Chapter 15: Combat
The Awakened Academy's cafeteria was a cavernous hall, its high ceilings echoing with the din of hundreds of Sleepers this early in the morning.
The air hummed occasional discussions about Aspects, strategies for surviving the Dream Realm and oc course the looming Winter Solstice punctuated by the jarringly normal conversation about celebrities or sports.
It just went to show that most of these people were regular teenagers forced to change their liifestyle because of the nightmare spell.
Hugo received a few lingering glances as he entered but the attention was far less intense than the one he received yesterday. Which was because of two reasons.
First, everyone was too preoccupied with their own survival and training to fixate on him for long and They also had their own share of problems to contend with.
The second reason was the girl sitting like a silent, magnetic pole at the center of the room.
Changing Star of the Immortal Flame Clan.
She was the true center of attention. The last scion of a legendary clan and a sleeper with a True Name which was something accomplished only by her mother, smile of heaven And Hugo later on.
Changing star was a peculiar existence to say the least. her expression was a mask of aloof detachment that seemed to push the world away as if she did not belong to it entirely.
'Talk about main character syndrome,' Hugo thought.
She had the tragic backstory, the legendary bloodline, the immense pressure, it was like she was pulled out straight out of the novels and webtoons Hugo used to read.
'I wonder if she has a Divine Aspect too...' The thought was a bit out of place but it was also a logical connection to make.
As Hugo himself had a True Name and a Divine Aspect his immediate theory was that they were a package deal.
'If that were true Smile of Heaven, must have had one as well...'
"It's an interesting thought process but there's no way to confirm it..." Hugo murmured to himself, the sound muffled by the voice of the other sleepers.
He collected a tray of nutrient-rich synthetic food and scanned the room for a place to sit.
Which was practically non existent as almost every table was filled to the brim...
'i really should have came early...'
He sighed, then after a bit of standing there like an idiot, His eyes eventually landed on a table with only two occupants tucked away from the main crowds.
It was perfect.
As he approached, he studied the two sitting there. One was a petite girl with long golden hair and shimmering azure blue eyes that seemed to look through everything but never quite focusing on anything.
The girl possessed an eerie, delicate beauty that seemed utterly out of place in a institution designed to forge killers as She looked like she wouldn't be able to swat a fly.
Strangely enough that only made Hugo a bit frightened of the girl as it reminded him of how harmless the Galvans looked...
Untill they weren't that is.
The other person sitting there was a boy with skin as pale as a corpse, contrasted by hair and eyes of such a deep onyx they seemed to absorb the light around them. He was lean with a sharp fox-like face, and he was currently glaring daggers at the approaching Paragon of purity.
'what A cheerful bunch,' Hugo noted internally.
Reaching the table, he spoke with a natural tone "Can I sit here?"
The blond girl seemed startled by the question as if she didn't see the question coming , her head turning toward the sound with Her clouded blue eyes sweeping helplessly past his face, never focusing on them.
The realization immediately clicked in Hugo's mind.
'She's blind.'
A pang of solemn pity hit him as the implications of her situation became quite prominent...
She was doomed to die the moment she enters the dream realm.
The onyx-eyed boy's glare intensified for a second before he gave a noncommittal shrug.
"y-yes..."
"Suit yourself."
Their answers overlapped, creating a moment of awkward silence. Hugo decided to ignore it and sat down next to the boy, who radiated a distinct aura of "go away."
Strangely Hugo couldn't stop looking at him. It wasn't about his appearance or anything but because of a nagging sense of familiarity. Then, it clicked as he remembered where he had seen the boy before.
"Ah!" Hugo said, the memory from a week ago resurfacing. "So you actually survived your first nightmare."
The words came out blunter than he intended.
The boy flinched almost imperceptibly. "What?" he asked, his voice flat and guarded.
"Ah, sorry," Hugo backpedaled, realizing how it sounded. "I just remembered you from the day we were infected, I was there aspirant with you at the police station but doubt you remember. I'm Hugo by the way."
The onyx eyed sleeper studied him for a long moment, his face unreadable. "I see," he said "I'm Sunless. And yes, I know it's a strange name. You see, my mother had a poetic soul of sorts."
The mention of a mother naming her child sent a sharp nostalgic pang through Hugo. After all His own mother was the one who had named him though her reasons were far less poetic then sunless's mother.
"I see. It's nice meeting you, Sunless," Hugo said making a conscious effort to be sociable as He remembered Awakened Belle's advice about how no one can survive in the dream realm alone.
Sunless gave a curt nod. "Just call me Sunny. It's easier on the tongue."
'What a peculiar fellow...'
Hugo thought, turning his attention to his food unaware that in approaching this particular table, the strings of fate had already begun to twist around him, pulling him into an orbit he could not yet comprehend.
---
After the awkward but ultimately successful breakfast, Hugo found himself in the vast combat training hall. He had decided that practical fighting skills was his top priority right now, His time was desperately short—only three weeks until the Solstice—but he had to start somewhere.
His options were limited by the short timeframe but on the positive side, he wasn't starting from zero. His public school education and his own obsessive research had granted him minor proficiency with a spear and the basic tenets of wilderness survival.
It was a foundation that Hugo hadn't gotten the chance to utilize in the first nightmare due to certain circumstances but they were still there.
