Last days on Earth

Early in the morning, Sunny washed up in his private bathroom and, still confused by his dream, hurried to get breakfast and think about the meaning behind it.

Meeting up with Cassie soon after, they entered the cafeteria, and she helped him fill his plate with all kinds of delicious stuff, before they made their way towards the only vacant table. Throughout their way, everyone seemed to avoid them, leaving the area immediately as if being in the same room as him was enough of a punishment. 

Sunny grimaced. It seemed by interacting with him, he doomed Cassie to be outcasts together for the remaining four weeks. 

Stuffing himself with the god-like food, he exchanged a few lines with Cassie, and spent the rest of his time admiring the cooking of the Academy chefs.

However, before he could finish, a sudden commotion drew his attention.

'What's going on?'

Listening intently to the surroundings, he deduced that a lot of the Sleepers were gathered around somewhere, presumably a large screen, their voices filled with excitement and awe.

"How… how can this be?"

"I'm not seeing things, right?"

"What kind of a monster is she?!"

Cassie even let out an awed gasp. 

'Damnation! If only I summoned [Wisdom's Rod] before arriving, I could at least know what was happening!' But there was no use crying over spilt milk, and he couldn't possibly summon it right now. The others would get suspicious, and someone might put two and two together, knowing that he wasn't as helpless as he seemed.

Sunny turned to Cassie, "What… What's going on?" He asked her.

"Can't you see? They just posted the rankings! The Sleeper in first place has a True Name!" Cassie excitedly rambled, "It's unprecedented!"

"I can't see," Sunny said, "Can you elaborate?"

"Oh… Oh. Sorry, I forgot about your Flaw," Cassie hurriedly apologized, "In first place is Nephis, with the True Name — Changing Star."

So there was someone else who got a true name from their First Nightmare. To get his own, Sunny had to deal with the Mountain King and Hero while possessing a completely useless Aspect, an impossible feat that seemed to please the Spell very much.

'I wonder how she got hers.'

"Who?" Sunny asked, "Can you describe her appearance?"

Cassie nodded, "She's tall, much taller than you. She has silver white hair that was cut short and neatly parted to the side."

Oh. She was the Sleeper that he had met at the Gates of the Academy. Sunny let out a chuckle, amused, "Let me guess, clear grey eyes?"

"That's right!" Cassie exclaimed, before asking surprisingly, "How did you know?" 

"I met her at the gates of the Academy, and someone told me how she looked."

"Alright." Cassie said, dropping the topic.

"What do you think of the rankings though?" He pondered out loud, curious. 

Cassie didn't answer for a while, pained groans escaping from her mouth, and Sunny only then realized by asking her a question, she was forced to answer, "...They weren't what I expected," She muttered silently, and didn't say anything. Technically, it was the truth, and Cassie seems to be more on hold of her flaw than yesterday.

"I'm sorry, I forgot about it," Sunny said apologetically, the 'it' being her flaw.

Cassie bitterly laughed, "You don't have to, if I wanted to keep a secret, I would have stayed silent. I forget that you're blind at times, you act like you still have sight…!"

Sunny wasn't convinced, but he said nothing. Despite their apparent closeness, they had only met a day ago, it wasn't right for him to pry into her secrets without spilling his own.

"Can you tell me the rest of the rankings?" He asked, as if their earlier conversation had never happened. Cassie played along, and started telling him all about it, and as expected, he was at last place, followed by Cassie. At second was Caster, the legacy whose conversation he overheard yesterday. 

"A Sleeper with a True Name? That's impossible!"

"It's technically possible. Smile of Heaven received her True Name in the First Nightmare, I think. But yeah, I'm doubtful…"

"Maybe she lied in the interview?"

"Are you stupid? If it was that easy to deceive the administrators, the crazy girl from yesterday would have been in the first place instead!"

"Well, why don't we just ask her?"

Suddenly, there was a deafening silence in the cafeteria. Following the suggestion, and the Sleepers stopped talking.

"Mmm. What?" Nephis asked the crowd.

After a couple of moments, Caster suddenly walked over and made a small bow. "Lady Nephis. I am Caster from the Han Li clan. I see that your trial went well?"

