In Between Reality and a Daydream

Asaya didn’t have a clue how Elkan had dragged her here. Really, she didn’t. She hadn’t gone this far out of her house in years, much less walked straight up to a dungeon without a proper raiding party. She could practically feel the stares of strangers pouring into her, the stares of people who knew her from when she was a kid, and knew how horribly the last time she’d gone into a dungeon had ended.

She was surprised none of them had come up to her already, but then again, Elkan was giving them pretty scary looks. He was an elf, after all. Elves were pretty much the same as humans, except for their long ears and taller statures, as well as their longer lifespans… while a human’s average lifespan was five hundred years, an elf’s average was one thousand. They were sometimes viewed as the superior species because of that, even though there were fewer of them in the world. Although, that meant nothing when someone’s soul was what determined your power, not your species.

Still though, she didn’t know whether to attribute it to his expensive clothing that was fit for a king, which he was in his world, or the fact that Elkan just had a naturally intimidating aura. It was also important to consider that no one had seen him around before, considering he, well… wasn’t of this world… so maybe they didn’t know how to process the fact he was traveling around with Asaya of all people.

She really didn’t know how to react when the two of them approached the dungeon keeper, who she could tell recognized her with the way his jaw slackened, as if seeing her in person was a shock. But the moment he laid eyes on Elkan smiling at him, he seemed to regain his composure, straightening himself up as he met the rich-looking elf with a practiced smile. “Ah, hello there, sir! And Asaya, too, it’s been a while! How can I help you today?”

Now that was certainly a question. Not a good one to ask when they were centered at the beginning of a dungeon. A dark, overgrown cave hung above them, the way out still shining brightly into the large, open space, and Asaya could see the path to go further down when she stared into the rocky depths. The area smelled damp and moist, a wet atmosphere hanging off stalactites as water dripped down into small puddles near the bottom, echoing smally throughout the limited space. It was a good half hour away from their town, so anyone that came inside it was clearly only here for one thing… why else would someone come to a dungeon but to enter it? So, no, not a very good question at all.

However, while Asaya was thinking of ways to politely avoid him in a way that was more ambiguous than anything else, Elkan’s emerald eyes shone dangerously as he landed a hand on the man’s wooden desk, poised and intimidating. “I think that should be obvious,” he smiled out, the expression not truly meeting his eyes as the dungeon keeper gawked at him. “We want to enter the dungeon.”

“Ah… well ah, yes, um, of course…” the man wavered, quickly glancing towards Asaya with his remaining hesitance. “It’s just that, sir, last time your… your companion… was here, she almost died. I don’t think it’s wise to take a powerless person into this high-class of a dungeon. While the higher levels are fairly easy to conquer for people with weaker magic, it only gets more and more dangerous the deeper you—”

“That’s great. I don’t remember asking,” Elkan interrupted, and Asaya could tell how impatient he was already getting. She wanted to tug on the sleeve of his robe and ask him to calm down, but he still looked as pristine and well-kept as ever when he swept a hand behind her and took hold her shoulders, bringing her closer to the dungeon keeper like he was showing off a prize.

“Me and Asaya will be entering this dungeon, just the two of us. And we’re not just going to stop before the higher levels and come back, no, no. We’re going to clear the entire thing,” he announced, and both Asaya and the dungeon keeper stared at him like he’d gone absolutely crazy. “So if that’s all, please write our names down as entrees. I’ll inform you that my name is Elkan. So, with that out of the way, come along now, my lady.”

It was as abruptly as they’d entered, with Elkan guiding her down towards the tunnel as the dungeon keeper ogled after them, and Asaya wondered if he thought she would end up dead by the end of this excursion. In all honest truth, she didn’t know the answer to that either, but Elkan was very strong. He knew everything that she knew, and as far as her knowledge went, she’d created him to be on par with the strongest of beings in this world.

In her memory, she’d felt like she was going on a power trip when she’d created him, giving him insane stats and then balancing his world around that. But while his world was scaled to be more powerful than this one, he was still one of the strongest even among that, and his personality had definitely been affected. Elkan was most certainly arrogant, even if he didn’t go around trying to flaunt himself everywhere he went, and part of his personal arc in the story she’d written was stopping himself from turning into a tyrant. His quest for power had almost consumed him, his desire for control eating away at him bit by bit, until he’d learned to free himself and began to appreciate those around him and what they contributed.

Which led Asaya to another question. The Elkan in front of her still seemed very power-centered and authoritative, often not patient with those he deemed to be challenging him… but he wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d been at the start of the series, when he’d first met the main character, his future lover whom Asaya had based on herself. If people thought he was rude now, she would hate to see their reactions to what he was like in the early story. So then… what part of the story had he come from, exactly? She supposed there was only one real way to find out.

