Chapter 47 – Emulation

[I'm Dream's helper, and when we make the connection, I'll be able to help you guys as well, with things like magic, strategy, and communication. But first, Luna, I'll need permission from you to scan your skill [Bestow].]

'Oh, that's fine.' (Luna)

[Great. Activating [Emulator]...]

Sophia went through the Familiar connection to Luna and arrived at the skill signature for [Bestow]. She then began using [Emulator] and collected its information.

The process only took a couple of minutes before she came back.

[Emulation complete. Thank you, Luna. I will now be able to assist you and Iris in anything you need, whenever you wish. Dream has also expressed his wish for our communication, so I hope we can all become friends.]

'I would like that too.' (Luna)

'As would I. Hey Sophia, how much do you know about Dream?' (Iris)

[Absolutely everything. What would you like to-]

'Okay! I like the quick bonding, but not right now.'

Dream intervened before the conversation took an irreversible turn.

'Luna, Scarlet, It might be selfish of me, but I wish to do the same scan with your other skills. My combat power has been lacking and I've been trying to learn some magic, but haven't gotten far. Would you mind?'

Dream felt bad for asking this, but he really was at a roadblock. He didn't know if he could get the proper skills from monsters, and the girls had the perfect combination of all the elements. It was too good not to ask for.

'That's alright. Since you're already letting us use your skill.' (Luna)

'I'm also fine with it.'

'Thanks guys. Sophia.'

[Activating [Emulator]...]

Sophia went through their souls once again and looked at all the skills they had. This process took longer since it was several skills, not just one.

20 minutes later, Dream got alerts.

<You have gained the Active skill: [Fire Magic]>

<You have gained the Active skill: [Water Magic]>

<You have gained the Active skill: [Basic Air Magic]>

<You have gained the Active skill: [Basic Earth Magic]>

<Sophia has leveled up!> x4

"Whoa."

Dream couldn't help but exclaim out loud. But that wasn't all.

<You have gained the Active skill: [Regenerate]

<You have gained the Passive skill: [Enhanced Senses]>

[Commencing skill enhancement...]

"Hm?...Arggh!"

Dream very suddenly felt sharp pains after Sophia spoke. 

The girls heard this and were startled. They didn't see the alerts and didn't know what was going on, not that Dream did either.

"Dream? You okay?" (Luna)

"What happened?" (Iris)

Dream held his head and buried it in the blankets below him, attempting to bear the pain.

His eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and whole-body began to sting, burn, and feel ultra sensitive. He was suddenly reminded of the pain he experienced when he first arrived in the world. Luckily, after he became still and didn't move at all, the pain wasn't as bad and he could think about other things. He spoke among the connection so the girls could hear.

'Sophia? What is this?'

[It's occurring because of the new skill for your senses. I'm enhancing it right now, and it's changing your body to accommodate it. The pain is from the overstimulation of your nerves. And I'm sorry to say, but the discomfort is far from over. I suggest you get comfortable with the girls.]

'Ugh...'

'Wait, so Dream is evolving?' (Iris)

[You could say that, yes. And it's not going to feel good.]

"Uggghhhh..."

Dream let out a loud grunt as he began to feel the 'discomfort'. It was basically a massive headache.

"L-Lay down. Don't curl into a ball at least.' (Iris)

Dream flopped over onto his back, though such a simple movement caused bursts of pain, which he held back through gritted teeth.

Luna grabbed some pillows and put them under his head. After that, they sat there next to him.

As Dream lay there, the headache got worse and worse. Every beat of his heart felt like a hammer coming down on his head. He also had to close his eyes since those hurt as well. Though since his head hurt so much, he didn't feel the pain in his body, so that's one upside.

The girls watched Dream lay there and writhe in pain, wondering if there was anything else to do. Sophia soon spoke over their channel.

[He's going to be fine. Unfortunately this time, touching him isn't a good way to help. As this could last a couple hours, I suggest you girls get comfortable.]

'Oh, okay.' (Iris)

Luna and Iris both transformed into foxes and laid on the bed, taking Sophia's advice. And since Dream wasn't in any position to communicate, they took this opportunity to ask some questions.

'Hey Sophia, about my question before...' (Iris)

[Huhu, I'm sure my master wouldn't mind me sharing a few details. What would you like to know?]

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

...........

......

