The Deceitful One

Although Benny had transmitted this mentally, when the honorific name was spoken, the air around Bryan and Benny vibrated and the atmosphere seemed to have turned mystical.

Bryan could feel it! The weight behind those words and the power they carried! His eyes widened, "Benny, what the hell was that!?"

Benny continued to run through the desolate streets and replied mentally, 'That was Uncle Octopus's honorific name!'

"And exactly does an honorific name mean?" Bryan inquired.

'Hmm…' Benny thought for a long time and then replied, 'I don't know.'

"Eh?" Bryan was flabbergasted. Benny claimed that he didn't know, then how could speaking the honorific name, even if it was mentally, elicit such a strong reaction around them?

'All I know is that if you speak or think someone's honorific name, you will draw their attention to you!' Benny added.

Bryan was taken aback, "You mean…"

'Yes,' Benny replied, 'Uncle Octopus already knows we are on our way to meet him.'

For some reason, Bryan's back was drenched in a cold sweat. Just how powerful would a person need to be for them to perform such a feat? Bryan was now certain that Uncle Octopus was indeed a very powerful being.

Although Bryan now knew this mysterious figure's name, he didn't dare to think of it or speak it out loud. His instincts were sending blaring signals in his mind!

He knew that if he spoke or thought of this name, he would face dire consequences.

'Just what sort of being is he?' Bryan couldn't help but wonder in fear.

Benny noticed Bryan's peripheral thoughts and assured him, 'You don't have to worry about Uncle Octopus. Trust me!'

Bryan could only nod, apprehension still lingering in his heart.

In but a few more moments, Benny had already exited Damascus city. Bryan was really surprised by his speed. He couldn't help but praise genuinely, "Your speed is really something, Benny."

Benny's lips curled up into a smirk, 'Heh, this is nothing. Hold tight!'

Bryan was about to inquire again, however, the next moment, the void in front of them tore open and Benny jumped inside the tear! A few kilometers away, the void tore open once again, and Benny along with Bryan jumped out of it!

Feeling a little dizzy, Bryan felt the urge to puke. However, he was overwhelmed by the sheer shock of having teleported just now!

"Benny, you can teleport!!?" Bryan screamed in disbelief.

With a smug smile on his face, Benny replied, 'Yes! But I can only teleport for short distances now and only in the Dreamworld!'

"That is still an amazing feat!" Bryan replied, shock etched all over his face. All of a sudden, he had a crazy thought.

He then asked, "Benny…what rank are you currently?"

Bryan had never bothered to find out about Benny's power levels. Because, in his eyes, Benny was but a child. However, after witnessing his teleportation ability just now, Bryan couldn't help but feel curious.

Benny thought deeply as he continued to sprint, 'According to humans' ranking system, I should be around Rank 3, I think.'

"What!?" Bryan was gobsmacked, "That's impossible! You're only 3 months old!"

'Eh?' Benny suddenly paused in his steps. He turned his head around and looked at Bryan with confusion, 'Bryan, I'm already 15 years old!'

Bryan's eyes widened, "What!? That doesn't make sense. I clearly remember that you hatched from the egg on 10th February of this year. And it's only been a little over three months since then!"

'Ah!' All of a sudden Benny's four yellow eyes lit up as he recalled something, 'In the waking world only three months must have passed since I hatched. But I've already spent close to 15 years here in my motherland!'

Bryan muttered in disbelief, "Benny, you mean to say…"

'That's right!' Benny began to sprint once again, 'Time works differently in the Dreamworld!'

Bryan remained silent as he heard Benny. He was having difficulty comprehending such mind-boggling information. He couldn't help but wonder just what type of fantastical place the Dreamworld was to alter the flow of time compared to the real world!

'Uncle Octopus taught me, that time in the Dreamworld always flows in one direction even though it works differently compared to the waking world.' Benny added

Bryan snapped out of his thoughts as he mulled over Benny's words. He then asked, "Meaning, time here will always move forward and never the other way around?"

'Yes,' Benny mentally transmitted, 'A day could pass by in the waking world, meanwhile, a few years would have passed by in the Dreamworld. Similarly, a year could pass by in the waking world, whereas, only an hour would have passed by here.'

