Noah's Lone Footsteps echoed through the hallways of the academy, he walked with his hands on his stomach as if bloated from a large meal. Noah stopped at one of the rooms. Drowsy, he opened his door and walked in. He quickly opened his drawer and grabbed some sleeping wear, he changed into the and layed down on the bed knocking out instantly. He would wake up many times that night with the excitement of the upcoming challenge and the possibility of becoming awakened .
Though Noah could not lie to himself, he was pretty stressed out at the prospect of dying to an impossibly strong being during his winter solstice, but Noah knew in reality this was highly unlikely. He tried to self rationalize that he would probably be transported near a human gate like most people, but he could not convince himself and ended up staying awake for most of the night.
Noah was eventually able to fall asleep but was only able to get a few hours of sleep. He woke up the next day absolutely exhausted and not wanting to get out of bed. Begrudgingly he lifted himself out of his bed for the last time and lazily changed his clothes. Onced changed he turned towards the door and gave it a hard long look. He then opened it and exited his room for the last time. He headed to the cafetera and grabbed the usual and sat down at the table alone.
Noah hadn't made any friends during his stay in the academy. He mostly stayed to himself, even with Teacher Julius' advice of "not being able to survive the dream realm alone" Noah still did not interact with people. He might have been a little over confident but Noah thought that his training would be enough to survive in the dream realm for a day or two before coming back to civilization, plus he had a sacred aspect he could probably do fine on his own.Right?
All the classes were canceled today. Noah guessed that it gave time for everyone to ready themselves for the trial to come, but for Noah it gave him time to spiral and doubt himself. Noah was already stressed out but now he had some time to stew in his anxiety. By the time the sun was setting Noah had somewhat collected himself and had found himself sitting in the cafeteria with a plate of food ahead of him. It was then when Noah received a notice to report to the auditorium.
Arriving at the auditorium he saw a large group of sleepers all looking at one man. That man had turned out to be an awakened Rock. Rock was giving the sleeper a speech about being prepared for the solstice and that they must perceive even if the challenges seemed impossible.
He then walked us to the medical center to show us what happens when you die in your solstice.he shows the sleeper the soulless bodies of the victims. They were still breathing but had no light in their eyes, no movement. Just blinking and breathing, they were living dolls. This image of soulless bodies that were still breathing did not instill a great amount of confidence In Noah, but it did serve as a good motivator to not die in the dream realm.
Noah and the group were all led to their own personal sleeping pods. Noah looked at the electronic coffin with much anticipation. He looked at his hand, which were trembling slightly. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm his trembling hands. He opened them again and looked back at the pod." alright, let's do this"
He reached out and grabbed the door of the pod and swung it open. He stepped forwards and laid himself into the pod. He then closed the door and felt his consciousness fade as a black curtain fell over his vision.
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Noah!]
Noah thought that he would have a similar experience to his first Nightmares arrival, so he was surprised when right as he lost consciousness he found himself in a pitch black area with stairs beneath him. Once he felt he had arrived he started the long process of summoning his weapons and armor. He pulled out his Lamp, the blue light filled the room he was in to reveal that he was standing on a staircase.. The walls seem to be made out of stone, more specifically they looked man made. They were smooth as if they were sculpted by the hands of a skilled artisan. As this thought crossed his mind his sense of touch was replaced with the feeling of an old familiar armor. He looked at his arms and down his side to ensuring that the full armor was summoned.
Reclaiming his train of thought, Noah thought he was near a human citadel and was hit by a huge sense of relief. This hallway felt man made so it had to be near a gate. Deciding that he wanted to see where he was he started to slowly walk up the stairs to see which human control area of the dream realm he had arrived in. as he walked up the stairs excitement began to overtake him, he would become awakened just like that how lucky he was to be summoned into a human citadel. Then his dagger was willed into existence. The staircase was long and slightly weathered so Noah had to walk slowly to not fall, which gave his weapons time to summon.