After a couple of hours, the pain turned to invigoration as Dream regained his senses. He opened his eyes and felt his new body.

"My eyesight..."

[Congragulations, all of your senses have been enhanced. Your hearing, smell, taste, and touch are many times more sensitive and perceptive than before. You are now also able to see the high energy portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, even up to gamma rays. Your biggest change though was to your neurons, whose speed of exchange was greatly increased. Your agility has been pushed up because of this.]

"Wow... It's kind of hard to process the new vision..."

[I can actually filter out the new additions and just let in visible light. If you would like.]

"Yes please. If I need more 'vision', then we can turn it back on."

Dream soon saw his vision return to normal. Though what he saw was still greatly enhanced.

[Colors will be much more vivid and the detail of your vision has been multiplied. I'm sure you'll enjoy that. Unfortunately, you won't be able to see low energy radiation like radio waves since the waves are too big for your eyes, but you will still get infrared.]

"That's fine. This is already really cool."

Dream turned his head and scanned the room, taking in all the new details. All the little cracks and crevices in the wood, the texture of his blankets, the strings of the rug on the floor, and the fur of the two foxes on his bed. Even the smallest details were seen. Best of all, it wasn't uncomfortable for his eyes or head.

He reached over and began petting the fur of both girls.

"Well I'll be damned, everything really is more sensitive. I can feel even the small details of the fur. It feels...really nice."

"Dream?"

The girls woke up from their slumber and transformed back into humans, facing Dream.

When he received their gazes though, it felt off somehow.

"...Are you guys good?"

"Y-Ya, we're fine. What about you? How was your evolution?" (Iris)

Dream decided to let her dodge the question and answered.

"It was painful, to say the least. I can officially say that I've had a migraine now. Though I'm pretty sure that was much worse than a regular migraine, but whatever. Long story short, I can see better. And I gotta say, you guys really are beautiful..."

Dream looked at the two girls in front of him, totally entranced. Before, he had never seen such perfect people. And now he got to see them in high definition! 

He admired once more the exotic look of their hair with their signature tints. Their eyes that shone even in the dark, and best of all, those bombastic figures.

The girls began getting embarrassed as they felt his gaze turn from admiring to lewd. Though neither of them minded, it definitely wasn't the first time.

"Anyway, I thank you guys for letting me get those skills. This really was important for me." (Dream)

'Talk about flipping a switch. I guess that's self-control for you'. Iris murmured in her mind.

"It's no problem. Sophia actually told us about how she would be able to help us with your skills, though the effects would be limited." (Luna)

"Oh, that's right huh. Unfortunately, we won't be able to use something like Scarlet's Devour skill. Although...Hey Sophia, would you be able to recreate the vortex for them?"

[It is possible, yes. Though it will consume some of your mana as well as all of theirs.]

Sophia's voice came to all three of them. The girls tilted their head in confusion.

"That's fine. Then let's get started. You two, do not resist." 

"D-Don't say it like that! What're you gonna do?" (Iris)

"Hehe, an experiment."

Dream began crawling over and tackled Iris, holding her still while Sophia went to work.

A short while later, the vortex was made and Iris began recovering her mana. He then did the same for Luna.

When he was done, the girls sat there and felt their mana recovering by the minute. Both were surprised.

"I've run out of mana plenty of times, and I've never recovered it this fast. It wouldn't even take an hour to recover from empty!" (Iris)

"This'll help a lot during combat. Long battles won't be as dangerous anymore." (Luna)

"Yup. I plan to try the same with your dad if he needs it. Sophia will cover up the  mana flow as to not alert anyone, since I can share my stealth skill. And with that out of the way, let's get on the same page for tomorrow."

"The hunt? What about it?" (Iris)

"This is the first time we'll be without a guardian and in a dangerous place. I just want to make sure that we stick together, especially since there will be other people. Not saying that everyone is dangerous, just that you must trust your innate ability. The one that lets you see souls. It'll be your greatest asset. Other than that, tomorrow should be a breeze since we're doing next to nothing, just following and getting our feet wet. If we wish to talk to each other, use our connections. Kapeesh?"

"No problem."

"Alright."

The girls nodded in understanding. Dream then flopped down and crawled under the covers.

"Then let's sleep now, I'm tired."

"Finally." (Iris)

After everyone cuddled up, they fell asleep.

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

.......

...

