First Class and Testing

Tyrel's eyelids opened, and he sighed.

'I don't feel as safe without Saphira holding me.'

Tyrel yawned while stretching his limbs outward. Readying himself for the day, he got up and left his room. His first destination was the Cafeteria.

In the cafeteria, he grabbed a plastic tray, a ceramic plate, and plastic utensils. He loaded his plate with sushi, rice, and macaroni. He walked to an empty table and sat down. He began eating his food with relish.

'I need to finish wilderness survival before Sunny enters that class. Perhaps I should pick it up and leave the class after six months. Then, I can focus on archery and killing remnant creatures. And I'll stop killing remnant dormant creatures when a month and a week is left before the winter solstice.'

Tyrel's eyebrows furrowed as he finished eating. He set an alarm for a month and a week before the winter solstice at nine am. After finishing his food, Tyrel got up and put away the tray, utensils, and plate.

***

Inside the wilderness survival classroom, Tyrel looked around. It was empty and spacious. He spotted an instructor with a despondent look. The instructor noticed him and smiled.

"Hello, young man. Please come in!"

He was a lively old man with messy grey hair, absentminded eyes, and a pair of bushy eyebrows that seemed to jump around on their own.

"I'm Awakened, Julius! You can call me Teacher Julius. Take a seat! Sit and make yourself comfortable! What's your name?"

Tyrel walked to one of the front desks and sat down. He coughed before answering.

"I'm Tyrel."

Awakened, Julius nodded.

"That's a good name."

Tyrel grinned.

"Awakened Julius. Before we start, I have a small question. If I reach the goals set in class, can I earn memories? I need a quiver Memory since I'm an archer."

Awakened Julius paused for a moment and shook his head.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that. That would be showing favoritism."

Tyrel thought. 'No one would know since no one else goes to this class, but I won't remind him of that.'

"Awakened Julius. I have another request. I want to learn all I need to within six months. And I need to learn to multitask. Can I walk around the room while learning what you're teaching me? And may I be in class for six hours? I have an archery class I need to go to as well."

Awakened Julius chuckled.

"I can accept that. Most sleepers are only interested in swinging their swords and fists around."

"Thanks. Can I trade a Memory or two with you? I wish to acquire some tool memories to help me survive in the Dream Realm. Perhaps even a storage Memory?"

Awakened Julius paused and smirked. "Sure. However, it won't be cheap."

Tyrel paused for a moment and pulled out three dormant Memories. One looked like a pitchfork, one was a knife made of bone, and the last was a mace.

'I'll make up a lie about how I acquired my memories. I need to get rid of most of them.' Tyrel thought before he spoke.

"In my nightmare, I had help, and I killed many crippled dormant Nightmare Creatures. I have about a hundred more dormant memories I want to trade."

Awakened Julius's eyes widened.

"You do?! Well, what kind of Memory do you want to trade for? I can even trade an awakened Memory or too."

Tyrel crossed his arms.

"Do you have that will help me focus on one subject? I believe I'll need something like that to do what I need to do."

Awakened Julius paused and nodded.

"I have one like that, but it's one of my Awakened Memories."

Tyrel thought. 'Awakened Julius didn't have these kind of Memories in the story. Wait, we don't know much about him. There's so much not shown in the story.'

"Teacher Julius. How many dormant Memories will I need to trade for it?"

Awakened Julius chuckled.

"How about ten? Its downside is deadly for most sleepers and even Awakened."

Awakened Julius frowned.

"You know what? Never mind, this Memory will probably cripple or kill you. I shouldn't trade dangerous memories to my students."

Tyrel yelled.

"Wait! I do want it! I don't care about the downside. I need to focus on things. It will help me study."

Awakened Julius sighed.

"You're really that passionate about studying? I'll give it to you for free. However, do not tell anyone I gave this to you."

Tyrel nodded before asking.

"Um, I would actually like to trade, though. My Memories are useless to me."

Awakened Julius's eyebrows furrowed.

"I have a dormant tool Memory that might be useful to you. It's a quiver."

Tyrel's eyes widened.

"That sounds amazing! I would love to trade for it. I'll trade ten dormant Memories for it."

Awakened Julius sighed.

"Sure. And I do not have any other memories I'm willing to trade. Those two. Place the dormant Memories on the table, and I'll give you the two Memories you're trading for."

Tyrel smiled and gave the ten dormant weapons to Awakened Julius.

Awakened, Julius took them before summoning two new Memories. The first was a very thin grey quiver that had four long tentacles on each side. Each tentacle was three feet long, had suction cups at the bottom, and many small bumps on each side. At the top of the quiver was an arrow with a transparent arrowhead. Abruptly, the Memory seemed to come alive as the bumps covering its tentacle's sides opened up into eyes. The Memories tentacles remained still as its eyes blinked at random intervals.

Tyrel turned toward the other Memory. It looked like a clear stone that glowed.

He touched both Memories, and they dissipated into light sparks.

