The sun was merciless in its indifference, but the same could not be said for the city below.

  All its denizens had apparently found time to witness my execution, by the looks of it. The town square was packed to the brim, windows of nearby houses were flung open so its residents could watch the spectacle that was about to unfold. Merchants were selling stones and rotten produce to be thrown at me. Everyone had a venomous look to them that said if I didn't die, they were more than glad to take a crack at it. Shouts and jeers filled up the space as I heard insults I wasn't sure I'd ever heard of before, though the most common ones were 'murderer', 'traitor', and 'monster-fucker'.

  "Here stands before you a criminal of the highest order, who betrayed his brothers-in-arms and slaughtered them to the last man, spitting on the ideals that have kept our society whole and safe. As a final mercy, the king has allowed the criminal the chance to say a final word before his demise." The finely dressed herald standing to my left on the hastily built platform addressed the crowd, pumping up their emotions while hiding behind the veneer of simply performing his job.

  Everything was so....real.

  Taking a deep breath, I said my 'final words':

  "Fuck. This."

  Time came to a stop as I assumed control over my dream, the scene frozen like a painting.

  I wouldn't say it was impossible that such a scenario would occur, as I had learned that nothing was ever truly impossible, but it was something I considered very unlikely. My subconscious was probably trying to process any guilt I felt at how my squad had died and thus conjured up this scene for me to act through.

  But, to my surprise, I was fine. Or at least, I thought it was.

  I wouldn't go so far as to say I was happy...more that I accepted how things had played out and my role in it. Ultimately, my feelings on the matter wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't really matter, outside of dreams like this one cropping up every once in a while. What really mattered was leaving this damn invasion-prone world and replacing my essence with mana.

  And to do that, I had to keep moving forward.

  To that end, I actively took control of my dream, wiping away the elements that were useless to me. The sun was hidden behind clouds that suddenly manifested themselves, yet no rain fell. Buildings became nothing more than flattened earth. The platform and the surrounding citizens blinked out of existence like mist until I stood face to face with a single person, one of the former members of the crowd, an average, faceless person who only lived within the confines of my imagination and whatever my psyche could create.

  With a thought, a sword fell into both of our hands as he rushed at me and I took a step back to evade the blow. The next swing that came was a hasty swipe that I deflected before punching him with my left hand and using the moment of disorientation to stab him in the throat.

  At least my combat skills weren't rusty. But more importantly, I had proven that my muscle memory and my experiences from reality would carry over into dreams.

  Something must have gone wrong, though, as I woke up immediately after, my eyes taking in my decluttered space and the silent, obedient army I had amassed for myself standing not too far away.

  Extending my senses outwards, I could tell that the vorander I had taken as my ride was still underwater and moving quite quickly, as the currents of water enveloped and carried it further, but it was equally clear why I had woken up.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  A massive coelacanth was roaring at the vorander from the depths of the ocean, its intent to do battle clear as it surged through the water, its uncomfortably large eyes fixed on the monster.

  I had never tried taming something that big before, and here was the perfect chance to cause some chaos and cover my tracks.

  I exited my space and was immediately drenched as I appeared beside the vorander's head, the two aquatic goliaths too busy in their face-off to notice the sudden appearance of a miniscule human. That miniscule human's following action was even less noticeable, as a ball of energy traversed space faster than it had any right to, as if space itself was boosting its speed. As the compressed essence ball made contact with the gigantic fish, it flopped and bent and wriggled like the fish that it was before it calmed down, its mind now far more receptive to suggestions and even orders from the little human.

  Patrol the coast. Attack as many humans, elves, and beastkin as you can while staying in the safety of the water. If the opportunity for an attack arises but the risk of death is too high, prioritize your own life.

  The coelacanth swam away, its figure barely discernible in the darkness of the depths. I suppose that encounter demonstrated that the size of a being doesn't require me to expend more energy to tame it. That would likely prove useful to know in the future.

