8: Embarassing

Shock and disbelief painted his face and those around him; the surroundings instantly quieted down. A mocking smile adorned my lips while my gaze became increasingly piercing.

"Oops, did I say that out loud? For what it's worth, I'm not sorry; it was just a minor slip of the tongue. Surely someone as great as you cares little about what a plebeian has to say. See you tomorrow, Carter."

The Han Li clan was a vassal to the Song Clan, with their personal power on the smaller side. Antagonizing the new heir of the Han Li clan wouldn't be too harmful to me, as nobody would waste time on a some nobody from the outskirts.

That wouldn't stop him from personally taking action, but then he would have to beat me in a fight. And while I am certain he has much more experience than me, I could definitely stat-check him without even using my aspect ability, Surge.

After a few seconds, one of the young man's companions finally blinked and said,

"Who do you think you are, street rat? Does just anyone have the right to insult a Legacy clan nowadays?"

Trying to confront me, the random was short but packed with muscles, like a wrestler. Of course, I wouldn't be the one to start the physical altercation; I would probably get kicked out or separated from the general populace if I did.

Peering down at him, an arrogant and haughty smile spread across my face before I spoke.

"Carter's dog has a long leash; it's not nice to bark in someone's ear. You are more than free to try something, but you better get your master's approval before you do."

I was honestly surprised that the kid didn't shrink back. I stood at least a foot over most of the people in this room, not to mention the muscles bestowed by my aspect. 'I wonder what he went through in his trial.'

Before I had time to think any further, the kid grabbed my tracksuit, attempting to throw me over his shoulder. Without even needing to lower my center of gravity, he struggled tenuously before my tracksuit gave way.

Standing in a ripped tracksuit, I was angry. Why didn't he just punch me? It was a perfectly good tracksuit that he ruined.

Glancing at the tattered remains of my tracksuit in his hands, I reached out and grabbed him by the face. Lifting him effortlessly off the ground, he flailed, trying to escape my grasp, but I only gripped tighter in response.

His friends rushed up to stop me, but I swung the kid like a whip, knocking them all back before slamming him on a nearby table.

"That wasn't very nice; a duel should be one versus one, right? We had just got started, but look at you fools already running in like a pack of dogs. Knocked on the ground in one swing, if I were a Nightmare creature, you would be dead by now."

With furrowed brows, Caster took a step forward, about to speak.

"That is enough; you, with the police tracksuit, come receive a new uniform. No more trouble from here on out, even if you didn't start it. You all have the same enemy, the Dream Realm, so get your shit together."

A tall man in a dark blue uniform appeared on the stage. Not only was he tall, he was actually almost a giant. Just an inch or two shorter than me with much more muscle on his frame. If I was cut from a statue, he was much more like a traditional bodybuilder.

The giant man had wide shoulders, an athletic build, and a gorgeous brown beard. His eyes were calm and serious. After reaching the center of the stage, he gave Atlas a long look.

Finally looking away, he said in a deep, reverberating voice:

"I am Awakened Rock. Sleepers, welcome to the academy."

-------

Standing up, I was happy that my academy-issued uniform fit. The tracksuit was comfortable, but it hugged me just a little too much. This new "uniform" was a solid gray sweatshirt and sweatpants. The logo of Awakened Academy was printed on the upper left torso area of my sweatshirt.

We had just sat through the introduction ceremony hosted by Awakened Rock. Pretty much everything discussed was the same as in the original story.

The Dream Realm has no friendly creatures besides humans in it; there were once civilizations that existed, and the Dream Realm can be much more cruel than the trials. The trials are somewhat fair, whereas you may come across an Unholy Titan and die if you do not stick close to the human settlements in the Dream Realm.

I was currently on my way to my assigned dormitory while playing with my communicator.

These past three or four days, I have really started to miss my phone. I was an avid reader, feasting on the works that others created day and night in my last life. Even now, I am still engrossed in the Shadow Slave story, except physically this time. I don't know who, what, or why, but I am thankful for this second opportunity.

