When I regained my consciousness, I opened my eyes straight away. The first thing I felt was how light my eyelids were, which might be a good indicator as the last few times I felt a heavy sensation, nothing good came of itâ¦
And what came to my field of vision almost caused me to scream or faint.
A very close up face of a wolf was there right before my eyes. Its menacing red eyes were staring at me, and then the menacing hornsâ¦It was none other than Fenrir.
Whatâs more, it was like he was going to eat me!
But I gotta stay calm, stay calmâ¦
â¦then he licked my face using his tongue!!
âEkh, donât eat me!â Too bad, my mouth leaked out my true feelings as I tried to avert my eyes from him and shielded my face using my hands. I wanted to back off, but my head was already on the ground, so nothing I could do.
âPfft.â
âDonât worry, I wonât eat you,â Fenrir said.
âY-yeah, I wonât let you do that, too, I can fight back!â I said as I waved my hands at him.
The moment I saw my hands that were flailing around, I gasped.
These handsâ¦seemed like a childâs hands!
I touched my cheeks using them. Hmm, I couldnât tell, butâ¦
I proceeded to touch my hair and noticed how I had my hair in twintails and when I brought my hair to my vision, itâ¦the color was galaxy blue!!
âPhew, finally! That scared me! What did you do to me?â I asked Fenrir.
ââ¦You just overcame a trial I gave you. Congratulations, little girl. I shall acknowledge you as my master,â Fenrir said as if it was a matter of fact.
âHuh, a trial you gave me? Wait, me, as your master?â My mind still couldnât process everything.
âYes. Didnât you come here in order to form a contract with me? Youâve obtained it.â
ââ¦I honestly have no ideaâ¦â
ââ¦Then why did you come here?â
âIâ¦I was chasing after a wyvern. I accidentally went here, it wasnât on purpose, I swear!â
ââ¦â¦â
ââ¦â¦â
Both of us were silently looking at each other with a look of disbelief.
âB-but I overcame that trial, right? So, you will be my Familiar, wonât you?â For the time being, I understood as much and I was thrilled to think that I would have a Familiar of my own!!
âYeah. So, you still want to form a contract with me, little girl?â
âOf course!â
âDespite having no idea of who I am and what my powers are?â He asked with a face that seemed to be saying, â
âYeah. I donât mind. We can get to know each other after forming the contract. Why does it matter?â I tilted my head to the side.
I meant, I pretty much didnât have any criteria of Familiar. Any Familiar that wanted to be mine would be welcome! And having such a strong-looking, no, he might really be strongâ¦having a Familiar like Fenrir might be dreamy!
âVery well. I shall proceed as you wish. Now, put your hand on my fang and--,â he said as he bared his fangs at me.
âHell no! How do I know itâs not your trick to eat me?!â I was frightened. He could as well swallow me in one go if he wanted to.
ââ¦So much trust, to think that weâre going to be master-Familiar from now on.â
âUhâ¦Okay, okay, Iâll trust you,â I said. Either way, I could heal myself if he were to injure me, but I didnât want to feel hurtâ¦
I was quite afraid of him because of how intimidating he was, how big he was, and the fact that he kinda attacked me when all I wanted was just to say âHi, sorry I went to the wrong direction, let me go, thanks.â
Nevertheless, I should try to trust him for now. So, I put my right hand on his right fang.
âNow pour your mana into my fang,â He said, and the fang reverberated as his voice leaked out.
âAlright,â I closed my eyes and did as he said.
A warm sensation also flooded my body the moment I poured my mana to his fang. Could it be his magical power?
The warm sensation circulated within my body for a while before it finally stopped. I opened my eyes right away, and Fenrir pulled back his fang from me.
âFrom now on, we are an equal partner,â Fenrir stated.
âAn equal partnerâ¦?â
âYeah. Thatâs the most I can compromise. I donât want to form a contract if I had to be someoneâs servant. Are you not satisfied with it?â He asked.
âEh, no, I am so happy that weâve become an equal partner!â I happily stated.
I honestly forgot the nature behind Master-Familiar contract. About how I could even be my Familiarâs servant, yikes!
Thankfully, Fenrir set up an equal partner contract.
âNice to meet you, Fenrir. From now on, letâs be good friends!â I said as I extended my hand to him.
