Chapter 19: Routine
The next few days passed by in a blur, falling into a slow rhythm of the same actions repeated over and over again after he found no progress with his aspect legacy.
Hugo waking up eearly in the morning and having breakfast in the cafeteria with Sunless and the blond blind girl, whom Hugo had learned was named Cassia.
They never talked to each other, simply eating in silence without ever bothering to familiarize themselves with each other.
Hugo had really tried but Sunless and Cassia just seemed too distant for him to reach —not that he was too interested in making friends with them—, The only thing that changed was the way Sunless looked at him, which slowly shifted from caution to downright distrust.
Hugo did not know the reason for this but he didn't try to talk to Sunny about it, deciding to respect his... freedom of choice. (Lol)
After breakfast, the training segments would begin, and they were what Hugo was pouring most of his time and focus into.
As it turned out, trying to create a good fighting style for both when he's transformed and when he's not, all within three weeks, is not easy.
---
After the training sessions ended came the runic sorcery classes...
Hugo had found himself alone in that class almost all the time because Moon, Luna, and Nero only came to class on rare few occasions.
When he asked Miss J why this was the case, she explained to him that as Awakeneds receiving free tutelage under the academy, they had certain duties to uphold in the Dream Realm section where the government strongholds resided.
This was because the Awakened Academy fell under the government's domain which was interesting information for Hugo.
The basics of runic sorcery were a bit strange for Hugo. They were not like the sorcery presented in the webtoons and shows he used to watch, but instead had very different fundamentals that Hugo found to be a bit confusing when not transformed into a galvan.
"...Runic sorcery is quite different from how crafting based Aspects works, you know. Aspects in their nature are bizarre and convoluted as they an expression of an awakened true self thus their abilities are all diverse and unique. But that is quite different when it comes to runic sorcery" Miss J said, her voice steady as she pointed to a board filled with runic drawings.
Hugo sat in the first rows, utterly alone, noting everything she had said carefully for later usage.
"You see, two fundamental component of runic sorcery iare soul essence and runic language, The reason it isn't used by a lot of Awakened is because of its second component: runic language."
Hugo tilted his head in confusion.
"Isn't runic language translated by the Spell automatically? Shouldn't that make runic language extremely easy for all awakened?"
Miss J shook her head. "No, it's not quite that simple, Hugo. While yes, the Spell makes an Awakened comprehend the runes found in the Dream Realm and even the runes it uses for its own descriptions, it doesn't translate them. Rather, it forces their meaning onto an Awakened's mind, giving them the illusion of being translated. And its translation can be vague and misleading a lot of the times due to the fact that runes aren't like our world's language as one word in the runic language can represent many concepts at the same time. For example, a rune for 'change' can be synonymous with both 'ruin' and 'destruction.' That is why people who are interested in learning runic language spend their lives looking for scriptures of the ancient Dream Realm, slowly expanding their vocabulary by learning more words."
Hugo noted all of these details. Even though they themselves weren't the key to how runic sorcery worked, they were a part of its components, and quite frankly, Hugo was really curious about topics regarding the Dream Realm.
"So you might ask, how does runic language come into the grand equation? Well, to put it in the simplest way possible, runic sorcery requires someone to be knowledgeable about runic language. Then, said person would create something called a runic circle. This circle is composed of various runes representing the drawer's desired outcome. Let's say there's a sword you want to enchant, you draw a rune upon it and then said rune would have to contain multiple runic words that make up the enchantment." she noted parts of the diagram on the boar before continuing:
"After that is done, you would need a power source, which is of course, none other than soul essence which will need to guided it through the runic while the sorcerer behind this process think about the desired outcome extremely hard, imagine it like pouring q physical manifestation of your will upon the runic circle And poof! You get an enchanted sword."
Hugo scribbled everything in his notebook, but now he understood everything, hugo felt even more confused than ever.
"I know learning runic language is hard, but... is it really that easy to enchant something? Surely runic sorcery doesn't only apply to swords and armor; it can also enchant places, utility objects and much more, So why don't more people learn it, even if it's hard?"
Miss J looked at him for a moment before chuckling slightly. Then she spoke in a calm tone. "You really are too optimistic, aren't you?" she said, her voice growing a bit grim before adding "Do you realize how long an Awakened lifespan is??"
That single question, which seemed to come out of nowhere, surprised Hugo.
It was. Trick of course, she didn't mean the fact that awakened live short life, no she meant that awakened don't get to live long enough to enjoy their extended lifespan because of the fact they got killed so oftenly in the dream realm.
"...Not long... " he said with a solemn voice.
She simply nodded. "Exactly. Not long. Most Awakened focus on mastering their Aspects and combat skills to prepare for either conquering Nightmares or protecting something they value. Those who don't want to risk their lives Fighting abominations often live without interacting with any mystical parts of the Dream Realm." she said before adding with a bit of a pride in her tone
"And the few people like me, who study runic language and sorcery, are usually taken by clan Valor who have mastered runic sorcery and evolved it into an entirely new realm of enchanting. But of course, their ways and teachings are kept secret from the rest of the world for obvious reasons."
