A gentle breeze brushed against his face, carrying an explosion of new scents. Everything felt fresh, salty, and damp.
Entering the Dream Realm was not a dramatic experience. His mind darkened, and in the next moment, he was lying atop a soft mound of grass.
Above him, there was no typical sky. Instead, there was only water, stretching as far as his eyes could see.
The best description for his situation would be… being at the bottom of an ocean.
Which made no sense whatsoever. His clothes were not wet, his chest did not fill with liquid, and his vision was clear.
His seismic sense swept through the surroundings, recognizing several irregular structures. Walls, columns, and debris that did not belong to nature.
The collapsed ceiling allowed the dim, scattered light of the stars to enter the space, blending with other sources of illumination. This place must have been breathtaking in the past, and even in its degraded state, it was remarkable how different the architecture of its former inhabitants had been.
They seemed unfamiliar with aggressive angles, preferring curved and gentle corners with wide arches.
Everything was made of a material similar to mother-of-pearl, obsidian, and metals tinted blue-green.
Countless runes had been engraved into the surfaces of pillars and walls, appearing to form long texts. Now shattered, the contents of those fables were lost forever.
Giovanni was disoriented, his eyes taking time to adjust to the intensely lit environment.
The main cause was the bioluminescent algae that had grown unchecked over time, making that specific location radiant.
"Where did I end up?"
Nothing he had studied with Julius could properly describe his current situation. There were seas in the Dream Realm, but none of the citadels that came to mind were submerged.
The House of Night must have explored and conquered distant lands, so there was still hope for Giovanni.
Standing up, he searched for anything noteworthy, but there seemed to be no immediate threats or allies nearby. That was not enough to make the young man lower his guard, but for now, he decided to act without haste.
"Other sleepers must have appeared not too far from here. I need to find them."
Crossing the threshold of the collapsed entrance, he finally gained a clearer view of the new biome where he had been summoned.
Colossal rocky walls rose from all directions, climbing toward the sea above.
A vast, bottomless void separated the young man from them. He stood at the highest point of a narrow path that ended in a cliff a few meters ahead.
Although the environment did not feel like being underwater in a pool, the atmosphere was far from normal.
It seemed to exist in a transitional state between water and air, allowing algae to float peacefully against the breeze, and him walking coexist.
Outside the ruins, everything was covered in a bluish hue. It appeared to be night above the water, and the faint starlight that reached this place was enough to create an eternal twilight.
"Am I in some kind of oceanic trench?"
Circling the ruin, he found a statuette at its edge, nearly slipping into the darkness below.
The obsidian-carved artwork depicted an elderly woman with a gentle face.
Beneath a heavy mantle, four arms worked skillfully, crafting a piece of handiwork difficult to discern due to the lack of color contrast.
Runes similar to those engraved in the ruins were carved into the base of the statuette. They read:
"Venerable seamstress of the veils. Protect your child, tempted by the abyss. For your silk is the purest of shields."
Giovanni had been summoned to a place of devotion dedicated to another unknown figure… it felt appropriate.
Having better understood his situation, he decided to check a few things before leaving along the only available path.
Name: Giovanni.
True Name: Light Seeker.
Rank: Dreamer.
Soul Core: Dormant.
Soul Fragments: [50/1000]
Memories: [Vermin Head], [Grafter's Tunic]
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Guided by the Light], [Acolyte], [Miracle Bearer]
Aspect: [Golden Prince]
Aspect Rank: Sacred.
Aspect Description: [You are the promised successor of a kingdom long forgotten. As a prince, your power originates from your loyal followers and the lands you control. However, the laurel crown is lost, and without it, your title is hollow and diminished. You seek your divine inheritance.]
Innate Ability: [Royal Right]
Ability Description: [Find trustworthy people and make them swear loyalty. Once under your command, your vassals share in the blessings and equipment in your possession. It is improper for a noble not to offer an abundant reward.]
Vassals:
— Sofia.
Aspect Abilities: [Earth Domain], [Transmutation]
Flaw: [Sinless Spirit]
Flaw Description: [You cannot hurt others.]
A new section had appeared among his runes and now glowed constantly. Just below it, the name of his companion seemed wrapped in golden light.
His face took on a bitter expression, his eyes clouded with doubt. The words spoken by Omar that night at the restaurant returned like a cold whisper.
"She really appeared in my runes…"
He hesitated in silence, wondering what he should do next. The spell came with no manual, so he simply focused on the rune, seeing if it would cause any immediate effect.
At once, his own information vanished, replaced by the girl's.
Name: Sofia.
True Name: —
Rank: Dreamer.
Soul Core: Dormant.
Soul Fragments: [13/1000]
Memories: [Master Key], [Dusty Diary]
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Superior Intellect], [Innocuous], [Artist]
Aspect: [Scholar of Imagination]
Aspect Rank: Ascended.
Aspect Description: [You are the bearer of a fragment of creativity. As a scholar, your accumulated knowledge is both your guide and your weapon, opening the gates to the world of ideas. Your hands paint unreal truth, and your mind safeguards the secrets of the world.]
Aspect Abilities: [Critical Insight]
Flaw: [Devious Pride]
Flaw Description: [Your heart yearns for superiority and conflict.]
Giovanni did not know how to feel about this. It felt somewhat… invasive to be able to read another person's runes, considering how much effort people put into hiding them.
