Illusion, Shadow And Nephilim

Standing in front of the massive, seemingly indestructible red gates of the Awakened Academy. Max was in awe; it was an understatement, to say the least.

The snow was slowly falling into the ground. It was cold and silent in front of the Academy gates.

Except for him and Sunny, Max saw a tall, slender girl around his age with clear gray eyes and a detached look on her face. She had strange, silver-white hair that was cut short and neatly parted to the side. She was dressed in a police-issued tracksuit and had no personal belongings with her. On her head, there was a pair of old-fashioned headphones. She was calmly listening to music while they waited.

Looking at her, Max couldn't help but let out a short, bewildered sound. Max knew who she was, it was Nephis of the Immortal Flame Clan, his childhood friend.

Staring at her for a few seconds, Max saw her departing figure. He decided to meet up with her later.

Looking the giant, ridiculously thick sheet of reinforced metal slowly descended, creating a long bridge. Max knew it would be a long road ahead.

Max couldn't help but remember Master Jet's parting words.

..

On their drive towards the academy, Max tried to make several small talk with Sunny only to be responded with one-word answers.

Max felt depressed, seeing his attempts fail. At some point, Master Jet looked at the both of them and said

"I'll give you three pieces of advice. Whether you listen to me or not is your business."

Max turned his head around to face her, he was interested in her words

"First: once you're registered in the Academy, they'll offer you psychological counseling again. There will also be a valuable reward for sharing your experiences in the Nightmare and the details of your Appraisal. You'll be able to receive a soul shard, maybe even several of them."

Sunny looked at her with a bewildered expression

"Are you trying to convince me to visit a psychiatrist again?"

Hearing his words, Max said

"No, she's trying to tell you to refuse it"

Jet nodded

"Yes you're right"

Sunny was surprised, he raised his eyebrows and asked her

"Why?"

Max decided to interject

"You're too green to understand, but out there in the Dream Realm, Nightmare Creatures are not the only danger. Once you grow powerful enough, humans will become an equal threat. The less they know about your Aspect, the better."

"The easiest way to defeat a powerful Awakened is to use their Flaw. That's why young fools in the Academy are encouraged in various ways to share the details of their Aspects. I'm not saying that the government will leak your information, but once two people know a secret, it's no longer a secret. And there's a lot of people working for the government."

I'm telling this to you as you're my best friend."

Sunny looked pissed

"For the 10th time, I'm not your best friend"

Max snorted before adding

"Sure, buddy"

Hearing Max's explanation, Jet nodded and said

"Second: there will be a lot of courses to choose from. All types of combat training, deep dives into Nightmare Creature categories and vulnerabilities, basics of various types of sorcery, artifact study, and so on."

Max already decided he was going to set out on the path of swordsmanship

"Disregard all of that. The only course you have time to attend is Wilderness Survival."

Sunny looked surprised at her words he questioned

"Why?"

Jet glanced at him, before continuing

"It's different for city kids, who learn all sorts of useful things in school and from their tutors. But we don't have that advantage, do we? What was the biggest threat to your life during the Nightmare?"

Max thought for a bit before saying

"Food, water, and the cold"

Sunny also answered

"The cold"

"Smart. You only know how to survive in the city. But the Dream Realm is mostly made of wilderness. Do you know how to make a fire? How to procure food? How to find safe shelter? No. Fighting monsters is important, but it'll be useless if you die of hunger or exposure to the elements. Trust me. I've learned it the hard way."

Both of them nodded at her words.

At that point, Master Jet had stopped the car and opened the door, getting out. Max and Sunny followed her and were momentarily stunned, staring at the colossal metal gates in front of them.

"This is as far as I go," she said, looking cheerlessly at the walls of the Academy. "I've already notified them. Someone will come fetch you in a while."

Sunny glanced at her before asking

"What's the third advice?"

She glanced at the two of them and said

"Remember: no one can survive in the Dream Realm alone. That's not an opinion, that's a fact. Try to get along with your peers, even if they don't treat you well. It might save your life."

Max nodded and added on

"She is right you know"

Sunny looked irritated at his words, but he knew he was right.

....

The Sleeper part of the compound was relatively small and situated in the southern part of the Academy, surrounded by training fields and parks.

It was a low, modern building constructed with reinforced materials. Like the majority of buildings in the Academy, most of it was hidden below the ground, leaving only a couple of floors above it. With its white, pristine alloy walls and wide windows, it must have looked beautiful in the summer, contrasted against all the greenery around.

Inside, the building was spacious and well-lit. Sunny, Max, and Nephis were taken to a large hall where a hundred or so young men and women — Sleepers of the same unfortunate timing as the two of them — were already waiting for the beginning of the induction ceremony. Most of them were nervous, tense, and excited.

Logistics of the Academy were a constant headache for the administrators since the rate at which the Spell infected people was always chaotic. There was no way to orderly structure for batches of Sleepers to undergo any type of standardized education on a shared schedule: some of them had a full year to prepare for the Dream Realm, some only months, some even mere days.

That's why the induction ceremonies were held each month at the beginning of the year and then every week once the winter solstice began to loom near. Some of the Sleepers in the hall had to wait days to be inducted, while Max had lucked out and was delivered to the Academy just hours before the scheduled event.

