The last days on Earth.

Analyzing the characteristics of the hand, Raian turned around to meet the sudden guest.

Locking eyes, Raian was met with sharp eyes with an intense orange hue, partially obscured by her autumn-burnt locs. The girl, who looked slightly older than him, wore the standard-issue academy uniform.

"Can I help you?" Raian questioned, masking himself with an innocent smile.

The woman continued to gaze at him, the orange hue of her eyes flashing with an inscrutable emotion. She broke the stare-off, looking him over before gesturing with her hand and sitting opposite Raian at the cafeteria table. Her followers quickly dispersed elsewhere.

"Nice to meet you. I am Sleeper Liala," she said, offering a handshake as she introduced herself.

Raian met her handshake with a firm grip. He wasn't one to ignore social niceties; he typically mirrored the respect or disdain shown to him by others. In this instance, he had no reason to refuse the gesture. "I am Raian," he declared confidently.

Liala's eyebrow twitched as he finished his introduction. "Rain? That might be the most interesting name I have heard yet."

"Haha, it's Raian with an 'a' at the end." Awkwardly laughing, he tried to free his hand, but Sleeper Liala tightened her grip. Though it didn't cause him pain, something within him began to spark.

The familiar, disgustingly familiar feeling connected to his aspect started to ignite from within. Instead of simply talking things out, Raian's first instinct was to crush her hand with all his strength.

Barely stopping himself, he said, "Could you let go p... Now?" He wanted to say "please," but when the initials came out, the feeling within blazed like a water droplet in hot oil, so he had no choice but to stop.

"No," Liala replied, seeming to interpret his act differently.

Using her free hand, Liala raised her locs from her vision to the back of her head. "I don't know who you are or what you wish to achieve, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I was the first, and I know everybody here. You, however, I have never seen. Quite a surprise when someone comes in the last week and is so calm about it, don't you think?"

Almost at the same height just a little below, Liala with confidence stood against Raian, locking eyes. Her posture and attitude, combined with the tone of her voice, alarmed him slightly.

"So, who are you? A legacy? Or an idiot who has accepted their fate?"

"Who am I? I am just a very unlucky guy from the outskirts, but pay me no attention, for I have no plans of dying yet."

Liala maintained the stare-off for a few more seconds before loosening her grip. "Alright, I believe you for now. You don't seem like a liar." She turned around to leave but was stopped mid-motion by Raian.

Raising an eyebrow, she questioned Raian with her gaze, expecting a decent answer.

Raian clapped his hands together like a monk and put on an awkward smile. "Senior Liala, I haven't spent enough time to know where to look. Mind giving me a tour?"

Exhaling a deep sigh, Liala agreed to give Raian a tour.

X-x-x 

The first day in the academy was pure chaos.

Liala was a true veteran at the Awakened Academy. From the moment their tour began, she provided him with an optimized route through the academy. No digital map of the Awakened Academy existed for obvious security reasons, so her notes served as pointers and guides, showing what to expect during his travels inside.

Multiple training halls, lecture halls, sparring rooms, libraries, and more. 

Raian saw numerous places he wanted to visit, but somehow, Liala managed to drag him into a Wilderness Survival class. It made logical sense; the Dream realm and real world were worlds apart. At the same time, there were many similarities, the differences, though fewer, were more pronounced.

He felt it firsthand, the different anatomy of the winter wolf he had failed to kill, the atmosphere and weather of the foreign lands he was headed towards finally the absurdity of powers. Wilderness Survival made perfect sense to learn from.

Sadly, not everyone seemed to agree with Raian and Liala. She had dragged multiple people down here before, and while they initially agreed to learn, they quickly turned toward the training halls after a few days of lectures.

"People are different, I guess," Raian mused. In the end, he only focused on upping his survival odds.

The second day in the academy was despair.

Raian thought fighting someone who outclassed him in every possible way was pure despair, but listening to Awakened Julius explain ten concepts and only understanding one was despair on another level.

He knew the importance of the Wilderness Survival class and the potential advantages he could easily earn in the Dreamrealm with this knowledge, but none of it made any sense. It was like banging his head against an unbreakable wall. 

Raian spent the entire day attending Wilderness Survival class, feeling completely overwhelmed by the information.

The third day in the academy was acceptance.

Raian had given up on studying. The previous day, he had tried his absolute best to listen and understand every word of Teacher Julius. 

Thanks to one full day of learning, he now knew the basics, but Raian couldn't grasp the underlying reasons. It was like math: instead of learning the formula, Raian had memorized the whole equation without a deeper understanding.

On his third day, Raian met with Instructor Rock to acquire and inquire about hands-on fighting styles and was led to the library with specific guidance.

Sitting on a sturdy yet comfortable chair, he started to flip through pages, searching for the information he needed.

Most of the books and manuals he read were pointless, and some were useless to his current self. 

The aspect of reinforcement type was quite common, and while random in its abilities, the uses of the aspects were similar. Aspects reinforced their users in multiple ways, but ultimately, it simply reinforced the body.

Even when their bodies were reinforced, users could still use weapons, and the manuals heavily leaned towards using said weapons alongside the reinforcement of the body. This was a huge blow to Raian.

Feeling his sharp headache slowly settle down, he pondered his situation. His aspect, while quite ordinary, had a flaw that was truly one of a kind.

The fourth day in the academy was hope.

He bumped into Liala once more and, feeling that he had nothing to lose, asked her for tips. In return, she vaguely explained a few martial arts. While created for human versus human purposes, the contents were easier to modify.

Instead of trying to modify a style by lessening it, it was much easier to modify a style by adding more to it.

During his Wilderness Survival classes, Raian learned about different types of nightmare creatures and what to expect. Modifying the martial arts and training with them gave him some hope.

He could have gone to the training hall to spar against other sleepers but chose not to. Sparring was nothing close to the real thing—the same reason why his group never properly sparred in the outskirts. The difference between a spar and a real life-or-death battle was too big.

The fifth day in the academy was anticipation.

He should have felt afraid, entering the academy with less than a week to spare, his rudimentary aspect, followed by his flaw, felt like insurmountable obstacles blocking Raian from becoming Awakened. 

But he felt no fear, only anticipation.

After listening to Instructor Rock's farewell speech, the sleepers said their farewells to each other and headed to their rooms to enter their pods.

Inside his room, Raian glanced at the pod with an excited grin etched on his face.

His heart beating fast, knees heavy, he stepped forward and climbed inside the pod.

After moments

In the vast echoing darkness, he heard:

[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Raian!] 

//// Exams are over.////