[So boring~]

[We’re close, we just need to find an entry point, so quit complaining.]

[You’ve been saying the same thing for weeks already~]

[Please bear with it. Didn’t you say you loved how the adventurers here taste?]

[But when I’m eating the same thing for months, of course I’d get sick of it.]

[Zzzzz..]

 

A horned pink haired woman who looked like in her late twenties complained as she had her hands pour magic over a black scythe. Besides her was Mernjorl the sage, who also has a hand over the scythe to analyze and guide the woman’s magic. Behind them was a girl that looked like an early teens version of the woman. She snored loudly as she slept on a couch. They were all in white robes that were equivalent to lab coats, although the woman had hers open at the front, revealing a voluptuous body with skimpy outfit inside.

 

They were inside an alchemy laboratory-like room inside the magic tower of the sage, which was located in the empire’s capital city. They attempted to connect to the dreams of the previous demon lord Elena through the woman’s dream magic and the sage’s guidance, with the demon lord’s favourite scythe as a catalyst.

 

“We need to find the soul of the previous demon lord and prevent any possibility of it resurrecting in our world” With that as pretext and with the empire being indebted to the current demon lord Elizabeth in winning against the past demon lord, the empire reluctantly allowed the “Demon Lord Soul Tracking” project to be done in the sage’s magic tower within the empire. Neither the hero nor the empire was aware of the current demon lord’s and the sage’s real intentions, though. As for why it must be within the empire, they needed to be close to the hero “in case something involving the former demon lord happens”. In truth, they just wanted to reduce the already high burden of using long distance dream magic at least on their side, since the other side is already crossing dimensions.

 

[Hey, you see that distortion?] Mernjorl

[Huh? Oh, it’s..it’s an entry point!] Older woman

[Finally?!] Mernjorl

[Ugh..noisy~] Young girl

 

The Young girl woke up from the fuss, though she was still half asleep.

 

[The distortion’s pretty unstable. Tiffany, wake up! Link Roderick to this distortion!] Mernjorl

*Yawn* [Yess~] Young girl - Tiffany

[The link doesn’t have to be strong, I just need to collect enough data before the distortion disappears.] Mernjorl

[Okay~] Tiffany

[Here’s hoping Roderick’s asleep.] Mernjorl

 

The Young girl, Tiffany, held her hands out in different directions. One pointed towards the empire castle where Roderick stayed, and the other towards the scythe.

 

The three of them stood still. Only the hum of the dream magic poured on the scythe resounded. After a few minutes,

 

*Poof*

[Ah, the distortion’s gone. Rather, the whole thing is. Lord Elena must’ve woken up. How is it?] Older Woman

[I gathered a lot of data. This should be enough, I think? I’ll analyze it later. Let’s take a break for now.] Mernjorl

[Mommy, I wanna see how it looked~] Tiffany

 

Tiffany, now fully awake, hopped off the couch and went towards the older woman.

 

[I’m curious too what kind of dream Lord Elena is having in her new world. Okay, gimme a sec.] Older woman

[Let me see it too, Brittany. It’ll help me with my analysis later.] Mernjorl

 

The sage sat on the couch where Tiffany was. The older woman, Brittany, faced him and took her hands facing upwards closely in front of her. Pinkish white mist appeared from her hands and gathered above it. From the mist, an image formed.

 

[Connecting to lord Elena’s dream is difficult as it is, so getting her perspective is out of the question. Here’s Roderick’s perspective instead.] Older woman - Brittany

[Huh? He’s falling~ *Giggle*] Tiffany

 

*Clank*

 

Roderick fell from the sky, but the sound he made when he hit the ground was metallic.

 

[Huh?] Brittany

[What’s wrong?] Mernjorl

[The dream is..dreams are supposed to be vague and cloudy, but..] Brittany

[Haha, look! His body’s like a doll’s.] Tiffany

 

Tiffany laughed at Roderick’s mannequin appearance and his exaggerated gestures towards adventurer-like people.

 

[The dream is way too detailed. It’s like we’re hijacking the sight of someone who’s awake.] Brittany

[Maybe it's just a peculiarity of that world. Remember, we’re seeing the dreams of someone residing in a different dimension.] Mernjorl

[Hmm..I wanna see it for myself.] Brittany

 

In the world of Elle’s past life, succubi were a carefree and curious race. For Brittany, who’s actually much older than what her looks suggest and has already seen all there is to see, it was rare for something to pique her curiosity. This made Brittany feel young again.

 

[Mernjorl~] Brittany

 

Brittany spoke seductively and approached Mernjorl. She left the viewing mist to Tiffany, who’s preoccupied with it. Brittany leaned forward until she was eye level with Mernjorl who was sitting on the couch. Her cleavage was on full display to Mernjorl.

 

[What?] Mernjorl

[Let me join the dream next time~] Brittany

[Huh? Who’ll connect the dream, then?] Mernjorl

[Leave it to Tiffany~ You can do it, right, Tiffany?] Brittany

[Hmm? Sure-sure~] Tiffany

 

Tiffany, who was preoccupied with the viewing mist, responded half heartedly without knowing what was being asked of her.