[You have received a Memory...]

[You have received a Memory...]

"Thank you for this, Awakened Julius."

Awakened Julius chuckled.

"You're welcome. Now I'm going to teach you how to survive anything!"

For the next six hours, Tyrel was taught by Awakened Julius. Once done, he left the classroom after saying goodbye.

'I should look at the Memories before I go to the archery class.'

Tyrel returned to his dorm and smiled. He summoned the tentacle quiver first.

Memory: [Cephalopod Quiver].

Memory Rank: Dormant.

Memory Type: Tool.

Memory Description: [The corpse of a hyper-intelligent Cypocephula turned into a qazi-life-like existence, one that is invaluable. It is strong and can hold its own.]

Memory Enchantments: [Semi-Sentience], [Hollow Arrows], [Adhesive Tentacles], [Arrow Renewl].

Tyrel looked at the description of each Enchantment.

[Semi-Sentience] Enchantment Description: "This Memory can understand complex commands and think for itself. It can do eight actions at once."

[Hollow Arrows] Enchantment Description:

"The Arrows produced are hollow and can be filled with fluids and powders. They break on impact and cover their target in the fluid. They do no damage."

[Adhesive Tentacles] Enchantment Description:

"The tentacles of this memory have unnatural stickiness."

[Arrow Renewal] Enchantment Description:

"This Memory will passively create new Arrows whenever one is used."

Tyrel smiled. 'I guess I don't need to do as much in the archery class. Shooting against targets is subpar compared to fighting remnant creatures in the world of the dead.'

Tyrel summoned the runes for his other Memory.

Memory: [Diabolical Cerebral Jewel].

Memory Rank: Awakened.

Memory Type: Charm.

Memory Description: [An inventor wished to copy -Unknown- and their traits into a creature. This is the heart of that creature.]

Memory Enchantments: [Fanatical Focus], [Perfect Learning].

Tyrel focused on the two Enchantments.

[Fanatical Focus] Enchantment Description:

"Tell the memory what you wish to do in detail. And you will enter a state where your thoughts and actions will only be about that thing. It will nullify all other thoughts and emotions. You will not stop until you physically cannot do what you wish."

[Perfect Learning] Enchantment Description:

"Everything learned in the Fanatical Focus state will be engraved in your mind and body and cannot be forgotten."

Tyrel's eyes widened as he gasped.

'This Memory could kill me! Just like the Accursed Core! Why am I getting amazing memories with horrific downsides!? Can I get some with no downsides?! Please?!' Tyrel thought.

Tyrel sighed and pondered.

'This Memory is useless if I don't enter that state. Wait if I grab some sushi and bring it back to my room and into the portal. My Cephalopod Quiver could feed me it if I'm unable to move. I won't die. Perhaps It could even pull me through a portal if I form one. That's great!'

Tyrel smiled and paused for a moment. 'I can go to the Archery class tomorrow. And I should test this memory by reading books from Awakened Julius's class.'

Tyrel left his room and headed for Awakened Julius's class. Once there, he smiled.

"Awakened Julius. I have a request. Can I have multiple books about survival? I want to try self-study for a while."

Awakened Julius's brows furrowed.

"Sure. But I expect you in class tomorrow."

Tyrel paused.

"I don't know if I can promise that."

Awakened Julius's eyes narrowed.

"You're going to use that memory to learn, aren't you?"

Tyrel nodded and replied.

"I need to use everything at my disposal to survive. I heard the dream realm is a horrific place. I'll need all the skills I can get."

Awakened Julius frowned before sighing.

"I hope that Memory doesn't cripple you or kill you. That Memory will not dissipate on death. But go ahead and grab as many books as you can carry."

Tyrel obliged and grabbed ten books. He returned to his room and placed them inside. He left again and headed to the Cafeteria. He asked if he could take food to his room. They said yes, and he brought back three plates of sushi and vegetables.

Tyrel returned to his room and smiled. He summoned the Cephalopod Quiver and instructed it to feed him some sushi and vegetables every evening and morning.

Tyrel summoned the Diabolical Cerebral Jewel and spoke to it.

"I want to read and learn everything in all these books. I will eat the food fed to me every evening and morning. I want to do hygiene every morning and night. And if nature calls, to do it."

Tyrel ended the wish, and all his emotions ceased. His thoughts vanished except for the desire to read. The desire grew into an unstoppable obsession.

Tyrel's ears did not register sound. His sense of touch was suppressed except for what was required for the task. His smell stopped working, and his sense of taste disappeared. His sense of time was removed, and he focused only on the book.

He opened it and read. He did not stop as the sun rose and fell. Nor did he stop when he ate sushi or people knocking on his door. He only stopped for when nature calls and hygiene. When done, he immediately went back to reading.

The sun rose and fell multiple times. As each day passed, the sushi and vegetables went bad. Yet he still ate every morning and evening.

Three weeks pass, and his body forced him to sleep. He had long read the books. Barely any food remained on the plates.