Sunny was enjoying a hot shower. After their short conversation, Master Jet had sent him to clean himself, saying that he "reeked of Nightmare". The unnatural slumber of the Spell would slow down the body's metabolism, and the medical apparatus he had been strapped into was supposed to take care of the rest, but he was still asleep for three whole days.

Even if only psychological, the scent of bloodshed and despair lingered around him.

'Ah, I'm in heaven, Sunny thought, willing himself to temporarily forget about the looming disaster of the Flaw.

He was alone in the police station's showers, relaxing under the streams of hot water. After a bit of time had passed, Sunny reluctantly turned the tap off and walked over to the towel rack. Coincidentally, he saw himself reflecting in the mirror.

The changes in his physique were subtle, but noticeable. His pale skin seemed a little healthier, his muscles a bit more pronounced. He looked slender and lean instead of emaciated and frail, as he did before. There was a slight luster to his dark hair and a shine to his eyes.

However, he was still rather diminutive. Not exactly a picture of masculine handsomeness, to say the least.

'Flower boy, huh?' Sunny thought, full of bitterness.

Then he suddenly froze, noticing something strange. As he was looking at himself in the mirror, the reflection of his shadow seemed to move. It was as though the shadow lowered its head and quietly facepalmed.

Sunny quickly turned around, piercing his shadow with a nervous look. However, everything seemed normal. The shadow was doing exactly what it was supposed to do, repeating his every motion.

"I clearly saw you move," he said, feeling a bit strange. "You have just moved on your own, right?!"

Sunny glared at the shadow, which obediently glared back.

"Did you move or not?"

The shadow enthusiastically shook its head.

'What the?!'

"What do you mean, "no"?! You've just moved your head! Do you think I'm a fool?"

The shadow seemed to think for a bit and then shrugged.

Sunny was left with his mouth agape.

"Your shadow is more independent than most. It is an invaluable helper," he muttered finally.

Right. This was how the Spell had described his Aspect Ability.

But what exactly could his shadow do?

He decided to experiment a little.

"Hey, you. Tell me what you can do."

The shadow was silent and motionless.

'Right. It doesn't have vocal cords.'

As though that made any sense! Shadows were not supposed to have muscles either, and yet it knew how to move.

"Uh... show me?"

No reaction. It seems the shadow was content pretending to be an ordinary, lifeless blob of darkness.

Sunny sighed.

'I'm doing this wrong.

Independent or not, the shadow was still a part of him. It was a manifestation of his Aspect Ability. So instead of asking the shadow, he really should have been asking himself.

"Not going to talk, are you?"

Sunny closed his eyes and directed his perception within, exploring himself for the first time since returning to the real world. He felt the beating of his heart, the steady rising of his chest, the slight chill of the shower room. He heard droplets of water falling on the tiled floor. Felt the movement of filtered air against his skin.

And there, on the verge of his consciousness, something new.

A completely new sense.

Sunny concentrated on it, and suddenly a whole other world opened to him. It was hard to describe with words, just like one would have trouble explaining how hearing or touch feels.

It was as though he could communicate with vast forms that crowded around him and receive an understanding of both their own shape and the surrounding space, guided by the different degrees of pressure they exerted on his mind and each other.

That understanding came naturally and instantaneously, like an instinct.

These forms were shadows. And among them, one not the largest one, but the deepest - didn't feel like an external entity. It was like a part of his soul.

Once Sunny grasped the feeling of it, he could sense the shadow just like he sensed his limbs. The only thing was that his limbs were made out of flesh, and the shadow was made from the absence of light.

Sunny opened his eyes and looked at the shadow. Then, with a thought, he willed it to raise an arm.

The shadow raised an arm.

He willed it to sit, stand, turn around, kick. Then he willed it to change shape, turning into a circle, then a line, then a monster. And finally, back to his own silhouette. The shadow was mercurial and fluid, like water. The only constant was its size.

"Ha! How about that?"

 The shadow pouted, then reluctantly raised its thumbs.

"But how are you useful?"

He willed the shadow to strike the towel rack. It obediently moved and delivered a powerful kick. Of course, since it was just a shadow, its leg passed over the towels harmlessly, not even causing them to sway a little.

"Is that... all you can do?"

In his mind, the image of shadow tentacles tearing the mighty tyrant into little pieces cracked and shattered mercilessly. It seemed he would not be competing with Shadow God any time soon.

How regretful.

The shadow looked at him with disdain. Then it shrugged and stopped moving altogether, clearly offended.

Sunny sighed and took a towel off the rack.

"Alright. I will explore it later."

 ***

A few minutes after that, he was wearing a clean police-issued tracksuit and heading for the cafeteria. Master Jet was waiting for him at one of the tables, with two trays full of steaming synthetic food in front of her.

