Alista stood in the doorway of the classroom, watching Professor Julius arrange a stack of papers. Julius looked up, spotting Alista.
"So, what is it, kid?" Julius asked, his voice rough but kind.
"I wanted to thank you for your lessons in Wilderness Survival," Alista replied sincerely.
Julius laughed, a short, dismissive sound. "Just don't die, kid. You three—you, Sunny, and Fors—are my students, after all. You should be immortal."
Alista smiled. "Don't worry, sir. I won't die easily." After a brief, respectful conversation, he left.
Alista's next stop was Awakened Rock's Office. Alista knew they had started off badly, but he recognized that beneath the severe exterior, Rock genuinely cared for his students. As he reached the office, he saw Rock sitting in a solemn posture, his face etched with sadness.
Alista knocked softly. Rock looked up, seeing Alista standing outside. "Come in," he instructed.
Alista entered. "Sir, I would like to clearly thank you for your teachings in combat, even though some of my actions were… not at their best."
Rock looked at him, a complex expression crossing his face. "It is my duty to teach. Moreover, everybody has their quirks. Just don't die, Blood Emperor."
Alista offered a slight smile and turned to leave, but Rock stopped him. "Wait a minute. I need to speak to you about something important."
Alista stopped instantly and closed the door, his mind racing. 'What is going on?'
Rock reached out, activating a Memory item that shimmered into a protective layer around them. "This Memory prevents eavesdropping on our conversation," Rock explained.
Alista looked at the boundary, his vigilance spiking. "What is happening, Instructor?"
Rock's eyes were filled with sadness and concern. "You are targeted by the Valor Clan."
Alista felt a cold shock and now clearly understood why Artemis had approached him and why her questions felt like an interrogation.
"Why are they targeting me?" Alista questioned. "Is it because I got a True Name?"
Rock sighed heavily. "No, it is not because of the True Name. This problem started before you revealed your True Name. It seems to be related to the Bastion itself."
Alista felt a profound sense of confusion and alarm. 'Bastion? Even Artemis asked me about the Bastion. What the hell is going on?' A desperate, internal plea formed in his mind. 'Klein, please save me! I need your protection. I will give you all the money I have ! Please help a fellow Transmigrator!'
He spoke to Rock, managing to keep his voice steady. "So, why are you telling me this now?"
Rock's reply was a stark warning. "Because now you are going to enter the Dream Realm, where anything can happen. Just be careful."
Alista immediately understood: he had been under the protection of the Academy and the Government until this moment. Rock was warning him that the safety net was about to vanish.
"Thanks, Sir," Alista replied with a respectful nod. "I won't die easily." He left the office.
Rock watched him go, deactivated the Memory, and muttered to himself with a mixture of exasperation and genuine concern. "Please, kid, don't die, even though you are a pain in the ass."
[Artemis POV]
Artemis was in her room, performing her final preparations for the Solstice. She was waiting for her cousin, Morgan, to contact her via their private Communicator.
She thought about her recent interactions with Alista Tudor and Fors Wall. They were undeniably special, highly abnormal, and yet Artemis felt a strange sense of connection with them. She felt they were somehow abnormal, just like her. Since her youth, she had been treated differently, even more so than her notorious cousin, Mordret, whom the clan regarded as a taboo.
Artemis remembered her father's curses, calling her a freak. She couldn't properly recall parts of her childhood; it was as if chunks of her memories were missing. This mission was everything to her—a desperate chance to prove her worth to the clan, to her family, and especially to her father.
A knock sounded at her door. She opened it to find a stunning young woman.
The woman had dark, wavy hair and alabaster skin. She wore an intricate suit of lusterless, black armor and a red cape, the color of the Valor Clan banner. Her eyes were as cold as a lethal blade, a strange, vibrant red, matching her full lips and vermilion cape. With her dark hair and pale skin, she looked both beautiful and daunting.
Artemis looked at her and spoke, "Morgan. How kind of you to visit me?"
Morgan replied with a cold tone. "Long time no see, Artemis. Can we speak inside?"
Artemis invited her in and closed the door.
Morgan spoke directly. "You know why I am here. Tell me about your current mission."
Artemis sighed. "About Alista Tudor. You could have asked in the Communicator, you know?"
