It was impossible not to recognize that face.
Considered the strongest sleeper of the year throughout his entire stay at the academy, the young man was a frightening figure.
He was not intimidating in any obvious way. His appearance was friendly, and his demeanor refined.
Yet he was one of the last people Shelly wanted to meet.
In the Dream Realm, there were no rules. Classmates became enemies, and far from society's watchful eye, any crime could be committed without consequence.
Not wanting to send the message that she was looking for a fight, she lowered her weapon and took a few steps back.
She was willing to face other sleepers for resources, but she would not test her luck against any of the three lunatics who occupied the top of the rankings.
"Hey! You're from the academy, right? Your face is pretty damn famous and all that…"
Giovanni greeted her with a gentle smile, examining the dead creatures on the ground.
The soul shards of some had already been extracted and consumed, leaving only two yet to be dissected. Shelly appeared content to see him, but she wanted him gone as soon as possible.
Competing for shards with someone like him nearby would be difficult. If she challenged the boy, there was a good chance she would end up dead, reduced to a convenient little bag of free resources.
"You flatter me. Please, just call me Giovanni."
His attention drifted across the surroundings, seeing far beyond his immediate field of view.
"Have you seen any other sleepers nearby?"
She remained still, keeping a safe distance, even though the conversation seemed friendly.
"I think I heard the sounds of fighting over there. There should be more people dealing with these things around here."
She kicked the body of one of the slugs and pointed her knife toward the descending path, smiling proudly at her performance. What she said was a lie as well.
She just wanted to send the young man deeper into the trench. That way, she could climb the other path in peace.
If she needed to turn back later, the population of nightmare creatures would have already thinned out.
The young man's expression conveyed satisfaction at the information.
"Oh, that's great. What do you think about joining forces to look for them?"
Tch! Mind your own business, damn it! Her smile wavered slightly as she searched for a polite way to refuse.
"I plan on exploring other areas before going down. We can meet up again later…"
Giovanni seemed thoughtful. The area they were in was vast, with at least two kilometers stretching in every direction. It should be possible to spend some time simply hunting and gathering resources.
"As you wish, but I advise you not to take the ascending path when you're done. It leads to a cliff and nothing else. The area is narrower and infested with over a hundred creatures; it was inconvenient to deal with them."
Shit.
He came from there. And what did he mean, inconvenient to deal with hundreds of nightmare creatures? There wasn't a scratch on his body!
For her, the worst part was that he seemed completely sincere and open, which only made him more irritating.
People who usually seemed perfect were the ones who had the most to hide.
"Uh… then let me finish things up here, and we can go together."
He nodded, unhurried.
The earth rose, taking the shape of a puff. The young man sat down and remained silent, observing the landscape.
'Weirdo.'
She thought as she walked over to the last two nightmare creatures, cutting them open.
***
As they traveled, Giovanni always took the lead, choosing the route they followed.
Shelly had no idea how, but it seemed that nightmare creatures rarely appeared along their path.
The walk was silent.
They weren't close, so they spoke only when necessary.
The terrain around them gradually began to change, starting with subtle details before becoming unmistakable after just a few minutes.
Large elevations of the earth rose chaotically, forming dark mounds and depressions. What had once been a gentle descent had turned into a rugged field where dangers seemed to lurk around every corner.
In the air, absorbing the blue starlight, numerous jellyfish floated peacefully. Their long tentacles stretched for dozens of meters and descended toward the ground, weaving through the paths and making movement difficult.
"How the hell are we supposed to get through this? It's a minefield and probably infested. Trying to climb or squeeze through the cracks sounds like a terrible idea."
The girl showed clear signs of nervousness, and for good reason. Her aspect was particularly dangerous in tight, uneven terrain, not for others, but for herself.
If she had to fight, she would need to use it sparingly.
Giovanni also seemed hesitant to advance into danger, though he showed no sign of nervousness.
"It's not impossible… but we'll need to be patient."
His eyes studied the irregular peaks and narrow paths, searching for the ideal route.
After several long minutes standing still, he gave the first sign that he was ready to act.
He raised his hand, and the rocks forming one of the large elevations began to open into a narrow tunnel.
"We'll pass through the terrain itself. Using my aspect this much causes considerable mental strain, so we'll take frequent breaks, all right?"
Shelly blinked rapidly, stunned. That gave a whole new meaning to forcing a path forward.
"Whatever you say…"
She replied bitterly, averting her gaze. She entered the tunnel, following him.
After that, Giovanni sealed the entrance, but still left a network of fissures between the rocks.
'At least we won't suffocate in here.'
Progress was slow because the young man needed to ensure the tunnel wouldn't collapse on their heads when they stopped to rest. Now and then, he paused, paying attention to something Shelly couldn't perceive.
"There are giant worms capable of digging just like us… one of them seems to have noticed us."
"Where?!"
He pointed upward.
"I'll immobilize it the moment it tries to attack. Can you finish it off?"
"Yes…"
She bit her tongue, holding back the urge to snap at him. Was he doubting her ability to kill a single beast?
The tunnel ceiling trembled, then exploded in a shower of debris. The nightmare creature resembled a gray-skinned worm with numerous small protrusions along its body.
The most striking feature was its head, which opened like a higanbana flower, its fleshy petals touching the surface of the tunnels it dug to orient itself.
At the center, a circular mouth opened and contracted, ready to chew the first thing it could reach.
"Now."
Giovanni, a little ahead in the tunnel, caused the hole the creature had dug to tighten around its body.
This frustrated the worm's attempt to lunge toward Shelly's head, but left its limp body partially exposed and defenseless.
"Die, you bastard!"
The young woman dodged the fleshy petals struggling to cling to her skin and counterattacked with an upward thrust, piercing the creature's head and pinning it against the tunnel wall.
