Chương 30: 29. Patron: Hypnos

Something very wrong was going on. I had already accepted that events would no longer follow the sequence I remembered. My new behavior had already set me on a different path. The unusual challenges were also something I had come to terms with. Facing dream beasts of this size was on a completely different level of wrong. No single participant could be this lucky or organized. Gripping my blades, I watched the monster gain form.

It was so much larger than the one that had invaded my dreams that there could be no comparison. The likelihood of the same participant controlling two beasts was virtually zero. It had to be a deity, a dream deity at that. Back during my previous run, Bellen the Living Spark had told me of their existence. Of the many divine factions, they were the most dangerous when it came to mortals. Having the ability to enter human dreams, they would roam there, assessing the capabilities and character of the person.

Advice, fears, and suggestions would be whispered, making the person malleable. There were restrictions, of course. The Grand Arcana wouldn't allow a single deity of faction to claim all participants, but for every rule there was a way around it. Beast attacks seemed too crude for a deity, but it was just like them to lend a few pets to their chosen. Once I was back in the preparation area, I'd use Harlequin's sight to find who had made a pact with a dream deity.

For the moment, I had to focus on getting Marcus free.

"Shred the rest of the threads," I ordered my dream pup. It wouldn't stand a chance against the new monster, anyway. Holding my breath, I dashed forward, performing a dual arc attack with my blades. The sabertooth head vanished, reverting to mist. Damn it! I hissed internally. I had thought that the creature had finished forming, but apparently, I was mistaken.

"Harlequin won't like this!" I said, while my dream beast chewed off the aether threads one by one. All the time Marcus just stood there, more curious to what was going on than anything.

"I'm not sure he'd allow dream fights in the middle of a trial." If I had also been the target of a dream deity, there was a chance they had used that to learn about my past. While it was true that I hadn't consciously told anyone that I had been through the Grand Arcana before, they could have just seen it in my dreams during the pause between trials. After all, it wasn't as if I was adept in that area of combat. A giant paw swung out of the mist, heading right at me.

I held my ground and performed a power thrust right through it. Just as before, the paw lost consistency, bursting like a smoke bomb. Maintaining my guard, I performed a circular slash. I had fought far too many mist beasts to fall for a simple trick like this. The fog surrounding me instantly pulled back.

"I want him," I said.

"You can't harm me, and I'll make damned sure that you aren't able to use Marcus. Let him go, and I'll kill the snake. That way you get to keep the cards you've stolen so far. No snake, no penalty deaths." After all my experience, there was one thing I had learned with absolute certainty. Despite all their skills, people remained unable to distinguish between a bluff and a provocation. The stupid would see such a threat as weakness and lash out.

The smart would suspect something else was in play and accept the offer. The walls of mist rippled again, then receded. Normally, I'd take that as a sign that we had come to an understanding. Then again, only an idiot would take anything on blind trust alone.

"If we have an agreement, wake him up!" I demanded, still holding my blades. A split second later, I opened my eyes. The lights were still on. Most of the people were asleep, with just one standing at the entrance keeping watch. Apparently, Sebastion wasn't a complete idiot. Marcus also sat up. One look at his face was enough to tell me that he was free of any influence. Immediately, I looked at the others, searching for signs that they weren't sleeping.

If there were a puppet master among them, they were very good at putting on an act, for I couldn't single anyone out. Be ready for anything. Mentally, I told my dream pup as I stood up. The person on guard noticed me, but didn't do a thing. Ready to pull my weapons out at a moment's notice, I went up to Marcus.

"Feeling better?" I asked in a low voice. The man just nodded. He wasn't one who liked owing favors, but at the same time didn't feel obliged to pay them back either.

"Let's go."

"Didn't you say we'd go in the morning?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" That was all the incentive he needed. Given what he had just been through, I expected him to be a lot more pissed off than he was. I had already formed a plan of what to do if he had a go at Sebastian or anyone in the vicinity. No such thing happened. Marcus kept on walking beside me, not gracing anyone else with a single glance as if they were so beneath him that he didn't even consider them worth insulting. The guard moved aside, letting us pass. Enjoying this book?

Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Had any more dreams?" Marcus asked, no longer bothering to whisper. I quickened my pace. I didn't want to talk so close to the others. We went down the corridor, then took an elevator to the second deck and walked on. Ironically, there wasn't a single undead in sight.

"Wrong way," Marcus corrected me at a turn.

"Danger's that way."

"We aren't heading there straight off. We need to get some gold before that." He narrowed his eyes, but didn't object. It would be a few trials before everyone saw the true value of gold. Several people had already seen or heard of the merchants, but that wasn't the real reason gold was valuable. It was needed for information, upgrades, and most importantly, shortcuts. Going head-to-head against the blade serpent would put us at a massive disadvantage. In order to win, we needed the element of surprise.

"Did Sebastian tell you anything about this trial?" I asked.

