When Nick saw the three guards, he felt like Dark Dream had changed.
Sure, they had already been an official business when they had hired Jenny, but now, Nick actually felt like Dark Dream was becoming a real business.
A CEO, a Chief Zephyx Extractor, two Zephyx Extractors, a servant, a constant presence of three guards…
There were now quite a lot more people.
'So, when my ability deactivated earlier, it wasn't because of the spy, but because of the guards,' Nick thought as he looked at the three of them.
"I should get familiar with them," Nick told Wyntor.
"Right, we also need to talk about a couple of things," Wyntor said. "The unimportant things can wait until later since you need to get to work on the Dreamer soon. By the way, do you feel confident in working with the Dreamer?"
Nick nodded wordlessly.
Wyntor looked at Nick for a bit.
'He seems quite confident,' Wyntor thought.
"Good to hear," Wyntor said with a smile. "Is there anything that you need to talk to me about that can't wait until the afternoon?"
Nick turned to Wyntor. "I want to start training with my weapons as soon as possible."
Wyntor raised an eyebrow.
Nick hadn't seemed that eager to train with his weapons a couple of days ago, but now, he seemed like he couldn't wait any longer.
"Sure," Wyntor said. "When do you want the training to be?"
"After lunch each day," Nick said. "I will be done with the Dreamer at two p.m., and lunch should barely take half an hour. I can then use another half an hour to warm up, and I should be ready to train at three p.m."
Wyntor nodded. "How will you split your training?"
"Three days of fists and four days of throwing spears per week," Nick said. "Three hours per day."
Wyntor raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Seven days a week with three hours every day? Are you sure you can handle that? I don't want to pay them for just talking to you."
Nick nodded with conviction. "I know I can handle that much."
Wyntor kept looking at Nick with skepticism, but after looking into Nick's confident eyes for a couple of seconds, Wyntor just shrugged.
"If you think so," Wyntor said, "but if I hear from them that they feel like you're not properly training for all three hours, I will take their fees out of your salary, okay?"
Nick nodded. "No problem."
"Alright," Wyntor said, patting Nick on the shoulder. "Come to me when you're done with the Dreamer."
"Of course," Nick answered.
Wyntor just smiled. "It's good to have you back, Nick."
Nick took a deep breath.
"It's good to be back," he said.
At this moment, Nick wasn't sure if he was lying or not.
In a way, he was glad that he could work again, but he also felt like it didn't matter.
The void in his chest made all of this seem meaningless and irrelevant.
Nick's feelings were telling him that it made no difference where he was.
Being in Dark Dream was the same as lying in bed.
But Nick just ignored his feelings.
In the last couple of days, he had become quite good at dealing with the void in his chest.
It still appeared every evening when there was nothing to do, but during the day, he could deal with it.
Wyntor entered his office, and Nick walked into the Dreamer's Containment Unit.
The Dreamer looked away from Trevor and focused on Nick.
Nick looked back with an even look.
After some seconds, the Dreamer took a couple of steps back.
Nick woke Trevor, and the two of them talked a bit.
When Trevor saw Nick, he felt some mixed feelings.
On the one hand, Trevor was happy that Nick had regained his energy, but on the other hand, Nick seemed to have changed quite a bit.
He seemed less jovial.
Less lighthearted.
More serious.
'Well, he does feel like a boss now,' Trevor thought with a sigh.
After talking a bit more, Trevor left, and Nick sat down in the corner.
When the Dreamer came closer, Nick felt almost no fear.
Usually, Nick felt at least some fear while being close to the Dreamer, but not anymore.
Maybe it was the fact that Nick now had a Barrier and weapons.
Or maybe it was the fact that Nick didn't care for his survival as much anymore.
No matter the case, the truth was that Nick felt almost no fear in front of the Dreamer.
A minute later, Nick fell asleep.
"Nick, wake up," he heard an instant later.
As Nick opened his eyes, he saw the concerned Jenny.
"Are you okay?" Jenny asked with a worried expression.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Nick asked, who was surprised by how shaky his voice sounded.
The next moment, Nick felt something wet on his face and cleaned it.
'Tears?' Nick thought as he looked at the wet spots on his hand.
'Have I been crying in my sleep?' Nick thought in surprise.
That was when Nick noticed that there were also several wet spots on the ground around him.
'I must have been crying a lot, judging by all these stains,' Nick thought with furrowed brows.
'Yet, I feel fine. I don't feel like I have to cry.'
"Are you sure you're okay?" Jenny asked.
Nick nodded and stood up. "It's probably an effect of the nightmare the Dreamer put me in. Seems like quite some sad things happened. Don't worry about it."
Jenny just looked at Nick with a worried expression.
To Jenny, Nick felt different.
Nick felt much colder and more distant.
It was almost like he was afraid of getting too close to Jenny.
Jenny wanted to ask Nick about what was going on, but then she remembered her last talk with him.
Back then, Nick had said that he thought that Jenny was getting too involved in his life.
He was her boss, and she was his employee.
So, Jenny decided against asking Nick.
After some small talk, Nick left the Containment Unit to look at how much Zephyx had been produced.