Things went silent after that.
But then, Fenrir shoved his head to my hand.
âSureâ¦How should I address you again? Is it Reinst orâ¦?â
âWHOA, WAIT WAIT! YOU KNEW?!â I almost popped my eyes out of their sockets.
ââ¦Of course. I saw it in your trial.â
âAh, that trial. Can you tell me more about it? Also, itâs Lyra, not Reinst,â I stated.
âAlright, Lyra. I am basically a wolf beast of nightmare. My power is to enter someoneâs dream. I can also gouge out someoneâs fear to them inside that dream. That is why my power is quite sought by the others. Many want my power to induce fears to their enemies,â Fenrir said with an angry stare.
âAhâ¦So, thatâs why you were so guarded towards anyone whoâs come here?â
âRight. I secluded myself because I couldnât stand being among those who think like that. Myâ¦previous master was a good person, and I honestly thought he would be my last.â
âAnd how did you know I am a good person? Why did you choose me?â I asked.
âThe condition to forming a contract with meâ¦The first and foremost, they have to be someone that can fight their own fears. Not many can do that. Also, while inside their dream, I can get to know what kind of person they are,â Fenrir said.
ââ¦And thatâs how you found out about meâ¦that I was Reinst? Arenât you surprised?â I asked.
âYeah. But Iâm not surprised because reincarnation is a natural thing.â
ââ¦I see.â
For some reason, I felt as if something that had been weighing me all this time was lifted. Perhaps it was because for the first time in forever, I finally had someone who knew that I was Reinst, someone I could confide in about my worries regarding my past self?
âBut donât tell anyone else about it. Nobody knows,â I said with a very serious expression.
Fenrir nodded.
âAh but your trialâ¦Overcoming my fearâ¦So, my fear isâ¦That everything Iâve experienced as Lyra is nothing but a lie, and that I have to resume living as Reinst, huh?â I pondered.
âNo single person has only one fear, but that is one of your biggest fears,â Fenrir explained.
âMakes sense,â I nodded.
But then, I thought of something.
âBut hey, did you create a make-believe future based on my imagination and your imagination? Because if itâs only my dream, everythingâs supposed to be revolving around the things I know, right?â I tilted my head.
The thing that doesnât make sense the most is the existence of Trevant in my dream. And the Gamma cult. I practically knew almost nothing about them. Or could it be my imagination was too wild?
ââ¦That isâ¦â
âThat is?â I asked as I put my hand on my chest. And at that timeâ¦
âHuh, what is this?â There was something on my chest. I took it out with my hand andâ¦
âHUH?!â I was very surprised to see that I was wearing another necklace, and it was none other than the jewelâ¦that I saw in my dream. The jewel that was extracted from the meteorite that hit Reinst when she was thirteen.
âFenrir, you can even make something in my dream manifest in reality?!â I lifted the jewel up and looked at it under the sun. It was pretty and no mistakeâit was definitely the same jewel.
ââ¦â¦â
But Fenrir was silent.
I was about to ask him again when I heard a faint familiar voice.
âLyraaaâ¦â
Someone was calling for me!
Wait, could it be my friends?! Right, I must have gone for too long!
âAh, anyway, thatâs awesome, Fenrir. Iâm going to reunite with my friends now, they must be worried of me. Follow me, Iâll introduce you to them!â I quickly followed the direction where I heard the voice.
***
Fenrir didnât follow Lyra right away. He was still silent as he was thinking of the odd things that occurred during the trial he set her to.
True, up to some point, it was exactly as Lyra said. Since it was only her dream, Fenrir could only manipulate the factors that Lyra already knew. But at some point, everything seemed to be out of his control.
Plus, the existence of the necklace that should only exist in her dreamâ¦
ââ¦,â Fenrir couldnât think of an answer no matter what, and he didnât want to make the little girl who just formed a contract with him to go into a panic mode. He would try to figure out this matter himself, then tell her.
Deciding that, Fenrir finally walked to follow Lyra.
Not long after that, a specter of light went out of one of the trees near where Fenrir and Lyra were, floating in the sky before it flashed so brightly. Then, a figure of a transparent child appeared in the sky.
The child smiled looking at Fenrir and Lyra who were walking together.