Lady? Why is he addressing her that way? And he had to introduce himself… so, they don't know each other? Interesting.

Nephis seemed to be a little bit perplexed by the question. After thinking for a while, she simply said, 'It is what it is."

"I see. I am very glad that you returned unharmed. Uh… not that I doubted your abilities."

"Thank you."

After that, she spoke no words, and the crowd slowly dispersed.

Sunny sighed, 'How mysterious.'

There were a lot of thoughts in his mind. However, none of them could distract him from the most important thing… breakfast. A few seconds later, he had forgotten all about the awkward dynamic between Caster and Nephis and was happily shoveling down his food.

—-

The Wilderness Survival classroom was spacious, quiet… and completely empty. Sunny even thought he was mistaken, and went to the wrong place. But that was simply impossible, Cassie was with him, she could see and tell him where to go! 

At the end, she had also signed up for Wilderness Survival… and nothing else. She seemed to have taken their conversation yesterday seriously, or her Nightmare also had harsh environmental conditions like his. Well, at least he'll have someone to accompany him.

Amplifying his hearing, Sunny finally heard the sounds of someone scribbling on paper, proving that it wasn't an empty classroom.

'Must have been the instructor…'

Noticing them, the instructor perked up, "Come in, young Sleepers!"

According to [Wisdom's Rod], he was a lively old man with messy grey hair, absentminded eyes and a pair of bushy eyebrows. Yes, he had summoned it after realizing his initial mistake back in the cafeteria.

"I'm Awakened Julius. You can call me Teacher Julius. Sit down, sit down! What's your name?"

Sunny obediently sat down.

"It's Sunless."

"Ah! What an ominous name. But this is good, very good. After all, we have to deal with a lot of ominous things!" 

Teacher Julius then shifted his attention to the one beside him, "And what's your name, young lady?"

"Cassia."

Julius let out a hum of excitement, "Spirit. If we base your name off the old scrolls. Perfect, you'll have to have spirit in this class!"

'But where's the other people?' Sunny thought, 'Unless… There's only us?'

"Uh… I'm sorry, Teacher. Did I come too early?" Cassie asked.

"No, no… you're right on time!" Julius said.

Sunny tilted his head, "Are the other students late?" 

The instructor grunted with incredible contempt. "No one else is coming. Those brutes are only interested in swinging their fists and swords around. Very few are smart like you both and know the true value of knowledge…"

Oh. So it was unpopular. Sunny inwardly sighed, hoping that he won't regret the decision to abandon combat training in favor of this course.

"Say, young man… why did you choose Wilderness Survival, of all things?"

There was no point in hiding the true reason. Not that Sunny would have been able to anyway… 

"The Awakened that monitored me during the First Nightmare, Master Jet, had advised me to study it above all things/"

"A very wise advice! That Master truly knows what's important… wait. Did you say Jet?"

His eyes widened.

"Soul Reaper Jet? That murderous savage?! Hm. Who would have thought that a barbarian like her would know the value of intricate knowledge." 

Soul Reaper? Sunny's curiosity was picked. "Teacher, do you know Master Jet?"

"Who doesn't know the Soul Reaper? She might not be the most powerful Awakened out there, but she is certainly the most feared. That's because her Aspect Abilities disregard flesh and target soul cores directly. Which means that no amount of armor, damage resistance and physical protection can stop them. The only good thing is that she's young and not likely to become a Saint anytime soon, or even ever."

"Yes, luckily, there's a very low probability that she'll ever advance."

Sunny blinked, "Why?"

"Because of her problematic personality, of course! Who would want to help a psychopathic killer become a Saint? You need a team of outstanding companions and a lot of support to attempt conquering the Third Nightmare. Soul Reaper Jet isn't… wait!"

Julius leaned back, "Why am I gossiping with you? You're too young to know such things! More than that, it's not in my character to badmouth others behind their backs!"

'I would beg to differ,' Sunny thought sarcastically, but didn't say anything out loud. He already got a lot of juicy information out of Teacher Julius, 'Maybe choosing Wilderness Survival was the right choice after all.'

He shifted his attention to Cassie, "What about you? Why did you join?"

