[hider=dream]In the moment of his collapse, it felt like Evan was spun upside-down along with the world he was in. He stood up, disoriented, yet oddly not feeling pain from his supposedly crushed ribs. It looked like he was still in the woman Stritzel's compound, and every trace of the battle in the outer courtyard was still there. The broken gates. The scattered pieces of ice. Arrow shafts. A spear stuck in the wall. Yet there's more. The compound, in fact the entire world, was crumbling gradually. Its pieces floated wherever, and the sickly, cloudy grey-blue sky was littered with rocks and foliage.
	No one else was there, just Evan in his lonesome... wait, no. By the outer gate. Two men dressed differently, but with the same face and height as Evan. He walked closer, to listen to what they're talking about.
	"[color=orange]Hey. Why do you let your dimension look this drab?[/color]"
	"[color=lightgray]It is beyond my control, how this world looks.[/color]"
	"[color=orange]Lame. Oh hey, he's awake now, isn't he?[/color]"
	The Evan lookalike but with black hair, amber eyes and ultra-stylish black formal clothes, turned from his seat, a giant hand made of dry ice. "[color=orange]Yo. Nice power you've got there. My name's Grade, by the way.[/color]"
	"[color=lightgray]We are all "Grade", Granfalloon.[/color]"
	"[color=orange]Agh, damn it! Even if that's my real name, I won't use it! It's such a mouthful, and why does it sound like grandpa!? You're lucky you have a two-letter name, "Id".[/color]"
	The silver-haired man with modest robes and pitch-black eyes smiled, and then didn't. His eyes looked overflowing with miasma, staring at the blank horizon outside the compound's gate. "[color=lightgray]Evan. You nearly died. This will not do. Hence, I deliver someone to help overcome your inexperience.[/color]"
	"[color=orange]Me? Hey, I don't do battles, much less magical ones. How am I supposed to help him?[/color]"
	"[color=lightgray]It is true that you do not seek fights yourself, but for those fights that came to you, you always won them.[/color]"
	"[color=orange]It doesn't count if you're cheating...[/color]" Grade sighed, then glanced at Evan. "[color=orange]Well, whatever. I do have something to say to you, kid.[/color]"
	Grade summoned in his hand what seemed like a flintlock, but it was also a revolver, and its chamber glowed a bluish-white. "[color=orange]You're too earnest.[/color]" He shot Evan with it. It bounced off him as he blocked with his arm, but the force was still tremendous that it pushed his upper body back. In retaliation, he hastily hurled a giant ice knife at Grade. He shot it twice to break most of it, then hook-kicked the handle away. He tried to shoot at Evan, but the gun seemed jammed, so he threw it away and summoned another one.
	It was a trick. The thrown gun exploded as it hit the ground, sending its last round towards Evan's unguarded forehead, knocking him down on his back. Grade was already atop him, gun pointed at his face. "[color=orange]You lack deception.[/color]"
	"[color=lightgray]Grade, version 718114. Granfalloon. Within the million of us, those with a higher number usually have greater power. My version is merely 94. With my only ability, I delay my death by existing in the one place where no one dies. Within dreams.[/color]"
	"[color=orange]Eh... I don't like talkling about it, but I do have several powers.[/color]" Grade started counting with his fingers. "[color=orange]Dragon's blood coursing through my body, near-unkillable. Dragon's eye, I can see mana, zoom at any distance. Precognition. Item summoning. Stealing others' mana by touch, that's a really common one, actually. And there was another...[/color]"
	A tinge of sadness as he thought of the last one. He shook his head. "[color=orange]In theory, there was no limit to the duration of the future I can see, or the power of the item I can summon, but I was defective. I didn't start with immense pools of mana like all of you. And since I majorly refused to fight all my life, it never had a chance to grow. There came a time when... something tragic happened that I couldn't foresee, and I died along with everybody I hold dear. With it, I discovered my sixth power.[/color]"
	A horde of grey humonculi sprouted out of the ground. Grade himself shot one of them as demonstration, tearing a hole through its head. It regenerated just as quickly as it was damaged. "[color=orange]This... power, that supposedly grew with the number of people I've killed.[/color]" He aimed the gun back at Evan.
	"[color=orange]Explore your powers and their limits, before you end up dead like me. You get that?[/color]" Grade leaned to aim closer, between Evan's eyes.
	Evan nods. "[color=6ecff6]I understand... Thank you. Granfalloon.[/color]"
	Grade lets out a toothy grin and chuckles. "[color=orange]Don't call me that name.[/color]" He shoots Evan point-blank between the eyes.
[hr][/hider]
Evan's eyes jolted open as if awoken by a nightmare, just before Louise approached and called her name.
	He pushed up with his left elbow -- really, his only usable arm, and turned his head to glance at Louise and Athena. He gave the grass a dejected look, then fully turned and sat with his left knee up and his left arm atop it. He winced, getting up to that position.
	"[color=6ecff6]C... call me Evan.[/color]"
	This has been around the third time he's had to say it, and there will seem to be many more incoming. He's just not used to the whole baron thing.
	"[color=6ecff6]Hello... Athena.[/color]" Evan waved at her with his left hand. There's an attempt at a smile underneath that tall scarf.
	"[color=6ecff6]How do you make... purple fire?[/color]" Straightforward as usual.