Once inside the hall, he understood two things.

Firstly, everyone was well-dressed and in possession of a suitcase, a duffel bag, or at least a backpack carrying their personal belongings. They were coming prepared, most likely from home, sent off by their families. So Sunny, Max, and Nephis, who came empty-handed and wearing simple police-issued clothes, were not a norm like he had assumed, but an eye-catching anomaly.

...

Max looked around a bit before sighing and going towards a silver-haired girl.

"Hi Neph, how was your Nightmare"

Neph turned around, and she looked a bit surprised. She soon had a subtle smile that was hidden, but Max still saw it.

"It was fine, what about yours"

Max shrugged his shoulders and said

"Well, depressing to say the least."

Nephis hesitated for a moment before saying

"I see, it's a bad time to ask but are you on board with my plan"

Max remembered from his inherited memory that before they parted ways, Nephis told him her plan to destroy the sovereigns.

Max looked solemn but nonetheless nodded

"Yeah, I'm on board. But for that, we need a lot of firepower. And I think I found myself a huge firecracker"

Pointing to a frail black-haired boy, Neph traced his line of sight.

Landing at the jet black-haired boy, Neph doubtfully asked

"Him?"

Max nodded

"He may not look like it but he's an absolute demon, and he's good at adapting"

Neph looked doubtful but still nodded her head

"Well because you said, I'll believe you"

At that point, there was a huge commotion. Coming closer both of them could hear what it was about.

"Are you trying to pull a prank on me? You call this remarkable?!"

Max sighed and said

"Well, he's just a bit of an oddball okay"

But he still got side eyes by Neph.

One of the sleepers with hostility asked

"Listen, friend. If you don't think that an Ascended Aspect is remarkable, then please share with us your amazing results! What, pray tell, was your Appraisal?"

"I would let you know… my Appraisal was, uh, it was "glorious"! Yes, glorious. And the Aspect I acquired was of the Divine rank."

Hearing his words, Neph stifled a yelp but Max still heard it

Turning towards her, Max said with a smile on his face

"You know you're good at lying to others, but to me, you're really bad at it. Well whatever, but you received a Divine Aspect that's certainly good because well I got one too"

He was given a bewildered look, but it instantly disappeared before her indifferent face

"Don't say something like that so loudly, people may hear it"

Max just responded with a subtle smile

Turning towards the show, Max could hear Sunny

"Mind you, I'm not some lofty Legacy. Pfft! I'm from the outskirts. I've never even received combat training. All that training and he only got an "excellent"? What did he do during the Nightmare, pick his nose the whole time?"

Max too tired his hard to stifle a laugh, but it was damn funny causing him to burst out laughing.

Attracting a bit of attention. Max just faced them

"Oh shut the fuck up, that shit was damn funny and you know it"

Getting elbowed, Max yelped, turning towards the source Max could see a grumpy Neph

"Don't make too many enemies it will be bad for us"

Max chuckled

"You're the one who wants to overthrow the rulers and you tell me not to make enemies, but okay"

Turning his head back to Sunny, Max wanted to know what he was about to do but it seemed it all ended while he was talking with Neph

Max could see Sunny turning around, meeting his eyesight. Max walked towards him

"That was a good show, that entertained me not gonna lie, and I believe you on the Aspect part"

Sunny looked surprised and asked doubtfully

"Why?"

"Well, we might've had the same nightmare"

Max answered in a cryptic tone

"Anyways this is Neph or well Nephis to you"

Sunny looked awestruck before responding with his normal attitude

"Okay"

.....

Max found himself in an administrative room. He had finished the opening speech and supper and had now come here for the interview.

Max knew he couldn't reveal a lot because the great clans would probably review his interview.

A woman wearing a business suit soon came in and sat on the couch.

"Would you mind telling us about your Nightmare, Sleeper Max"

Max with a cheerful expression asked

"Can I refuse"

She looked confused, as most kids would be itching to tell everyone about their Nightmare to gain attention. So this was a special case.

"Um, yes"

Max nodded

"Well then you know my answer"

She hesitated and firmed herself before saying

"Your Nightmare would really help us with discovering and uncovering more about The Dream Realm"

Max looked uninterested

"Yeah, it's okay"

She looked a bit pissed before continuing

"Would you mind telling me about the type of Aspect Ability you received, as in combat, sorcery, utility?"

Max thought for a bit

"It's a combination of the three"

He knew he could refuse a few questions but refusing all would probably turn some heads.

"That's interesting. Are you able to directly deal damage with your Ability?"

Max sighed and looked her straight in the eye

"You know the answer to that"

She looked a bit pissed before continuing

"Do you want to tell the of your aspect"

Max scoffed

"Come on, can't you understand"

She started gripping her desk before continuing

"Do you want to receive psychological counseling"

"Yeah, fuck no"

Max felt he pissed her off very badly; she had broken a piece of the desk she was gripping, after all.

"Is there anything else you have to say"

Max thought for a bit before deciding to throw her a bone.

"Oh yeah, I have a true name"

She seemed to be very jovially after hearing it because she pumped her fist and silently said yes.

She then asked

"Do you wish it to reveal it"

Max nodded

"My True Name is The Almighty"

She seemed to have stars in her eyes after hearing it.