After a while Noah finally saw the glimmer of Moonlight shine through the end of the hallway. It slightly illuminates the end of the stairs.Noah seeing the end of the staircase sped up his pace in anticipation. He crossed the threshold of the stairway and looked around.
To his left was nothingness, the only thing that could be heard were the crashing of waves against the large stone wall and the flow of wind coming from that direction, But on his right there was a great dark city. There is almost No light to be found in the entire city. The only signs of life were a few small lights that sundered in the wind. These lights were located near the inner wall of the city.
Noah's heart sank," what is this place?" It didn't look like any of the citadel that he had learned about during his stay at the academy. The big cities in the Dream realm had people roaming the streets, But here it was desolated. The only signs of life in the city where the lights at the keep and a large swath of light coming from are near the giant gate of the keep. Noah then looked back at the dark expanse of what he assumed to be an ocean and came to the conclusion that he was in the storm sea, and maybe this place was a newly captured citadel. With this revelation Noah's mood was lifted. Maybe his solstice stay would be quicker than expected.
Noah then turned around and headed back into the dark staircase. He pulled his Lamp back out and used it to light his way back down. Eventually he made it to the bottom of the staircase and started to walk towards the mass of light near the entrance of the castle. Noah walked with caution, using cover and rubble to hide himself whenever he heard a noise he held his lamp in his right hand and held his Knife in his left. In the distance he saw a large shadow which led him to duck behind the large pile of rubble and bury himself in it. He hid there for a while till he could not hear the breathing of the monster any longer. He then got up and dusted himself off and continued his trek through the dark city
There was no straight path though the city that led to the lights so Noah had to walk with the design of the street. As he walked he started to smell the cooking of food, following his Nose he started to walk towards the smell reasoning that only humans could cook things on purpose. As he peeked his head around the corner he saw light coming from one of the house windows. Walking towards the house he looked in through the window and saw a group of 3 people surrounding a campfire.
Two women and one guy. The guy looked to be slightly shorter than Noah and had hair that was a light black and wore a silver armor with chainmail underneath the plates of armor on his back was a sword. The other two were women, one was wearing light armor made of what Noah thought was Leather. Her hair was brown and ran down to her mid back. Resting across her body was her Bow and on her waist was a quiver of arrows. The second woman was sitting in a relaxed position. She looked to be a hulk of a woman, she was taller than Noah and had a spear resting near her. Her armor was of a bronze color covering most of her body.
Noah looked at this group and was relieved to find out that they were human. He walked to the side and stood at the doorway. He then knocks on the door frame to get their attention . The woman with the spear was the first to notice him, she raised her spear which had alerted the other to his presence. The other two readied their weapons with a practiced swiftness. Noah instantly lifted his hands and dropped his weapons. The light from His Lamp illuminating the top half of his body clearly showed that he was human.
"Wait, I'm Human!"
The three that were around the campfire looked at him and motioned him to slowly approach. Noah did so with his hand still held high in the air. Noah stepped into the warm light of the Campfire and the group were able to see him. Seeing that he was clearly not a nightmare creature they lowered their weapons.
The Man with the sword then opened his mouth" what were you doing in the dark?"
Noah responded" Oh, well I just got here. The winter solstice was today and I found myself in a staircase in the giant wall that surrounds the castle."
Then the Woman with the spear opens her mouth " Ahhh so you're new here, Welcome to the dark city. You're very lucky to be alive with you just walking in the dark like that!"
"Luck? how so?"
The woman smirked, " Well most of the monsters here are of the fallen rank, so if you ran into any of them you would have been killed almost instantly."
Noah's chest tightened. You mean to tell me that the giant shadow he saw and all the other monsters that he saw on his way here could have been of the fallen rank. The same rank of the creature his lamp had killed during the nightmare. And things of that rank as just walking around the streets of this city. Noah shivered at what kind of place did this dam spell take Me.
