I couldn't stop smiling while walking down the hallways of the sleeper compound. A series of classrooms were to my side, gray tinted rectangular windows that allowed an onlooker to see what the class was doing.
I saw a few sleepers in each of the classrooms, though I couldn't recognize any one of them. They were likely from the previous batch of sleepers.
The current class I was watching from the outside was "Terrain and nightmare creature relationships." The class taught about the kinds of nightmare creatures you would encounter in different terrains. It was useful for people who didn't have much knowledge on the existing types of nightmare creatures. Even if you didn't know the nightmare creatures in a certain part of the dream realm, you could gain clues about its abilities and weaknesses.
After a few minutes, I decided to move on. The class was interesting and would definitely be a boon to me in the future when I get sent to the dream realm but I had too many things in my head.
First, was Ascended Sunless. Being in the presence of an infamous ascended like master Sunless was nothing short of amazing. Not only that, he had gifted the sleepers with both useful advice and soul shards.
I looked down at a small black bag I was holding in one hand. It was sealed tight by metal platings that made sure that nothing could break it open. After awakened Rock had unveiled the glittering soul shards, Master Sunless had said to give 2 for each sleeper in the current batch.
This left most sleepers in the hall with their jaw hanging. They weren't given not one, but two soul shards!
Though some of the excitement died down once Ascended Sunless said that most of the soul shards were either of the dormant or awakened rank. Which kind you would get would depend on the luck of the draw, which he further explained was another part of the Nightmare spell.
Unfortunately for me, both of my soul shards were of the dormant rank, but I wasn't completely discouraged. The professors said that each sleeper would get a short mandatory class on "Soul Shards." Many people, besides the legacy clans sleepers, knew how to properly absorb soul shards. The mandatory class given to the sleepers would be good practice for people who never learned proper skills to absorb the essence that lies in a soul shard.
I thought back to my first trial and the soul shards I had gotten from killing the Ironclad Ant Larva and multiple Ironclad Ants. If I had the knowledge to absorb soul shards back then, I could definitely be much more powerful now.
However, I was still thankful for the generosity of Ascended Sunless. Killing dormant and awakened nightmares creatures was relatively easy for a master but it still a hassle, not only that, he also held back on absorbing those soul shards as well! I couldn't thank Master Sunless enough.
The next part my mind went to was class selection. There were so many classes I could choose from, but I had a limited schedule and time until the winter solstice. I needed to not only be smart but also resourceful with my selection.
I had five main choices so far:
-"Terrain and nightmare creature relationships."
-"Weaponry fundamentals."
-"Fight theory."
-"Resource management."
-"Retreat tactics."
I also wanted to throw in "Wilderness Survival" as well since Ascended Sunless had endorsed it, but it seems as though others had already stolen all the spots left. Though I wasn't disappointed since the other classes I had picked were just as important.
I had chosen "Weaponry fundamentals" because of the annoying lottery that was my memories. While I wanted to stick with a swordsmanship battle style so that I could be more like Mongrel, it simply wasn't a smart idea since the spell could drop any type of weapon on me. I needed to make sure I was skilled in all kinds of weapons.
Anyway, [Moribund Sword] wasn't the best sword, especially since it had only two swings left before being destroyed.
"Fight theory" followed the same logic as the previous class. I needed as much proficiency as possible so that I could get used to any battle situation.
"Resource Management" came from Ascended Sunless's advice on learning how to survive in the dream realm.
"Retreat tactics" was chosen because while my aspect was strong, it was extremely dangerous. It would only be used if I had no other choice, and I never wanted to come to that decision. If I couldn't beat a nightmare creature, I would just run. Simple.
To finalize the classes I would be taking for the rest of the semester, I had to click the "lock" icon on my tablet. If I did that, I couldn't change them again. Though I was quite confident with my selection, I still haven't explored all the classes that were available to sleepers.
I decided I would get to the teacher's office, where I could gain the advice of the professor's on what classes to choose based on what I preferred.
While on my way there, I thought about what sort of people I would want in my team for the dream realm.
Ford was guaranteed. Itri wouldn't be bad, either. He seemed to be as knowledgeable as I was with the dream realm.
I also wanted some form of support class awakened on my side as well. Healers or awakened with aspects that buffed others would be influential for any cohort. Though, I couldn't find any people with those kinds of aspects yet. It made sense since healing abilities were so important in the dream realm. If it were me, I'd probably silently scout before choosing my teammates. After all, who would turn down a healer for their cohort?
The last member I was thinking of was honestly a dumb wish. The raven-haired beauty I saw in the sleeper hall during the presentation. Not only was she gorgeous, but she also looked powerful. I had no doubt she was from a legacy clan, any knowledge she had was more useful than the average awakened.
