NOVEL NEXT Volume 1 Chapter 65: A Different Saria
For some reason, Garde felt that the Vouivre girl in front of him looked familiar.
Considering that this was Saria’s dream, it took Garde a while before he looked at the little girl and, with disbelief, said, “Saria!?”
Garde couldn’t reconcile the image of this delicate little girl, dressed in a floral dress, holding a toy car, and crying softly, with the strong, emotionless woman that Saria would become in the future.
It couldn’t be the same person, right?
Or was it that Saria became the way she was because of her childhood experiences?
Why would Saria dream of herself as a child?
Were her childhood memories nightmares for her?
Garde sensed something was off.
He could forcefully break Saria’s nightmare, believing that her strength wouldn’t allow a nightmare to dominate her.
However, seeing this small, vulnerable figure, Garde hesitated.
If Saria wasn’t as strong as he thought, breaking the nightmare might leave a deep scar in her heart.
For someone else, Garde might not care so much.
But for Saria, he was willing to spend a little more time.
He had already realized that the flow of time in the dream world differed from reality, just like how thoughts can instantly transcend time and space, recalling past and present events.
In a dream, what seems like a long time might be just a brief moment in reality.
“Who is Toby?”
Having made up his mind, Garde decided to intervene in Saria’s dream.
After all, it was just a dream.
“It’s them!” Little Saria pointed behind Garde.
Suddenly, the blank world began to transform into a street, with cars driving by, people coming and going, and the bustle of traffic.
Following little Saria’s direction, Garde saw several little boys, all with the characteristic Vouivre horns, just like Saria.
“Saria?”
“Well, look who found backup!”
“No one can help you!”
A few little brats ran over, full of bravado.
Garde tilted his head, puzzled by their courage.
These kids were about eight or nine years old, no taller than 1.4 meters, bullying young Saria might have been one thing, but daring to take on an adult over two meters tall?
Their guts were a bit too big, weren’t they?
But as the group of kids rushed forward, Garde quickly realized something was wrong.
Why were they getting taller?
They were almost as tall as he was!
Garde quickly figured it out—it wasn’t that the kids were growing taller, but that he was shrinking, reverting to his childhood form!
Young Garde wasn’t nearly as strong as his grown-up self.
Now, he was just a more robust Adakrys cub, hardly a match for these Vouivre kids, known for their physical prowess.
However, his rich combat experience told Garde what to do.
Facing three Vouivre kids, he decided to focus on the biggest one, even if it meant getting hurt—if he got punched three times, he’d make sure to land one punch on the biggest kid.
Before long, Garde was bruised and swollen, but so was the Vouivre kid named Toby, who was now crying out loud from Garde’s blows.
After dealing with them, Garde turned to Saria.
“Now, are you satisfied?”
He could have used his ascension powers to revert to his original form, but thinking about how Saria was bullied as a child made Garde decide to be her defender, giving her a chance to vent.
Garde didn’t notice that while he was fighting the Vouivre kids, little Saria was secretly watching him.
After he finished, little Saria pushed her toy car toward Garde.
“My car is broken.”
“Oh, the gear is loose. Let me fix it for you.”
When it came to handiwork, Garde was in his element!
He quickly found the tools he needed from the surrounding shops, though he didn’t understand why those shops appeared so conveniently.
In no time, he had the toy car fixed.
When he handed the repaired toy car back to little Saria, her eyes seemed to glow.
Being looked at with such admiration, Garde felt a surge of accomplishment.
Hugging her toy car, little Saria bowed deeply to Garde.
“Thank you! My name is Saria. What’s your name?”
“Garde.”
Garde wasn’t being cold; he just thought that since he had helped Saria deal with her childhood bullies, the dream should end, right?
But it didn’t.
The scene changed again.
Garde barely had time to gather his thoughts before a fist came flying at him.
“Watch out!”
His instincts made Garde brace for the punch and then counterattack.
But soon, he heard a startled cry and realized he had punched a young girl, who looked about 70-80% like the grown-up Saria, just much younger.
Caught off guard by Garde’s punch, the girl stumbled backward.
Garde quickly turned his punch into a grab, trying to catch her.
The result? They both fell together.
“Garde, what are you doing? You promised not to fight back! How could I possibly beat you if you punch back?”
The girl’s frustrated voice nearly made Garde fail to react.
Could this really be something Saria would say?
This wasn’t a complaint; it was more like she was being coquettish!
“Hey, Garde, what are you daydreaming about?” The girl playfully punched Garde in the chest.
“Hurry up! We don’t have all day!”
“Okay,” Garde responded, still bewildered.
He couldn’t understand why Saria’s dream had taken this turn.
Wasn’t she supposed to be having a nightmare?
And what was with this version of Saria?
Garde realized that something might have happened in Saria’s dream before he arrived.
Even the power of ascension wasn’t omniscient.
He could only guess that the scene would keep changing until Saria returned to her original self.
As expected, Garde didn’t spend much time with this teenage version of Saria before the scene changed again.
This time, he wasn’t on a street or in a training room.
He stood in the corner of a banquet hall, wearing a black suit and tie, looking completely out of place with the rest of the crowd.
As the banquet reached its climax, a Vouivre girl in a formal dress became the center of attention.
However, she rejected all the men’s invitations to dance and approached the crocodile man.
She raised her hand towards Garde and asked, “Mr. Garde, may I invite you to dance with me?”