Cassie chuckled, "My reasons aren't as noble as Sunny's. Yesterday we had a chat and I asked him what course he was going to join. The cold was all he said, and imagine the confusion in my mind at that time! The cold? What did he even mean? Surely there wasn't a course called 'the cold'!"

Sunny was confused, 'Was that why she had looked at him so strangely?'

"The cold was what almost killed him apparently. And, thinking back," Cassie obviously shivered, shifting loud enough that he could hear and discern it, "Though it wasn't the cold, the wilderness had almost taken my life as well."

"That's right, the wilderness can be unforgiving…" Teacher Julius said, his tone serious, like that of a man who had experienced the deadliness of nature, "Let's get back to your curriculum. What other courses are you taking?" His tone shifted.

Sunny sighed, "None. For the next four weeks, I'll be fully concentrated on Wilderness Survival."

"Same as him," Cassie said. 

Julius didn't speak for a whole minute, and when he did, it was full of surprise and excitement, "Wonderful! This is wonderful! You're both such astute young people! Don't you worry. In four whole weeks, I will make you immortal…" 

Sunny raised his hand, "Uh… Teacher Julius? Didn't you hear the rumors? I have absolutely no chance in immortality, or perfection," He grimaced, "The spell took away my sight."

"Pardon?"

Sunny sighed, "I'm blind."

Julius took a while and processed that information, before simply patting his back, "Don't worry Sunless, I'll make sure to do it even when you're blind!" He then exclaimed, "Oh! Do I love figuring out puzzles, and you young man, you're my newest puzzle!"

Sunny didn't know how to reply, so he simply nodded. Cassie snickered besides him.

—

Their lessons with Teacher Julius started pleasantly and without much tension, but just an hour later, Sunny felt like his head was ready to explode. There was so much new information, and all of it was so strange and counterintuitive for someone who had never left the walled-off, sheltered confines of the city. 

While Cassie was the exact opposite, she would greedily take in the information, and would voice out her confusion that the course was so different from the classes in her old school. How she managed to enjoy the lesson, Sunny did not know.

From time to time, Julius gaped at Sunny's lack of knowledge and relevant experience. However, he had a good attitude and an endless enthusiasm for teaching, he didn't mind Sunny's blindness, and explained step by step, telling him how he could use his hearing to replace sight. Whenever Sunny stumbled, he would patiently slow down and allow his student to catch up. Cassie would also explain some of the more complicated terms in simple words, and it made absorbing said information easier for him.

The curriculum that Julius planned out was practically insane, to him that is, from Cassie, it was still 'normal', but a bit extreme compared to the outside world. There was an endless amount of theoretical knowledge to learn, practical lessons both in virtual reality and the real world, numerous subjects and weird things to study. There were even several lessons dedicated exclusively to learning the basics of several dead languages of the Dream Realm!

'Why would I need to learn new languages?' Sunny thought with self-pity. 'The Spell automatically translates everything!'

But Julius was uncompromising, "The Spell is not a translator! Do you think it has the time to express the intricacies of human speech? Let's say you're seeking shelter in a ruin and find an inscription that reads 'certain death ahead'. There are thirty words for death in the rune language! Just by knowing the runes, you'll be able to deduce what kind of danger there is!"

Cassie nodded attentively and asked Teacher Julius more about the nuances of rune language, while he listened hopelessly and pretended to understand. He couldn't even see the runes! Why did he have to learn about them?

On the first day, they studied until the sun was about to set. Only then did Julius decide to let Sunny go. Mentally exhausted and lamenting the fact that he had to miss lunch and dinner, Sunny decided to gently remind his teacher about the importance of food for maintaining high levels of concentration tomorrow.

After returning to his room, he fell on a chair and stared blankly into the distance for a while, then, like yesterday, as unconsciousness overwhelmed him, he found himself in that world of strings again. And this time, he was having a dream of the present.

—

In his vision, Sunny saw his fellow Sleepers who, under the guidance of Instructor Rock, were going through the motions of the introductory combat class. 

Today was mainly dedicated to testing their general competency and abilities. After that, the Sleepers were going to be separated into groups based on their level, such as novice, advanced or expert, as well as being allowed to choose their own weapons. Some would be assigned a personal tutor or paired together.

