A forceful tearing of cloth caused Vin to shudder and look down the aisle of the tight space he was in, which he identified as between two storage shelves. A moment later, Bonely flew into view in its hand form, clutching torn washcloths.

  Vin clasped a hand over his thumping heart and exhaled, relieved it was just his companion. When he touched his chest, he discovered his injuries had been wrapped tightly, stopping the bleeding. Bonely flew over to him and added another strip of cloth, communicating to his mind with slight unease, "You're finally awake."

  Vin exhaustedly rubbed his face. The bandages did little to ease the pain. Still, he felt his body rapidly recovering alongside his essence, "Fortunately."

  Bonely finished its patchwork and landed on all five fingertips like bone-hand spiders, quietly observing him. Soon after, it disclosed, "You were squirming quite a bit in your sleep. Is everything alright?"

  "Ah," Bonely sounded, "Please do not take offense to my prodding; I assure you it is out of genuine concern."

  Vin peered at the skeleton with red, half-open eyes and yawned, "Everything's fine now."

  Vin made out as much of the situation as possible, questioning, "In a storage closet?"

  "Correct," the assistant answered. "After you passed out, I carried you here to avoid being seen and tended to your wounds."

  "And how long was I out?" Vin asked, looking up at the night sky."

  "A little over an hour, the current time is 3:35 am."

  'An hour? Years used to feel like minutes inside that dream world, now I'm there long enough to be attacked by my nightmares. My mind must be evolving too.'

  Speaking of which. Vin was glad to finally have some light shed on his mysterious ability. And, it turned out he wasn't the only one. According to the librarian, other Humans unintentionally connected with Auroraan's rulers and inherited their traits. Strays, as she called them.

  The big question now was, what did he acquire from this great being, and would it be enough to replace his unjustly sealed flame.

  He took a moment to scan himself for changes. When he focused on the Astral Ichor she implanted inside him, it triggered vague memories that didn't belong to him. Sort of like memory scrolls, but they simply contained information without the vivid experience. He couldn't identify what the abilities did, but he perceived that none were destructive in nature. He'd had just one taste of the intoxicating liquor that was overwhelming power. Then it was snatched away...

  It was a blessing in disguise that his injuries were so severe; otherwise, he knew he'd throw a tantrum and curse the world. He was sick of the gods doing whatever they wanted with no consequences. Nevertheless, there was nothing he could do but continue to dance in their palm; he limped forward, telling his assistant, "We're heading back."

  The skeleton hands flew beneath Vin's upper arm, supporting him as he trudged. It was so small that he didn't expect them to be able to lift his body weight so much, but they were actually a huge help. Vin glanced at his companion, stating, "You're stronger than expected. You carried me to the storeroom alone, too, right?"

  "Yes, Sir," it replied, its tone laced with an unmistakable smile. "I'm sure you recall the message you received when you gave me a difficult task?"

  It was impossible to forget. When he used Bonely to learn about a plant or animal or to analyze a God-ranked spell, he got the message: Your Journal Grows Stronger.

  "I recall the days when I was merely your Journal. You were quite curious as you wandered through the Lavender Forest wanting to learn more."

  That brought back memories. Vin thumbed through the archives of his internal Journal and found his first addition to the Human's [World Info] Tab.

  [Discovered By:] Vin Dance

  [Discovered On:] Date: 1/1/300 A.D.

  [Name: ] Green Bean String

  [Notes: ] It's safe to touch.

  [End]

  He promptly closed the page in his mind and shook his head in shame. Bonely continued, explaining, "Since I evolved, the nature of my growth has changed. Now, my intellect and physical prowess increase as well, which is how I can support as I am."

  Vin wasn't informed until now, but one of the benefits of a sentient companion was that it could add entries to the human encyclopedia on his behalf. So, Bonely had risen to 1,000 new contributions in less than three days. Each one improved its intelligence and overall physical strength, allowing it to lift more.

  Since everything in that elven territory was from hundreds of years ago, there wasn't competition, and the skeleton assistant would continue to grow rapidly. On the other hand, billions of Humans occupied the same land in the settlement, so almost everything would have already been discovered.

  Who knew there would be a silver lining to his misery.

  Before returning to their hideout, Vin retraced where he'd crashed landed. Connecting with the historian did more than give him a new energy source. He also absorbed snippets of information about the laws of the dimension she governed. He emitted a delighted scoff when his eyes landed on something he had begun to treasure, "You survived."

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  He wandered over to and picked up his longboard, which was only partially cracked. He assumed it shattered when they fell from the sky, but new knowledge revealed that exception items had ranks just like spells and relics. Inside the Archival Dimension, skateboards and their variations were boosted to Ascendant, making them much more durable. He wasn't all that surprised. It was suspicious that his ride didn't break in the fight at the music shop despite how much he abused it. 'It makes even more sense now why their king kept that old sword.'

  Vin also learned that Elves back on the current Auroraan were so invincible because they were the only race that willingly entered the Archival Dimension. Some did it to research ancient civilizations, while others endeavored to bring back powerful relics like the quartz sword. Unlike exception items, named weapons kept their original strength when brought back to the Mortal Realm. Not to mention, many relics had additional enchantments built into them, like the Elven captain's shield that could repel the eternal flames. Meanwhile, Ravenours used identical swords made from natural resources, so their military might have been vastly inferior.

