He invites us into his guild

“Since the lot of you did so well, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.” Dante says as he reaches into his pocket. Then he pulls out a pocket watch with a crescent on it and shows it to all of us.

“You’re a recruiter for Midnight Dawn.” I say.

“Shhh.” Dante whispers. “Careful not to tell the other groups. I show this only to those who excel in the team matches against me, or to those teams who can defeat me. And whenever I show it to anyone, that’s an invite to join Midnight Dawn. So, good job, kids. All 6 of you are good enough to join one of the big three.”

Part of me wanted to tell Dante I had already gotten an invite to join the Dark Dragons, so apparently, I am good enough to join two of the big three. But if I did, I’d break my promise to Kiara, so I kept my mouth shut.

We had a big feast at dinner tonight. Why shouldn’t we. If we wanted to, we could all join Midnight Dawn together and stay in our group. It does make me worry a bit about Kiara, though. Not only was she the first to invite me to one of the big three, but she also helped me develop the [Rune Master] skill I used to help my team defeat Dante and get his invite.

This evening I felt like taking a break from the library. I went to my room instead and then straight to bed. It has been a while since I’ve last met Ophelia. I wonder how she would feel about the Dark Dragons and Midnight Dawn. But I have no way of knowing whether I will dream of her tonight or not.

Then I had an idea. What if I keep her on my mind before I sleep? Perhaps then I can lure out a dream about her? So, I lie down in my bed, I close my eyes and I start thinking of Ophelia.

To be fair, it is kinda hard to imagine a woman whose face I have never seen. All I know of her is the outline of her body and that she is nude. I try my best to imagine what Ophelia would look like when she is illuminated. But then I start focusing on her breasts and her hips and before I know it, I have an erection for her.

By the goddess, I can’t fall asleep while I have a raging boner. I take a look at Ryul’s bed and notice it is empty. Well, if he’s not here …

I turn my back to Ryul’s bed and then I pull my dick out of my pajama pants. I start imagining myself in the dream. The invisible barrier is gone, I am standing next to Ophelia, she is no longer chained, I can still see only the outline of her body but she also only sees an outline of my body, and we can touch each other.

I fantasize about placing my hands on Ophelia’s hips and she lets me. About kissing her and she kisses back. About Ophelia placing her hand on my dick and she starts to masturbate me. About placing my hands on Ophelia’s breasts and she lets me.

I imagine Ophelia grabbing the chains above our heads. The one that used to hold her chained, but now she holds them. As she pulls herself up at the chains, she wraps her legs around my waist. Then I fantasize about Ophelia grinding her pussy against my shaft.

In my fantasy, I place my hands on Ophelia’s hips. I lift her a little, my dick then lines up perfectly with her pussy and then I lower her on my dick. We both moan together and we start fucking. I thrust my hips at her and she grinds her pussy onto my dick. Both our bodies are still covered in shadows so I’m fantasizing about having sex with a mystery woman, but it’s hot.

I see the outline of her breasts though. They are large and I see them bounce every time I thrust into her. Ophelia keeps holding on to the chains, no matter how hard I fuck her. When she’s close to orgasm she lets her head hang back. And when I bring myself to completion, I fantasize that Ophelia and I both orgasm at the same time, with me cumming inside her.

In reality, I cum in my bed of course. It helped me get rid of this erection but now I have a pool of sperm in my bed. I put my dick back into my pajama and move over to the other side. Time to fall asleep. And hopefully meet Ophelia again for real.

Maybe it’s coincidence, or maybe it worked, but when I sleep I meet Ophelia again. She is just as I remember her to be. Knowing that I just masturbated while thinking of her, I am kindof too embarrassed to look her in the eyes. Or where her eyes would be, as I can’t see them in the dark.

(I can tell you are stronger compared to the last time we met)

“Well, stuff happened.” I say. “I learned a new skill. I can use runes now. And my team and I were tested by our mentor and we succeeded.”

(I see...)

"Am I at the level where you can help me, now?"

(No, not yet)

"How much more do I need to improve?"

(I don't know)

"You don't know?"

(We will both know when the time is right)

Ugh, Ophelia is being so cryptic. Do I need to be rank B? Rank A perhaps? Is there a specific skill I need?

(Why don't you try training while you're here!?)

“Here?”

(This place is more than just a dream. I don’t quite know how it works, but the rules of the waking world don’t quite apply here.)

“But … how would I train? I don’t have my sword here.”

(Try casting a spell.)

“A water spell? But there is no water for me to cast it on.”

(Try casting it.)