 

[Alright, so back off. Stop flashing that vulgar valley.] Mernjorl

[Yay~] Brittany

[I still haven’t analyzed the data yet, you know?] Mernjorl

[Ah, it’s gone.] Tiffany

 

The view from the mist ended abruptly, and the mist faded.

 

Satisfied with the amount of data they get from the distortion, Mernjorl slouched on the couch to rest. He decided to do the data analysis after he’s rested. Brittany sat beside him and leaned on him.

 

[Oi, how am I gonna rest if you’re gonna eat my dream.] Mernjorl

[Aww, you’re no fun~] Brittany

.

.

.

[Alright, Roderick, here’s your sleeping potion. Everyone ready?] Mernjorl

[Yes.] Roderick

[Yes~] Brittany

[No fair, I wanna come too!] Tiffany

 

It was nighttime when they found that they could use dream magic on the scythe again. At that time, Mernjorl already completely analyzed the distortion and temporary connection from before, and taught the succubi mother and daughter how to make a stable connection to the previous demon lord’s dreams.

 

Roderick had a serious expression with a tinge of excitement as he held a bottle of sleep potion. It was far from the lifeless expression he usually had.

 

*Gulp gulp*

 

Mernjorl and Roderick drank their sleep potions, then Tiffany prepared to connect them to the previous demon lord’s dream while pouting. As for Brittany, she didn’t need to sleep to dive into the dream as a succubus.

 

The sleep potions took effect immediately, since it was sleep medicine with magic mixed in. It also helped that it was Mernjorl, the sage himself, who brewed the potion. They would’ve naturally resisted it, otherwise.

 

After making a stable connection, Tiffany backed off. As long as the connection remained stable, Tiffany didn’t need to continuously attend to the dream magic. Brittany would also help maintain the connection from inside.

 

[Okay, I’m going in~ You’ll get your turn another time.] Brittany

[Boo~] Tiffany

 

Brittany transformed into a pink mist, then the mist got sucked into the dream magic on the scythe.

 

When Brittany has completely entered the dream, *kachack* someone entered the room where only Tiffany was left while Mernjorl and Roderick slept.

 

[Who's..M-Maxie?! What brings you here ♡ ♡ ♡] Tiffany

 

Maximmilan, one of the pro-Elena faction and the son of the demon general Maxen, entered the room and was flirtingly greeted by the blushing Tiffany.

.

.

.

When Mernjorl, Roderick, and Brittany came to in the dream, they found themselves in a reality twisted crafting room.

 

---

 

[Hey, she’s supposed to be one of our scouts, right? Why is she just lying there?]

[I dunno. Why don’t you ask her?]

[Shh, she’ll hear you! I don’t wanna offend her, it’s scary..]

 

In the middle of the forest path at the foot of the mountains, the caravan traveled at a walking pace without stopping. Elle laid idly on top of one of the roofed carriages. The other players gave her questioning looks, but were afraid to point it out to her.

 

[Actually, she’s controlling that black mannequin thing, making it scout in her place. I saw it a bit before it went invisible when the caravan started moving.]

 

Through invisible wires connected to her fingertips, Elle skillfully controlled her mannequin that was dressed in her leather armor without the wires tangling on the trees. The mannequin jumped between trees ahead of the caravan and defeated monsters Elle detected by the magic pulses she emitted every few seconds like a sonar.

 

[We should’ve encountered monsters a few times already. Where are they?]

[I don’t know. *Yawn* It’s pretty boring, but the sooner we get to Thirden, the better.]

[Right..]

 

The players would’ve found it less weird if they at least found dead monsters killed by scouts along the way, but Elle had those taken into her dimensional storage. Although the cost was higher when used at a distance, it was alleviated by having her mannequin or its invisible wires near it.

 

It was still far from the middlemost part between Seconden and Thirden, which was the mountain peak. Elle planned to do her hitman quests there. Elle glanced at the front of the caravan. There she found Mike and Dion. Dion anxiously looked around, probably looking for the hitman who took the quest he commissioned. Elle also glanced to the left. There, she found the other target. An old man driving a two-horse carriage with a wagon full of preserved goods linked to it.

 

(I guess I have some leeway to check my rather complicated abilities.)

(Since I was able to derive Dimensional Gate from Dimensional Storage, maybe I could derive something from Soul Eater as well.)

 

Elle was most curious about Soul Eater. It didn’t seem like there’s something that could be derived from Contract Magic and Wish Granting right away, so she focused on Soul Eater.

 

(By eating souls, I could steal a player’s levels or skills, and maybe even stats, depending on the contract. By extension, I guess XP can also be said to be part of a soul.)

 

Elle glanced at the monsters being killed by her through the mannequin.

 

(As to how I can observe this. Hmm..maybe I should eat Bub’s soul, after all.)

(But eaten souls can be converted into magic power if I choose to, so it should be observable using Mind’s Eye.)

