Chapter 24 – Quest

Dream was in his hotel room.

The torture actually didn't last long. Mainly because some guards had been alerted.

That doesn't mean that the pain the two men experienced was any lesser. Although it was probably more psychological than physical.

The ways of torture don't only involve various tools to inflict more pain. It's also about manipulating the terror they feel from anticipating pain. Use their own mind against them. 

Although, a massive amount of pain also does the trick. Dream spared no effort in dicing them up like onions.

By the end, the two men were nothing more than scattered limbs and a pile of flesh, though despite that, they hadn't died. Event though they had wished for it.

It was when Riddick finally spoke about guards coming that Dream stopped and everyone left. They didn't even bother to make sure the men were dead. If they were, great. If not, they would either be scared for life, permanently disabled, or both. Win either way.

No evidence other than witnesses was left. And with Riddick's status, nobody could do anything anyways. So they just left to go back to the hotel room and sleep.

Dream had a hard time sleeping though. Who wouldn't after doing something like that? But he didn't regret doing it either. Not just because of Iris.

At first, he was doing it out of hatred. Then it became bloodlust. By the end, however, he was rather apathetic. What he understood though was that yes, it could be seen as extreme, but he needed to be able to do it.

In this world, strength ruled. He needed to be unfazed by the brutalities he will see and perform in the future. He didn't want any unnecessary consequences just because he was too lenient with his enemies. One could say that tonight was a sort of training. An initiation into his new life. At the very least, he didn't have to listen to their blood-curdling screams. Though one could argue that that was scarier.

So here he was in bed reflecting on what he did. It was difficult to get out of his mind. But the part he was most worried about was the girls.

Dream had asked Riddick when they were walking back why he had them stay. His response was,

"They can't and shouldn't be protected from the brutalities of life. They will encounter things like this in the future, as will you. Though that's only half the reason. The other half is that they deserve to know all facets of who you are. They must accept all of you if you want them to stay with you. Do you plan to hide the brutality you are capable of forever?"

What he said made sense too. He shouldn't hide it. And maybe he was overthinking things. Maybe they weren't shocked or mortified. He at least had the connection with Luna that told him that she was alright. She wasn't disgusted, at least with him.

Dream kept thinking about such things for a couple hours, until he felt a presence at the door.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

"It's open."

Dream knew who it was knocking on his door.

"Sorry for disturbing you so late." 

The door was opened and a beautiful girl with black hair came walking through. Dream sat up to welcome her.

"Good evening, Scarlet. What brings you here?"

"I-I wanted to check on you. See if you were ok."

"I think I should be the one asking you that. It wasn't a sight I wanted you to see. Even more so on your first day in the world."

Dream welcomed her over to sit on the bed as he spoke. She walked over and they sat across from each other.

"Dream, I think you forget how we hunted in the forest. Although I've never seen a human subjected to such mutilation, that doesn't mean I haven't seen animals that way. Not to mention, I can be rather brutal with my kills as well."

"I guess..."

"Not to mention, you did it for me... You wouldn't have done such things if I had been more careful."

Iris looked down in shame. She hadn't been careful and got carried away, which led to the slap on her face. She knows she could have handled it better.

Dream wasn't having that though.

"You're not allowed to blame yourself."

"Then you can't either! You need to know that I appreciate what you did, and I'm not disgusted by it either! Okay?"

Iris grabbed his face and looked into his eyes with seriousness. She didn't want him worrying himself over something as trivial as this. 

Sure, Iris was surprised as she had never seen a human in such a sorry state, and that Dream was the one who made him that way. But would she get scared or keep her distance from him? No way! Why let a sorry excuse for a man separate them?

After seeing that she was trying so hard for him to understand, Dream started feeling much better. Iris had never taken the initiative to be so serious about something before. He broke out into a silly grin thinking about how out of character it was for her.

"Gimme a kiss."

Dream pulled her in since she was already so close and the serious atmosphere was instantly broken. He then began doing as the french do.

Iris was caught off guard since she was trying to be serious a second ago and didn't resist. Not that she would anyway.

"mmphh... I-I'm not good with tongue..."

"Then I guess you should start learning huh."

Dream grabbed her and pulled her to lay down and cuddle on the bed.

They kissed, separated, and kissed some more. As things kept getting more heated, Dream noticed that Luna and Iris weren't really too different. Just that Iris was definitely the shy one.

It took some practice but Iris finally started learning, just like Luna did. They started relaxing more and enjoying it as they figured each other out. 

After some time, Iris spoke up.

"Mmm... Dream.. I... *huff* ...I think I'll prefer to stay with you. The other guys seem to just be assholes."

"Oh? I don't know. I can be quite the asshole too."

"Ya. But I...I kind of love you. So it's okay....I can't have Luna take all of you either..."

"Hehe, competetive are we? Well don't worry, I have plenty of love to go around. And of course, I love you too. Hehe..."

"Huiuugh.... it's embarrassing..."

Iris squirmed around a little while her face turned bright red. Dream thought that was the cutest thing in the world and started eating her up some more.

Iris didn't go back to her room that night.

.................

..........

.....

In the morning, everyone met in Dream's room for breakfast.

Another thing that Dream found out about her is that Iris also has trouble hiding embarrassment. 

Riddick had basically found out what happened last night and asked her about it. To which she confirmed it by turning into a tomato. 

Either way, everyone was rather happy as they ate their flapjacks that Dream made. After all, today was the day to go to the hunting grounds.

As Dream was eating, he also got another little surprise form Sophia.