  I manipulated the elements, creating a sphere free of water around me as I hovered in place, removing all traces of seawater from my clothes and skin before I made a tiny gust of hot air to dry out any leftover moisture I had missed. Once that was done, I retreated to my space and instructed my ride to continue moving north.

  I had no idea how much farther there was to travel until I reached my destination, but I told my 'driver' to let me know once we were within sight of it. After all, there was the small matter of the world-renowned barrier that encircled the entire continent that I had to deal with. If it allowed people to enter, great. If it didn't...well, the parasites had cracked that puzzle, so I was confident that I could as well if I needed to.

  Turning my attention back from the encounter, I considered what I could do in the short-term to improve my strength. I immediately ruled out physical training. While it was true that the body was the foundation for everything, there wasn't enough time for me to do anything worthwhile. My magic needed to be worked on, especially combination spells. I hadn't ever done spells that combined elements seeing as I lacked confidence and knowledge when it came to just one.

  It was one thing to douse an area with water and immediately follow up with a lightning bolt, frying everything that got wet. It was something else entirely to accelerate the speed of a lightning bolt by encompassing it in water so that they both made contact at the same time. And that was just with one example. Where things got really broken was with my spatial affinity.

  I could just open two portals, one next to me and one next to my opponent, and then chuck a projectile through, or better yet, something explosive. Of course, I had to account for my opponent moving, being able to sense the portal, or even hijacking it and throwing a projectile at me before I was ready. Then there was the possibility of making a spatial barrier that prevented any attacks from reaching me, and redirecting those that did. Once I had a better understanding, I might even be able to compress or dilate space, and at the extreme end, I could start to touch upon concepts involving time.

  If I could get a handle on my light affinity, I could start to dabble in illusions, making realistic-looking clones of myself that would confuse my enemy. Hell, if I got skilled enough at taming, or throwing pure essence at whatever was attacking me, there wouldn't even be a need to fight.

  I shook off the extraneous thoughts. All I had right now was potential. Turning that potential into strength needed practice, so I started small.

  An inch away from my index finger, a tiny spiral of water appeared. I held it for one minute, counting down the seconds, before I moved onto the next finger. With water still held in a stream close to my index finger, I made a teeny clod of dirt, or earth if I wanted to be all proper about it. Holding two elements at the same time was doable, but once more, I counted down a full minute, ensuring my control hadn't slipped over either of the two elements.

  I continued the same process for wind on my ring finger, but when it came to holding fire on my pinky, everything fell apart. For some reason, forming a fireball was difficult. Making a tiny flame was fine, same with a stream of fire, like a flamethrower, but a fireball? Compressing the plasma like that went against the very nature of fire, and proved to be too much for me.

  I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

  The first time was me hyping myself up. Getting in the zone, if you will. The second and third time was my mesmerizing myself.

  I had all the information I needed. I had the basic understanding, I just needed to practice. All this was doing was...skipping that practice. Saving me some time.

  Taking a deep breath, I repeated the earlier exercise, each finger holding a tiny representation of an element above it. Water, earth, wind, all three worked fine. When it came to fire...

  "Holy shit," I whispered.

  Where a minute ago I had struggled, now I was showing results. A tiny fireball, gloriously compressed to match the width of my pinky, was frozen in place, tiny wisps of flame burning out, resembling a mini sun, though one with far less intensity.

  I can do this.

  While this trip would provide me with some time to improve my control, it wouldn't be enough. Once I reached the north, I would have very little time left on this world, which meant, if everything went according to plan, I would lose all the essence in my body. I had to account for that before I left, as I couldn't leave without getting rid of it. That would just leave me handicapped in a universe where mana existed.

  But I also couldn't leave too late after purging myself of essence, as that would leave me vulnerable. Just because I would be losing essence didn't mean that mana would instantly rush in to fill the gap. People who fell into essence voids reported soul-searing pain just being in one. There was no mention of anything unexplainable like an entirely new and foreign energy affecting them. If that were true, I would bet my entire existence that some noble would have found a way to monopolize the method and benefit from it.

  I would need to be cautious, but if I could make enough progress with these little exercises, I would be more equipped to deal with whatever was in my way.