  He still didn't know much about that dimension, but the little he learned was valuable.

  While traveling, he used his Soul Sense to ensure they didn't miss anyone in the market. The range had definitely expanded, giving him faint pulls in the directions of the living who were much further away. This would help when he inevitably went on another scouting run.

  <>

  It took over two hours in his current state to reach the elven home they'd usurped. There were very few patrols along the way, as most of their forces were needed to secure their gate against the sudden undead force. As fearful of them as Vin was, those things were inadvertently helping draw attention away from him and the rest of the Ravenours.

  He limped through the door of their hideout, unclothed but covered top to bottom with bloody fabric bandages. By the time the door was closed, everyone in the room was standing, including Maeve, her two guards, Casty, and the few survivors from the music shop.

  Though all alarmed, one figure dashed through the magically lit elven home in a furious beat. Vin was too tired to react, unmoving, as Gideon violently rushed him with intense, vermilion eyes. The man aggressively shoved the Human against the door and pressed his elbow into their throat, shouting, "YOU LIED TO ME!"

  Equal parts of ferocity and sadness swirled on the guard's face like a firestorm against a blizzard. He exerted even more force, choking Vin, whose legs lifted from the ground. The Ravenour yelled at the top of his lungs, "You said you would be right behind me!"

  "Why weren't you!?"

  Tristen and Casty, the mint-haired Ravenour, bolted to the guard and frantically yanked him, but in vain. His strength only grew as his eyes began to water with frustration; his words were full of anger, but Vin could also sense his remorse. "Do you have nothing to say for yourself!?"

  "You could have just told me the truth! You wanted to get rid of us because you think we're useless, right!?"

  Tristen tugged and tugged, trying to separate the two. Vin, already battered, began to lose consciousness. Seeing this, the pink-haired Ravenour balled his fist and struck Gideon in the rib, yelling, "Stop! You're killing him!"

  Jazzy had suffered new injuries while escaping the Elven army and winced when struck, dropping the Human. Vin landed on the floor, and his back banged against the wooden door as he coughed and filled his lungs with air. He continued to look at the irate young man, not daring to make excuses or shy away from their emotions.

  "I saw you up there, fighting alone!" Gideon said, hunched over, clenching the injury on his rib. "We all saw that ring of light get destroyed. I thought you-"

  The slick-haired Ravenour's wings flared open with a wrathful whiff, and he shouted loudly, "Dammit!"

  Vin knew telling them they couldn't revive anymore would put them more on edge. But for them to be this burdened by that knowledge...

  Vin, eyes half closed, watched him. A creature raised to be vicious, merciless, to be ravenous. Gideon's upbringing clashed with his genuine emotions. It was painful to watch... He wished the man could just say what their heart burned to say, say what was really on their mind-

  I was worried about you.

  Such simple words, yet the Ravenour could not find the power to say them. It was heartbreaking.

  Tristen and Casty had crouched next to Vin, ensuring he was okay. Jazzy turned away from the battered Human to hide the disarray on his face, fighting with himself in a wordless fume.

  Vin's eyes wandered to the clarinet the guard had kept from the music store. It was in an awkward spot on their belt, so he was surprised to see it undamaged. Maybe they even made an effort to protect it for his sake...

  "Gideon," Vin weakly rasped. When the guard turned their contorted face, he said to them, "I made you worry. Sorry."

  Jazzy sat on the wooden floor beside them and covered his face with his large hands. Before Vin arrived, Maeve spoke with the few survivors of the music store but had stopped and wandered over. After the episode between the two males, she said, "Take Vin to the bedroom; we will resume our exchange once he has recovered."

  Tristen and Casty nodded and moved to grab Vin. Only then did anyone notice the skeleton's hands latched onto his arms like some sort of occult armband. They gaped at them for a while, equally curious and cautious.

  "I'll explain later," Vin mumbled, groaning as he helped himself up. The two Ravenours saw him struggle, put their concerns aside, and aided him. Once on his feet, Vin told everyone to stop and listen closely.

  Just like how those undead could sense him, he could discern them. They weren't bluffing when they said they'd found him. Right now, he knew those nightmares were at the gates of Wavevein city, wreaking havoc on the Elven army who blocked their entry. For now, however, those things were confident they would breach during the next night.

  He chose his words carefully, describing them as an "outside force." And that he only had a strong hunch they would break through tomorrow night, ruining any chances for the Ravenours to make a clean escape.

  Tension rose, and naturally, questions followed: Who was attacking, why, and how did he know this? Vin navigated around the subject carefully, leaving the nature of the new forces unknown. The ends of Maeve's lips sunk. "If that's true, we have less than 20 hours to gather everything we need, locate, and evacuate all survivors."

  There was apparent stress painted on her face as she asked, "Vin, are you positive?"

  He nodded with certainty. Maeve accepted his word, and so it became a fact. She used her crutch and silently returned to the work desk. He knew she wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.

  Tristen and Casty helped Vin to the bedroom afterward. The soft mattress and bedding hit him harder than any of the Elves at the music store ever could. Within seconds of laying down, he was zapped from consciousness and returned to his land of flowers. His mental guard was raised to the max, so he was sure he'd be alone this time.