"Help yourself."

 Sunny glanced at the cheap gruel, which was not so different from the stuff he used to consume in the outskirts, and sighed. Somehow, he had expected his first meal after becoming a Sleeper to be more lavish.

Still, it was food.

He sat down and began to wolf down the gruel ravenously. He was very, very hungry. In the process, his thoughts began to wander. Sunny stole a glance at Jet and wondered. The Spell told him to find a master, and the next thing he knew there was a woman calling herself Master right in front of him. He tried to imagine being an obedient slave to someone like her.

Weird thoughts started to appear in his mind...

'You know what, Sunny, he thought with dark irony. 'Knowing your luck, this would be a perfect moment for her to ask...'

"What are you thinking about?"

Sunny choked on the gruel. He felt his mouth beginning to open, and put all of his will into staying silent. A second passed without him saying anything. Then a weird pressure appeared in his mind, which soon turned into blinding pain. He endured it for a couple more seconds before giving up.

"I was thinking that it would be a perfect moment for you to ask me about what I am thinking," he finally said. Jet gave him a weird look.

"Alright. Are you almost finished with your food?"

Sunny nodded

"Then I'll begin. As per protocol, I am obligated to inform you of a few things. It is mostly a formality. First of all, concerning your Nightmare..."

She glanced at him and sighed.

"You are entitled to receive free psychological counseling. No matter what traumatic experience you have encountered, there is no shame in asking for help. Your mind is as important as your body - it's only right to keep it healthy. Are you interested?"

Sunny shook his head. Jet shrugged and continued:

"As you wish. You can also talk to me. Was it very hard?"

How could he answer?

"It was simultaneously much worse than I expected and exactly as bad as I expected."

She nodded, satisfied with that explanation.

"That's a good attitude. I won't pry any further. Us outskirt rats are way more resilient than people think."

Sunny looked at her in surprise.

"Master Jet... you grew up in the outskirts?"

She grinned.

"What? You can't tell because of my exquisite manners and polished exterior?"

He blinked a couple of times, surprised.

"I couldn't tell at all."

After thinking for a while, he added:

"Are there a lot of people like us among the Awakened?"

Jet's smile disappeared.

"No. There's not. In fact, they can be counted on one hand."

As expected. Odds were really stacked against people like them. That made the three stars on Jet's insignia even more exceptional.

'One day, I'll be a Master too.

If she can do it, why can't I?

"So... what happens now? What else are you obligated to tell me.

Sunny had no idea what he was supposed to do after leaving the police station. The winter solstice was just several weeks away.

Jet leaned back and answered:

"That's basically it. There are some additional hoops to jump through, mostly having to do with your family, but... well. I've read your file, so I know it doesn't apply. The only thing left is to decide how you will be preparing for your first journey into the Dream Realm."

 She looked at her communicator and grimaced. "I must say, your luck is exceptionally bad. There's not a lot of time at all. First of all: you are free to do what you want. No one is forcing you to make a certain decision. That is to say, you can choose to prepare on your own, or not prepare at all. Party until the lights go out."

Sunny was not very well versed in partying.

"However, I would advise against that. As a Sleeper, you are also entitled to enroll in the Awakened Academy. You'll be provided with food, lodging and a wide choice of preparatory classes. This late into the year, you won't be able to learn a lot. But it's better than nothing."

She was silent for a few seconds, then added:

"More importantly, you will get acquainted with most of the people who will enter the Dream Realm with you. Some of them might become your companions for life."

'And some may end up trying to end that life once we're inside the Spell, Sunny added, reading between the lines of what Master Jet had said.

"So, what do you say? Do you want me to take you to the Academy?"

Sunny thought about it. Strangely, his Flaw was silent, not forcing him to answer one way or the other.

'Is it because I haven't made up my mind yet?'

Finally, he looked down, at his empty tray, and made a decision.

Free lodging and food, you say?

"Yeah. I want to go to the Academy." 

Sunny was 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, how things really were differed a lot from how it was portrayed in the media. More than that, he had only four weeks to spend here before venturing into the Dream Realm. Even if he wanted to, there was not 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 such nonsense!

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

It was a tall, slender girl of around his age, with clear grey eyes and a detached look on her face. She had strange, silver-white hair that was cut short and neatly parted to the side. Just like him, she was dressed in a police-issued tracksuit and had no personal belongings with her. On her head, there was a pair of old-fashioned headphones. She was calmly listening to music 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 would put himself in due to that damn Flaw? It was better to keep to himself.

He glanced at the girl and sighed.

'I wonder what Flaw does she have?'

Finally, the gates began to open. The giant, ridiculously thick sheet of reinforced metal slowly descended, creating a long bridge. Sunny looked ahead with grim determination.