Now Hugo real concern was how much the the instructor could offer him as he needed more than just basic combat skills, Hugo needed to learn how to fight while transformed for obvious reasons, Power without skill was a quick path to a gruesome death in the dream realm.
And while His Vilgax form was a powerhouse capable of both terrestrial and aquatic combat, it was also his only direct combat for the moment and so He had to master it or at least find a suitable fighting style when transformed.
Hugo stood among a sea of other Sleepers seemingly all of them had chosen this class which made perfect grim sense. Many people thought the primary danger in the dream realm was nightmare creatures and while that was true, it was not the only thing that could kill you in there.
The instructor was an Awakened named Rock —who was more like a mountain then a man — wore a dark blue uniform, his shoulders were broad enough to carry the worries of every student in the room. A gorgeous brown beard was adoring his chin giving him a strange bear like apprerance, his serious eyes were almost omnipresent seemingly misssing nothing.
Those same eyes soon landed on the new arrival.
The giant man walked over, his steps measured and heavy. He looked down at Hugo from his impressive height.
"You are Paragon of Purity, if I'm not mistaken?"
Hugo nodded. "Yes, sir. But feel free to call me Hugo."
Rock hummed, a low rumbling sound. "Hmmm. To think I'd get the chance to train two Sleepers with True Names... in the same year in the same year nonetheless, How peculiar..."
His gaze flickered briefly toward Changing Star, who was standing perfectly still on the other side of the hall, before returning to Hugo.
"Alright, class!" he boomed, turning to address everyone. "Your combat drills today will be largely the same. Pick your weapons of choice and find a sparring partner. I will assess your performance and tell you what you need to improve. You may use your Aspect, or not. It is up to you."
The hall erupted into motion as Sleepers scrambled to pair up.
'Well, this is a hassle,' Hugo thought. He didn't know anyone here and his Aspect made casual sparring complicated so He waited for the crowd around Rock to thin before approaching again.
"Excuse me, Teacher? I have a question."
Rock turned, his bearded face patient. "What is it?"
"You see, I came to this class hoping I could find ways to learn combat while using my Aspect," Hugo explained, choosing his words carefully. "Or more precisely, I need to develop a proper combat style for when I'm using my aspect."
Awakened Rock paused, processing the request. As a seasoned instructor, he'd seen every type of Aspect imaginable so this was not a strange statement to hear.
"That is definitely possible," he said
"But I'm afraid you won't reach anything resembling mastery in the short time you have before the winter Solstice." A hint of genuine pity colored his tone. "But learning the basics should be possible with enough effort. What sort of Aspect do you possess, if you don't mind me asking?"
Hugo hesitated, recalling Belle's warning about discretion. "It's a transformation-based Aspect, sir."
Rock's bushy eyebrows rose. "That is certainly a rare type. But you're in luck."
Hugo looked at him with a confused expression "Why?"
A wide, competitive grin split Rock's beard. "Because I happen to be the only instructor in this accademy with a transformation type Aspect."
---
Minutes later, Hugo stood on a large combat mat, the thick foam feeling firm beneath his feet. Awakened Rock stood opposite him, a few meters away. The bear-like instructor had decided to personally spar with Hugo to gauge his capabilities and find a fitting combat style after witnessing the transformation himself.
Their pairing had drawn curious eyes as It wasn't every day the head instructor personally sparred with a student, let alone one who possesesd a true name.
Hugo exhaled, a slow, steadying breath. He rolled up his left sleeve, revealing the Omnitrix. The sleek, blue-and-black device seemed to pulse in anticipation.
Awakened Rock's eyes narrowed with keen interest. "Is that a manifestation of your Aspect?" he asked, his voice laced with professional curiosity.
Hugo simply nodded. His thumb found the dial that immediately popped up with a soft click, the blue hourglass symbol shifting to display the dark, tentacled silhouette of the Chimera Sui Generis specie.
"well here goes nothing..." He mummuered slamming the dial down.
A massive beam of brilliant, cerulean light enveloped him, so intense it drew a gasp from the entire hall. The air hummed with released energy.
Where Hugo had stood now loomed a titan. A towering figure standing at a generous fifteen feet tall, its body a mass of powerful light-green tentacles solidified into a terrifying, muscular frame. It was encased in sleek, black battle armor that seemed to drink the light around it . The Omnitrix symbol, now large and prominent, glowed defiantly on its chest. Two eyes of burning crimson looked out from a face of writhing tentacles, radiating a palpable aura of ancient conquering wrath.
A wave of stunned silence washed over the training hall, followed by a burst of panicked and excited whispers.
"Ah-!!! A Nightmare Creature!"
"It's not,you idiot! It's his Aspect!"
"Is that… is that the power of a True Name?"
"By the spell, look at the size of it..."
"so many tentacles, it's like a he-"
Awakened Rock on the other hand quickly regained his composure with a slow, appreciative smile spreading across his face.
"Well," he rumbled, his voice filled with a newfound respect. "This is certainly unexpected. Sleeper Hugo, color me impressed." He rolled his massive shoulders, his joints cracking like gunshots. "It seems I won't have to hold back either."
And with that, Awakened Rock's own body began to shift and change, his form swelling with latent power, ready to meet the challenger.