"Sort of. He said just enough at the right time to keep things together." There was a pause. And that's how he got you.

"What about the goth girl?"

"Haven't seen her. What do you know about the snake?"

"It's large, can break through walls, and its scales are too hard for blades." At least some of them.

"It's also probably faster than anything you've seen so far."

"Fast, tough, large," he repeated.

"And you think we can take it?"

"I can," I replied.

"I'll need you to make sure that nothing interferes."

"If I didn't know you, I'd say that was a crap plan." He was half right. If everything had gone the way I wanted it, I had a one in ten chance of success, less if a hoard of minions managed to get past Marcus. The greatest threat were the leader monsters. If any of them joined in, the outcome would be obvious.

"It's a crap plan," I agreed.

"It's the details that count." I took out my blades. They were being pulled in the direction Marcus warned me about. That meant that none of the leaders were anywhere close. It didn't take long for us to stumble upon the first undead group. A whole batch of them was in one of the first-class cabins. There even was a skeletal warrior with them. Marcus' special had warned us long before we had opened the door. After that point, it was all a matter of getting rid of them.

My temporary partner insisted that we were wasting our time, but what he didn't know was that once a space was completely cleared of monsters, it couldn't be refilled. Also, we got a card to boot. It was a Twelve of Rings, so I let Marcus have it without argument. The arrangement was that I'd get the next one. From then on, the attacks increased. There seemed to be a group of ten undead waiting behind every second corner. They weren't difficult to deal with.

Together with Marcus, we could dispatch them in up to ten seconds. All the time I kept an eye out for signs that the Blade Serpent was approaching. Twice I had felt tremors along the floor, but nothing after. By the time we reached the first gold location, over an hour had passed. We had gathered two more cards, splitting them one each. None of them were new, but an Arcana card was an Arcana card.

"Stay at the door," I told Marcus as I went in. The container was like a cheap safe placed in the center of the cabin. Anyone with a little knowledge could drop it a few times to break the lock mechanism and get the treasure inside. Thankfully, I didn't have to. Two of Chains. I held the same with both hands and tightened my grip. There was a faint screech followed by a snap. After that, the door swung open. Gold coins poured onto the floor. Looking at them, there had to be at least fifty.

Just to be certain, I checked inside the safe, should there be any cards stacked away. There were none.

"How many more places like this are there?" Marcus asked, looking as I divided the gold on the floor.

"A few," I replied.

"We'll only need three more."

"Why three?"

"If there's fifty coins in each, we'll need four to make it to a hundred each."

"Why a hundred?"

"It's a round number," I said, hinting that the questions were getting boring. Knowing that he wouldn't settle for that, I decided to give him a plausible explanation.

"It takes one gold coin to open a lock," a female voice said. Both me and Marcus instantly drew our weapons. The fact that none of us had sensed anyone approach suggested that the girl had a Thief card. When she appeared in the corridor, my suspicions were confirmed.

"Eleonor," I said. She had changed her attire into something just as black, but a lot more practical. The jeans were replaced by a pair of black travelling trousers; the boots, although gothy as before, were sturdier and with a lot more metal elements. Even the blouse gave the distinct impression it was covering armor. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had found a merchant.

"It also takes ten to open a shortcut to another part of the ship," she continued, not in the least bit bothered by our weapons. Having close to fifty unique cards tended to create such confidence. Naturally, the Thief was also there. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Patron: Hypnos Hypnos was among the deities no one wanted to piss off. Some claimed that he was weak when it came to powers and physical strength, and that might be true, but he could scramble a human's mind without a moment's thought.

"Keep going?" I lowered my blades.

"No, thanks." She looked at Marcus.

"What do you want?" His dagger remained pointed at her throat.

"Same thing as you." Eleonor didn't seem the least bit concerned.

"Taking down the Blade Serpent."

"Only one person can take down a beast," I said.

"I know. I just want to see you in action. Maybe him, too." She pointed at Marcus. The Marcus I knew would have killed her on the spot. He was never one to let people annoy him, given the choice. Fortunately for her, there were several months until this version became the one I knew.

"It's fine," I said, then finished splitting the coins.

"Will you be taking a cut?" I asked her.

"Keep it. I just want to see you do it." She put her finger on the tip of Marcus' dagger and pushed down.

"Or fail. Then we get to step in."

"No one's stepping in." I hardened my tone. Even now, I had no idea who she was. She was definitely too skilled to be just another face in the group. I should have remembered her from the last run and still, she remained a complete blank. Sponsored by Hypnos, I thought.

"Marcus, your cut," I went up to the entrance to the corridor.

"You'll need it," I insisted. He looked at me, then at Eleonor. The dagger in his hand vanished.

"Sure," he said and entered the room. It was curious whether his intuition told him that he had better chances of success with me or with her.

"Got any cards to share?" I asked.

"No," she replied plainly.

"But I won't take anything you find."