Anyway, searching through the apps available, I found Youtube and Twitter. Their creation must be a canon event.

Almost all the content on Youtube was focused on the Dreamscape, a spell-tech mimicking the Dream realm in the form of virtual reality. Since most normal people never saw the Dream realm for themselves, this gave them a taste of what it was like.

Of course, other types of educational videos were available on YouTube, like information on various creatures and STEM courses. The government tried regulating content to create well-informed and intelligent individuals so the future would have more talents to recruit from.

'I should check out the Dreamscape for training. I need complete control of my body before I am pulled into the Dream realm.'

Twitter, on the other hand, was the same as it always had been, even in another universe. A cesspool of vile people all screaming at each other in a feedback loop.

'Wait, I don't have anything to take to my dorm; I can just go eat dinner.'

Whistling a tune, I changed course for the cafeteria. A map of the academy was pre-programmed into everyone's communicator, so I had no trouble finding it.

Soon after I arrived, the cafeteria was a large buffet-style room on the ground floor of the academy. Few newcomers were here so soon after the induction ceremony, likely putting their stuff away. That is not to say that nobody was here; this year's whole batch of roughly two thousand sleepers shared facilities.

Around three hundred total sleepers occupied the cafeteria at the moment, some relaxing with their friends while others rushed to eat so they could improve themselves as much as possible.

Grabbing two plates I decided to treat myself every day for the next month. I could very well die, even with my Divine rank. There is no telling where I might be placed in the Dream realm. The most dangerous areas of the series were also the largest. With a much higher chance of going somewhere unclaimed than near a citadel.

Even Sunny barely survived the Forgotten Shore, and he is the protagonist of the story. If I was lucky enough to spawn near a citadel, I could only thank the gods for their mercy.

Stacking food on my plates I was satisfied with the mini-mountains I had made. Turning around, I looked across the cafeteria for a comfortable place to sit.

In the far corner was a gorgeous blind girl. She had blond hair and beautiful, glowing blue eyes; she was struggling to navigate through the maze of tables.

Eventually she stumbled and dropped her plate, crouching down to try to clean the broken glass and food.

Sighing I walked over before she could cut herself, making enough noise to not startle her when I got closer.

"Stop; let me clean it. You sit here, and I will grab you some food when I am done."

Guiding her to the cafeteria table, I left my plates behind to grab a broom.

Quickly borrowing a broom, I hurried to clean up the mess so I could eat my food as well. I wasn't the biggest fan of Cassie; not only did she betray Sunny, but she would also become the most powerful oracle in the world. There was no telling what she might see about me should I decide to join Changing Star's cohort.

I don't know what would happen if it came to light that I was from another universe altogether, but it wouldn't be fun. At the same time, I couldn't bring myself to watch her struggle relentlessly until she overcame her flaw later in the story.

Her flaw is honestly one of the worst in the series to live with; I couldn't imagine not being able to see anything.

Sweeping up the last of it, I stopped by the trashcan before remaking the plate of food she dropped, even adding a little more of everything so she wouldn't undereat. Placing the plate gently in front of her, I guided her hands to the utensils before taking my seat across the table.

The cafeteria was slowly starting to fill up as we ate in silence. Cassie made for good company as she focused on devouring the entire plate of food.

"Thank you for helping me. I'm Cassie, by the way."

Glancing up, I noticed she had already finished her food and was looking in my general direction.

"No problem; my name is Atlas. How long have you been at the academy?"

Pondering quietly, she answered in a rather hushed voice.

"I think it has been around a month since I got here; time seems to fly by now that I can't see a clock. You must be new here, right? I heard your voice earlier in the ceremony... Not to judge, but should you have challenged a Legacy clan like that?"

Smiling lightly, I watched her for a while.

"It won't matter much; pretty soon I will have a bright target painted on my back anyway. I might as well do it in a controlled way rather than leaving it to others."

With a puzzled look on her face, she went quiet. We weren't quite close enough for her to continue the conversation with any personal questions.