She was quick to break the silence as they trudged down the dark tunnel, their surroundings being lit up by a bright glowing lantern, speeding up to walk beside Elkan instead of behind him. If that bothered him, he didn’t show it, so Asaya was quick to take a hold of his sleeve, eyes wide and curious as she questioned innocently, “Hey, Elkan, how old are you?”

“Hm?” he smiled smugly, as if the question amused him, but Asaya kept hold of his sleeve as he guided their way through, glad that he didn't seem to mind. “Honestly, I don’t know how to answer that with certainty. I know what happens throughout my entire life, up until the point I die, but not all of it feels quite real. It feels more like information that was stuffed inside my head the moment I got here, not truly my own experiences… not yet, at least. I only have solid, real memories up to a point of what I know happens. So, using that as a basis, I’m probably somewhere around three hundred years old.”

“What? That’s old,” Asaya blurted, flushing when Elkan barked out a laugh, turning his face down to give her a wide grin.

“My lady, you made me to be your ideal. I presume you’re into older men?”

“Uh— no!” she gritted, slapping his arm with small force as she glared at him, pushing herself off in slight outrage. “That’s how old you were when you finally realized you wanted more than power, and that you wanted to be loved and cherished and that you wanted to protect people! You know, when you finally became a good person! And I couldn’t make you have that turning point too early in your life, like when you were younger, because then it wouldn’t have so much of an impact!"

"Don’t you remember how shocked all of your allies were when you sacrificed your throne to save the woman you loved?!” she ranted, reaching out to grab back onto his sleeve, the silk folding inside her fist, ready to continue on her passionate spiel about why it was important to the plot he was older and therefore more set in his ways so that his redemption arc worked out the way she’d intended it to. When suddenly, she was grabbed by the scruff of her baggy grey tunic and was tossed to the side, Elkan dashing in front of her to take care of a mystifying sight.

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It really had been so long since she’d entered a dungeon. Asaya had completely forgotten what kind of creatures were in here. They were supposedly low level, and they always hung out on the first level of the dungeon’s dark, wet tunnels, but they were still quite terrifying to look at. Once upon a time, Asaya had desensitized herself from those skeleton’s pale white frames, rotten flesh still hanging off their ribs to create a putrid smell wherever they went, but now it just made her feel sick.

The creatures of bone didn’t really look like any creature in particular, mismatched bones finding themselves bonded together after traveling away from their original corpses. That’s what this dungeon did... whatever died inside it molded itself to be a part of it, and once something had been dead long enough, it formed into a heap of bones and dead flesh that hadn’t been part of the same creature originally.

Though at least Elkan didn’t leave her much time to stare at them and really take in their mangled forms. He merely let her cling to his waist, hands clutching his golden embroidered belt as he lifted a hand, a green glow fizzing and snapping around his creamy olive fingertips as the lantern dangled in his other.

Asaya recognized it as a charged energy attack, where he siphoned wandering energy from his surrounding area and attacked his opponent with it. With one clear shot, the energy was fired off at the malformed beasts of bone, ripping the dead flesh to pieces as the white, hollow bones broke and crumbled to dust. Asaya could only peek out from his sides, the top of her head not even reaching his upper chest, but she didn’t have to do anything more with the entire pathway cleared up, slightly bewildered by his power. It was power she’d given him and designed for him to have, and she knew its fundamentals and properties front to back, but it still felt jarring to see it activated in person, rather than her daydreams… but still, didn’t it seem a bit weaker than it should?

Though, if he noticed, he didn’t say anything, and Elkan merely turned to smile down at her, gently reaching around to continue guiding her down the tunnel with stable hands, as if what he’d just done really wasn’t that big of a deal at all. “Back to what you were saying. I do indeed remember sacrificing everything for her, you’re right. I won’t undermine what you meticulously planned out,” he smiled, bringing Asaya forward as he did, gently guiding her around the slobs of ash as she grimaced.

In all honesty, she was completely perplexed, having not expected things to go so smoothly. Perhaps it was only natural that they had, given Elkan’s skillset, but the last time she’d been here had been tough. She’d entered with Lumis and their other friend, the two people in her childhood who, back then, had been her guiding lights.

Even though she hadn’t yet awakened a power like them, she’d still wanted to contribute in some way, so she offered to carry their stuff. She didn't want to be left behind, so she was willing to be of use in any way possible. And maybe it was just because they were younger and more inexperienced back then, but taking down those bone monsters had taken them a little while. And yet, this time, she hadn’t even had to lift a finger.

“I really don’t have to do anything?” she questioned blankly, falling back into step beside Elkan with an almost suspicious mindset. This really did seem too easy.

And she nearly flinched when Elkan responded by ruffling her short heap of hair, blond strands mussing up in every direction, but he only laughed like he found her question silly. “What do you mean? You’re the one who manifested me here. You created me from the ground up, so every accomplishment I make while in this world belongs to you.”