[It seems that the two men died sometime last night. You got some experience.]

'Really? That's good to know. What level do you think they were?'

[They had likely just gotten to 1st class. Otherwise, you would have gotten more.]

'True.'

Dream was pleased to know that it wasn't just monsters that gave experience. Anyone with a level will.

Everyone finished eating breakfast quickly out of excitement and immediately began walking to the guild.

Dream was curious about some things while walking so he asked Riddick,

"Old Man, are there quests and rewards for this stuff?"

"There is. Though it isn't much. All of you will also need to get an identification. You'll get it when we register. A few things to note, don't put your abilities or titles on the registration. Your name, level, and class are the main things to log. Everything else is optional and you shouldn't reveal everything about yourself."

"Alright. What's the level of these hunting grounds?"

"They start at level 40 and go all the way to level 120. The level gap is big but so is the field. Certain areas are marked with certain monsters so you need to learn not to get carried away and wander."

"That high?! Wait, so wouldn't I be able to class 2 today?"

Dream thought it could very well be possible with his experience boost, but Riddick thought otherwise.

"Hah! Keep dreaming, Boy. I think you underestimate how difficult it is to level after you get your class. Every class is a bigger step. Not just in levels, but experience. Otherwise, everyone would be 4th class! I don't doubt that you'll get past 1st class today, but 2nd? Not happening."

Dream also felt that made sense. How could it be so easy to get to second class? Plus, that could be bad for him as well. He needs to take time figuring things out before jumping into the deep end.

After walking for several minutes down a couple of streets, the group made it to the Guild building.

The building was a tall two-story building with a rustic look. It wasn't by any means dirty though.

Dream and the others walked through the open door and heard the chattering of many people. Surprisingly loud for the morning.

Apparently, the guild building was also a restaurant as there were tables to the side and a bar. Many hunters were eating their breakfast, probably before they head out for the day.

Since neither Dream nor the girls knew what they were doing, Riddick took charge.

"Follow me."

All of them followed him to a counter that was on the right side of the building. 

Riddick walked up to the desk where a pretty lady was sitting going through papers.

She greeted them as they approached.

"Hello! How can I help you?" 

"Hello. I have these three right here that need to get themselves registered. They plan to take quests for the hunting grounds."

"No problem! Take these forms and fill them out. You can give them to me when you're done."

"Thank you."

Riddick received three forms from the lady and went to go find a table.

"So we just fill these out? How do they know we are'nt lying?" (Dream)

Dream asked because it wasn't a very secure way of getting people's information.

"There are certain quests like escorts or large scale battles that require people to be verified before partaking in. They have certain tools that can detect your class, level, and stats." (Riddick)

"Why not abilities?"

"A class can say a lot about your abilities. I'm a mage, what abilities do you think I have?"

"Touche."

"Either way, this is only a medium-size kingdom. The 4 Empires are where we get proper identifications. Those can be used anywhere."

The four found a seat and started to fill out the papers. 

They did as Riddick told them and only put their basic info like name, age, species, etc. And since they didn't have a class, they didn't have to fill out much more.

Once they were done, they went back to the lady and turned in the sheets.

"Alright! Certain quests that require verification will be marked. Otherwise, you're free to take anything else from the board. Take the sheet and bring it to one of us so we can hold it for you until the quest is finished."

"Thank you." (Riddick)

"Sure thing."

Once they were all finished, they went over to the board to pick out some quests.

"Dad, what quests should we look for?" (Iris)

"Since we're her to get you all to first class, anything that requires hunting."

Once they got to the board, they looked through all the quests to find hunting ones.

They saw mainly herb gathering and kill quests, but there were also scouting quests, and material gathering quests.

"There's one right here, for some level 50 forest crawlers, level 70 Earth bears, even level 110 Water wolves?" (Luna)

"Monsters can begin to control elements as they level up. Just keep in mind that they also have evolutions at the same time we have class advancements. So a level 50 monster is many times stronger than a level 49." (Riddick)

Riddick warned everybody about the characteristics of monsters. Not that they would attempt to tackle something over their level anyway, but that information is still crucial.

Though, this group wasn't an ordinary one either. And Dream knew that.

"I think we can handle anything up to level 65 or so. Why don't we take the forest crawlers one and see if we find anything else while we're there?" (Dream)

"I think so too. Dad?" (Iris)

"Alright. Just note that I won't be helping you guys with anything." (Riddick)

"No problem! All that training in the forest wasn't for nothing after all." (Iris)

Iris thumped her chest in confidence and Dream took the quest.

They walked to the reception lady and turned it in. They signed a copy of the same quest, and were finally set to head out.

"You're all set! Just know that forest crawlers are very stealthy. Surprise attacks are their thing. So always keep vigilant." (Lady)

"Will do. Would you happen to sell a map for the area?" (Dream)

Dream asked about probably the most important thing. They needed to know where to go and where to stay away from. Although Riddick might have one, it was best to ask them.

"There is. I can grab you a copy for your hunting ground."

"We'll take it." (Riddick)

Riddick stepped up and paid for the map from the lady. 

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Stay safe!"

After getting the map, the group of four walked out of the building.

Riddick handed the map to Dream and he unfurled it, seeing where the hunting ground was.

The map pointed toward the east outside the city. There was a large forest there and it was divided into sections to show the types of enemies as well as their levels.

"Sweet. Since we have everything we need, I guess we can head out."

Dream spoke and started leading the way to the east gate. It was time to start their first adventure.