"Can she read mine, too? I need to ask her when we meet."
What was done was done, so he ignored the unpleasant feeling and read what remained.
[Superior Intellect] Attribute Description: "The essence of the fragment lies in the mind. Your memory and intelligence are greatly enhanced."
He had already suspected something like that existed. Sofia's intelligence was completely abnormal, even for someone supposedly very dedicated to her studies.
[Innocuous] Attribute Description: "Your gentle nature makes you easy to overlook. Enemies frequently forget your presence."
"How does that even work? A creature about to attack suddenly remembers it forgot something in the oven?"
He wouldn't complain, since it would help keep her safe.
[Artist] Attribute Description: "Your hands were made for the act of creation. Simply allow your imagination to guide them."
The sketches she made in her notebook spoke for themselves. He had spent many nights tracing over them.
He decided to quickly read what the memories did and what her aspect ability was before beginning his journey.
Memory: [Master Key]
Memory Rank: Dormant
Memory Type: Tool
Memory Description: [Even hundreds of years later, it remains as reliable as ever. It always fits.]
Memory: [Dusty Diary]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Type: Tool
Memory Description: [Once, a child enamored with stories decided to record every fable of her world. When she grew older, she wept upon realizing there was no space left in her diary. Unexpectedly, a gentle voice echoed from a mirror-like lake, offering her a bargain. Years later, all that was found was her dust-covered diary, left behind. Many have tried to discover it's end, but there is always one more blank page, waiting to be filled.]
While the diary's usefulness was questionable, a master key seemed incredible to possess. It was basically impossible to lock yourself out of your own home.
Aspect Ability: [Critical Insight]
Ability Description: [Your eyes were enhanced to withstand secrets written into reality.]
He had no idea how that worked. Did text appear over things? Or was information simply injected directly into her brain? The thought sent a shiver down his spine.
Her flaw was something Giovanni had come to accept after so many months together. At first, he had ignored it, thinking it was just a quirk of hers, but it was impossible not to notice the pattern after talking long enough.
It wasn't the most dangerous or debilitating flaw, but it seemed agonizing for someone with her personality. All he could feel was pity for his friend.
He dispelled the runes and took a deep breath. There was no more time to linger. His focus was to reunite with his peers and find the nearest citadel, nothing else.
With calm steps, he continued along the narrow, wild road that descended steadily toward the horizon, where the towering walls of the trench bent and hid secrets beyond his perception.
***
The beginning of his journey went well, with no nightmare creatures in sight. That allowed him to use the free time to experiment with the environment, forming an idea of what he could or could not control there with his aspect.
Above all, the view was simply beautiful.
Unlike the desert, which was an endless expansion of sand and death, this biome was colorful, filled with bizarre natural formations.
Corals larger than entire buildings, green, pink, and yellow moss-covered rocks, uneven terrain all the way to go, and algae crept into openings in the ground.
The soft, fluffy grass beneath his feet was a vibrant red, and the soil was a deep purple, speckled with small glowing debris.
The lower he went, the more spacious and vast the path became.
The area Giovanni was currently in was a flower field, where blossoms with pale, tentacle-like petals swayed peacefully.
Scattered across the ground, leaning against heavy rocks and dismantled, lay various creatures, or rather, machines, inert and broken.
When he first saw them, he prepared for combat.
However, after some time, it became clear that none of them would move. This brought him relief, though paranoia still lingered in the back of his mind.
The end of that abandoned cemetery seemed near, and a normal person would lower their guard upon feeling the worst was over.
Screech…
But Giovanni had learned from a particularly violent teacher never to allow himself to become vulnerable. So when he noticed the slightest irregularity in his seismic sense, he stopped immediately.
One of the robots… had something extra inside it. In the space where its head should have been, a strange creature, like a tumor mixed with fungi, lay waiting in silence.
Realizing its ambush had been detected, it did not hesitate to change strategy.
Before Giovanni, what appeared to be an abandoned robot rose, emitting distressing sounds from its joints.
The machine was a highly geometric being, if it could be described that way.
Its head was an open rhombus, where the tumor now made its home.
Its entire body lacked any sense of aesthetics, being purely functional and lethal. Its arms and chest bore sharp curves, making every inch of the machine a weapon.
In its left hand, it held a massive staff, a perfect metallic silver cylinder.
"That thing looks tough as hell…"
He knew his luck in finding such a peaceful path wouldn't last long, but even so, he felt a twinge of dissatisfaction. He had been loving the sightseeing. If only the entire journey through the Dream Realm could be like this.
Standing nearly three meters tall, it was an opponent that Giovanni in the past would not have hesitated to flee from as if his life depended on it.
"Excuse me, could you let me pass? I have some important matters at the moment…"
He asked the threatening being, even knowing it was futile.
The nightmare creature began to approach with robotic steps, controlling the armor like a puppet with many small tentacles spreading through its limbs.
It was truly a shame that things could not be resolved through dialogue. The ground beneath the two of them vibrated, and the earth began to float unnaturally around the delicate, brown-haired young man.
"Well… I tried."
He offered an awkward smile to the enemy… and took a step forward. His harmless posture was a façade, and his calm gaze concealed an indecipherable feeling.
Even the monster, consumed by uncontrollable malice, seemed to hesitate, unsettled by prey approaching without haste.
Then the earth rose violently, bending the surroundings to the boy's will.
"It will be quick, I promise."