=== The pond in the forest, at the end of June (~one month later)

 

It was a week before the next full moon, and the summer vacation was approaching.

Sam and Desmond held up and trained at regular intervals for the tournament, which would occur in mid-July. We registered two days before the deadline for the registration would have expired. There would be a couple of qualifying matches, but we didn't have any information about them yet.

"Everything OK?"

Nicole nudged me.

“Hmm? Ah, yes, everything is fine."

She had noticed me staring at the pond.

We went here together with Sam, Desmond, Michelle, Tanya, and Yasemin to grill and hang out by the pond.

"Why didn't we invite some more men?"

Yasemin had already grumbled in advance because, in her opinion, our group was unbalanced.

"Because we can't have a big party in the middle of the forest."

Desmond answered her with the same answer for the umpteenth time.

"Instead of arguing again, can you hand me the pot for the meat?"

Sam was standing at the grill, and he was the only left working. Tanya and Michelle had made the salads. Desmond had brought the dishes. And Nicole and I bought and brought the drinks here.

"Here."

Michelle held out the pot for Sam to put the finished meat in. Sam turned the grill around and changed the grill grate's level before he joined us at the table.

"Let us eat."

Everyone chose what they wanted to eat. As I filled my plate, I noticed that the others were looking strangely at me.

"Hm?"

I looked at the others, not fully understanding why they were looking at me.

"Siana..."

Desmond pointed to my full plate.

"...Is something going on?"

“Eh? How so?"

Immediately, I answered, confused.

“You don't usually eat that much. It's a little unusual."

Nicole answered me with what probably everyone thought. They hadn't been entirely wrong because since I had the first vision through Time Dream, there were more and more dreams, and after each of them, I felt exhausted and starving... and coincidentally was my last Time Dream yesterday.

 

=== 3rd time dream, At the beginning of June

 

Everything was dark, and the only light was in the form of an ever-larger cone through the hole in the chamber's ceiling. My eyes had to get used to the little light before seeing that the wall was full of paintings.

Where does it start...

I walked along the walls to see where the drawings began, but for some reason, I couldn't find a beginning or an end. When looking at the paintings, I had the feeling that they were incomplete or that the paintings were a loop with no beginning and no end.

I turned my attention from the walls to the crystal in the center of the light. The crystal was over 2m tall and shimmered in green light. I touched the crystal and examined the surface. The surface was perfectly sanded, with not a single blemish on it.

"Can you hear me?"

A sleepy-sounding male voice echoed in my head.

"I hear you, but..."

I looked around, and when I was about to let go, the voice echoed in my head again.

"Don't let go!"

The voice looked a little scared, so I held my hand and answered.

"How so?"

"If you let go of the crystal, you won't be able to hear my voice..."

"And now…"

“I don't know who you are, but… this chamber will only reveal its secret to the person for whom it is intended. Please... help me find them..."

"And how?"

"Unfortunately, I do not know that…"

The force pulled me away from the crystal, but I resisted because there was one more answer I wanted to know.

"Where am I?"

"You are... This is the grave of the beginning."

I was pulled by the force, and when I woke up, I was lying in my bed, and my body was bathed in sweat.

 

=== 4th vision, mid-June

 

Before I could see anything, the smell of trees rose to my nose. The surroundings formed, and I recognized them immediately. I floated far above the pond where I first met Desmond, shortly after I woke up as Siana.

Why am I here?

I looked around, but I couldn't see anything, but suddenly everything started to run in fast motion. I saw everything go by in front of me like a movie at multiple speeds before it suddenly stopped.

"I'm sorry, but you have to get out of here."

I was standing down by the pond, and it looked like I had a barbecue party with Desmond and Sam, as well as Nicole and the others.

"What are you talking about?"

Michelle was outraged and hit the table with her hands.

It was strange to see me sitting down there with the others. I noticed the crack that was forming on the water. I looked down from above to see if anyone suspicious was around. While I continued to listen to the conversation.

"Do you see that?"

“What d-. What's this?"

"A crack."

"A crack?"

“Yes, a crack. This rift leads to another world. "

"Wait! You want to tell me this is a rift that leads to another world? Here, just like that?"

“Correct, but whenever one of these cracks appeared, nothing good ever happened. So better get out of here."

“Hey! You know about the cracks?"

“YES... But we don't have time for that! You have to get out of here!"

I stopped searching and watched myself. The whole thing hadn't happened to me yet, so I must have seen the same thing down there, but why would I come here anyway? Especially with Nicole and the others?

I began to watch the whole situation. Two blue-colored, scaled claws came through the crack and tore it apart. The creature's head came out next.

I know this creature! That... that's a leviathan.

The Leviathan was one of the innumerable raid end bosses. And it was in one of the numerous group raids that I soloed despite every difficulty. But that didn't mean the boss was easy because it sure wasn't. It took me more than a hundred tries before I could hit the Leviathan's weak points on my own. But that down there wasn't a simulation. This was a future timeline.

I watched the others flee and myself staying behind. The battle between the Leviathan and me began, and I studied what happened and how the Leviathan reacted. The movements were different than in the game, so I had to estimate the changed reaction time and intelligence.

The fight was going on for a while when I noticed someone approaching between the trees.

An enemy?

The person hid in the shadows but only watched and did not interfere.

"Fuck!"

The other I cursed loudly when the Leviathan's tail hit her from the side and hurled her to the ground.

Should I be defeated here? Without knowing why this is all happening to me?

The hidden person conjured a magic circle. A shape formed in the middle of the circle, but the body was by no means human, as it resembled that of a bird.

When the body stopped glowing, I saw the bird, consisting of fire and lightning, attacking the Leviathan.

Incredible... To see the King of the Sea, Leviathan, fight against the King of the sky, Ziz.

Like Leviathan, Ziz was a final raid boss, but unlike Leviathan, Ziz was not a violent monster because it was controlled by someone within the story of the game. At the end of the raid, the “evil magician” would be defeated, and Ziz was freed...

Just where it got interesting, I was drawn out of the vision.