Courting Death System-Chapter 71: Tony (1)

"Tony! Tony! Wake up! Wake up! It’s just a dream!"

"Aaahhh!!!"

A young man woke up screaming and a middle aged woman hugged him while wiping off the sweat from his forehead. He had ordinary features and wasn’t beautiful or sexy, just an ordinary mother. Tony on the other hand was a twenty one year old young man, slightly fat and also had ordinary looks, neither ugly nor handsome but there was one unique feature about him, his eyes.

His eyes were deep, dark and beautiful, looking into them was like looking at the sky without the stars or the moon. It was like there was something interesting hiding within the darkness of his eyes and one simply had to discover it.

"Tony, I think it’s time to see the Fortune Teller or the Oracle, we can’t go on like this. You need professional help."

"No, I don’t go to those con artists who only spout lies in exchange for money. Mother, don’t waste money on useless and unnecessary things." said Tony.

"Useless and unnecessary?! Useless and unnecessary?!"

"Haa..." sighed Tony.

"It was these nightmares you keep on having that you failed the Mage Academy tests, that day, your mind was foggy and your spirit was low, all because you can’t sleep. It’s because of your dreams that no one wants to hire you, just look at yourself, dark circles around your eyes and your skin is starting to have wrinkles. You’re only twenty one but soon, you’ll like you’re forty five!"

"Mother, I’ve already made up my mind and I’ve figured something out. If I don’t conquer my nightmares tomorrow then you can take me to any healer or alchemist you want, I won’t object."

"Good boy, let me prepare something cold for you to drink." said Tony’s mother before walking out of his room.

For as long as Tony could remember, he had always been plagued by nightmarish dreams but they weren’t as intense as his teenage years. In those years, he could barely get an hour or two of sleep. His mother took him to many healers and alchemists but those thieves extorted money from her without helping him.

His father was a Mage teacher who died in war but he did leave them with a lot of money for a small family to live by without worrying about many things.

This world was called Magus and the continent was called Magi. Here, everyone was born with an affinity for magic and countless Maged existed here with extraordinary powers and extraordinary capabilities. Mages could chant fireball and water spells while powerful Mages could summon thunder and rain, some people called powerful Mages Chaos Lords due to how destructive their spells were.

Mages are ranked by Stars, One Star being the weakest and Five Stars being the strongest. Above their heads were their levels but some Mages could comouflage or hide their level and appear ordinary. Lvl 1 to 20 was for One Star Mages, Lvl 21 to 40 was for Two Star Mages, Lvl 41 to 60 for Three Star Mages, Lvl 61 to 80 for Four Star Mages and Lvl 81 to 100 for Five Star Mages.

Like all civilisations, good was always accompanied by evil so naturally Dark Mages also existed and Tony’s father died while facing off against a Dark Mage. The architect was a lot like that of Earth’s medieval times. Tony stayed in bed for a few hours, contemplating his next course of action.

When the Sun had fully risen, he took a bath before going out. His plan was to buy a few things that would help him conquer his nightmare. The first shop he went to was the Flower Shop that sold all kinds of shops.

"Good morning Sir, I am Eva, the owner of this shop. Are you here to just browse or is there something specific you’re looking for." a young lady with above ordinary looks greeted Tony. She had grown hair and eyes, thin lips and a mature body that was neither too thin nor too big, just perfect.

"Hello, I’m actually looking for something that can help me with sleeping, money is not an issue."

"Sir, you’ve come to the right place, we have a variety of flowers that suit your description and if you have time, I’ll introduce them to you." said Eva.

"Money is not an issue." said Tony with a more serious tone. Eva looked at him for a long time.

"Come with me."

...

Eva took Tony to the shop’s basement. The basement had a metallic door that Eva opened and they walked down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs were tables with different flowers placed there. Tony could tell at a single glance that these flowers weren’t ordinary.

"Welcome to my treasury. Not a lot of people come here, at least not ordinary people like you. All these flowers are exotic and rare in the world. Come here, this is the flower you’re looking for." Eva gestured to Tony to come over.

"This beauty here is called the Lucid Flower with the ability to boost one’s strength while dreaming and helps one defeat their nightmare. Only one can exist per era, that’s at least that’s what the descriptions say."

In front of Tony was a flower with purple and white petals, each petal had a "Z" mark on it and at the centre of the flower was a pistil in the shape of a sleeping person.

"How magical..."

"Right! At least you appreciate the beauty of flowers. Now, let’s go down to business, do you want the flower or not? Before you answer, hear me out first. This flower hasn’t yet fully bloomed and its effects of helping in dreams are just a myth and lastly, there are no refunds. Do you still want to buy it?"

"Of course. How much is it?"

"One hundred gold coins."

"One hundred gold coins!" exclaimed Tony as that was a lot of money. Some people could live good lives with just a single gold coin and she was asking for a hundred and the flower’s effects were not guaranteed to work, plus, she didn’t take refunds.

"Hey, I told you that you were the first ordinary person to come here."

"Fine, I’ll take it." said Tony while taking out a money sack with exactly one hundred coins.

"Wow, you really weren’t lying weren’t when you said money wasn’t an issue. Let me quickly wrap it up for you so you won’t damage it." Eva then quickly wrapped the flower with a silk cloth that looked fancy and gave it to Tony. After receiving the flower, Tony left without even saying goodbye.

He went home without checking other shops, how could he have the motivation to do that when he literally had all his money taken by the evil flower lady.

...

He knocked twice before entering the house and his mother screamed all the way from the kitchen,

"Tony, guess who came to see you?!"

"Don’t tell me it’s that bastard Justin! Justin, how many times should I tell you to leave when I’m not home! You finishing up all my favourite food for crying out loud!"

"Hey, it’s not my fault that aunty knows how to treat his favourite nephew. What do you expect me to eat if not your favourite food, do you want aunty to waste food by cooking only for me, shame on you!" sounded a male voice from the living room.

Tony went to the living room and found the bastard eating his cookies and drinking his favourite juice.

"Bastard, I’ll kill you!" shouted Tony as lunged at Justin and Justin blocked with his arms. He waited for a long time but the pain never came, Justin then slowly opened his eyes only to see Tony finishing up all the goodies.

"You bastard!" then they started brawling for food.

...

"I heard from aunty that the nightmares have gotten worse but you refuse professional treatment. Tomorrow morning, I’m taking you to see the Oracle. Let’s see if he dares to extort money from an Academy genius." said Justin.

"Don’t worry, after today, I’ll no longer be haunted by nightmares. I’m gonna end it all today, just you watch."

"Oh, what kind of plan exactly do you have in mind?"

"Check this out, I bought it from a really reliable source and she said it would work. It’s a plant called Lucid Flower and it will assist me in conquering my dreams. I’m tired of running away, this time, I’ll fight back."

"Overcoming your fear by conquering it... Tony, you’re a genius, why didn’t I think of that?!"

"Haha, of course, my father was a Mage and a teacher at the academy. And look at you, busy studying and learning like the student you are, have you no shame!"

"Once I’m a teacher and you’re still a bum... I’m gonna teach you a lesson, mark my words."

"Justin, I was just joking with you, don’t take it seriously."