'So one can't travel back to the past, huh?' Bryan thought inwardly. If that was possible, the first thing he would have done was to save his teacher. Unfortunately, this world had rules that could not be broken—not unless you could deceive them, that is.

Benny could feel the melancholy in Bryan's heart, hence, he changed subjects, 'That is the reason why only 3 months have passed by in the waking world, however, I've already spent a total of fifteen years in the Dreamworld, every time I came here.'

'Sometimes I would realize that only a few minutes had passed and other times, a couple of years had passed by in a flash!' Benny added.

Bryan couldn't help but marvel at this as he looked around at this mystical place and mumbled, "Just what sort of place is this?"

Benny simply smiled in return and teleported yet again as the duo crossed large distances. A few hours had already passed and the duo arrived at a beach.

Bryan found it difficult to ascertain just how much time had passed. He had made sure to keep track of time and in his mind he knew that around six hours had passed, however, his instincts were telling him otherwise.

Moreover, there was no fixed interval for day and night in the Dreamworld. The sky was always dyed a shade of myriad colors as if a rainbow had stretched to infinity.

Sometimes it would be bright and at other times, it would be slightly dim. Sometimes, Bryan would be able to see the sun, other times he would be able to see the moon or a crescent!

During his journey here, Bryan had also seen two suns in the sky at the same time! To say that he was shocked, would be an understatement.

After a certain point, he simply stopped making sense of the things that he was witnessing here in the Dreamworld. On his way here, Bryan had also seen many dream creatures!

But contrary to his expectations, most of the dream creatures weren't majestic or breathtaking to look at. Instead, their appearances were horror-inducing and would send shivers at just a mere glance.

Bryan even had to confirm with Benny if these creatures were indeed dream creatures and not nightmare creatures. To which Benny had replied, 'Nightmare creatures are even worse!'

However, Bryan did come across some dream creatures that were pleasant to look at, such as jellyfish of different colors and even winged white elephants! However, he couldn't admire them for long enough due to Benny's increased rate of teleporting.

But Benny promised Bryan that he would give him a proper tour of the Dreamworld after he had been cured.

As Bryan sat atop Benny's back and looked at the calm ocean in front of him, he inquired, "Why are we here? Is this where your Uncle Octopus resides?"

Benny shook his head, 'His domain is further deeper!'

Bryan couldn't help but gulp nervously at the thought of venturing further into the ocean. For some reason, this ocean in front of him filled him with a sense of dread.

He couldn't help but ask, "Benny, don't tell me we are going to be swimming."

Bryan was completely against this because firstly, he didn't know how to swim, and secondly, and most importantly, he was terrified of the ocean!

Sensing Bryan's fear, Benny couldn't help but chuckle, 'Don't worry, Bryan. We won't be swimming.'

"Then how are we-" However, before Bryan could finish asking his question, Benny had already sprinted off in the direction of the ocean!

"Benny, no!!!" Bryan was frightened as he sensed the ocean getting closer and closer to them through his spiritual sense.

He couldn't help but take a deep breath and tightly hold the fur on Benny's back. He closed his eyes and waited to be drowned. However, much to his surprise, the sensation of getting submerged underwater never came.

Bryan opened his eyes and much to his shock, realized that Benny was actually sprinting across the surface of the ocean!

He looked down to see the uneven surface of the waves and then back at Benny, "How is this possible!?"

'It's only possible because of Uncle Octopus,' Benny replied with a chuckle, 'This is his domain, after all!'

Bryan was once again reminded of just how powerful the mysterious figure he was about to meet was. He was filled with a sense of fear as well as expectation.

Along the way, the ocean was calm and serene. The scenery was peaceful for as far as the eye could see. After running for more than a couple of hours, Bryan and Benny had already ventured further deeper!

All of a sudden Benny stopped in his tracks and patiently waited. Bryan too didn't mutter a word and looked around nervously from time to time.

The next moment, there was a disturbance in the ocean, about a kilometer in front of the duo! The ocean began to churn and boil as if something enormous was rising from its depths.

BOOM!!!

And then, a monstrous creature emerged from the ocean. Its body was humanoid, however, its head resembled that of an octopus, and on its back were a pair of wings that seemed to cover the entire sky!

This humongous figure's eyes were dark like the abyss, inducing otherworldly terror with just a mere glance!

The Lord of the Watery Abyss, Cthulhu, had risen!