Morgan's tone hardened. "I have an important thing to tell you, which is why I came under the pretense of giving you Memories."
Artemis's face instantly became serious. "What happened?"
"Regarding Alista Tudor," Morgan said, her voice dangerously low. "His Reflection in the Bastion escaped."
Artemis was shocked. "But how? How did he escape? It's impossible!"
Morgan shook her head. "I have no idea. Saints have been dispatched to search, but he took some others with him."
Artemis processed the information. "When we found him, and he came into the false Bastion where, the Clan elders sealed him. And Alista Tudor never came to the Bastion…"
Morgan cut in. "I want to cross-check something with you. You said Alista has brown hair, but his Reflection had red hair. That usually doesn't happen for most people."
Artemis frowned, deep in thought. "What is the mission?"
Morgan looked at her, her resolve solidifying. "Here are the orders: Monitor Alista Tudor and find his Connection to this incident. If he is a threat, kill him."
Artemis thought for a moment and nodded reluctantly. "I hate to kill him. He is a prodigy himself, and he hasn't even used his Aspect publicly yet."
"What about Changing Star?" Morgan asked.
"Leave Changing Star for now," Morgan commanded. "Something tells me the Blood Emperor is going to change everything. Call it a hunch."
After handing over a selection of Memories and Echoes, Morgan headed out, leaving Artemis with a chilling assignment.
*******
When the sun was close to setting, Instructor Rock gathered all the Sleepers in the foyer of the Sleeper Center and led them outside.
In the snowy parks surrounding the white building, other Awakened were leading their own batches of Sleepers to the same destination: the Academy's Medical Center.
The center looked less like a hospital and more like a shrine. Its interior contained both highly advanced technology and some of the best Healers among the Awakened. For the duration of their first journey into the Dream Realm, the Sleepers' bodies would be kept safe in specially designed pods and sustained by the magical powers of those Healers should anything unfortunate happen.
Alista and Fors looked at the rows of empty, still bodies inside the pods. They understood: these were the Hollows that Instructor Rock in the novel had mentioned—people whose souls had already perished.
Instructor Rock looked at the empty vessels with solemn eyes.
"There is a reason I brought you all here. Look well and remember. Some of you may know who these people are… for those of you who don't, they are called Hollow."
He gritted his teeth.
"Each one of them was once either a Sleeper or an Awakened. Some of them were weak; some of them were strong. Some were even incredibly powerful. All of them have perished in the Dream Realm."
Instructor Rock glanced in the direction where Caster, Nephis, and Alista stood, then added a final, chilling command.
"So don't die out there."
On the way to their pods, Alista Tudor, Artemis, and Fors Wall walked together.
Artemis broke the silence. "Let's meet in the Dream Realm."
Alista and Fors nodded their agreement. Artemis gave them a quick, professional smile and then left to find her assigned pod.
Fors turned to Alista, her expression serious. "Remember when we went camping?"
"Yellowstone Park, right?" Alista confirmed, recalling the transmigrated memory.
Fors smiled slightly. "Yeah. Remember what I said when we fought the bear that attacked us?"
"Didn't we run from it?" Alista teased, earning a solid punch to his abdomen from Fors.
"Remember what we spoke?" Fors repeated insistently.
Alista remembered the foolish, profound words of their friendship from their previous lives. "'Bros before Hoes'?"
Fors nodded, tears welling slightly in her eyes. "'Wherever we land, we will find each other and have your back.'"
Alista's cynical armor momentarily cracked. He remembered the intensity of that moment, a bond forged in fear and friendship. "Yeah, I do," he said, his voice softer.
"Same thing," Fors whispered, her eyes meeting his. "Wherever we land, we will have our backs. Whatever it takes."
Alista matched her intensity. "Whatever it takes."
Fors hugged him tightly, and Alista returned the embrace, a silent vow passing between them.
"Just… beware of Monocles," Alista cautioned, referencing a subtle threat from the novel's lore that Fors would understand.
Fors nodded, released him, and walked away to her own pod.
Alista reached his designated pod and climbed in. He lay down, the chamber closing around him, and offered a final, desperate prayer to his protector from the outside world.
"Bless me, luck, Klein."
And then, he heard the voice of the Spell, signifying the inevitable.
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Blood Emperor]
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