Benladann POV

-----

Several clones that Drake had made suddenly came rushing here. They combined together into a larger slime and looked over his resting body.

"Main body…"

They looked over Drake's sleeping appearance, as they suddenly began to fade away into magic particles.

W-What's going on?

FLASH!

Suddenly, I was able to see something, an ethereal mass emerged from within the mass of slimes, fusing back with Drake!

I saw as the clones' souls merged into one which then merged back with Drake…

Drake's soul healed a lot from this!

Around 50% of what was lost was restored.

His soul was blazing with energy.

Maybe this was his backup plan? Drake really thinks about everything!

"W-Will he wake up?"

Yuki asked this as we looked over at Drake.

But he wasn't waking up.

After a few minutes, nothing yet.

His soul was still recovering, maybe he should be able to be mostly okay now… but maybe something was forcing him into sleeping?

Perhaps even if his wounds are healed partially, the exhaustion he felt was too much.

I decided to continue giving him souls as he slept, for hours.

The night came and he was still sleeping.

Most of the people couldn't stay here forever, I let them go and do their own things, some went hunting, others to train, and others to make some food.

I stayed here with my parents; I wasn't going to stop until his soul was to be healed.

However, I myself was feeling quite sleepy.

In the end, I fell asleep without realizing it over the chair I was resting on…

Drake…

-----

Drake POV

…

I had fallen asleep while devouring souls, my Soul Exhaustion might have hit critical levels, so I ended falling asleep at the end.

Where am I now?

I look around my surroundings, but I can only find darkness.

A dream? Perhaps.

I kept walking through the darkness until I saw masses of pink-colored smoke.

This… reminds me of something.

I continued to walk through it, but I quickly got lost.

Ugh…

Wait. This place…

It is the inheritance entrance of the Dream Fox Demon Venerable.

I came back here without even realizing it…

But I don't know if I am ready for it, I require a stronger soul to even dare to get inside of this labyrinth, and since then, I haven't trained my dream traveling abilities because I've been busy doing a myriad of other things.

I didn't realize it, but despite wanting to live a relaxing life, I am always doing so many things… Oh man, ugh.

I should get out of here and wake up.

But… No matter how far I try to walk away from this, the pink clouds continue to absorb me into it.

Wait, this is acting strange, I don't remember it being so oppressive, it really wants to drag me in!

"Fufu, you're back?"

Suddenly, the voice of a mischievous fox girl emerges around.

"No, I came here by mistake again… Can I get out?"

"By mistake? You're saying that you've entered my glorious inheritance just by mistake, once more? You're quite arrogant for a measly mortal, dragon…"

She got a bit angry, I see, Venerables are incredibly prideful of their creations, being told that I just slipped into her inheritance without even wanting to might had offended her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you… You're venerable, don't get so childish over a slight remark." I said.

"C-Childish?! I-I am not childish!"

The fox girl appeared in front of me while pouting. She was quite cute.

"You're right, you're a majestic venerable, I apologize for calling you like that," I said, I decided to kneel and throw away my pride, if she wanted to, she could end me at any time. Despite just being a recollection of her consciousness left behind after her death, I am sure that she was still strong enough to destroy my soul.

"Hmph! You better mean it! But seriously, what's so special about you, dragon? How can you slip accidentally inside of my inheritance twice- Oh, I see. In the end, there are no such things as a coincidence…"

The fox girl smiled mischievously at me. She was planning something.

"What is it?"

"Fate itself has guided you here. It's probably Yggdrasil's well workings. It wants to destroy you while it still can. Letting you inside of my inheritance is a very easy way to destroy your soul if you end up slipping inside one of the Dream Worlds inside and then losing the challenge of the dream, your soul will be easily consumed…" said the fox girl.

"Fate…? Yggdrasil's will?"

"You probably don't know much, huh? Fate is what maintains order in the world, it is an all-powerful element that Yggdrasil's Will uses to dominate everything. Even our lifespan is decided by fate, you cannot fight fate, and fate will always decide what will happen to you… Yet, after many reincarnated people came into existence, fate weakened. After all, we possess souls from the outside while having bodies from this world, fate only affects half of our future." Said the venerable.

"So that's how it is… This is quite hard to believe, but you're a Venerable, you must know more than me. Wait, you were a…?"

"Indeed, I was a reincarnated person! I've met some of them too, you're one, right? Most of you always talk about coming from worlds named Earth, though, I didn't come from such a world." She said.

"Really?"

"Fufu, but why would I tell you more than that? Where would the fun be?" she asked.

She's really like a fox.

"The fact that my consciousness remains alive in my dreams is the fact that I am defying fate. I remain half-alive, waiting for the moment to revive after Fate is broken. Many Venerables are doing so as well…" she said.

"Wait, hold up, you gave me a big reveal there!"

"I kind of like you, so I did it on a whim… Hm, how about this? I'll give you a little challenge, if you can complete it, I'll let you go back, and with a gift included!"

-----