Dreamer's Throne

His best guess was that there was something in the palace that was disrupting his connection, which also would explain why he hadn't seen a Great Ruler in that territory. It made sense to him that, given the strength of the royal family, they would have defenses against mysterious artifacts, or even the dream itself, and as Garrett probed, trying to extend his awareness from the dream flower, he found it almost impossible. Furthermore, the suppressive pressure seemed to be growing stronger all the time, and Garrett got the distinct impression that something, or someone, in the palace was starting to grow aware of him.

Not wanting to risk it, he immediately closed the connection, pulling his mind back to the carriage. The sense of pressure he was feeling evaporated, and after taking a few deep breaths, Garrett felt himself returning to normal. Just then, there was a thud on the roof of the carriage, as Ryn dropped down onto it from the rooftop she had been walking across, and a moment later, she swung down through the door, taking her seat across from Garrett.

"Well, she's in the palace," Ryn said. "So much for my plan for the two of you to fall in love and get married."

Amused, Garrett shook his head.

“I don't know that we would suit," he said.

"What do you mean? Of course you would suit. She can do all of the social stuff, and you can plot and scheme. I mean, somebody's got to keep those nobles in check, right? And just imagine, you could be king. King Garrett. Ruler of the city of Insomnia."

"But I don't want to be king," Garrett said, calmly.

Gazing across the carriage at Ryn, flipping her hair, Ryn laughed.

"What do you mean you don't want to be king? I thought everybody wants to be king."

"I think that's a misconception," Garrett replied. "Most people want the benefits that come with being king, though they don't actually want to be king in reality. After all, there are more downsides than upsides to a job like that. It's just that the perceived upsides are so large that people convince themselves that that's what they want. Take, for instance, status. There are many ways to get status in this world, but very few of them deliver on the implicit promise. People want to become wealthy, but again, there are many ways to become wealthy. One doesn't need to be the king in order to be able to buy nice things, while being king requires balancing the needs of other people against one another. It means forsaking yourself. It means being willing not to play favorites. All of those are things that I have no desire to do."

Watching Garrett as he spoke, Ryn smiled slyly.

"And yet, isn't that what you do? For the Klein family, I mean. You balance everyone's needs against each other's. You pursue things not because you want to, but because you think they'd be good for the family. Sounds pretty kingly to me."

"If I was going to be a king, I'd want to be the power behind the throne," Garrett said softly. "Not the person on the throne itself."

"That's true. You do like to keep a low profile. Reminds me of a spiderweb, actually. And you're the spider sitting at the center of it."

"While I don't really enjoy spiders, it's an apt description," Garrett replied. "Let's return to the inn."

As they headed back to the inn, Garrett began strategizing, trying to figure out how he was going to solve the coming problem. The reality was that the princess was now in a dangerous situation, especially since Garrett didn't have as much of an ability to monitor her as he had assumed he would. That was the most pressing problem to solve.

After thinking about it for a moment, he finally came to a realization. The biggest and most important issue was that he was too weak. Somnia had mentioned that her range didn't extend to the palace. If it had, while the issue may have still remained, it wouldn't have been quite as severe. This meant that the most efficient use of his time and energy was simply advancing the speed at which he improved his own personal power, as that would in turn expand Somnia's capabilities as well.

Moreover, since the dream flowers carried Garrett's mental energy, by improving himself, he would also improve them, making whatever was blocking his energy from being able to freely enter and exit the palace less effective.

Calling up his status, Garrett saw that he was hovering right around 180 experience, having spent a considerable sum on his effort to acquire the Ebony Association. That was done now, which meant that he could once again return to growing his pool of experience. He needed about 460 experience before he would level up once more, rising to level 7. The question was, what was the fastest way to do that?

After thinking it through, Garrett waited until nightfall and then entered the dream. As he appeared on the dreamer's throne, he sent out a message through Somnia, alerting every single awakened dreamer under his control of a new mission and informing them that there was going to be a meeting in one hour.