Currently, the Sleepers were taking turns delivering their strongest punches to a wide plate attached to a special measuring machine. After each strike, the machine would display a number corresponding to the Sleeper's physical strength.

Most people were getting numbers ranging from ten to fourteen. It was considered a good result, something that only the most athletic people could reach. However, a lot of Sleepers, obviously those with enhancing Aspects, were able to achieve a score of fifteen or even sixteen.

'I would probably get ten or eleven.' Sunny thought, feeling a little bored. He never expected his vision was just watching people throw punches to a machine.

Then he suddenly perked up, noticing silver hair approaching the machine —- Nephis, who was the highest-rated Sleeper of the batch, to strike the plate.

It was his first time seeing her, and she shone like a goddess descending upon them. Silver hair flowed in her wake, and her grey eyes were clear, striking, like they held every answer in the world. Changing Star looked like she was apart from their world, she was calm and unbothered, aloof and alone.

…Sunny found himself entranced.

The slender girl approached the machine and, without much preparation, delivered a sudden, crushing blow. Sunny wasn't very well-versed in martial arts, but even he was impressed by the flawless economy and speed of her execution.

'She had a lot of training.' Nephis was becoming more and more intriguing. What's her actual background?

After a short pause, the machine displayed the result: sixteen. Sunny felt a bit disappointed, 'Not that impressive. I was expecting more.' She was the proud bearer of a True Name, after all!

But on second thought, 'She could be hiding her cards… Well, I can only wait and see.'

After that, only Caster remained. This time, Sunny couldn't even see the flying fist —- it was just too fast. The machine trembled and took more time calculating. Finally, two numbers appeared: twenty-one.

Everyone gaped at the display, stunned. More than a few admiring looks were thrown at Caster, who simply bowed and took a step back.

Instructor Rock smiled, "Not bad. Now we will move to sparring and evaluate your general level of training. I need two volunteers to begin."

Nephis was the first to step forward. A couple of seconds later, a tall and extremely muscular Sleeper followed and faced her.

"The rules are simple. Make your opponent's back touch the floor or throw them out of the ring. Use whatever abilities and techniques you find appropriate."

Almost immediately, the tall guy attacked without wasting any time. His muscles bulged, threatening to tear the soft fabric of his white dobok. He advanced like an unstoppable mountain, sending a vicious kick flying.

…A second later, he was lying on the floor with a dumbstruck look on his face. Nephis didn't even change her stance.

Instructor Rock gave her a cheerful look and grinned, "Next." 

What followed could only be described as a massacre. One after another, Nephis managed to defeat almost every single Sleeper present in the dojo. She didn't seem to be faster or stronger than them, but each time someone entered the ring to fight her, they would inevitably end up beaten and thrown to the ground.

Sunny watched the process with a growing sense of amusement. However, at some point, even he felt a bit uneasy.

Nephis moved with the calm precision of a battle machine, her technique was clean, graceful and ruthless. No matter what type of attack was thrown at her, she was able to either predict it or instantly react to it, resulting in her deflecting and turning the attack against the attacker with the minimum amount of effort. 

It didn't matter whether her opponent was poor, rich or a Legacy. Everyone would end up dealt with in a matter of seconds. What's more, throughout the whole process, the composed expression on her face didn't even change once. It was like Nephis was made out of metal.

'Is… is she even human?' Sunny thought, suddenly apprehensive.

What was he going to do if this Changing Star were to end up as his enemy? Sunny let out a wry smile, he wouldn't be able to do anything, even if he were to run, he won't last long, he was blind, and that cut off all his options of safety. 

He was forced to trust by his flaw. 

'Cassie would help me, maybe. If I were to be of value that is,' Sunny mused, thoughts straying to the optimistic girl. 

Eyes darting across the room, Sunny watched every match with interest, it was only here could he see the world, and he learnt to value this greatly. His eyes zoomed onto a corner in the room, where there was a shadow. A very unnatural one. A human shaped one. It stood there, still, glancing at the match with interest. Like Sunny.

…But they were different. Sunny could see the shadow, while the shadow could not see Sunny.

Splitting his attention into two, he focused on the shadow, and the matches, wanting to see how the shadow would react. Time ticked past, and Sunny noticed something —- the shadow's expression contorted in pain more and more with each second.