The women then continued" Well since ya new here I guess introduction are in order"
She then walked over to the man with the sword and poked his cheek with one finger " This guy right, you know Mr serious with a sword is leandro "
Leandor gave Her a tired look as if he was done with her antics then pushed her hand away. He then looked at Noah and flick his head up slightly in greeting, Noah responded with a wave.
She then moved her finger to point at the other girl " The Mute one other there is Savannah"
The girl Now Known as Savannah smiled and waved her hand and Noah reciprocated and waved back.
Then the woman finger turned and pointed at herself " And I am Effie, It nice to meet ya"
Noah then looked at them all" ah well I'm Noah it's nice to meet you. So what are you guys doing out here?"
The group all walked back to the fire and sat down.
Then Leandro answered his question "eating".
Noah was confused " eating? Here, why not just go to the real world. I mean your awakens right can't you just go back to the real world and eat in the comfort of your home".
They all looked at him like he was stupid but effie was the first one to respond to him "we're not awakens, we're sleepers".
Noah was even more perplexed at this: why would they stay sleepers if there was a citadel right there?" but there is a gate in the citadel. Why stay a sleeper?"
This time Leandro bluntly responds hit Noah like a hammer " there's no gate here"
Noah gestured towards the castle"But all citdeals have a gate, there has to be one here!"
Leandro, slightly annoyed at Noah, finally said " this is not a citadel."
Noah frantically responded " then why don't we make a boat and go to another citadel there has to be one nearby?"
Then Effie cut in " Yea not keen on goin in the water. There's tons of monsters in there. Plus what human controlled citadel is in an uncharted part of the dream world."
The words hit Noah hard. They weren't in the sea of storm like Noah originally thought but instead were in an uncharted part of the dream realm. It took a minute for Noah to come to terms with what he had just heard. This revelation meant that if he wanted to get back to the real world he would have to find a naturally occurring gate or he had to take his second nightmare to become a master. Since both options were basically impossible Noah had to come to terms with the fact that he would live the rest of his life in this dark monster infested city and most likely die here.
Noah, still standing, finally sat down near the fire and just stared at the crackling fire in stunned silence. The people around the fire could not see his face but could tell that he was still trying to process his feelings so they did not engage in conversation. Then Noah looked at the cooked food with sullen eyes, then he asked, his voice seeming lost in sorrow, " can I get some of that?"
Leandro nodded, giving the go ahead for Noah to take a piece. Noah grabbed a small piece of cooked meat and took off his helmet. He looked at the meat with a suspicious expression "what is it?"
Effie taking a huge chunk of meat off the body and responded" ah it's a Nightmare creature we hunted"
Noah now having confirmation that this wasn't something like human meat bit into it. Surprisingly the thing tasted very similar to chicken. Noah ate his small piece slowly and placed his helmet back on. As the other had a very casual conversation Noah sat there silently. He utter not a word and just watch them talk about their day, make jokes about their situation, and even laugh. Noah on the other hand did not find it humorous at all. He had just found out that he was stuck here and they were making jokes about it!? Noah was angered by their comment but did not voice his opinion in fear of being left in the city alone.
Noah after cooling down was able to ask some more questions. He was able to find out that Leandro had been here for 3 years, Savannah 4, and Effie to Noah surprise was the Newest with only being there for 1 year. She seemed pretty confident so he figured she was the leader or at least the veteran of the group, but the veteran title actually went to savannah and the title of leader went to Leandro, but something that Noah found humorous was that he was still older than all of them by a solid 2 or 3 years which slightly lightened his mood.
He also learned of the hierarchy of this forsaken fortress. A man named Gunlug was the king/tyrant who ruled this place. Noah was told to not go against him and just do what he says. Then there's his lieutenants who are Gunlugs strongest warriors or most valuable people. Below them were the Pathfinder which scoped out the area and planned expeditions into the Dark city. Below them were the guards, then the handmaidens which were basically maids for the lieutenants and Gunlug. And finally under them were residents of the castle and below them were the residents of the outskirts.