***
âLyraaa, are you hereee?â
âLyraa, where are youuu?â
âGraaarrr!!â
The voice of humans and monsters grew clearer as I continued to walk on the right path.
Before long, I saw all my friends walking in the forest to find me! Their backs were facing me, so I had to greet them first.
Ah, Autzag returned first to them? How nice, Autzag. So I was chasing after you for nothingâ¦
âEveryone, Iâm here!â I said as I waved at them.
All of them quickly stopped shouting and turned aroundâand thenâ¦
âHiiii!â Briar and Iris shrieked.
âLyra, come here!â Clavis bared his fangs and gestured me to go behind him.
âLyra, watch out!â Alt-nii was as concerned as Clavis.
Everyone else quickly turned on guard as they called out to me, and I could tell why.
Fenrir was walking behind me, and they might think that I was being targeted.
âAh, no, no, donât worry. Fenrir is not an enemy! Heâs our friend!â I said as I gestured Fenrir to come next to me, and I gently put my hand on his head.
âWhatâ¦?â All of them asked in disbelief. They went silent, waiting for me to give an explanation, so I did.
I skipped over the details of my trial, of course!
âI happened to get lost when I was searching for Autzag and happened to meet Fenrir. â¦He sort of gave me a test, and I passed. In the end, he became my Familiar,â I said.
ââ¦You what?!â Luca blinked.
âGetting lost can lead you to have a Familiar?!â Kiri was in awe.
âCool!â Freyr and Freyja exclaimed together.
âLyra-neesama is awesome!â Leticia said.
âThis is a fated meeting!â Dmitria said in a fiery tone.
âGetting lost then meeting a life partnerâ¦How romantic,â Valerie trailed off to her imagination.
When I looked at my friends one by one, Iâ¦I almost teared up.
I finally could see them again. The friends that I knew.
And thenâ¦
Alt-nii, the light in his eyes was as dazzling as I remembered him all my life. He looked so cheerful and wellâ¦
Clavisâ¦Youâre still here.
Lucaâ¦Thank goodness you existed! Leticia tooâ¦Kiri was also there next to them.
Freyr, Freyja, Einâ¦They were the same ones as I last remembered.
Carbuncle, Iris, Harveyâ¦
Briar, Valerie, Dmitriaâ¦
While they were still looking at Fenrir and observed him, I quickly ran towards Alt-nii and hugged him. Incidentally, since Clavis was next to him, I also hugged him. I was in the middle of Alt-nii and Clavis.
âL-Lyra, whatâs wrong?â Alt-nii was confused.
âEh? Lyra?â Clavis blushed a little.
ââ¦Nothing,â I said.
We were only separated for a while, but to me, I already experienced a long time without seeing themâ¦in my dream.
I was glad they were here and alright.
Then, I moved to hug all my friends one by one.
Iris, Harvey, and Carbuncle.
Freyr, Freyja, and Ein.
Briar, Valerie, Dmitria.
Thenâ¦Luca, Leticia, and Kiri.
âW-what? Were you so scared from getting lost?â Luca asked.
âOh, shut up, you,â I said right away.
âEhehe, Lyra-neesama!â Leticia looked so happy.
âHuh? Lyra, you okay?â Kiri was worried.
Luca, Leticiaâ¦Did you know that in the dream I saw, you two never existed at all?
Iâ¦was glad that you two were here with me.
Thank you for existing.
The image of Trevant flashed in my head. I felt a little bit sad because I could never see him again, but in the end, he was nothing but a fragment of my imagination, right?
Still, he was way too realistic that I couldnât help but be sad, too.
But my joy still outweighed my sadness.
And I prayed in my heart. That if such a reality existed, please Godâ¦Aion-sama, make them happy as well.
And I would definitely try my best and live to the fullest. For I knew that my life here, right nowâ¦is a blessing I donât ever wanna lose.
I'm so sorry for this late update and leaving you all in a cliffhanger! Extreme weather in my area made me a bit sick and the internet's been wonky... ><
Thanks for reading and I'll try to get back to the comments when I have more free time, but I read every one of them and will be very happy to see any comment ^^
Feel free to join my Discord server and mingle with the other readers too~
To support this series and gain access to advanced chapter(s), just click the button below :3
Thanking all the patrons...and you for reading this series~!