 

[What the..her forehead’s glowing.]

 

The tattoo-like third eye on Elle’s forehead glowed yellow. She used it to look at the dying monsters and try to see if there’s anything coming out of them and absorbed by her. Unfortunately, she didn’t see anything, even if she closed her actual eyes to focus on Mind’s Eye.

 

(Maybe the skill level of Mind’s Eye isn’t high enough. Then, maybe..)

*Flash*

[Uwah! So bright!]

 

The players who were curious of the light shining from Elle’s third eye squinted their eyes. It was like an LED flash light was pointed towards them. Elle forcibly used Mind’s Eye beyond its level by overloading it with magic. At the same time, she used magic that would relieve the stress done by the overloading. After a while, the bright flash subsided and faded back to its usual brightness, then Elle looked again at the monsters being killed by the mannequin. Veins pulsated on Elle’s forehead around her Mind’s Eye.

 

(There it is..but it’s too vague. It’s..not enough..I need..MORE!)

*FLASH*

[Ack!]

[Elle, what are you doing?!] Mike

 

Although not enough to be blindingly bright, Elle’s third eye shone glaringly bright. She focused on overloading her Mind’s Eye and disregarded relieving the stress it caused. Her actual eyes also glowed yellow as she opened it. When the flash faded, Elle looked again. Tears of blood stained her face.

 

To focus more on her Mind’s Eye, Elle also stopped using her magic sonar pulses and disabled the invisibility on her mannequin and its wires.

 

(Kuh..there it is..finally..)

 

Elle could see some kind of white mist coming out of a monster as it was cut down by her mannequin. The mist quickly went towards Elle and got absorbed by her. She tried to take control over the white mist, like she would with magic.

 

*FLASH*

[Ack!]

 

*FLASH*

[Ack!]

 

*FLASH*

[Ack!]

 

[Elle, please stop!] Mike

[Huh?] Elle

[Hic!] Mike

 

Elle looked at Mike with her bloodshot eyes and blood stained face. Mike almost shrieked, unbecoming of a knight.

 

[The flashing light coming from you, it’s blinding us..] Mike

 

When Elle looked at her surroundings, she found everyone covering and rubbing their eyes. The caravan stopped due to this, without Elle noticing. Elle had to keep reapplying the overloading to her Mind’s Eye to maintain her vision towards the souls in the form of XP, which caused everyone to close their eyes.

 

Elle used water magic to wash her face, then she moulded dark magic and made it form into the shape of sunglasses like that of a certain alien regulating agency’s. She made enough for everyone in the caravan, then she shoved it towards Mike.

 

[Here, use these. Now, don’t disturb me.] Elle

.

.

.

*FLASH*

*FLASH*

*FLASH*

 

[Won’t she give us a black suit as well?]

 

The caravan continued on its path while light kept flashing in the middle of it. Everyone in the caravan wore an out of place pair of sunglasses. It looked quite comical.

 

Monsters finally started coming as Elle couldn’t fully control her mannequin to deal with all the monsters while she focused on her Mind’s Eye. While the players were unaffected by the flashing light thanks to the sunglasses, they easily dealt with the monsters that got blinded by the light.

 

(Gotcha!)

 

After lots of attempts and multiple reapplications of overloading on her Mind’s Eye, Elle finally got a hold of the white mist before it got absorbed by her or dissipated.

 

(Hmm..this feels similar to magic power in its purest form in my past life. No wonder it’s difficult to detect and control.)

 

Elle tried to mould the white mist like she would pure magic in her past life, then she absorbed it. Unlike gaining XP, which felt like nothing, Elle felt refreshed when she absorbed the moulded white mist.

 

(Wow, it completely recovered my MP.)

 

Elle made it so that the white mist would recover the magic she used so far instead of gaining XP.

 

[[Skill "Soul Manipulation" Lv2 acquired!]]

[[Spell "Soul Breaker" Lv1 acquired!]]

[[Spell "Blasphemous Resurrection" Lv1 acquired!]]

[[Formula "Soul Core" acquired!]]

 

Except for Golem Core, the skills and spells Elle gained were grayed out. She didn’t have the stats needed to automatically activate it with the help of the system, not that it stopped her from using manually activating, as usual.

 

After trying a few more times, Elle was done deriving skills from Soul Eater, though it added soul related stuff to her to-do list. Elle stopped using her Mind’s Eye and dispelled the dark magic sunglasses worn by everyone.

 

[Alright, we’re about to leave the forest area and enter the mountainous area. The flashing light helped us in dealing with the monsters and we haven’t encountered many of them yet, but the monsters in the mountainous area will be stronger and it looks like the flashing is over. Everyone, be alert. Also, watch your footing. There are a lot of stiff cliffs in this area.] Mike

 

(Guess it’s time to deal with my hitman quests.)

 

Elle tugged on the wires on her fingers, then her black mannequin returned. She put the mannequin back into her dimensional storage, then she jumped off the roof of the carriage and went ahead of the caravan until nobody could see her anymore due to the distance and her visual altering magic.