‘Where am I?’

Damian opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. confused, he slowly sat up on the bed and cautiously observed his surroundings. What greeted him was a medieval styled room crowded with books, a robe hanging on the back of the wooden door and what appeared to be a wand on the dressing table besides the bed he was on.

Damian, who was taking his time analysing the situation suddenly felt an agonising headache. Cold sweat quickly drenched his entire body. He squeezed his head as he tried to endure the pain and remain conscious . After ten seconds which felt like ten years passed, Damian’s eyes gained clarity, remembering who he is now and who he was in his previous life.

In his past life Damian Brooks was a software engineer. He would work from home creating low level mods for fantasy games, which he sold or used for himself. Having no friends or family made Damian antisocial and unkept. His room emitted a musty odour, and his computer desk overflowed with half-filled bottles and empty crisp wrappers.

One afternoon he found a fantasy game called ‘Arcane wonders,’ and quickly became invested. He loved everything about the game but the levelling system, he struggled with the difficulty of levelling up, so he wanted to make a way to level quicker. So, he spent an entire week, using the few hours his illness allowed every day to create a mod for that exact purpose.

Damian suffered from Narcolepsy. A sleeping disorder which causes sudden sleepiness. The person couldn’t stay awake for long period of time and would fall asleep randomly.

This disorder not only had a huge impact on his social life but was also the thing which caused his death.

The strain from forcing his body to stay awake for little bit longer every day, triggered the disorder and put him into a deep sleep.

The vibration from his head hitting his desk, knocked one of the many half-filled bottles onto his computer causing it to explode in his face, instantly killing him.

***

And that is what brought Damian to the world he’s currently in. in this life, he’s Hunter Felix. The 12^th son of the noble Felix magic family.

Being the 12^th son meant he was often forgotten about and neglected but even so, Hunter preferred being alone because he suffered from the same sleeping disorder Damian did.

The Felix family is a magic blessed household which have been nobility from the founding of the Xavier kingdom.

The family head and four others were retainers of the Xavier family, which was led by Divine Mage Jeremiah Xavier. The five archmage retainers were made nobility when the Divine Mage established the Xavier kingdom in the south of the Magi Continent, a thousand years ago.

The Felix; Austin; Silas; Jameson and Bennett Duke families built an unparalleled reputation and influence on the commoners and surrounding kingdoms but in the last fifty years, scheming and assassinations were happening daily. With the founding king coming to the end of his life span due to an injury backlash he suffered from his younger years.

Deadly ambitions ran deep amongst the princes and princesses with them luring anyone with power, from money hungry mercenaries to the five duke families with promises of wealth and power. Of course, for the five families the only promise worth the risk of treason was the promise of marriage, with this they could tower over the other four families.

Above all but one, was a risk they were willing to take. While Some lurked in the Dark in hope of being above all. A sinister ambition of establishing a new Empire.

The scheming and infighting caused the demise of Hunter Felix, poisoned in his sleep by one of the many assassins sent by opposing powers who look to profit from the succession conflicts.

By having an illness which stopped him from cultivating mana and a father which couldn’t bear to look at him without seeing the woman who left him.

Hunter was thrown to live outside the family’s magic barrier, with no way of protecting himself. He died without anyone ever knowing or mourning him.

***

Having gone through the little memories’ hunter had, Damian sighed. Flopping his head back on the pillows, looking at the blank ceiling, he took a deep breath to supress the uncomfortable emotions he felt right now. He could accept that he had died but the thought of having the same illness which had turned him into the empty shell he was in his previous life, was something which he found hard to accept.

When he first arrived, shock and confusion hit him but so did the sliver of hope of thinking that this was the chance that he was due. A chance at a normal life.

Calming his mind and accepting his familiar daunting reality, he decided to think of ways to survive in this dangerous world where beings were capable of wielding immense power, in which a fragile mortal wouldn’t even have a chance to step into.

Hours passed and the sky had long turned pitch black, with the only source of light being two purple and white moons. So, after hours passing, Damian could only come to three conclusions by which he could somewhat survive in.

One, he could run away and travel to a surrounding land in hope of living out his natural life in peace, away from the dangers of the impending bloodbath of the battle for the throne as soon as the Emperor Dies.

Two, Magic. Disappointment wasn’t the only thing Damian felt while going through Hunters Memories, wonder also flashed through his thoughts. If Damian could learn magic, there was hope of living out his natural life. if he was talented, he could even find a way to cure his disorder and enjoy life like normal people.

Three. Using magic, remain invisible and build a path where Damian had no need to flee or be under the threat of death again. A path of the strong, something Damian walked only as a Game Character and something the current Damian could only Dream of.

***

‘What should I do? Magic? It that something I can wield?’

Damian, quickly flashed through the memory of the family’s magic attitude test, to see what talent Hunter had but having seen the results, he felt lost. He had no talent, and his affinity was unknown. Just as he was thinking his only hope was the first option, he heard a familiar yet unfamiliar voice which he has read about in novels.

[Alert: The System Has Detected That The Host Has Chosen His Future Path And Has Now Fulfilled The Necessary Requirements To Access The System]

Having read countless fantasy novels, Damian instantly recognised the ‘SYSTEM.’ The Goldfinger or the cheat of Protagonists from Novels, where they sprinted through life, picking up girls or one shotting World Bosses. A tool of reality bending power.

‘A system? Magic? I see, this is the chance I was hopelessly wishing for. My chance at something more. Sniff’

As soon as Damian, heard the mechanical Voice of the system, it was like something broke in his mind. All those bottled-up emotions came pouring out, tears flowed down his face and his throat choked up.

After a while, Damian mustered up the last of his strength from his mentally tired body to whisper…

“STATUS”

[Alert: Host Voice Recognised. Starting Status Creation…]

[Alert: Scanning Host…]

[Alert: Anomaly Found. Missing Soul Fragment. Attempting To Recall Soul Fragment…Attempt Failed.]

[Alert: Uncalculated Error Detected. System Configuration In Progress…Configuration Completed]

[Alert: Dream Lord Template Created. Dream System Created]

[Alert: Compensation Created. Starter Pack: Big Dream Bag, Dream Clone Spell Book]

[Alert: Scanning World…]

[Alert: Mystic World Detected]

[Alert: Status Screen Created]

[Host: Damian Brooke/Hunter Felix]

[World: Mystic]

[Location: Xavier Kingdom, Felix Family Territory]

[Identity: The Abandoned 12^th Son of the Felix Family/????]

[Title: Zombie- Due to your illness, your complexion is pale and haggard. So the people that know you nicknamed you zombie. Effect: Unemotional. Invulnerable. Enhanced Senses]

[Talent: Immeasurable]

[Affinity: Dream 0.01%, Nightmare 0.01%]

[Life Span: 20 Years. Age: 10]

[Level: 0] [EXP: 0/10]

[Inventory: 1 Dream Realm Ticket, Big Dream Bag, Dream Clone Spell Book]

[Dream Points: 100]

[Alert: Welcome To The Dream System Host]