Noah was curious so he ended up asking why Gunlug was incharge for which the group had one response. Power, unfiltered Power. They explained that to their knowledge the Gunlug had obtained a transcendent echo that acted like armor from a Dying leviathan after the water receded. Noah was puzzled when they said " the water receded " for which they had to explain that the water would go somewhere during the day time and would come back during the nighttime. Noah asked why but all they could answer with was a " We don't Know" So Noah moved on to another subject. They ended up talking for the rest of the night. They did not dare to sleep because they were still in the dark city and monsters could appear at any time.
As the sun peeked over the horizon the group had decided to go back to the main keep. Noah, not wanting to be left alone in this cursed city, decided to follow them back to the main keep. It took them a good amount of time to get back to the keep. They had to avoid a lot of creatures to get to the keep but they also hunted some of them. Noah took note of which Nightmare creatures they were killed to know what he could hunt. Chief among them was something they called a blood fiend. It had a thin figure with long arms and sharp claws. Its head was deformed and filled with razor sharp teeth. It seems that anything that was dormant or awakened was fair game in this city. Anything above awaken, which were most of the creatures where would be avoided like the plague.
Noah also saw that the lesson about soul shards was true. Each monster had a soul shard and the amount they had depended on their Tier. of course they did not give him any shards, he wasn't part of the team and usually just watched as they killed the monster, but Noah was gaining valuable information on the way the group had hunted. The usually used sneak attacks which was good for Noah since his Armor helped him stay hidden. If sneak attacks were most effective then Noah might have a chance of living after all.
Finally by midday the group was able to find the entrance to the outskirts of town. As the group strolled into the town the air quality took a noticeable dive. It smelt horrid, way worse than the air quality in the big city of the NSQ. Unable to hold his nose which was behind his mask, he opted to just breathe though his mouth till his sense of smell was able to adapt to the horrible smell. Effie then turned around and started to walk backwards facing Noah, she spread her arm out as if presenting something " Welcome to the outskirts! you may also find that it is a horrible place to live but hey, you take the good with the bad".
Noah squinted his eyes " and what exactly is the "good" in this place?"
Effie put her hand on her chin in a dramatic expression of thinking" I mean it's a place to live I guess?"
"Great".
Noah then followed them though the outskirts and they showed him to a bunch of rundown huts. And Leandro looked at the huts " here are the houses. Pick one"
Noah looked at him confused " any house? I don't have to buy one? I just walk into one just and poof I own it ?"
Leandro responded blandly " well a lot of people die in the dark city. Which means there's a lot of free housing out here."
Noah's exception of the situation was oddly smooth, it could have been from the fact that he just went two days without sleep, but it most likely had to do with the fact that he had finally accepted the reality of his situation. He looked at the group and said a heart filled " Thank you " he then walked up to Leandro and shook his hand
" I owe you guys something so if I survive for long enough I will do you guys a favor. I know it's not much but I literally have nothing to give you guys" he then chuckled to himself " so hopefully I can help you guys in the future."
Effie replied" then you better Not die" she then walked up to Noah and tapped him on the helmet in a playful manner " cause You owe us Now." Noah backed away in discomfort and gained an amused laugh from Effie.
Then the group turned around and set off to the castle . Noah watched them walk up to the castle gate and hand a soul shard to the guards. They then were granted passage into the castle gates. Noah was again left alone with only the small hut that he had chosen as his home.
He walked up to the entrance of the hut. He moved the door of the small hut and entered to find that there was almost nothing in it. In the corner there was a pile of straw that Noah had assumed was used as a makeshift bed by the previous occupant and a stump that looked to be either firewood or used as a chair. Noah finally calmed down after his stressful entrance from the dream realm and was instantly hit by a wave of exhaustion. He looked towards the pile of straw, sighed and laid down on it. With a hopeless feeling in his heart he fell asleep unsure of what the next day would bring.