'So that's how it is...' he thought, wondering how advanced the artisans of Valor were...
But then a strange question popped into his head. This one, unlike the dozens of cosmic questions, actually had an answer... but he was nervous to ask it.
Eventually, he swallowed his nervousness, his curiosity winning in the end.
"Miss J, please don't take this as an insult, but why haven't you joined Valor yourself?."
He had found it a bit strange that someone who was at least adept at runic sorcery was a teacher in the academy who only taught four students—five, including Hugo—instead of reveling in the riches of Valor.
She tilted her head a little, a strange, nostalgic expression appearing on her face. "Well... at first, I thought of doing just that But I decided against it because of a naive dream of mine," she said, brushing her hair slightly. "I wanted to share my knowledge with Dreamers and Awakened of the academy in hopes that they might one day use that knowledge to survive. Teaching was always an interesting profession to me. But alas, you can see how that turned out... In fact, I'm planning on retiring from the academy soon enough so You might very well be the last student I teach—well, besides the other three rascals who are already my students, but you get the point."
Hugo nodded, strangely feeling inspired by his teacher's strange dream. The idea of an Awakened aiding society through means other than just killing Nightmare Creatures was something that warmed Hugo's heart greatly.
But alas, that was not a path he could follow himself.
---
[Two weeks later]
A strange grey creature, barely six inches tall with frog-like eyes and head, was currently scribbling something on a sheet of paper.
Instantly after the strange ritualistic process ended, the paper suddenly became incredibly sharp, with the runes on it igniting with a soft azure light.
"Yes, yes! It worked!" the grey creature shouted in its high-pitched voice with a mad smile on its face.
Hugo had done it. After only two weeks of learning runic sorcery by memorizing all the important steps through [Extraordinary Memory], and then reapplying all of the steps when he transformed into a Galvan through [Linguistic Mastery] he finally could successfully enchant a mundane object through a perfect runic circle.
This runic circle, in particular, contained the runes representing durability, sharpness, and cutting. Its power source was a portion of Hugo's own soul essence that he had poured into it while transformed as a Galvan.
The Paragon of purity picked up the sheet of paper—which was now a bit gigantic for his small body, but still posed no weight for his Awakened biology—and then he uncharacteristically tossed it towards the wall to test how strong it was.
THUD.
The sharp piece of paper hit the wall, impaling it directly without meeting any resistance.
"So I was correct! The effectiveness of the enchantments is determined by the quality of my essence! Meaning once I rise in rank, I'd be able to create even more powerful enchantments!" he exclaimed with a strange fascination that came with his hyper-intelligent brain.
"Now... this could solve the problem of me lacking a weapon!"
His third goal of acquiring a Memory weapon had gone terribly these last few days. There was no suitable way for him to acquire a Memory besides trading one of his existing ones which he wasn't willing to do. [Proto-Tech Armor] was his only armor and thus held equal worth to any weapon Hugo could have while [Polymorphic Crystal] and [Conqueror's Wrath] were simply too powerful and useful to trade for anything.
So he turned to the next best thing.
"The Spell can keep its stingy Memories! I'm going to make a weapon for myself!"
With the right materials, he could definitely make something extremely powerful not to mention the [Upgrade] enchantment which could evolve any object he makes.
The small Galvan puffed his chest in victory relishing at his achievement but then he suddenly saw the time and date on his gigantic communicator screen making him pause for a while...
The Winter Solstice was only four days away.
Hugo scoffed as he was reminded of that fact. "So what?! I'm the wielder of the most powerful relic in the world! And I possess the ability to morph into almost any creature! Not to mention my current Galvanic form possesses extreme intelligence, so what's a mere Winter Solstice going to do?! I will survive! And not only that, I will thrive, gain strength and climb the path of ascension by conquering the Second and Third Nightmare!"
He exclaimed, his tiny grey hands raised into a fist.
"And why stop only at that?! I will conquer the Fourth Nightmare, the Fifth, the Sixth, and all the Nightmares above that! Nothing will stop me! Not the Nightmare Spell and not these hideous abominations!"
He shouted at the ceiling, his resolve unwavering. Hugo would have usually cringed at a scene like this, but he wasn't in his right mind currently so he was enjoying the sensation.
Well, that was the case up until the point he started hearing a certain peeping sound coming from the Omnitrix on his back...
---
[4 day later]
Hugo woke up with an annoyed expression, his room filled with scraps and random materials he had collected from the academy while experimenting with his Galvanic form and runic sorcery.
Even though he had slept for a long time yesterday, he was not feeling refreshed in the slightest.
That was because a strange sense of drowsiness was strangely tugging at his senses, digging deep into his core and reaching his soul and trying to pull it somewhere else.
To the Dream Realm.
Today was the day where all sleepers on the world would be judged.
Today was the Winter Solstice.