'It seems to be someone's shadow, but I don't know which one…' Sunny thought, 'So it can spy on people, but not without consequences.'

Sunny suddenly felt quite giddy, his own Aspect allowed him to spy too, but he could not control it. It was powerful, more powerful than that shadow Aspect. No one would notice him, since he wasn't there. Technically.

'I still have to figure out my Aspect more though…'

Finally, Caster was the last one remaining —- once again. However, he didn't seem to be perturbed by the miserable failure of every other Sleeper. With a soft smile on his lips, the young man stepped into the ring. 

Sunny focused his attention on them, not wanting to miss this fight. He had the hunch that it would be one of the most intense he will see in his life.

Caster and Nephis faced each other. Their eyes locked for a few seconds, and then Caster slightly bowed, "Lady Nephis. Please excuse me in advance."

'What is he going to…'

…A moment later, Sunny opened his eyes in shock.

It seemed like Caster suddenly ceased to exist.

However, it was only an illusion. The truth was that he was just moving so fast that the human eye wasn't able to keep up with his movements. If it wasn't for the special properties of the dreamscape that he could slightly manipulate, Sunny wouldn't have been able to perceive anything either.

Even then, he had to intensely focus to notice a hazy blur streaking through the air.

In a fraction of a second, Caster covered the distance between him and Nephis and delivered a devastating blow. However, despite his astonishing speed, she somehow managed to react in time, slightly turning her body to deflect the strike.

But it still wasn't enough. Although Nephis had managed to avoid being hit squarely in her center of gravity, Caster's fist ended up connecting with her shoulder, sending the girl into a spin. 

Not wasting any time, Caster disappeared again. His plan was very simple: while Nephis was still under the impression that the enemy was in front of her, he was going to use his unnatural swiftness to circle around and attack from the back.

The young man appeared behind the oblivious girl, ready to finish the fight with one decisive strike. Just as he planned, she seemed to be preparing to attack in the direction he had been seen just a split second ago. Gratified, Caster shifted his weight, putting it all into his fist.

However, at the last moment, Nephis suddenly changed her stance and threw her elbow back with frightening force. Caster's eyes widened. It was all a feint!

And now that he had committed to a strike, there was no simple way to stop. No matter how fast he was, he was still subject to the laws of inertia. The elbow was approaching his face with a profound feeling of inevitably,

And yet, Caster still managed to avoid it, even if it were by a hair's breadth. His speed advantage was just too big.

He then proceeded to trip and push Nephis, sending her flying to the ground. However, just before she was about to hit the mats, the young man carefully grabbed the collar of her dobok and gently pulled, slowing down the fall and allowing Nephis to land on the floor without any impact.

Lying on her back, the girl blinked a couple of times and looked up at him. The whole altercation lasted no more than two seconds.

'So that's an Ascended Aspect? That's… that's cheating!'

A Sleeper had no business being that fast. The powers bestowed upon them by the Spell were supposed to be in their infancy. But… Caster was a Legacy, after all.

Who knew how many soul shards were fed to him prior to enrolling into the Academy?

Back in the dojo, Instructor Rock grunted and gave Caster a nod. The shadow was dancing around the room, as if surprised by such an outcome. Nephis slowly rose to her feet. The rest of the Sleepers were gawking at the young man with reverence, whispering among each other in hushed tones. It seemed that his performance left them with a deep impression. However, Caster himself wasn't very elated. He glanced at Nephis with an unreadable expression.

That was because, unlike the rest of them, he came to a certain realization. The truth of this matter was known only to him, Nephis, Instructor Rock… and Sunny, who was very observant and quickly picked up on such things. Oh, and the shadow as well.

The thing that Sleepers failed to notice was that Nephis did not use her Aspect Ability when facing Caster. In fact, she had not used it at any point during today's testing. No one even knew what her Ability was.

And yet, despite his powerful Aspect, Caster barely managed to clutch a victory against her.

'What a monster,' Sunny thought, full of unease. And the shadow must have agreed with him, with it escaping the scene the moment Nephis looked at the corner.

—

After that the vision shifted, and Sunny soon found himself in the showers. There must have been a considerable time skip from the dojo to here, since Sunny saw the shadow again, hiding in the corner, without an expression of pain.