The next morning, everyone woke up and prepared for the hunt. Since Dream and the girls had inventories though, there wasn't much to prepare other than the clothes they wore. 

They walked down and met everyone for breakfast, which was quickly finished. The twins and the trio, along with Riddick left the house together and head to the guild.

One odd thing though that Dream noticed as they walked down the street, was that Luna and Iris actually put on their masks. Though the peculiar thing about it, was that the mask turned ghostly, like it was invisible except for an outline that showed it was on. 

'Hey, what happened to your guys' masks?'

Dream asked about the ghostly effect rather than why they were wearing it. 

'What do you mean?' (Iris)

'It's basically invisible, but I can still see an outline. I don't remember it being that way.' (Dream)

'Really? It's normal for us. Are you seeing it different?' (Iris)

'Hmm, maybe. Hold on.'

Dream turned to the nicer twin Beau and asked,

"Hey Beau, what do you think about the masks they're wearing? Do you see those around here a lot?" (Dream)

'"Hm? Oh, I guess they're fitting. It matches their hair color. And not really. We only see humanoids with masks occasionally." (Beau)

"Interesting. So you call them humanoids?" (Dream)

"Yes. Beastmen who can transform are often called humanoids. Though you don't see a perfect transformation like them often. Most of the time they still have their tail, eyes, ears, and sometimes hands still in their beast form."

"...Is that right..." (Dream)

Dream went quiet as he thought that there must be catgirls in this world. Would he really get to see one? In the flesh? He added finding one high up on his bucket list.

"We're here."

Dream was pulled away from fantasy land as they approached the guild building where they got their title plates. Many people could be seen walking in and out, showing how popular this place was.

"If you encounter any problems, I'll be out here." (Riddick)

Riddick spoke before they entered the building. Everyone gave him a nod and walked in. They were met with many groups of people doing various things.

"Just follow us, we have a meeting spot for our party."

Mark led the group over to a side area with many tables. Nearly every table was occupied with groups of people who were clearly hunters, with armor and weapons on. This looked like the resting area before everyone headed out for the day.

After a bit of weaving between people and interested looks due to the masks of the girls, they came up on a table. This table had 4 people already there, 3 girls and 1 guy.

"Mark! Beau! Good morning!"

"Good morning." (Mark)

A girl stood and greeted the twins. Mark explained the presence of the three extra people with him.

"Hey guys, I actually have these three with me today. They're class 1's and haven't been to a dungeon before. They're looking to get a safe first experience and needed a group to join. I hope you don't mind them joining us today." (Mark)

"Newbies? I'm not exactly keen on dragging around luggage all day today."

The sole man at the table spoke up with his disapproval. Looking to be mid-20s, he had short hair and stubble on his chin. He was covered with light plates of armor around various points on his body, built with mobility in mind. He also had a long sword on his waist and two daggers on his legs. 

"I think it's alright. They're at least 1st class, so it's not like they're that weak. What're your names?"

A woman who was likely a leader along with the man asked about them. Dream spoke for them.

"My name is Dream. This is Luna and Iris."

"Hello Dream. My name is Elisa. If you don't mind me asking, what classes are you guys?"

"Take a look."

Dream took out his plate, as did the girls. He handed them to Elisa who looked at the details.

"[Ranger], [Predator], and [Familiar]. I've never heard of those girls' classes, I guess that makes them uniques. Impressive. And Ranger huh. So you specialize in distance attacks?"

"I do. Though I am no stranger to melee fights."

"Where's your bow?"

"In my inventory."

"You have an inventory?!"

One of the other girls at the table raised her voice in surprise. The others also had surprised expressions.

"I do have an inventory. You guys don't?" (Dream)

"Of course not! Usually only class 2's or above get inventories."

"Interesting." (Dream)

"Well, what about you girls?" (Elisa)

Elisa turned to the girls and asked about them.

"We also have inventories." (Luna)

"What?! How is that fair?!"

"They are unique, so I'm actually not too surprised. Anyway, I believe that they're qualified to come with us, especially if they're just learning. How about it, Ryan?" (Elisa)

Elisa turned to the man, Ryan. Dream assumed him to be the leader.

"...Fine. Don't be taking loot though. And follow our directions. If you step out of line, we'll kick you out. Got it?" (Ryan)

"Don't worry. We aren't here to compete." (Dream)

"Good. Then once we get ourselves situated, we'll head out." (Ryan)