Master Jet's parting words echoed in his mind.

***

On their drive to the Academy, Sunny didn't speak much, looking at the sights of the city that were flying past the window of Jet's personal transport vehicle. Actually, it was his first time sitting in a PTV: most people in the city couldn't even dream about getting a license and purchasing a vehicle like that, having to do with public transportation.

He had ridden in the back of a police cruiser once or twice, but that was a completely different experience.

At some point, Master Jet looked at him and said:

"Since we both come from the outskirts, I'll give you three pieces of advice. Whether you listen to me or not is your business."

Sunny turned his head, waiting.

"First: once you're registered in the Academy, they'll offer you psychological counseling again. There will also be a valuable reward for sharing your experiences in the Nightmare and the details of your Appraisal. You'll be able to receive a soul shard, maybe even several of them."

He frowned.

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

Jet shook her head.

"No. I'm telling you to refuse."

Surprised, Sunny raised his eyebrows.

"Why?"

There was a pause before she answered. 

"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?"

Jet glanced at him.

"It's different for city kids, who learn all sorts of useful things in school and from their tutors. But we don't have that advantage, do we? What was the biggest threat to your life during the Nightmare?"

Sunny thought about it. On the surface, the most dangerous thing he faced was the tyrant, followed by Hero... Auro of the Nine. But actually, what almost killed him in the end was...

"The cold."

Jet smiled.

"Smart. You only know how to survive in the city. But the Dream Realm is mostly made of wilderness. Do you know how to make a fire? How to procure food? How to find safe shelter? No. Fighting monsters is important, but it'll be useless if you die of hunger or exposure to the elements. 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 PTV 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.

"This is as far as I go," she said, looking cheerlessly at the walls of the Academy. "I've already notified them. Someone will come fetch you in a while."

There was something dark in the depths of her icy blue eyes. Sunny suddenly felt a cold feeling spreading through his body.

"What's the third 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.

"You've done well to survive until now. Make sure to keep yourself alive in the future, too."

Then she got back into her PTV and drove off. 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.

 Sunny sighed and reluctantly followed.

The Sleeper part of the compound was relatively small and situated in the southern part of the Academy, surrounded on all sides by training fields and parks.

 It was a low, modern building constructed with reinforced materials. Like the majority of buildings in the Academy, most of it was hidden below the ground, leaving only a couple of floors above it. With its white, pristine alloy walls and wide windows, it must have looked beautiful in the summer, contrasted against all the greenery around.

Inside, the building was spacious and well-lit. Sunny and the silver-haired girl were taken to a large hall where a hundred or so of young men and women Sleepers of the same unfortunate timing as the two of them were already waiting for the beginning of the induction ceremony. Most of them were nervous, tense and excited.

Logistics of the Academy were a constant headache for the administrators since the rate at which the Spell infected people was always chaotic. There was no way to orderly structure for batches of Sleepers to undergo any type of standardized education on a shared schedule: some of them had a full year to prepare for the Dream Realm, some only months, some even mere days.

That's why these induction ceremonies were held each month at the beginning of the year and then every week once the winter solstice began to loom near. Some of the Sleepers in the hall had to wait days to be inducted, while Sunny had lucked out and was delivered to the Academy just hours before the scheduled event.

Once inside the hall, he understood two things.

Firstly, everyone was well-dressed and in possession of a suitcase, a duffel bag, or at least a backpack carrying their personal belongings. They were obviously coming prepared, most likely from home, sent off by their families. So Sunny and the silver-haired girl, who came empty-handed and wearing simple police-issued clothes, were not a norm like he had assumed, but actually an eye-catching anomaly.

'Right. That makes sense.'

Secondly, Master Jet was not being overly humble when she called herself below average by Awakened standards. Even though these young people were just starting their paths as Awakened, their looks were dazzling. Everyone was handsome, beautiful and radiated health.

He swallowed.

'Still, I feel like none of them compare. She might not be as perfectly shaped, but... I don't know... she has a presence. It's like shadows become deeper and the temperature drops by a couple of degrees when she's in a room.'

Was this the difference between a Sleeper and a Master?

But all of these thoughts were just him trying to postpone the inevitable. Sunny already knew that he was in for a wild ride.

Because he could not lie, and all of these excited youths, regardless of their clothes, gender and looks, wanted to do one thing. 

Talk.

Every one of them wanted to talk with fellow Sleepers. They wanted to discuss their Nightmares, their future journey into the Dream Realm, and everything in between. They wanted to ask questions. They wanted to be asked questions. They wanted to discuss something important or just chit- chat about stupid things.

Everyone wanted to share.

'It's a nightmare!' Sunny moaned, disturbed and fearful. 'I'm doomed!'