'So the owner had called it back… And sent it away again?' Sunny thought, but shook his head and focused on the scene around him.

The first thing he noticed was Caster being surrounded by a group of newly converted fans. They were congratulating him on his victory, full of adoration and excitement. However, Caster himself seemed to be in a bad mood. His expression was somber, and there was a grim heaviness in his eyes.

In fact, his face grew darker with each praise he received.

"Caster, that was incredible!"

"Your Aspect is overpowered, am I right?"

"That Nephis girl stood no chance at all!"

"True Name? Who needs that? She's just a wanna-be!"

FInally, Caster raised his head and pierced the last boy who had spoken with a cold look. That boy, just like him, was one of the few Legacies in their batch of Sleepers. He frowned, surprised by Caster's reaction.

"What is it?"

Caster gritted his teeth, "I might have expected such behavior from them, but you should know better."

The other Legacy raised an eyebrow, "Why? Is there something special about that peasant girl?"

Caster's eyes widened, "Peasant… peasant girl? Do you really not know who she is?"

'No!' Sunny thought impatiently. 'So just get to it and say it out loud!'

Luckily, the arrogant Sleeper had the same sentiment.

Caster opened his mouth several times, as though not sure what to say. Finally, he shook his head and answered, "She is Nephis of the Immortal Flame clan."

"I trust that I don't need to tell you about her grandfather. Her parents were Smile of Heaven and Broken Sword."

Sunny was reeling with that information. Immortal Flame, Broken Sword as well as their companions were among the most famous heroes of the human race, someone who had managed to change history with their own two hands. If what Caster said was true, then Nephis wasn't just an aristocrat… She was royalty!

"Then why… why is she so…"

Caster sighed as he continued, "Because they're all dead. The Immortal Flame clan is long gone."

For a few moments, the locker room was completely silent. Caster looked down. "She's the only one left."

—-

His vision then shifted.

A girl with pale blond hair, big blue eyes, and an exquisite face slowly entered the dojo, glancing around as if making sure no one was there.

Sunny knew the girl, she looked very familiar, yet felt somewhat like a stranger. He was sure he hadn't seen her before, so he must have met her after his blindness took effect. 

'Perhaps she is a legacy?' He mused, 'I'll definitely know who she is once I hear her voice…'

Walking towards the measuring machine, she stopped for a while, before making a fist and delivering her best punch. The machine hummed for a few seconds and then displayed a single number.

Nine.

"Tsk.." The girl muttered, and Sunny was almost sure of her identity "I thought it would be higher…" 

Yes, it was Cassie, or Cassia.

She struck the plate again, however, the result was the same.

"Damn it!"

Cassie paced for a bit, as though she was trying to control her anger. It seems she was destined to be a weakling, after all, the force of the strike depended on mass and acceleration. Acceleration could be improved with technique and exercise, but mass wasn't something that could be controlled. 

Suddenly, Cassie went back to the machine, and punched the plate again, putting all of her frustration into this one strike. Then, the strangest thing happened —- Cassie's shadow flowed up and wrapped itself around her hand, sticking to it like a black glove. In the next moment, the punch connected.

The machine trembled from the force of the strike. Cassie yelped in pain and took a step back, cradling her bruised fist, tears in her eyes. After a while, the result was displayed. However, it wasn't a nine anymore.

It wasn't even a ten.

It was eighteen.

She looked at the displayed number for a long time, expressionless.

Then, a wide grin slowly appeared on Cassie's face. "I see. So that's why. Of course!"

She clenched her fist again, looking down at the black, shadowy glove. Waving her hand, the glove returned to be her shadow, and almost immediately, her face contorted in pain.

Cassie let out a yelp, before covering her mouth, her face contorted in pain. Falling onto the floor of the dojo, tears fell from her eyes, and she withered in pain. Sunny wanted to extend a hand to help her, to repay her for all she had done for him, yet he couldn't. This was a vision, a vision of the present, he didn't exist there.

"So that's what the Spell meant by balance…" Cassie muttered.

Sunny's vision once again blurred, and when his eyes opened, light shone through the window. 

It was already morning. Another day gone, and the dreaded Winter Solstice looming over the corner.