Ren had a deep respect for dreamweaving. The ability was still out of his control at times, and with the books Granny Martha was showing him, he could tell it was not always a great thing to experiment with without thinking further about the danger.
One of the books, which was in the form of a fairytale, spoke about a monster of shadows that was created by a particular dreamweaver who ventured inside a nightmare. He died as a result, and his village was destroyed.
This had traumatized him for some time, making him fear entering dreams for a few days. But then his curiosity won, and he was back to trying out how to create complex items.
He noticed that the energy the elixir provided—the one he called mana—was his only limiter.
If he tried to do anything too large or complex, like a pocket watch with various gears and functions, it would just turn into something that disappeared in seconds after being made real.
It needed to be something he shaped and formed, creating it almost piece by piece like a puzzle.
There was something simpler that could help him learn this process, though—it was to create something that was almost like an illusion in the real world.
An object that was not tangible and would automatically disappear. That would lessen the burden on his so-called mana reserves, as well as help him understand if he was doing the right thing and heading in the right direction while producing something.
The easiest things were those he had personally had in the real world. For instance, the medicine—even if he did not know how to create an elixir in the real world, it was something he had recently come into contact with.
He could do the same for foods, but then again, they did not provide him with something like the elixir. He also had doubts if the food would stay materialized for long. For instance, he could create a watermelon and eat it, but would it stay real enough for him to fully digest it?
As for the elixir, what he gained wasn't the nutritional value of the medication—it was the increase in mana that somehow stayed with him, even if the liquid disappeared an hour after being drunk.
It was a hard concept to grasp. He had created a few experimental subjects in the form of toys that would not be noticeable even if his father came to check up on him. They would disappear after a set time, so his power was not perfect yet.
He believed he needed more of the so-called mana and to infuse more of this strange power into his creations. But that was something else he needed to work on… just how could he infuse more of this power? Was there a chant? A skill he needed to use?
That was what he wanted to find out by doing today's experiments.
He needed a way to control his mana within the dream, as well as be able to stay somewhat awake while dreaming—just as his father had done.
He believed this was possibly a way to further himself, even if he didn't know how to do it yet.
He was just waiting for a certain time to start practicing. It was when his father, Duke Tristen Arkwright, would leave the mansion in the afternoon.
He would go somewhere every day, leaving Ren with enough time to be able to experiment without having to worry about someone dropping in on him.
During the night, he could only do the pills, since they were easy to hide. But during the afternoon, he would be able to test what he couldn't during the night.
After hearing some of the noise outside and noticing some stillness within the mansion, Ren got to work.
He did what any infant did best—he went to sleep.
During the process, he began to dream while retaining some of his consciousness—just enough to be able to create his avatar of the young man of 19 years of age back on Earth: Victor Reed.
He had mousy brown hair that hung in uneven tufts, mainly due to the fact he cut his own bangs to save on cash. Since he didn't have to worry about looks, he went with his rectangular glasses that went well with his oval face and fit well with his somewhat large nose.
He went with his leaner frame and broader shoulders, which he gained after joining the football team in college.
As for his clothes, he went with something simple and comfortable—a long dark hoodie, dark jeans, and cheap sneakers. Just what he would wear while gaming or on a night out to find food for himself.
Looking at himself once more brought a tear to his eye. Even though he had sometimes disliked his appearance, it was a familiar form he had inhabited for nearly two decades.
Ren sighed and began to hurry with the process of dreamweaving using his avatar.
He could easily switch consciousness while in this state and return to the body of his former self.
It was just his former self, his new self, and the white world. He first made sure everything was alright with his former body before switching back into the form of a baby that could somehow float.
Focusing on his current tasks, Ren began to consider ways to separate himself from the alter ego he had created, hoping it could handle some tasks while he attempted returning to the real world.
"Alright, I know I'm talking to myself here, but we need to work together... Can you understand me?" Ren spoke directly to the mindless puppet standing in front of him.
He waited a few seconds, but it did nothing—not even blink.
"Nothing? It's like you're a toy with no battery…"
Ren forced himself to think of other ideas; he needed this to work, and soon.
He looked carefully at his hand, his body—he inspected every part of himself.
"Battery… new world… an energy source… mana… I think this might be onto something." Ren realized he had overlooked the importance of mana as an energy source, something he hadn't considered deeply enough before.
What if the avatar before him required something like mana to function?
He vaguely remembered how the elixir's energy always entered a specific part of his body when he drank it.
"A mana core... typical web novel logic. Good thing I spent some time reading stuff like that."
With this thought, Ren began to view this world as something closer to a video game.
"What if I create something here to help me understand this world—but just like this avatar, I leave it in this dream space without making it real. Then I won't have to worry about its complexity."
Ren paced around in the body of his cute infant form; here, he could freely move without worrying about physical constraints.
He then created a computer within his dream world—something he hoped would help him interpret the information here.
However, since it was just a dream, and he could create anything he wanted, he quickly simplified it into a cellphone instead—one with unlimited possibilities.
His control over his dreams had improved significantly, enough to create this and much more.
The only real problem remained the mana expenditure required to stay in this unique state and form.
Ren used the cellphone to check the stats of the avatar in front of him, only to see zeros displayed across every category.
- - - - - - - - - -
[Victor's Avatar Puppet]
Race: Human (Dream Avatar) | Age: 19 | Class: None
Title: Mindless Puppet
Attributes: STR 0 | AGI 0 | DEX 0 | CON 0 | INT 0 | WIS 0 | CHA 0 | MANA 0
Skills: None
Abilities:
Dream Construct: Currently inactive, awaiting mana infusion.
Status: Dormant (No Consciousness, Mana Core: 0%)
Equipment: Dark hoodie, jeans, sneakers, rectangular glasses.
- - - - - - - - - -
He looked over to see what the phone displayed. It was a simple yet detailed status screen—just enough to tell him exactly what he needed to know.
Being a dream construct, Ren figured that was the reason everything showed up as zero. Still, he couldn't help but wonder… would it be the same if he was the one actually using the construct?
- - - - - - - - - -
[Victor's Avatar - Controlled by Ren]
Race: Human (Dream Avatar) | Age: 19 | Class: Dreamweaver
Title: Conscious Avatar
Attributes: STR 10 | AGI 12 | DEX 12 | CON 10 | INT 16 | WIS 15 | CHA 10 | MANA 20
Skills:
Dreamweaver: Can shape dreams into reality; effectiveness varies based on mana.
Abilities:
Dream Construct: Fully conscious, currently being controlled directly by Ren.
Status: Active (Consciousness Linked to Ren, Mana: 19%)
Equipment: Dark hoodie, jeans, sneakers, rectangular glasses.
- - - - - - - - - -
Ren read through the descriptions after switching into the body. He noticed that many of the stats had changed, and a new skill had even been added while he was using it.
The problem now was the fact that he was running low on mana. He blamed it on the unnecessary drain from creating the cellphone.
"Damn it, this'll have to wait, huh… I guess I should save what mana I have to create more elixirs," Ren clicked his tongue, then dismissed everything around him, leaving only his baby form behind.
He would create one elixir before exiting and another later at night.