Darkside - A Dreamnoblade Story

Chapter 9 ~ Pending

TW: Mentions panic attacks, swearing, mention of explosions and death

Techno's POV:

We only had a week to prepare for the tournament. In my opinion, it wasn't long enough. Even though I have only a few days to prepare for fights in the Pit, the tournament still felt very rushed. Naturally, my anxiety spiked and I started having episodes more frequently. It didn't help that Schlatt made us train extra hard, my body was practically giving out. How did he expect us to perform well when we were about to collapse?

Dream and I were expected to win. The strongest hybrid and the blood god? No one would stand a chance. That is, as long as I don't die of stress before the tourney even starts. Niki and Sapnap had pretty good partners. Niki was with some girl named Minx and Sapnap was with Fundy. I never knew they were roommates.

"Why do you always reaaaaaaaaad? Talk to meeeeee," Dream whined. I rolled my eyes, I would never stop reading 'The Art of War'. There was so much wisdom and knowledge, I just had to soak it all up. I knew every word from cover to cover.

"Even if I wanted to put this book down. I wouldn't be talking to you," I simply state. I tried to focus on the battle strategies scribbled on the thin pages of my book but Dream kept distracting me.

"But I'm more interesting than the boooook," Dream continued to whine. I sighed and dropped the book down.

"Do you even know the reason people write strategy books?"

"No?"

"So other people can benefit from the wisdom written in the pages," I sighed. This guy really is an idiot. I was currently looking over the chapters on combat and strategic measurements. We needed to win or else we may never escape.

"That sounds dumb," Dream huffed. He's acting like a complete child.

"It sounds dumb because you're listening to your own voice," I insult him. I didn't bother to see his reaction because I needed to focus. Unlike some people, I understand what's a stake here. I've tried to get my mind stable to some extent but all the efforts have been futile. I can hear the screams of the crowd echoing in my ears and that makes me scared. Cheers signal the end of a duel, they signal the start of my tedious journey back to the sector house, back to Schlatt, back to hell. Now that I think about it, I hate loud noises in general. 

Like an explosion.....

Just like when Schlatt did that to Tomm-

I cut the thought off right there. I don't want to venture into memories that I've tried so hard to bury in my sub consciousness. I need to focus on more important things. Like a plan that wasn't missing a bunch of steps. Our plan of escape was sketchy and for it to work we would need an unbelievably large supply of luck. Something I don't possess. All the 'what ifs' were driving me crazy. What if we get caught? What if someone dies? What if sector 5 never gets knocked out? What if this is all a ploy?

I was ripped from my thoughts by Dream's voice,

"-are you even listening? Tech?" Dream stares at me. I flinch and turn away from his gaze. His eyes were scary but beautiful at the same time. You could either be drawn towards them or backing away in fear. I experience the second one more often because Dream gets frustrated very easily. He has the attention span of a 5 year old.