“Wake up, Rohan.”

  A voice whispered above him.

  Rohan opened his eyes to find his dad leaning over him, his eyes full of concern.

  “D-Dad.”

  “Rohan, what are you doing on the floor?”

  Rohan looked around, realizing that he had bcked out at some point.

  “Ah, sorry. I don’t know what happened.” He replied as he got up. “Anyway, when did you get here?”

  “Just now. I saw you passed out on the floor. Are you alright? Oh no, your hand is bleeding.”

  Unbeknownst to him, the wound on his hand had started bleeding again.

  “It’s fine. Don't worry. I just broke a gss.”

  “It must still hurt. And that bandage looks so sloppy. Come here, and I will wrap it up properly for you.”

  The pain in his head was still fresh. It was as if the pain and that mysterious calmness were fighting for something.

  His muscles, still shocked from the over-stimulus, stumbled right into his father.

  “Woah! Are you sure you aren't hurt anywhere?” His father asked, concerned.

  “I am fine, Dad. But could you please take me to the living room?”

  “Of course,” his father replied.

  Seating him on the sofa, Rohan's dad retrieved the first-aid kit from the bathroom.

  He carefully unwrapped the bloodied bandages and slowly repced them with new ones, taking great care to avoid hurting Rohan during the process.

  “I’ve cleaned the wound nicely for you.” His father said, complimenting his handiwork on Rohan’s palm. “Anyway, Rohan, are you feeling okay now?”

  “W-what? DAD—” Rohan attempted to argue that he was fine, but his dad quickly interrupted him.

  “Listen. I know I haven’t always been avaible in your life because of my work, but...you can trust me, you know that, right?” His dad expined seriously, looking him dead in the eye. It was his first time, ever having a serious conversation with his father like this.

  Hearing such words of concern from his father should have been a touching moment. But for some reason, he felt…angry?

  Why?

  He had always wanted to have a heart-to-heart conversation with his father, but it just made him angry knowing this was all fake-!

  The pain in his heart and the calmness in his mind suddenly cshed again, disrupting his thoughts.

  ‘Wait! What was I thinking?’

  “Rohan, you okay?” His father asked him again, his eyes full of concern. The pain in his heart cshed with the calmness in his mind, disrupting his thoughts.

  “Ah, a headache… Yeah, it will go away soon.” Rohan’s dad stumbled slightly as he realized what his son was experiencing.

  He quickly got up and headed to the medicine cabinet. “Let me get you some aspirin and water for that headache.”

  As Rohan took the gss of water from his dad, his eyes lingered on his reflection which looked back at him from within the water.

  The strange woman once again was behind his reflection.

  ‘Wake up, Rohan!’

  Hearing the eerie words, the headache quickly sharpened.

  “Here, take it quickly.” His dad said as he pushed the tablet into Rohan's hand.

  “Feeling better?” He asked as Rohan swallowed the pill.

  “A bit…” Rohan groaned as he felt the pill sliding down his throat.

  “Good! By the way, that pnt the florist gave your mom is really nice, right?” Rohan’s dad commented as he took the gss back from him.

  “Yeah...Wait! What did you say, Dad?” The headache that had begun to settle down again fred up. The calmness in his mind tried to suppress the emotions, but they were raging too badly.

  The constant headaches that tried to make him remember something.

  The weird calmness that kept invading his mind as if hiding secrets there.

  And the unfamiliar anger he felt seeing his father.

  ‘Ask him what you have always wanted to say…’ The cold whisper in his ear and the anger in his heart tempted his mind, refusing to be suppressed by the invading calmness.

  “Dad, are you scared of me?” For some reason, his mouth involuntarily opened, speaking the words he didn't realize he had buried deep within his heart.

  “Why on earth would I ever be scared of you, Rohan." His dad's expressed a tint of betrayal in them as if he was hurt that his own son would ever think of him in that way. "I don’t care what powers you have一You will always be the son I am proud of.”

  His father reassured him, speaking aloud the words Rohan had always wished to hear.

  But…

  “You know, Dad. I don’t have any powers here.” Rohan caught the contradiction he was living in. “Also, I only noticed this pnt in the morning. That means you shouldn't have known she got it as a gift.”