An hour later, when he entered Dreamer's Rest and walked up to the VIP area, he was startled to see just how many awakened there were gathered there. Pax and the others were sitting at their table, along with almost three dozen other awakened associated with the Klein family. There were nearly 100 Grave Walkers who had gathered at nearby tables, and close to 175 members of the Ebony Association, including Gero, whose golden mask drew more than a few glances. Altogether there were over 315 awakened who had gathered together in dreamer's rest. The low murmur of conversation as the awakened talked to each other about what this big mission might be filled Garrett's ears. A lull rose in the room as the awakened saw Garrett arrive.

"Thank you all for coming. A particularly important event has just taken place in our city. As you know, Princess Eloise, rightful heir to the throne of Insomnium, has just returned to the palace, where her uncle, Duke Arkov, currently rules as regent. We have been given a particular mission, which is to clear a path to the palace. Though we have some idea of what lies between Dreamer's Rest and the palace, the dream is a fickle place, fraught with danger. And rather than send out small teams to explore limited areas, the goal this time is to make a concentrated push, clearing as much of the northern district and southern district as is necessary in order to get to the palace in the dream.

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“However, this isn't going to be an easy mission. Though there are a lot of us, the dangers the dream holds are numerous and deadly, as many of you know. Still, we need not be frightened as we have a considerable level of power ourselves. The mission will be led by the dreamer's chosen, Gero, along with two other supporters of equal level. Furthermore, I will be participating in this mission as well."

The room, which had fallen silent, broke out in a murmur. No one knew what the mysterious man in the white mask's powers were. And many had assumed that he didn't fight at all, because they had never seen him venture out of the inn and into the dream.

Calling for silence again, Garrett began to organize the teams. The original team of awakened dreamers that included Pax, Maren, Kinsley, Asher, and Estel formed the tip of the spear and would be responsible, along with Garrett himself, for the pace the expedition would set. Gero, along with the majority of her forces, would hold the left flank, providing support for Garrett's team, while ensuring that the areas behind them were stabilized. Cynen, leading the Grave Walkers, and the other members of the Klein family, would hold the right side, doing the same.

Each and every one of the awakened dreamers who was there had already experienced the subtle growth of their soul spark as they killed nightmares. And so, despite the fear that many of them felt, they found themselves excited to venture deep into the dream. Calling Cynen, Gero, and a few others together, Garrett began to lay out their plan. Unrolling the map that he had purchased from Karn on the table, Garrett's finger traced a path through the streets to the upper bridge.

"This is the oldest of the three bridges," Garrett said, "and so this is the one we'll head for. There's no guarantee it's going to be standing, as it appears as if the dream is a slightly older version of the city, but if it is, that's where we'll cross. That will allow us to take the road directly down toward the palace. However, it will also take us along the territory of another Great Ruler."

Garrett's finger stopped in the noble district, where the houses were interspersed with massive-looking mushrooms.

"According to the map, this path will take us between two different territories. The lower territory here is ruled by the Rotting Tongue of Wen, which frankly sounds disgusting, and I imagine will mean we're going to be fighting monsters who live up to the title. As for the sword forest, I'm not sure what we'll find there. There's no ruler in that territory, but that doesn't mean we'll need to be any less on our guard. If anything, it means that whatever does occupy that space is too dangerous for the other rulers to defeat. The Dreamer on the Throne has a very clear objective this time. We are to create a path that leads directly to the palace, so that we can ensure the princess's safety."

Gero's eyes widened at that, and she glanced at Cynen, who had frowned slightly.

"Does that mean that the Dreamer on the Throne is throwing in his lot with the princess?" Cynen asked, voicing the question that was on Gero's mind as well.

Shaking his head, Garrett tapped the palace on the map.

"The Dreamer on the Throne doesn't throw his lot in with anybody, but it isn't ours to question why he's choosing to favor her at this time. We just need to know that he is and act accordingly."