Then, with a bit of grim determination, he gritted his teeth and slowly exhaled. '

Just think about it as a continuation of your trial. You survived the black mountain, so you can survive this, too.'

He had faced heroes, villains, monsters and even gods. Was he going to be afraid of a bunch of teenagers? ...

He might have underestimated how scary teenagers can be. In half an hour, pretty much everyone in the room hated his guts. 

After a short series of conversations, Sunny had acquired a reputation of an obnoxious, foul-mouthed pervert. This reputation was quickly solidified. He was slapped a few times and even punched once. He also discovered a couple of new things about his true self namely, that deep down inside he was apparently rude, arrogant, and more than a little bit lustful.

The conversations went something like this:

"Look at all these young people. How many do

you think will return from the Dream Realm? How many will perish? What do you think our own chances of survival are?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that a pompous fool like you will die first!"

 Or:

 "I even received an armor-type Memory in my Nightmare. It's an enchanted robe. Would you like to see?"

"Actually, I would prefer to see you without a robe..."

Or: 

"Then those lowlifes began to rob the bodies. It was disgusting! They even took their shoes! What kind of degenerate would take a dead man's shoes?"

"I once killed a man and took his boots. They were nice boots."

"... What? You killed someone just for a pair of boots?"

"Of course not! There were other reasons. I also took his cloak."

Once again an outcast, Sunny was eventually left alone. People seemed to be avoiding him. Unperturbed, he found a quiet corner and stood there, glad that no one wanted to talk to him anymore. His face hurt, and there was blood dripping from his nose. Being ostracised from a group was nothing new, but it still stung.

However, he was smiling.

Because in the process of turning the whole batch of Sleepers against himself, Sunny had discovered something vital.

He learned how to control his Flaw.

Once asked a question, he could not keep quiet. He also couldn't lie. However, after a lot of experimentation, Sunny had found out that with a bit of practice, he could influence the exact way the truth eventually came out.

It was like this: after receiving a question, his mind automatically produced a truthful answer. After that, the Flaw would force him to say that answer aloud. Refusal to speak would result in the buildup of pressure, then piercing pain. The longer he kept quiet, the worse the pain would become. Eventually, he would have to surrender and reveal the truth.

However, in these moments between receiving the question and surrendering to the pain, the actual wording of the answer could be changed. The more it strayed from the initial thought, the more resistance he would meet once again in the form of pressure, then pain. It still had to be truthful, but it didn't have to be so stark.

For example, if Master Jet were to catch him staring again and ask what he was looking at, instead of embarrassing himself Sunny would have been able to endure a bit of pain and simply say "You."

That would still be the truth, however, the result would be entirely different.

Hidden in the corner, Sunny grinned as he observed the Sleepers.

 'This is good. This is great. This is something I can work with!'

 After all, one didn't have to lie to deceive a person. Sometimes, truth was the best material for creating deceit.

***

If used with a certain devious type of intelligence, truth could be as misleading as lies. For example, in one of his previous conversations, Sunny had confessed that he had once stolen boots from a dead man. The other guy was horrified and asked if he had really killed someone just for a pair of boots. The answer the Flaw forced him to give was that there were other reasons and that he had also taken the man's cloak.

The true reason for killing the veteran slaver was that he had whipped Sunny a few hours prior. Besides, he was already dying. The cloak had nothing to do with the killing itself. However, the wording of the answer created an impression that it did.

Thus, two truthful statements, when put together, created an effect akin to a lie.

This was just a simple example. With a lot of effort and intense thinking, Sunny could create other types of manipulative truths. It was going to be extremely difficult and risky, but it could be done.

 He just needed a bit of luck.

It was time to put his theory to practice.

Sunny didn't forget what his main goal was to make sure that no one ever finds out his True Name. To achieve that, he had to create an impression that he was the most pathetic, weak person in this whole building. Someone who would never receive a positive appraisal, let alone a divine Aspect and a True Name.

However, since this would be a lie, he couldn't just go and say it.

So how was he to convince everyone that he definitely did not have a powerful Aspect and an impressive record with the Spell?  

His eyes fell on a particular group of Sleepers. There were five or six of them, gathered around a tall, confident young man.

The young man had brown hair and a gentle, handsome face. His eyes were green, with a hint of friendly humor. His posture, figure and attentive gaze betrayed someone who went through extensive training. Everything about the young man screamed of nobility and strength.

Just at that moment, one of his companions was saying with a tone of amazement:

"Ascended? You have received an Ascended Aspect? What... what was your Appraisal?!"

The young man smiled humbly.

"Oh. It was "excellent."

Sunny stopped in front of the group, as though by accident. After hearing the young man's answer, he frowned and looked at him with disdain.

Then, with a voice full of utter bewilderment, Sunny said:

 "Ascended, excellent? That's it? What's the big deal?"