  With the deception and contradictions id out for all to see, the headaches haunting him disappeared. And along with it, went the unnatural calmness that tried to squeeze his brain every time.

  As he voiced the irony of his father’s一no, the monster’s一words, the memories of the reality outside invaded his mind, shattering the wishful illusion he held in his heart.

  Instead of his father trying to correct his words, it just eerily smiled at him, as if amused that someone had broken free from its grip.

  “You know, the other boy had a very simple wish. Having his parents back in his life. Nothing more.” The monster eyed him greedily through the face of his father.

  “But, you… you desire such contradictory things.”

  “You want your ghostly powers gone. Yet, you also wish for your father—who left because he couldn’t bear the fact that his wife and only child saw dead people—to acknowledge you.”

  “To tell you that he was never scared of you. Never scared of your ghastly powers.”

  The monster looked at him with eyes full of mockery. “If only you had kept your desires simple. You could have enjoyed living in my dream for longer.”

  ‘Rohan, dodge!’ The cold feminine voice whispered in his ear, as he rolled across the floor just in time.

  ‘Boom! Boom!’

  The golden rose behind him exploded, shooting its steel thorns in every direction.

  Thanks to the warning earlier, Rohan barely managed to dodge all of the projectiles.

  “I see…you have a little helper here.” The monster deduced, seeing how quickly Rohan evaded his attack.

  ‘Looks like he couldn’t see the ghosts.’ Rohan guessed as he stared at the window一more particurly, the ghost hovering behind his reflection.

  “I thought the amulet was supposed to stop me from seeing you guys ever again.” He asked Alexa, one of the first E-Rank ghosts that had haunted him.

  “Did you forget that I read paths? Finding a loophole around an Artifact's magic is easy as pie. And shouldn’t you be gd I found a way to talk to you? Technically, I saved your life.” Alexa said pyfully, giggling from inside the window.

  “Thank you for that.” Rohan replied, feeling truly grateful for her help.

  “Aww… you hate us so much, yet I can never hear any insincerity in your thanks.” Alexa was touched to hear such honest words.

  “Done talking with your invisible friend?” The monster interjected, a sly grin spreading across its face. “Hope you are ready to become my fertilizer.”

  Grabbing the leg of the table, Rohan broke it off to make a makeshift Bō Staff. Its reach was much smaller than what Rohan was used to, but this would have to do for now.

  Maniputing the friction, the staff began spinning in his hand as Rohan approached the monster with his father's face.

  Sensing the hostility, it screeched as the pnt behind the sofa bellowed a cloud of pollen, obscuring the vision in the entire room.

  From the unknown, behind the cloud, came snarling noises as the monster and the rose combined to form a ten-foot-tall carnivorous pnt monster.

  Its power was now completely restored一the roots having completely regained their mobility一and began attacking the lone fighter.

  Sensing his movements from the vibrations of the pollen cloud, the rose kept attacking Rohan with its steel thorns and long roots.

  He tried to defend the attacks, but with both his vision and movement limited, it was impossible to cover the distance between them and counterattack.

  “Alexa, could really use your Skill here.” He shouted as he dodged another vine.

  Alexa’s Skill specialized in sensing paths and tracking, so it was easier for her to sense things like attacks even when she couldn’t “see” where they were coming from.

  “Oh, so now you need my help? What happened to suppressing your powers with that amulet?” Her voice echoed from the direction of the window.

  'Crack!' A different vine attacked in the direction where the voice came from, but all it was successful in was destroying the window.

  “Alexa, I don’t have time for this. Come here and help me.” Rohan shouted, dodging another projectile.

  “I am already dead, so I have all the time in the world.” She replied, pettily.

  “ALEXA!”

  “Promise, you will never shut us out again.” She shouted back.

  “ALEXA, I don’t have time for this nonsense!”

  “Promise you will get rid of that amulet, and I will help kill that thing.”

  Another projectile darted out from the cloud, but this time he wasn't able to dodge on time, leaving a deep scratch on his cheek.

  The rose monster was getting better with every shot, while Rohan was still shouting for help, desperately trying to maintain his defensive stance. It was a losing battle, with the rose using its long-distance projectile while Rohan was stuck with his short staff and low vision.