While on my way to the teacher's lounge, I noticed a mass of sleepers on the outside of a classroom looking. I changed directions to walk over to the crowd, what sort of class had gotten so many sleepers so invested in?
When I got closer, I noticed that the crowd actually somewhat pooled inside the classroom. I was initially going to stick to the outside of the classroom when I saw that Ford was inside.
I made my way through the crowd, squeezing in between the people until I was standing side by side with Ford. Ford nodded at me, a silent acknowledgment of my presence, his eyes stuck to the class that was happening in front of him.
There wasn't any furniture in the classroom, instead there were blue and red foam mats that formed circular patterns. In the center of the row of circles were a small number of sleepers and an older man who must have been a teacher.
They were talking amongst themselves in a serious discussion, they didn't seem to pay attention to the group of sleepers that were mobbing the classroom. I tried to listen in on their conversation.
"—The fire aspect user has been hit by a poisoned arrow which is jammed in her shoulder, while the strength aspect user has a large gash on his side, preventing him from using the shield. The nightmares creatures are descending against the fire aspect user while the strength aspect user is being attacked by a singular large nightmare creature-"
It didn't make sense to me at first until a little later after the professor ended the hypothetical.
"-as a healer, what do you decide to do in this situation? You can act like your aspect is a simple healing ability in this scenario but if you wish to reveal your real aspect, you can do so."
Healing. Was this class for sleepers with healing aspects?
I started to understand why so many people were surrounding this class now. Why try to search or wait for a sleeper with a healing aspect when you can just go to a place where they definitely will be at?
It made no sense for a healing aspect user to not take classes that improved their healing abilities. This class was essentially an impromptu scouting session for other sleepers.
Now, the sleepers sitting in a circle were now answering the various solutions for the hypothetical.
"—I would heal the fire user first because her fire would keep more nightmare creatures at bay including the large nightmare creature that the strength aspect user is fighting, which gives me leeway to heal him as well—"
"—I would fight the large nightmare creature alongside the strength aspect user, this would give the strength user some time to rest and understand the situation since you said that he has experience fighting. I think the decision he would come up would be the best—"
"—My aspect actually allows me to produce both a healing gas but also a sleeping gas as well, so I could just run into the nightmare creatures to—"
And so on and so forth. Each of the students gave their answers to the hypothetical. Generally, the students who were selfless were the ones who got the most support from the other observing sleepers in the room. They got extra points for being creative as well. Sleepers who also revealed their aspects also seemed to get some appreciation from the observers since an honest sleeper was a loyal teammate to have.
At last, there was only one person left to answer the hypothetical. I recognized her as the girl I nicknamed as "outskirts girl." She still wore the same plain clothes and her blonde hair seemed more scraggly than before. Her hazy green eyes were unfocused above her white mask. She hugged her legs into herself as she sat.
When the question was asked to her, she stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking a few muffled words.
"I'd leave."
The other students along with the observers were taken aback by her cold answer. The only person who didn't seem startled was the professor. "—And why would you do that?"
"Because they most likely didn't listen to my instructions. They would never be in such a serious situation where they would be fighting two different types of enemies alone by themselves unless they didn't listen to me. Why should I try to save people who walked themselves into a death trap?" The indifference in her voice seemed to confuse many of the people in the classroom.
The Professor maintained his composure as he talked to her, "Miss Eternity, " He addressed the outskirts girl, "Why would you leave them for dead, even if it was their fault?"
One of the students chimed in, "Yeah, even if they made a mistake, we can't just let them die! They're humans too!"
Eternity answered back in the same tone as before, "Because if I tried to heal them then, in their frightened state, they would just panic and get themselves in an even worse place. You think two idiots who can't listen to my simple instructions will have a clear head in such a dire situation?"
Eternity then glared at the student who chimed in, "At least my way is better than yours, you want to fight the large nightmare creature. What makes you think you can fight a large nightmare creature that even the experienced strength user is having trouble handling?"
"Also you," She whipped her head around to look at another student. "You said you would run into the horde to make them all fall asleep from your sleeping gas. What makes you think your sleeping gas will take effect before a number of nightmare creatures can tear you apart?"
Again, and again she criticized each one of the other student's solutions to the hypothetical. Not one of the students was safe under her chopping block.
Eternity stopped talking when the bell rang, signaling a class change. A suffocating silence permeated the room after Eternity finished talking.
However, students started to move out of the class. As they were leaving, the observing sleepers started to talk to them and the bustling of laughter began.
The observing sleepers were talking to the healing sleepers and discussing future plans of becoming a team. Almost every student of the healer class was surrounded by sleepers.
However, Eternity was still sitting on the floor by herself. She was twirling the dead ends of her hair around her finger.
All alone.