"What about the ruler to the north? Do you think we might be attacked while we're gone if it catches wind that we're moving out with such a big force?"

"We run the risk," Garrett said, "but it's something that we'll just have to chance. We can always come back to the inn if necessary, and even once we're gone, our territory is not without defenders."

Given that there wasn't a need for supplies like food, the teams were able to deploy quickly, leaving Dreamer's Rest and heading northeast. Much of the territory in this direction had already been cleared, so they were able to make good progress. Because of the dream flowers that had been planted along the way, the fog that covered the dream was thin, leaving little room for the nightmares creeping through the area to hide. With the awakened moving out in force, any nightmares unfortunate enough to run into them were killed almost immediately. Each of the awakened dreamers hurried to land the final blow. Pax, walking alongside Garrett, kept looking curiously at him until finally, Garrett asked her what was on her mind.

"I'm curious about how you'll fight," came her blunt response. "After all, I've never seen you actually wield a weapon, and you're not holding anything now. I mean, besides that umbrella."

The rest of the awakened dreamers were dressed in armor that suited this world. Garrett had maintained his habit of condensing mental energy into artifacts that could be used in the dream, exchanging them for missions completed from the job board. Many of the awakened dreamers had gathered armor and weapons in that manner. Much of what Pax was currently wearing fit into that category, causing Garrett to stand out even more than normal. He was wearing his typical three-piece suit and bowler hat, with the white mask on his face. The only thing he carried in his hands was an umbrella, currently closed, that he treated almost like a cane.

"I'm only here to ensure that everything doesn't go south," Garrett said, "and to do any negotiating we need to."

"You can negotiate with nightmares?" Pax asked.

"So long as they're sufficiently powerful, yes."

"I get the distinct impression that it would be better not to meet that sort of nightmare," Maren said, causing Estelle, Kinsley, and Pax to all laugh.

Asher didn't laugh. Instead, his gaze drifted to the side, and he pointed his finger as three dog-like shadows emerged from his cloak and raced into the alleyway he had pointed at. There were some short, sharp growls, and then Garrett felt himself gain an experience point. Ignoring the window that had popped up, Garrett smiled under his mask as they continued forward.

It didn't take them long to reach the edge of the territory that had been explored. Along the way, Garrett continually referred to the map, wanting to make sure that they didn't accidentally stray into the Burning Pain of Gath's territory. The upper bridge, which was the older of the two still-existing bridges, was the most sure bet, and that's where they were heading now. It did mean that they would have to cut into some of the other ruler's territory, but Garrett was hoping that they could slip by without too much trouble.

"Do not kill any more nightmares until we're across the bridge." Garrett's command echoed in the minds of each of the awakened dreamers, and they began to hurry forward, their combined auras carving out a path in the thick fog that appeared around them.

Garrett expanded his own aura, subtly shrouding the entire group as they made a beeline for where he was hoping the upper bridge would be. If that didn't work, they would have to go south along the river, which Garrett wanted to avoid if possible. A few times, he felt the minds of various nightmares brushing up against his aura, but they quickly turned and fled, clearly frightened by the sheer number of awakened dreamers.

Walking through the thick fog of the dream was tense, and with every step, the awakened dreamers could feel the fog caressing them with icy fingers. At the front of the group, Pax's expression was grim, her eyes darting from side to side as she tried to spot any potential threats. Gero was much the same, as this was the first time she had cleared new territory in the dream. She found it hard not to jump at every vague sight and sound, but knew that it was imperative she remain steady as an example to those following her. The only one who seemed completely calm other than Garrett was Cynen, causing everyone who looked at her to be amazed.

"We're coming up to water," Maren called out and a few minutes later, Pax stopped everyone at the edge of a large river. With a frown, she looked at the perfectly smooth, glassy water in front of her.

"There's no bridge," she muttered. "Where's the bridge?"