The Academy

Flaws.

The counterweight to power. They were cruel, inevitable, and often worse the stronger your Aspect.

Valen's flaw was no exception.

[The Crown Remembers Every Slight, Real or Imagined. You are cursed to do the same.]

It didn't care for reason. It didn't wait for context. A glance held too long, a crooked smile, a twitch of contempt—any of it could set it off. Even something as harmless as someone looking at him the wrong way… it was enough. The Crown would whisper of betrayal, of disrespect, and his nerves would catch fire with agony until he acted.

The only way to silence it was to obey. To punish the offender. Sometimes a harsh word would do. Other times, it demanded more—pain, blood, a lesson.

It was maddening.

But Valen had found a way to survive. A fragile loophole.

If he didn't see the offense, it didn't exist.

So he closed his eyes. Turned his back and avoided seeing what might ignite the flaw.

It usually worked. But in the middle of a battle?

In battle, it became a death sentence.

He couldn't look away—not when he was inches away from death.

The Crown didn't care. If an ally dared to glance at him with doubt, if a flicker of "offence" passed through them even for a heartbeat — the flaw would awaken and Valen would be forced to act.

Not against the enemy. But against his own.

That's why he needed a servant.

Someone beneath the Crown, someone it could tolerate... a shadow. Someone who would follow orders and never dare to offend him — not even accidentally.

"You...Sunny.. you will become my shadow"

***

"It's massive," Valen breathed.

Sunny and Valen were standing in front of the massive, seemingly indestructible red gates of the Awakened Academy. The Academy was, in fact, a city within the city. It was built like a fortress, with a high wall made of hard alloy, deep moat and numerous large-caliber turrets which were placed in certain positions to create a deadly air-suppression dome. No Nightmare Creature, not even colossal titans, were supposed to be able to break through its defenses.

It was a legendary place. Actually, many of the most popular webtoons, youth dramas and novels took place right behind that wall. Adventures, rivalries and romantic entanglements of the young Awakened heroes were the mainstream theme of modern entertainment. Never in his wildest dreams did Sunny imagine actually becoming one of these heroes.

Of course, the reality differed a lot from media portrayals. More than that, he had only four weeks to spend here before venturing into the Dream Realm. Even if he wanted to, there wasn't enough time for any type of entanglement. And he definitely did not want to.

He had to learn how to survive, not waste time on nonsense.

Snow was falling slowly. It was cold and silent in front of the Academy gates. Except for Sunny and Valen, there was only one other person — another new Sleeper, if he had to guess.

She was tall, slender, around his age, with clear grey eyes and a detached look on her face. Her silver-white hair was cut short and neatly parted. Just like them, she wore a police-issued tracksuit and had no personal belongings. On her head sat a pair of old-fashioned headphones. She was calmly listening to music, aura farming while they waited.

There was a certain vibe to the silver-haired girl. It was sort of… as though she was apart from the world. She looked confident and self-sufficient, but also a bit lonely.

Sunny wasn't going to start a conversation. Who knew what kind of situation he might cause because of that damn Flaw? Better to keep to himself.

He glanced at the girl and sighed.

I wonder what Flaw she has...

"Stop eyeing the ladies, Sunny... that's how you get labeled a creep, you know?"

Valen grinned, stepping forward with his eyes closed and gained the aura farmer's curiosity.

Sunny glared. "Yeah, I bet you'd know."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean." He pointed at Valen. "Plus with that ominous aura around you, you'd be the worst wingman."

"..Not my fault...It's actually my Flaw."

Sunny blinked after hearing that. Why would Valen even give him this information so casually?! Did he trust Sunny to that extent? 

Now I feel kinda bad for hiding stuff from him... well, kind of.

"Anyway, let's head in."

Finally, the gates began to open. The giant slab of reinforced metal descended slowly, forming a bridge. Sunny stared ahead with grim determination.

Master Jet's parting words echoed in his mind.

***

Valen leaned back into the plush seat of the PTV, arms folded, gaze turned to the roof. The silence was suffocating. Jet sat in the front while Sunny was half-fused to the window, staring out, looking at the sights of the city that were flying past the window of Jet's personal transport vehicle.

Valen tapped his fingers against the door.

"No one said anything about how cool I look today. I'll remember this betrayal."

Silence.

He grinned. "That's okay. I remember every slight."

Sunny groaned. "God, Why did I even meet you?"

"That was super mean Sunny."

Then Valen leaned closer, voice dropping to a whisper. "But seriously... don't you think Master Jet looks thick today?"

 "Huh?! What do you mean?" Sunny blinked. " Does she look fat to you?"

"No!" Valen stressed, "thick as in—" 

Ahem.

Jet interrupted.

"Focus Sunny, I'm going to give you some crucial information," Jet said.

Valen froze.

Did she just skip me ?

why though?

A horrifying thought bloomed in his mind.

Wait... is she into Sunny?

That would explain why she keeps ignoring a tall, handsome, powerful, good-looking and sexy man like me... 

"She is into cute, small pretty boys!" Valen blurted.

Sunny blinked.

"What?"

"Nothing, Just forget it"

Jet sighed and moved on.

"Since all of us come from the outskirts, I'll give you three pieces of advice. Listen or don't. It's your business."

"First: once you're registered, they'll offer psychological counseling. There's a reward for sharing your Nightmare experiences and Appraisal results. A soul shard. Maybe several."

Sunny frowned.

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

Jet shook her head. "I'm telling you to refuse."

"Why?"

"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."

So that's how it is.

"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."

That made a lot of sense.

"Thank you, Master Jet."

She gave him a nod.

"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."

Sunny gulped. Actually, he was already agonizing about what weapon to train with. Four weeks was not enough to master a weapon, but at least he would have a basic understanding of it.

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

He blinked.

"What?"

"You're not from the city. You don't know how to make a fire, find food, or build shelter. All that fancy combat won't help if you freeze to death or starve. Trust me. I've learned it the hard way."

Sunny nodded, angry at himself. It was so obvious, yet he never even thought about these seemingly simple things. He was blinded by his past habits and experience.

Human brains were like that: once accustomed to a certain way of living, it was hard to see past the already familiar routines. It was lazy thinking at its worst.

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

This was… the famous Awakened Academy.

After a few seconds, he shook off his amazement and turned to his senior.

She stepped out. "This is as far as I go. Someone will come get you."

"What's the third piece of advice?"

Master Jet glanced at him, then sighed.

"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."

Then she suddenly smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

What?! Where is my pat on the shoulder? Valen seethed silently.

She's definitely into him.

She got back in the car without sparing him a glance and drove away.

Just like that, she was gone.

***

The end of the metal bridge hit the special grooves in the ground and stopped moving after a set of loud clicks. Sunny looked ahead, wondering what kind of life he was going to be living in the next four weeks.

Keep your Flaw and Aspect secret, learn to survive in the wilderness, be nice to other Sleepers. It didn't sound too hard.

But, for some reason, he was sure that these weeks were going to be as challenging as his First Nightmare. Or maybe even worse.

Seemingly free of such concerns, the silver-haired girl walked forward and stepped on the bridge, then Valen followed, motioning Sunny to come.

Sunny sighed and reluctantly walked forwards.

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Bruh accidentally posted the draft one