With Ophelia insisting I cast a spell, I decide to cast a [Water Ball]. I hold out my hand, expecting it to fail, but to my surprise it actually worked. The water was literally created from thin air. Something like that could never happen in the real world, but here … and I didn’t even spend any mana.

I hold out my other hand and cast the same spell again. Now I am holing two water balls. I also remember that when I want to cast a spell on myself, I don’t need to use my hands. So, I cast [Water Barrier]. While I’ve got my hands full of balls, water starts to appear around me like a shield. By the goddess, I am keeping three spells active at the same time.

I remember from the book on water magic I read, that there is a spell called [Water Spear]. I let go of all my spells and try to cast the [Water Spear]. It is a bit difficult since I have never succeeded in casting this one, but here it finally works.

When I wake up the next morning, I feel rested, like I have slept normally. Not feeling tired while using as much mana as I want is going to be a great help. I can’t wait to dream about Ophelia again.

Today, after breakfast, Syvis picks us up and heads with us to the training grounds. There she divides us in 3 groups. Ryul with Leona, Miranda with Shalia and Wendy with me. She has our groups stand a bit away from each other, all of us surrounding her. The she pulls a metal ball from her pouch and places it on the ground.

“We’re going to play a simple game.” Syvis explains. “Each team needs to come and collect this ball and bring it to their team leader. Whenever you do so you score a point. You will need to fight each other to get the ball. Is that understood?”

“Sure, but who are our team leaders?” Shalia asks.

Syvis closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. When she exhales, she casts three spells. The first one causes the ground to rise and take the shape of a person. The second spell causes water to collect and grow arms and legs and a head. With her third spell fire appears and takes humanoid form as well.

“These are my elementals.” Syvis explains. “Each of them will serve as your team leaders.”

The elementals mover towards each of our teams, the earth elemental coming to me and Wendy. I was entranced. The literal element of earth had come to life as a creature made of stone and was standing next to us. Being a summoner is really impressive.

Syvis gives us little time to get acquainted with out elemental and gives the signal to start fighting over the metal orb in the center. Wendy was the first to react and rushes to the center. Leona and Ryul rush for it too, but I use the [Water Ball] spell to cover Wendy and keep them off her.

Wendy grabs the orb with the same hand she holds her spear and comes running back to me. I pull out my scroll from yesterday. The one with the 3 runes on it. I made sure to charge them this morning, but when I open the scroll all 3 runes have lost their charges. What happened? But I don’t have time to worry about this, we’re in combat. Ryul, Leona and even Miranda are closely pursuing Wendy. I hold my sword with both hands and prepare for combat. As Wendy runs past me, I cast my [Water Barrier] spell, but the spell doesn’t work either. What the hell!? That’s when Leona screams and attacks me. I will have to defend myself with just my sword.

The first time Leona and I fought; my rank was in question. Back then she easily overpowered me. The second time we fought I was but a D rank, but she went easy on me. Now I am C, that means the strength bonus she got from her rank is still higher than mine, but less than before, so I should have an easier time against her. Still, knowing her competitive nature, I should expect her to go all out on me.

In my fight with Leona, I focus on being defensive. It also helps that I wield my sword with the strength of both arms, while she only has the strength of one arm behind hers. Yet, she keeps me occupied enough that Ryul and Miranda pass us. All my hope for scoring a point rests in Wendy running fast enough.

But then I hear a loud crumbling sound behind me. Leona even pauses her fight and looks at something behind me. I turn around and see Wendy standing next to our earth elemental, but the elemental is crumbling and falls apart, leaving everyone shocked.

“Team leader for Wendy and Darx has been destroyed. Darx and Wendy are disqualified.” Syvis announces.

“I take it you only had to worry about magic from opponents so far?” Syvis asks. “Your [Null Field] is like a double-edged sword. It resets ALL magical properties to zero, including those of friends. When you came too close to your elemental, you ended the spell that kept it alive.”

So that’s why my runes had lost their charge. Wendy came too close to me. Same when I wanted to cast [Water Barrier]. Wendy was standing right next to me when I cast it.

“Don’t stop now.” Syvis says. “The other two teams can still win points.”

The others then start fighting over the ball. Eventually Ryul and Leona manage to score their point.

“Team switch.” Syvis announces. “Darx, Ryul and Miranda. Move to the team to your right.”

And so, Leona became my new team member. Shalia became Ryul’s new team member and Miranda teamed up with Wendy. Syvis also summoned a new earth elemental for Wendy.

After every point scored, the teams switched again, until eventually I have teamed up with everybody. During this training, I choose not to use my new [Water Spear] yet. I have never cast it in real life yet, so I doubt the level of control I have over it.