you are acknowledged by thanks or the audio of someone's thanks " Karma looked at some red fruit .
" Here this one is thanks for the warmth it's probably someone who was thankful it was warm but forgot about it . You can find this kind of information in the diary " he gave it to Ember " Go on eat it I don't know how to do it but it might make you stronger "
" What about me ? " Gale asked " I'll go look for it we might be able to make you stronger who knows we might even be able to use this place as your food source " " And we can use this place to make more promise keepers "
" Didn't I tell you that promise keepers need to have some level of exposure on their acknowledgment to manifest ? Ember couldn't have manifested if the human ignored them , they needed someone to look at them with a certain level of emotion you know at least that's my theory which sounds the most sensible "
" Oh makes sense " " Anyways you guys gather up some materials that represent acknowledgment but I'm curious is there a difference between a gratitude acknowledgment compared to one of fear ? " the red fruit was burned as Ember wrote with flames "It tastes different"
" That's so , then have fun gathering food for yourself make sure you don't move them to one of those things above us ? " " What are those things " The promise keepers look at what is above them a great view of diverse worlds moving with the sphere " It's kinda like their minds "
" Can you tell us more " Gale was curious as Karma nodded " Okay while those floating platforms up there are basically the mind of someone , anyone can have different platforms but most importantly is the form a memory can take "
Karma grabs a jar showing it " Look this one is commonly found as a memory of their childhood most of it is forgotten because it's been a long time ago and "
Karma opens the jar " Inside this is kinda like a memory juice , but you see even though it's memories with great emotion , because of the age of guardian these memories don't hold a candle to them "
" How old is the guardian ? " Gale asked sparking the curiosity of the other promise keepers " Very old might be as old as the proliferation of life " " Really "
" Yep because of their massive memory made from their vast eyes and observation of details any memories with lower quality can't do a thing to the guardian other be a single page in the massive universal library "
" The guardian sounds amazing " " Of course and while they become small they could still see a lot maybe because the quality of their senses remain the same despite the size they could even see much smaller things this is one of the many ways "
The promise keepers continue to listen but Karma stops " But I won't go further I'm supposed to be resting remember ? But do enjoy this place and try not to go too far I don't want you to get lose " " Don't worry we can find you , you are emitting so much acknowledgement on your own already "
" Okay then " Karma looked up as Gale carried him away ' I don't get to see the amazing sight of different worlds moving ' Karma looked up at the night sky outside his window recalling the words he read in the diary .
"Only someone of the Count bloodline who was able to inherit my ability can read this hence why I left a passcode to the safe on the other side , Please take care of my friend after my death they are immortal they have a grand collection of books you can read , but they might not appear when you entered the passcode"
"They said that I'm the one-of-a-kind bloodline suitable for them to connect with hence why I was able to learn quickly at the other side with their help . Be kind to them and when you can't find them they might be searching for their other lost parts"
"Although these parts don't fill up any holes they didn't like anything strange happen to them so they might be gone for a long time . In fact , I remember making a deal to them that in exchange for my memories of them , they would help my family keep growing ."
"But they might leave if my family has grown a lot and to you who inherited my ability , please make it so you help them as I couldn't help them at all"
' He could've chosen to strengthen the family more but wished their friend well but that wouldn't make them his friend . The first time I read it I thought I couldn't share it with anyone but Cain reads it and maybe when all of this is done I can have it published maybe I can try to find a way to bring the Count's memory back the diary would be useful too '
Showing great admiration he recalled the great sky of stars filling up the entire night sky brightening it so bright that it made city lights look dim ' They said that the night sky was very beautiful back then sadly all we have now is just a few dim starlights and a bright moon ... I should put up a project to accomplish that '
He looks out of the window recalling that this place is technically something close to a dream and the fact that the room was in it is because of his own perception " If I wasn't in a dream I wouldn't be seeing this beautiful night sky right ? "
He made a solemn smile and said " Thanks a lot for showing me this " he looked at the bright night sky the sky seemed to be strangely warped like a drop falling on a water surface as a bright shooting star fell out .
" Hmm , the sky shouldn't have looked like that " the shooting star changes direction as Karma understands too late what he just did " No way ... another promise keeper ? " Dream crashes into Karma as the force woke him up .
" AHHHH " he gasped as he looked at his dark room , grabbed Truth's phone and opened the light to see some leaves by the door " The hell ? " Karma got off as Cain opened the door .
" What happened ? " " I had a terrible dream of being hit with great force on the stomach " ' More importantly looks like they all entered the dream without leaving a corporeal body '
Karma goes back to sleep as he sees himself in a dream again in the same room " Where is that promise keeper or whatever it is " he looks beside him to see Dream in the form of a young man a white colored hair with star-lit night sky eyes .
" Why do you partly look like me ? " " I can look different too " Dream transforms into the form of Lilith " No please just turn into an animal or something " Karma sighed as Dream transforms into a butterly .
" Like this " " Sure why did you hit me so hard " " I was trying to say thank you " ' You were ? ' " Forget that I should check on those three " " You mean Gale , Ember and Truth ? " " Yes , how are they ? "
" Still looking for things down there " " Okay so are you supposed to be a promise keeper ? " " Yep that's what you talked to the leaves about " Dream said in a cheerful voice " Alright I guess we should go meet them , Were you born just now ? "
" No I was here for a long time ago I was just very far away because there was a very big scary creature they kept being here for a long time you should avoid them they might eat you " Karma looks at the spirit .