[You have slain a dormant monster, Pale Veil Worm]
[You have received a Memory…]
The creature's insides began to spill out, running down Shelly's arm as she recoiled, grunting in discomfort, unable to focus on the spell's message. Why did everything here have to be so disgusting?!
Giovanni caused the earth to push the rest of the body out, allowing them to extract the soul shard.
"This is a good time to rest. I'll make the area more spacious. You can keep the souls shards."
Giovanni commented briefly, preparing to expand the walls of the small chamber. However, as he focused on the task, his next remark made Shelly freeze in place.
"You said you heard the sounds of human combat in this direction, but I find it unlikely that another sleeper crossed this area. Are you sure you weren't mistaken?"
Her hand tightened instinctively around the knife.
The young man wasn't even looking in her direction, but that alone was enough to make her gnaw at her nerves. Was he testing her? Or was it a genuine question? She chose the safer path.
"I must have been mistaken…"
***
A faint flame illuminated the dark tunnel, produced by the slimy head of a worm.
Giovanni was feeling quite pleased. His first goal in the Dream Realm had been to find other sleepers from the academy.
That way, he would have someone to kill the monsters he immobilized, making the journey itself much easier. The young woman he had encountered was quite helpful, though somewhat closed off.
Leaning against the stone wall, gray and dark blue in color, he allowed himself to enter his own Soul Sea.
That same vast field of flowers appeared in his mind, illuminated by a golden sun overhead. Two spheres of light orbited it, the memories he possessed.
But something was strange. In addition to the spheres that belonged to him, two others with a ghostly hue also orbited the sun in silence.
The boy raised his hand and ordered them to approach. The spheres of light transformed respectively into a gray diary and a bronze key.
That was the notebook Sofia used at the academy!
[Claim Memory?]
[Claim Memory?]
His eyes widened as he realized what was happening. Sofia's memories seemed to be mixed with his own.
For now, only she could use them, but if they became Giovanni's memories, any other vassal should theoretically have access as well.
'Wait a second…'
An idea crossed his mind.
'I accept.'
The two memories lost their ghostly hue and assumed a golden glow, joining the others.
Summoning his runes, there they were.
Name: Giovanni
True Name: Light Seeker
Rank: Dreamer
Soul Core: Dormant
Soul Fragments: [50/1000]
Memories: [Vermin Head], [Grafter's Tunic], [Master Key], [Dusty Diary]
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Guided by the Light], [Acolyte], [Miracle Bearer]
Aspect: [Golden Prince]
Aspect Rank: Sacred
Aspect Description: [You are the promised successor of a kingdom long forgotten. As a prince, your power originates from your loyal followers and the lands you control. However, the laurel crown is lost, and without it, your title is hollow and diminished. You seek your divine inheritance.]
Innate Ability: [Royal Right]
Ability Description: [Find trustworthy people and make them swear loyalty. Once under your command, your vassals share in the blessings and equipment in your possession. It is improper for a noble not to offer an abundant reward.]
Vassals:
— Sofia
Aspect Abilities: [Earth Domain], [Transmutation]
Flaw: [Sinless Spirit]
Flaw Description: [You cannot hurt others.]
Giovanni opened his eyes and, with a quick gesture, summoned the diary, flipping through it to the most recent pages.
Finding a blank sheet at last, he tore a rock from the wall and transmuted it into a thin blade.
Shelly watched everything in silence, clearly intrigued and confused.
"What are you doing?"
"Communicating."
Carefully, he etched straight, deliberate lines, carving parts of the paper to form letters. After a minute or two, the message was there: W-H-E-R-E, Y-O-U?
He then dismissed the diary, returning it to his Soul Sea.
Shelly only seemed more confused and lost. It must have looked insane to watch someone claim they were communicating through a memory stored in their own soul.
Now it was just a matter of waiting.
The young woman chose not to press further about something Giovanni clearly didn't want to explain, deciding instead to ask something else.
"You said you came from up there and that there was a cliff… but was there any sign of where we might be?"
It was a valid question. Fortunately, Giovanni had found some interesting things along the way.
"I awakened in the ruins of a small shrine. It was dedicated to a so-called Seamstress of the Veils and had a statuette of her at the edge of the cliff. On the way here, I found several abandoned or destroyed machines that weren't nightmare creatures either."
Shelly adjusted her posture, seeming interested in any additional information.
"So we're in some kind of lost civilization? I didn't see any signs of intelligent construction where I was."
"It's possible, but we must be very far from where they lived. The narrow walls surrounding us make me think this area is just a long fissure connected to something much larger."
Narrow was a strong word, considering the region's kilometer-spanning vastness, but it was still small compared to other regions of the Dream Realm.
"But why would there be a single structure in the middle of nowhere and nothing else along the way?"
"I don't know. Maybe there were more things in the past, but nightmare creatures are very active here. The ruin probably survived precisely because it's so isolated."
One thing he was certain of was that this chaotic, deadly area they were traversing was unnatural. The terrain changed too abruptly, and the rocky formations didn't make any sense.
Something far too familiar for his liking.
These lethal peaks and depressions might have been created by nightmare creatures capable of manipulating terrain, so it was wise to remain alert for opponents who could challenge his control as well.
"Now that I think about it, I never asked your name. Sorry about that."
Shelly lifted her gaze from the knife in her hands and looked at him.
"Whatever… I'm Shelly."
"Nice to meet you. Let's do our best, all right?"
Giovanni smiled warmly, feeling a bit more at ease. He had found his first ally in the Dream Realm, besides Sofia. Shelly stared at his outstretched hand for a few seconds, but didn't take it.
"Yeah… sure."
Giovanni lowered his hand in silence. The flame continued to burn, casting shadows along the tunnel walls.