Elian was inside his dream.
There, he could control his consciousness however he liked. However, that control did not apply when his unconscious state was caused by the side effects of his fate. Even so, he was still able to see the outside world at the moment—like a spectator trapped behind a sheet of glass.
Through his vision, Elian watched Sena begin to remove her clothes to treat him. Her movements were extremely slow as she opened Elian's shirt, took bandages, and prepared other medical tools—not because she was being careful, but as if the scene itself were playing in slow motion.
"That girl really is good at everything," Elian muttered with a faint smile.
Soon, he stopped observing the outside world and focused back on his dream. But this dream felt strange—somehow, it pulled him in.
He saw himself torturing his servants, his face filled with cruelty and cold indifference. Yet every time the torture ended, he looked sorrowful instead. His shoulders trembled slightly, and in a voice barely audible, he always muttered the same words.
"I'm sorry."
…
"What actually happened to my brother? Why is his condition this bad?" Liana asked anxiously.
"I'm certain the wounds on his body are old ones—the same injuries we saw the first time he was hurt," Sena replied with a serious expression. "As for why he suddenly lost consciousness… it's because he overused future prediction. That's also why the battle earlier went so smoothly, without any real obstacles."
'Wait… where did you even get that assumption from?' Elian muttered inwardly.'Whatever. This actually gives me the perfect excuse to take the main reward.'
Slowly, Elian opened his eyes.
That small movement immediately drew their attention.
"You need to rest," Sena said. "Your body isn't in good condition."
Elian ignored her words and lifted his head. Just as he tried to sit up, a hand stopped him. He turned his head and found Liana looking at him with a sad expression.
Only then did Elian realize—while he was unconscious, his head had been resting on Liana's lap.
It wasn't really important. Still, this change in her attitude felt… strange. Wasn't she the girl who had once casually offered her life to a demon?
"You need to rest," Liana said softly.
Too lazy to respond, and with the pain in his body growing worse, Elian brushed Liana's hand away and stood up, staggering toward the giant tree that had now partially collapsed.
Before him, the green orb that had once shone brightly now looked hollow and drained of color.
Elian poured his magic power into it.
Slowly, the orb began to glow green again, absorbing the remaining power from the surrounding trees.
"Wasn't that thing already destroyed? How can it still gather power?" Sena asked, curiosity clear in her voice.
Elian stayed focused.
Moments later, the orb in his hand shattered into pieces. From the fragments, a small marble-sized sphere appeared, glowing deep green.
Without hesitation, Elian swallowed it.
In an instant, all the wounds on his body healed. The pain vanished as if it had never existed. He could feel new power surging through his body.
Then—
Soft, childlike voices slowly entered his ears.
"Wow… he's getting even more handsome."
"That's right. He's starting to look like the tree guardians."
Elian frowned. There were too many voices—like a crowd talking all at once.
When he opened his eyes, he froze.
Thousands of tiny winged beings were flying around him, chatting noisily with one another.
"Fairies?" Elian widened his eyes in shock.
The fairies froze when they realized Elian could see them. The next moment, they swarmed toward him.
"Hey, hey! How can you see us?"
"Um, um—how about we make a contract? I can help you with lots of things!"
"No! Make a contract with me instead!"
Their voices overlapped, loud and chaotic.
Elian started to feel uncomfortable.
Suddenly, he felt something covering his ears. Slowly, the voices and the figures of the fairies faded away, as if they no longer existed.
"I used to do this whenever they got too noisy," Liana said while covering Elian's ears with both hands. "You just use magic power to block your senses from perceiving their presence."
"Do you plan on holding my ears all day?" Elian said flatly.
Liana gave an awkward smile and pulled her hands away. She clearly had many questions she wanted to ask, but in the end, she only said softly,
"I'm glad… you're okay."
Elian raised an eyebrow slightly at her words.
"You seem pretty close. So why did you need to fight each other in the first place?" Sena asked as she walked closer.
"I guess it was just a normal sibling fight," Martin said cheerfully from behind. "I do that with my brother all the time."
Elian's gaze swept over the three of them. When it reached William, the young man looked nervous. After taking a deep breath, William finally spoke.
"I think I misjudged you," he said sincerely. "And thank you. If it weren't for your help, we probably wouldn't have survived."
William bowed slightly.
Elian stayed silent, considering whether he should kill them for points—especially Liana, who had clearly earned a large amount after defeating the boss monster earlier.
"By the way, Elian," Sena asked enthusiastically, "what did you just do? How did you heal so fast? And what was that green orb you ate?"
'Forget it,' Elian thought.'Besides, thanks to them, I managed to defeat the boss monster earlier.'
He smiled and gave a brief explanation—a mix of truth and lies. Sena still looked suspicious, but in the end, she nodded and stopped asking.
"Then how about we form a team? I'm sure we'd be unbeatable," Martin said confidently.
All eyes turned toward Elian and Liana, waiting for their answer.
Before either of them could speak, footsteps approached.
Everyone turned their heads.
From between the trees, several people emerged wearing traditional tribal clothing. When they saw Elian's group, their faces filled with anger. But when their gaze shifted to the fallen giant tree behind him—
Their expressions changed.
Eyes widened. Tears spilled from the corners of their eyes.
"Heroes… they are the heroes of legend!" someone shouted before running forward and kneeling on the ground.
The others quickly followed, kneeling and lowering their heads.
Everyone was shocked.
Especially Elian.
Because the people kneeling before him were supposed to be minor monsters he needed to clear before fighting the boss monster—
Yet now, instead of fighting him…They were bowing before him.