8: Nightmare and Dream Realm

As I looked towards the academy gate, I could see two other sleepers, and I immediately knew they were the protagonists: Sunny, the Lost from Light, and Nephis, the Star of Ruin or Change, depending on who gave them their name in runes.

Sunny was as short as I'd expect after reading so many jokes about his height, standing at a humble 1.55 meters tall. He was slim and pale, but his black hair and eyes as dark as night left me impressed.

Nephis was a spectacular beauty; the novel's descriptions really didn't do her justice. With her snow-white hair and a face so beautiful it seemed carved by angels, alongside her long, well-formed body, I was stunned by her beauty.

At 17 years old and being a teenager who hadn't fully matured yet, I was truly mesmerized by the sight of such a beautiful girl my age.

But it didn't take long for Isac to speak to me; I had totally forgotten about him. I don't know how I could forget since he had been by my side all the time, and I'm sure he saw me gaping at Nephis because he was giving me a strange look.

"Well, what do you say we greet them? They will be the ones we'll be transported to the Realm of Dreams with, ha-ha."

I laughed uncomfortably before walking towards the giant gates, arriving in front of the door that hadn't opened yet, so I wanted to greet Sunny.

"Hi, my name is Jonathan, nice to meet you. What's your name?"

I asked his name because I knew he couldn't ignore me if I asked him something, since his flaw made him answer all questions asked to him, truthfully.

"I'm Sunless, don't bother me right now."

Wow, our protagonist had quite the character at the beginning of the novel, huh?

Well, Isac had just been by my side the whole time, silent, so I moved away from Sunless and went to greet Nephis.

Unfortunately, before I could speak to her, the academy doors opened, and I had to give up on greeting Nephis as she began walking as soon as the doors opened.

The four of us walked for a while through what seemed like a city within a city. The academy complex was immense and deserved to be called that because it seemed like a city within another.

When we reached where all the sleepers were supposed to be gathered, I was surprised by the number there were. They were good-looking kids from legacy clans, rich and middle-status.

Legacy clans were the families of awakened and ascended who were subordinate to the great clans.

I felt strange knowing that most of these kids would die within a month, so I avoided talking since it would be uncomfortable not knowing how to talk very well with others, and I sat in a corner that everyone avoided.

Yes, they avoided it because right there was a girl with pale golden hair and blue eyes, she was very beautiful, but there was something strange in her eyes, she was blind. They considered her a living corpse so the other sleepers avoided her.

As I read the novel and knew that she would betray Sunny, I was very resentful towards her, but as the novel progressed and I learned more about her situation, I ended up forgiving her. So, I felt sorry for her in her lamentable state now.

Unfortunately, I couldn't talk to her, or maybe she would notice that something was wrong with me; my attributes are very strange to make her know at this point.

Putting aside those thoughts, I walked and sat at an appropriate distance where people still avoided the spot. I sat for a while until I heard some shouts.

Then, there was a thud and some slaps nearby, without needing to turn, I knew what was happening; that was Sunless being beaten by some legacies and other women. He wants to appear as miserable and weak as possible so people will stay away and leave him alone.

But that's because if someone happened to ask him if he had a real name, he should answer truthfully, and if someone said his name out loud, he would be enslaved and couldn't disobey whoever said his real name. That was his innate ability, Shadow Bond.

Well, a minute after they beat him, a big man appeared, and the crowd of sleepers fell silent immediately.

The man cleared his throat and spoke.

"Welcome, all sleepers, I'm Roca Awake."

"In less than a month, you will be summoned to the Realm of Dreams. Some of you might think you are well-prepared. You're wrong. The spell is ruthless and cunning. The moment the Awakened start thinking too much of themselves, they die. I've seen countless sleepers like you lose their lives. I've also seen experienced Masters lose theirs."

Wow, that's encouraging, huh?

"In the next four weeks, we'll do everything in our power to increase your chances of survival. You'll receive training from the best instructors in the world. However, don't be fooled by their fame: in the end, returning alive from the Realm of Dreams depends solely on one person: you. The responsibility of surviving is yours and yours alone."

Everyone except the legacies had fearful looks on their faces.

"You're not children anymore. It's a shame because you should be. But the Spell has decided otherwise. You've been in the First Nightmare, so you know what it's like. Your parents, your teachers, and your friends can't help you."

Well, since my mysterious death, I haven't had help from anyone, although, well, that doesn't matter right now.

After that, the instructor continued talking, and I noticed that what he wanted was to instill fear in the sleepers, as that would keep them alive, or it should, but thanks to reading the novel, I know that almost all of them will die when they enter the Nightmare Realm.

While I thought, Awake Roca continued with the important part.

"Now let's talk about the difference between Nightmares and the Realm of Dreams..."

This interested me a lot because even though I read the novel, I'm not a protagonist or something who has perfect memory and remembers everything.

"Most people are aware of what Nightmares are because they impact the real world and their lives. You've all been warned before entering the First Nightmare that if you die there, a Nightmare Creature will be allowed to cross the threshold and enter reality."

That's right, that's why when someone infected by the spell is at the police station, a government official is always called and an awakened is sent, in case the infected person fails, to take care of the Nightmare that will enter the real world.

"The First Nightmares are unique because each one is individual. That's why only a single Creature can appear. However, from the Second Nightmare onwards, things become much more dangerous. These Nightmares are not tied to an infected person. Instead, they are born in the Realm of Dreams. As the Nightmare Seed grows, any number of Awakened may attempt to conquer it."

The work of the awakened and superiors was to hunt these seeds and prevent the nightmare monsters from entering reality, I know that from the novel.

"If everyone dies or fails to find the Seed before it matures, a Gate will open in the real world, letting countless monsters through. You all know the consequences. Other Awakened will be forced to resist the attack from this side, but then there may be massive destruction or losses among the civilian population."

Much of this information I can remember bit by bit from the novel, but it's never a bad idea to learn and remember things again, so I kept listening.

"So it's not wrong to say that the purpose of the Awakened is to enter the Realm of Dreams, search for mature Nightmares, and close them before any harm can occur in the real world. From this, you can see that the Realm of Dreams and the Nightmares are connected but not the same. If Nightmares are the destination, then the Realm of Dreams is the path. But it's also much more."

Yes, I remember that, Sunny even managed to contain a second-class seed alone until more awakened arrived to help, that will look epic when it happens.

"In short, the Realm of Dreams is a world. It's vast, mysterious, and mostly unexplored. It's also dead. There is no life out there except Nightmare Creatures, corrupted ecosystems... and now us. But it wasn't always like this. We can say that once, long ago, the Realm of Dreams was home to several primitive civilizations. There are many ruins buried in its soil."

After that, Awake Roca talked a bit about the dangers that could be encountered in the Realm of Dreams and finished his speech.

After a few minutes, we received a communicator, it's like a phone that allows you to, well, everything that was done with a phone in my world, but it seemed more advanced.

We were given our room number through the communicator, and I searched for my room for a while with the help of the GPS that came with the device.

I found mine and entered, tired, it was a lot to process, but now the important thing is to go to the interview, where I'll reveal some things about my appearance and try to get special help. It won't do me any good to keep a low profile since I'm not good at fighting, I don't know how to use swords or proper fighting techniques, so I'll get special treatment and learn as much as I can from the government in this month that I have.

I rested for a while, and then it was time to get up.

I left my room and headed for the interview.