" Don't hate someone like that " " What it's because you are lucky to be a Count that you aren't scared " Dream said ' So you know the Count bloodline is connected to this big creature '
" They disappeared some time ago but will return I don't when that will be because time here is very different depending on whose dream you go to so time here is pretty chaotic "
' Of course , it is these chaotic , Mental planes are usually weird because it is linked to someone's physical well being ' " Then let's go down " " Okay let me bring you down safely " The joy in the voice makes Karma think ' They'd be great friends with Gale '
Dream transforms into a phoenix and descends as they became curious and confused why Karma is riding a phoenix down . Ember was amazed because the bird was on fire " Are you guys done ? "
" Karma , what is that ? " " It's a promise keeper Dream " " Hello everyone , I'm a promise keeper just like you " Dream greeted everyone joyfully as it turned into a butterfly .
" You are ? But I never heard of a promise keeper of Dream " Gale said with surprise and curiosity " That's because I have been stuck in this place for a long time with no one to talk to "
Dream flies to Karma's face " I was just going to the gap between This world and reality until I hit you too hard and ended up staying " " Do you know where the gap is ? " " Hmm I just know you are close to it because you were the reason they were here "
Karma looks at some material being turned to dust by Gale , burned by Ember and glowing from Truth " Okay I think I just have to wake up properly without having to be interrupted by someone overly excited that they sent me back to reality ... But I can forgive you for that considering being trapped here and being afraid "
" Thank you so much Karma " " You're welcome more importantly I found that while you guys are here in the dream you don't leave a physical body at all which I think doesn't make sense but since Ember was able to contact Gale from across the world it kinda makes sense "
" Oh , so can we bring this with us ? " Gale carried the fruits they haven't digested yet " Nope , in the first place Gale you were just controlling the wind to move even the leaves you were carrying were left by my door "
" So we can't then I'm going to turn all of them to dust for me " ' Makes sense the air does have better qualities when there are other particles ' " You guys can enjoy your fruits I'll call you when I'm going to wake up "
" You know when you would wake up ? " Karma nodded " I came here once already and Dream follow me I'm going to test a few things " they both returned to the bedroom as Karma asked " First let's see how you can leave this world first "
" The stomach doesn't work " " That is obviously the conclusion you should have if that is where your food is digested try the head " Karma said as Dream shrunk to a butterfly and crawled around his face .
" Not the mouth or the nose , ears ? " ' This is incredibly uncomfortable reminds me of intensive check-ups ' Dream continued around Karma's head and eventually slipped through his head and came out of the physical world as it came out of the physical world .
" Wow it's so freeing " Dream heard some hurried footsteps as it disappear back into the other side before Cain could see them " It worked " Karma watched Dream appear " Yes I heard some guy's footsteps before disappearing it must be Cain "
" Have you been watching us ? " " Yes I have been trying my best everytime you go to sleep but all the time you barely dream and every dream you have is always so big I can't go through it "
Karma nervously laughed ' They didn't see that dream did they ? ' " For now stop invading my privacy " " Ehh but you'd forget your dreams anyways "
" People usually vaguely remember these dreams you know , forget it I'm supposed to be at rest right now I'll go to sleep you can tell when I am going to wake up right ? "
" Yep , I'll call them back when you are about to " " Thanks " " You're welcome " ' With that I resecured my sleep ' Karma fell on the bed in his dream as he slowly moved to the same position as his body in the real world .
Dream watched as Karma's dream world was slowly being compressed into a single room " Awww your dreams were so nice " Dream said wishing Karma had left his bed to create a dream " Even other humans don't have dreams as good as yours "
Dream looked at Karma sleeping without any disturbance as they went out of the room to help the rest gather materials manifested from acknowledgment .
The next day , Karma woke up with a butterfly beside him , a candle were the fire was lit , the phone scrolling despite no one holding it and lastly Gale's voice " Good morning Karma " " Cain could hear you "
" It's okay he won't hear me at all , I'm the wind I can keep sounds from escaping " ' If it weren't for your joyful personality you might have become a top-tier assassin ' " Well after having all that food do you feel anything ? "
" Yes I feel super strong " " Heh not as strong as me " Dream said intending to brag " I have been living in that place for so long I have been eating other things other than acknowledgement , I have been devouring some dreams they taste different but are good to eat "
" If that's the case wouldn't Ember be more stronger with more fuel ? " " Maybe " Ember said surprising Karma ' Must be the increased power and control ' " Well I do intend to visit the magic community later do you think you are also magic ? "
" Maybe ? " Dream said as they summoned all sorts of beautiful images " But even I don't know if we are you see there used to be magical creatures in the dream realm too but they all ran away "
" Oh we know about them too but we just don't live very close in fact we also have the same parent but we are more like seeds that sprouted " " Seeds ? " Karma was confused as Gale answered " Yep all promise keepers are also from the same parent despite manifesting from acknowledgement "
Karma was in disbelief hearing that Gale was showing more intelligence ' Is this because they ate more acknowledgement yeah that must be it ' " So these seeds also come from this parent ? " " Yes each magic being has a different way of being born , promise keepers are born from acknowledgement "
" What kind of amazing parent is this they sound like they could be a god " " Well even though we all know we came from the same parent we don't know what they are so call them with a much more ambiguous term " Gale said .
Karma sighed worried about having to deal with another god when he already has one biblical god who is likely to bring a great apocalypse to make the earth suitable for his kingdom .
" You know unlike the biblical god who is referred to as "He" this parent is simply referred to as something much more ambiguous term , it makes them so mysterious so how did you know you are all siblings ? "
Gale thinks for a very long time " Hmm it was hard at first but we eventually found we had similar traits , before all of that we thought we were just an extended family like with plenty of intertwined roots but when we all pieced together what we knew we found that they all fit perfectly to one person like a giant tree with so many branches "
Karma nodded " Well no way to dwell on figuring who your parent is but how about we meet the magic community "