“Huh? That doesn’t sound fair,” Asaya objected, but Elkan merely smiled at the remark.

“Why not? Without you, I wouldn’t exist,” he replied, expression softening as she examined him, and she could tell he saw straight through her paranoia. “Not to mention, I think it is fair to add that I’m not at my full strength right now. Your ability to create is at its earliest stage, which means I can’t access most of my higher magic. I’m only allowed to use the amount of mana you have. If I use anything more, I risk hurting you, as the host.”

“Oh… really?” Asaya wondered, taking in his kind smile with hesitance. Elkan was usually prideful in his ways and actions, and in the beginning of his story, he’d started out as an objectively grey person. He was prince of the elves and took care of his subjects dutifully, and often went out of his way to help those less fortunate than himself. But when it came to other nobles, he constantly exerted his power and tried to suppress them. And if anyone, no matter the class, tried to challenge him? He wouldn’t hesitate to take their life.

Although, Elkan always made sure the other person knew what they were getting into… that if they really wanted a duel with him, if they truly wanted to challenge his authority, if they were that desperate for it, they would lose their life if they lost. And he followed that principle up until the main character met him on his doorstep.

She really had changed his life… he was King by that point, and as time passed, he developed a sense of devotion towards her that he hadn’t felt towards anyone else before. Was that Elkan… the one who’d had his heart opened to love… really the one beside her? Was this real?

Like fantasy and reality had collided together, Asaya finally felt herself processing all that had happened. Elkan had appeared in her world and taught her how her magic worked, had gotten her outside of her house and helped her buy things at shops she hadn’t visited in years… he’d gotten her inside a dungeon of all things, a place she’d always dreamed of conquering, and was telling her that with him, with her magic, she could do that. Everything she’d ever dreamed of was at her fingertips, ready for her to take hold of it, if she just reached out. If she got out of her dark, gloomy atmosphere and expanded herself back into the adventurous, whimsical person she once was…

For the first time in a long time, Asaya finally thought of herself as lucky. She’d been able to pull the man of her dreams out of the book she’d written, and with that power, she could finally move forward. For the first time in over four, dreary years, her eyes were glowing, and she reached out to tug harshly on Elkan’s draping sleeve as she hooked herself around his arm, a small spark of herself returning with her grin. “So how much mana do I have, huh? Do I have a lot? I can’t possibly have that much, since I just awakened my magic a few days ago, so is it really possible for you to defeat this dungeon all on your own, Elkan?”

“Well, you have more than you think, actually,” Elkan smiled slyly, the gears in his mind turning as he recalled the power he was able to access. “Your mana grew each time you finished a book after your anointment ceremony. By letting out your creativity and passion for crafting stories and worlds, you’ve been enhancing your mana all this time. Each time you reach a mile marker, like finishing ten books, or finishing fifty, or finishing a hundred, your mana is enhanced by a wide margin."

"The only problem is that, despite how much mana you’ve amassed over the years, you have zero achievements… so as you know, that means even if you had all the mana in the world, you won’t be able to do much with it. That’s why you can only summon me, for now. But with more achievements, your ability to summon your creations will grow, and you might even be able to harness an entire army!” Elkan gleamed, Asaya’s eyes widening with intrigue at such an ambitious thought.

“A whole army?! I could take out whole dungeons all by myself!”

“You could! Imagine the possibilities!” Elkan encouraged proudly, gladly letting Asaya cling to him without a care.

“Ooh, I’m good at imagining things! Just wait, I’ll come up with something good,” she grinned, before a realization immediately came to her, and she looked up to Elkan in a wide-eyed panic. “One-on-one matches! Like in tournaments! I could totally just sick a ton of guys on my opponent, and it would be okay because all of you come from me as my power!”

“That’s a brilliant idea,” Elkan nodded, smile never fading as he lifted his hand up towards the ever-expanding dark hole they were walking through, shooting a blast of energy that encompassed the entire tunnel like a shockwave, killing all of the creeping bone monsters of mush in a matter of seconds. He looked genuinely proud of her idea, too, which made her happy.

“Your power’s really pretty, Elkan.”

“Why, thank you, my lady. It’s all thanks to your wonderful design.”

“Heh, that’s right,” she smiled, her smile becoming something truer the longer they talked. She was in between reality and a daydream, and she felt great. For the first time in so, so long, Asaya felt like she could do something with her life. Like everything wasn’t hopeless. Like she wasn’t going to waste away and die all on her own, without anyone there to care if she’d lived. Like somehow, in some way, she’d been given this power for a reason, and she would continue to bridge her reality and her fantasies together until she reached somewhere grand and magical, just like she’d always dreamed.