  Unless Alexa helped him read the path of the projectile, and narrow the distance between him and the monster, there was no way he was going to be able to defeat it.

  “Fine…” A tiny voice escaped his reluctant lips.

  “I couldn’t hear you!” Alexa called back, clearly enjoying the high ground.

  “I said FINE! I will remove the amulet.” With the promise, Rohan once again felt the chill he had so desperately tried to escape all his life, settling inside his body.

  Blinking his eyes, he activated Alexa's Skill一Hunter’s Eyes (E).

  His blocked sight changed into infrared vision. However, instead of scanning for heat waves, what he read was the active mana in the air.

  And unfortunately for the monster, its rge body was radiating massive waves of it.

  ‘Swoosh! Ssh!’

  With a quick step and a strong ssh from the staff, the stalk of the rose was cut clean in half.

  The cloud of pollen that its bud was releasing soon started to settle down, as the room and monster around started to disintegrate into smoke, like a dream coming to an end.

  “See, now that wasn’t so hard.” Alexa giggled as she left possession of Rohan’s body. “You have such an amazing Skill. Why on earth would you ever want to give it up?”

  “Because I don’t want to hear you guys yapping in my ear all day.” Rohan replied, disgruntled, as he scanned his new surroundings.

  The monster had taken away all the surrounding ndscape with its death, leaving behind just a thick, unmoving fog.

  “Oh, please. Look at you. This is the life of your dreams, isn't it? This means whatever happens here is something you have always wanted."

  "And didn't it prove that what I want is you guys gone?" He replied expressionlessly.

  "No. If you truly desired that I wouldn't have even been able to enter your dream, in the first pce. Just hear yourself! You don’t even realize you are talking normally to me right now, instead of your usual mumbling while you try to avoid eye contact with me.”

  Rohan stopped his surveying, as he realized what Alexa had said was true. Usually, he was too scared of the ghosts to talk to them properly, but now he was even yelling at her.

  But right now, he was looking directly at her face, despite the rge wound across her face. He usually hated looking at it, instead opting to stare at her feet.

  'This stupid rose is more useful than I thought!'

  “Rohan, as a Hero, I will tell you…Skills are a major part of who you are一both as a Hero and an individual. No matter how much you deny or suppress it, it will always remain a major part of who you are. You shouldn't deny it just because of some...unfortunate circumstances.”

  “Haa…You talk as if you know sooo much about my life.” Rohan’s tone was oozing with mockery, but Alexa did not get dissuaded.

  She had been next to Rohan even before he had Awakened and had started talking to her.

  Hovering beside Lady Spectre, she had seen this boy when he was in his diapers; when he tried to look brave in front despite being bullied in school because his mom was a shaman; even when he confessed to his first love and got rejected一she was there for it all.

  This lovely boy was never once ashamed about what his mother did for a living and so it broke her heart to see him rejecting his gift so stubbornly.

  “I know your father left because your powers scared him. And I also know that this has influenced a major part of how you view your powers.” Her voice softened, heavy with unspoken sorrow. “But you need to stop bming yourself.”

  It broke her heart that she couldn’t talk with Rohan while he was wearing that amulet these past few days, not allowing her to tell him how she felt.

  “It was your father’s fault that he couldn’t show his love for you. And despite all the pranks we ghosts py on you, we really do enjoy spending time with you from the bottom of your heart.”

  Rohan stayed silent until Alexa had poured out all she had bottled up these past few days.

  After a few moments, Rohan began, “I…already promised you…that I’ll remove the amulet when I get out. You don't need to persuade me so much.”

  He said shyly, his earlier, confident demeanor had unexpectedly vanished at such a crucial moment.

  Touched, Alexa wrapped her cold arms around Rohan’s neck in affection before she flew in the air in excitement. “Yay! My boy is back.”

  “Now, get me out of this pce.” He ordered in a stern voice, but Alexa could see that the tip of his ears was still red.

  Still giggling, she pointed in a direction. “Sure! Sure!...My Lord!”

  She couldn’t help calling out the st bit, seeing Rohan pretending to take charge.

  “H-hey. Don’t call me that.” Embarrassed, Rohan tried to dismiss her astral body as his ears turned even more red.