Chapter 30: Chapter 30
Dane walked into a classroom with a perpetual scowl on his face. The other course he had chosen was 'Life in the Dream Realm.' Taught by an optimistic man, it was supposed to help Awakened make their time in the Dream Realm as fun as possible.
Dane walked into a classroom with a perpetual scowl on his face. The other course he had chosen was 'Life in the Dream Realm.' Taught by an optimistic man, it was supposed to help Awakened make their time in the Dream Realm as fun as possible.
Later, however, the teacher got into the topic of music. He was able to create beautiful tunes with his absurdly creative mind and materials that could barely be classified as musical, and then he started singing. The whole class practically burst into song after that.
Dane tried to sit through it, but each warped word passing through his ears was like a slap in the face, contrasting with the beautiful voices. He left halfway through, storming out of the room. Fortunately, most did not notice his abrupt exit with the inane levels of merrymaking the professor had going on. He was never going back there again.
Now, it was time to begin his training. There were too many things to do. Firstly, there was the temptation of wandering. Secondly, he had to condition himself to use the Ability rigidly and precisely, as he only had so much time to use his Transformation.
Furthermore, he must learn to get by without using it - so that he could never be caught off balance. Then, he had to get used to the pain that soul damage caused. Most importantly, he had to learn to use the Ability in combat.
All the things he needed to be proficient in could take a long time to train individually. However, if there was one thing that every Legacy knew, it was that a single battle was more efficient than ten hours spent training.
The room he was in was the size of two basketball courts, and it was used for the 'Aspect Utilization' course. Of course, he had no intention of sitting through it. The room was divided in two by a black line. On both sides, there were a hundred Dreamscape Pods each. The side on the right was reserved for the class professor and his students, where they would be taught inside the Dreamscape. The left side held pods for anyone else who wanted to use it without the professor's guidance.
These Dreamscape Pods were not the same as the regular ones, having removed the feature that allowed a user to fight people online. It was connected to a private network that only allowed students to meet others within that network or train independently.
Most didn't bother using it independently. It would only serve to help them use their abilities safely. It would be far better to do it under the guidance of a learned Awakened. However, most didn't possess an Echo.
Dane pulled open the heavy lid and got inside. A string of shimmering letters appeared in front of him.
"Enter Dreamscape?"
"Yes" "No"
Dane focused on "Yes," and a moment later, his vision darkened.
***
Dane found himself standing in a boundless, black void. Countless stars burned, linked together by an innumerable amount of strings. It was a replica of the Nightmare Spell.
He looked down at his body, finding himself naked. He summoned the Keeper's Half-Plate, save for the cloak. It weaved itself from inky, black cloth. When it was finished, a pleasant voice rang in the darkness.
"Student! Welcome to the Dreamscape!"
Dane did not have to worry about choosing an alias, as he was on a 'guest' account. "Please, choose a dream of your liking."
A couple of pictures appeared before him. The famed forest of Bastion, the bridge that led to Ravenheart. There were all sorts of options. He picked one.
The black void disappeared a moment later, and he was in a white void. There was nothing other than the floor that was just as blank as everything else. Dane smiled, finding it perfect.
He summoned the Ashborn Stalker. Manifested in a shower of sparks, the bear stood tall at ten feet, towering above him. Dane extended his hand and conjured the Basket Blade. He took a few steps back from the nightmarish creature, raising his sword defensively. "Aim for the heart. Don't hold back," he ordered.
He had a single goal. He would not leave the Dreamscape until he struck the bear a thousand times. Each time he died, all his strikes would reset. He had been equipped with powerful Memories, one being a powerful Tier one Awakened armor received by his grandfather from slaying a human in his Second Nightmare. Any Memory received from killing an Awakened human was bound to be powerful. The other was an Ascended sword of the first tier.
"Set a goal for me to strike the Echo a thousand times without dying!" he called out to the Dreamscape.
"Goal set," the pleasant voice resounded.
Three zeros appeared high in the virtual world, counting his progress. No sooner had they appeared did the bear lunge at him, murderous paws outstretched. He could barely react before its right paw dug into his skin. Dane immediately metamorphosed, turning into an ethereal figure of mist.
As the bear passed through him, he realized the soul-wrenching pain he had been expecting never came. Only his 'body' hurt. Right…this world was an illusion. His actual body had not suffered any injury.
With his thoughts slowed, he swiftly turned in place and swung. The sword reached into the Echo, and Dane returned to his flesh. Or, he thought he had. The bear jumped back, unscathed, and he was forced to let it. He could not transform back into a human until the sword no longer touched the Stalker!
…that was an important revelation. Learning that in a real fight would have been disastrous. Dane zoomed toward the bear, sword ready to slash. The bear's instinct was terrifying, guarding itself with bestial cunning. He could attack it, but not without getting hurt himself.
He took the gamble. He passed right through its paws and returned to his flesh, his sword held downwards. He swept it upwards in a way that no one should, not without expecting fatal injury. However, there was nothing to stop his blow.
The momentum of his Phantom speed remained, and his sword flashed upwards. It dug into its black hide and flesh, although barely. Its hide was impossibly strong for an Awakened Monster, the work of its Attribute. Even an Ascended sword had done next to nothing. That could have been attributed to his Sleeper body not possessing the strength to use the blade to its full potential.
The Dreamscape's voice resounded. "One strike."
The bear's claws dug into his back, ripping out a fair chunk of his spine. Pain lanced through his back, and Dane's back convulsed. A speck of a thought tore through the torment, returning to him only when he saw its enormous fangs closing around his head. He transformed, phasing through it and stopping instantly.
Dane's foggy body was utterly unharmed, but he could feel his material body…distantly. It was healing rapidly, most of the damage already undone. It had been…maybe three seconds. How monstrous. Though, what he had just done was stupidly inefficient. In the real world, the bear's mutilation of his spine would have dealt a great injury to his soul. He would have to be more careful.
He undid the transformation, softly hopping onto the ground, and felt his spine realign itself…he also felt the armor on his back covering him where it was meant to be torn apart.
It seemed that when he transformed, the things he wore or held were considered a part of him and regenerated with him.
He lunged forward, sword snapping to meet the creature's long claws. The force behind the blow almost pushed him to the side, but he transformed. The creature lost balance with him gone, and Dane commanded himself to return to his flesh as he spun with his sword sweeping. Usually, he would never make moves that would reveal his back to the enemy, but with an intangible body, he could move in ways that would yield great force without fearing consequences.
He did not become human instantly. The bear's claws were still tearing through where his stomach should have been. The moment it passed, and he was behind it, his body materialized. He slashed its back. Black blood dripped out of the shallow wound with an accompanying growl, and it leaped away from him.
"Two strikes."
Dane smiled as he spun the sword in a flick, waiting.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
FieryBaldachin
FieryBaldachin Forgive the inefficiency of his fighting style. He is still learning to use his new body. Furthermore, his family's Legacy Art can't even begin to hope to match the ability of the Immortal Flame style.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone