In the morning, Merlin was woken up by the gentle rustling of leaves. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was surrounded by a pack of ten wolves that had shiny brown fur, sharp metallic teeth and glowing red eyes. The beasts snarled at him as they were getting ready to attack him.
"Steelfangs," he muttered in to himself in a lazy and tired tone. He was able to determine what level they were by the aura that surrounded them and since it was so weak, he decided to go back to sleep before he summoned a giant wolf.
The wolf was thirty feet tall, had a big muscular body, lustrous black fur, sharp white teeth and glowing amethyst eyes that gave of an eerie glow. The giant wolf's name was Fenrir. "You lowly insignificant creatures dare disturb my master's sleep," the wolf said in a low and threatening tone. The Steelfangs quivered in fear upon laying their eyes on the giant wolf.
"According the laws of Celestial of Death. This offense is punishable by death and so I shall follow what the law says," Fenrir said before swiping his claws in single fast motion and tore the beasts to shreds leaving a puddle of blood.
"I have vanquished the foolish beasts that disturbed your sleep," Fenrir said before bowing down to his master. Merlin whilst he was still asleep gave Fenrir a few head pats and Fenrir wagged his tail in happiness. "You did great job child. May you please stand guard and make sure no beast disturbs my afternoon nap"
"I'll do anything for you my liege," Fenrir replied as he stood guard whist Suguru was sleeping like a baby without a care in the world.
For the rest of the afternoon, Merlin spent it sleeping like he wasn't in a dangerous unknown forest where danger was lurked everywhere but he wasn't that worried since he made Fenrir stand guard. Fenrir was one of his strongest and his most loyal spirit wraith. Fenrir was one of his favorite spirit wraiths because of how loyal he is and he also had a soft spot for dogs that why some of the times he couldn't bring himself to harm any wolf type soul beast.
Fenrir was taking his job as a guard dog seriously. He kept his senses at high alert and killed any soul beast that tried to harm his master. With each kill, he was growing stronger and stronger so was his master. Due to Merlin's talent any soul beast killed by any of his subordinates, they would share the soul crystals equally.
This was to ensure that they would both grow stronger but for Merlin it was a bit disadvantageous because it would slow down his growth a bit but he wasn't bothered in the slightest since he didn't really see the need to rush. He would rather grow stronger at a snail's pace as long as he gets to sleep peacefully.
Merlin liked sleeping more than anything in this entire world. He enjoyed the sweet dreams that he had since to him it felt watching a movie without having to pay. And his nightmares were horror movies that made his heart skip from fear.
But the main reason he liked sleeping was because in his dreams he would get to see his family again. He had two younger brothers and one older sister. Every time he dreamt of them; he would be reminded of the good old days when they used to play in the fields together without a single care in the world.
But when woke up to reality it would remind him that he'll never get to see them again. Merlin finally woke up and stared at the night sky with a blank look on his face.
"Hey Fenrir have I ever told you why I like sleeping?"
"No, you haven't my liege but I would like to hear it," he answered whilst waging his tail. Merlin smiled as he gave Fenrir a few head pats.
"I like sleeping because of the dreams I get"
"Dreams?" he asked in confusion as he didn't know what a dream.
"A dream is basically an illusion crafted by the brain to make you feel happy when you sleep," he answered, giving Fenrir a simple answer that he will be able to understand.
"Okay"
"In my dreams I get to see my family. My mother, father and my siblings. The time I spend with them in my dreams is so precious and it makes me feel happy but when I wake up reality strikes and reminds me that I will never see them again," he said as tears rolled down his cheek.
"Reality is so cruel and unforgiving that why I would rather spend most of time sleeping so that I can see my family again. I hate reality"
"Hm," Fenrir said whilst he was lost in thought. "My liege may I please give my opinion?"
"Sure, go ahead"
"If you think about it deeply Reality are like the truth while dreams are lies. Lies are soothing and sweet and people would rather hear lies than hear the cruel unforgiving truth"
"What are you getting at?"
"The truth in this case Reality is unforgiving and harsh but while dreams are lies meant to sooth you and comfort you. You can't change reality no matter what you do but you must accept it instead of trying to avoid and run away from it. Yes, you might never see your family ever again but think of the good things that reality has to offer. You have your friends that treat you and love you like family. They can never replace your family but doesn't knowing that they love at least fill that empty void in your heart even though by just a bit"
"That's an interesting analogy. Hey how come you are wiser than me yet I am older?"
"Age does not make you wiser but rather the things that you experience in life make you wiser. And seeing that you spend most of your time sleeping, you don't become wiser because you don't experience those things as often"
"I guess you are right," Suguru said whilst still looking at the star. Suguru suddenly felt a slight disturbance in the soul essence around him. He stood up, picked up his scythe and got into a battle stance.