Dein saw the young woman stirred and slowly turned to his direction. On instinct, Dein hurriedly looked away.
But he can't help taking a glance at her direction again. Surprisingly, the young woman isn't looking at his direction anymore. Instead, her blue eyes seem to scan the crowd.
As if she can feel someone is staring at her but can't see where.
Seeing her blue, dead eyes scan the crowd. Dein soon found out why…
[She's blind…]
Serious voiced out his suspicion for him. Indeed, it seems the young woman is blind even though her action looks like she's scanning the crowd. All she did is actually turn her head back to where awakened Rock is speaking.
Dein sighed. 'So that's why everyone is avoiding her…'
It's a pity really. The girl seems to have an exceptional intuition but just like awakened Rock is saying:
"When the solstice comes, you will be drawing into the Dream Realm. The exact location of where you will appear can't be predicted but there's a chance you'll find yourself in close proximity to each other…"
Just like he said, no one knows where anyone will be sent in the Dream Realm. So the chances of the young woman surviving is literally close to zero. Of course, that'll change if someone decided to help her, protect her until they reached a Citadel. But only crazy people would do that to burden themselves.
A better way for her to survive is if she got sent to the part of the Dream Realm already populated by awakeneds.
That said, the chance of the two happening is extremely low. So to the eyes of everyone here, she's already dead.
"A pity…" Dein whispered to himself.
Finally, he turned to the last group of people.
The calm, collected, battle readied and heavily prepared band of sleepers. The ones engineered to challenge the Nightmare Spell from the moment they were born.
The Legacies.
The moment Dein's eyes landed on the group. His mood immediately turned bitter. There, he saw a hateful bastard, a fucker with a charming face, green eyes, tanned skin, tall stature, and probably a strong build.
Dein clicked his tongue.
"Caster…"
*****
"If you can't locate or are unable to reach the nearest human citadel, search for an unclaimed Gateway. It will usually be inside or near the most prominent landmark of the region. Work together to defeat it's guardians and come back alive."
In front of the sleepers, Awakened Rock continued the induction. Giving them instructions on what to do after they got sent to the Dream Realm.
Dein also took his eyes off Caster and the other Legacies. Patiently waiting for the the ceremony to end. As he did, he noticed countless more interesting people in crowd.
There was a rich guy surrounded by women, as if they're all lusting for him. A strange muscular guy somewhere and a few more people beeming with 'personality'.
Dein even saw the woman he met earlier on the bridge sucking on a lolly pop. She seem to sense his gaze as a shiver clearly run down her spine. When she looked at Dein, she gave him the same look of disgust she gave earlier.
He gritted his teeth when he saw that.
'Really, what's this woman's problem!'
It's like she has natural hatred for Dein. But of course, it's probably his fault for staring at the girl like a creep. He just hope she wouldn't misunderstand Dein if doesn't already.
Much worse, what if she tells everyone he's a creep?
That would definitely destroy his first academy life!
Dein felt a shiver ran down his spine at the thought. 'I should probably stay away from her'
Strangers really are dangers. Even if the girl probably thinks the same about him right now. Dein sighed. Finally, the induction ceremony came to an end with a final instructions from awakened Rock.
"That is all for today. Next, follow the instructions sent to your communicators to find your assigned dormitory. Once settled, you may proceed to the cafeteria for some late supper. There will be a round of interviews after that, to prepare your suggested curriculums. Get a good night's rest, your training starts tomorrow."
The instructor left just after saying that. And soon, everyone did the same, following the location on their communicator. Of course, the sleepers dormitory are located somewhere in this building as well so Dein wasn't in a hurry.
In fact, he deliberately allowed himself to be left behind.
Until he finally saw the same group of collected young people walking slowly behind everyone. It was the Legacies.
Dein took a deep breath. The voices in his mind turned silent as they watch Dein's actions. Moments later, he reached the group where Caster is in. The other Legacies continued walking but Dein deliberately stopped this group with a cough.
"Ahem… H-hello everyone!"
He greeted them with an awkward smile. Trying to sound polite. The group of Legacies slowly turned to Dein. Their brows raised as if to question who he is and what he wants.
Dein shivered in that look. To be honest, he doesn't know what to say. He came to them wanting to introduce himself as a fellow Legacy but now that he's here, he doesn't even know how to begin. How does one even introduce themselves in this kinds of situations?
Luckily, as he scrambled trying to think of what to say. Caster suddenly asked with a shocked expression. His eyes showing how surprised he is to see him.
"Dein…!?"
Dein forced out an awkward smile. One of the Legacies turned to Caster.
"Someone you know Caster?"
"Yeah, a bit…" He said, before turning to Dein once again. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"
Dein's eyes lit up at the question. Finally able to continue the conversation. No matter how much he hates Caster, Dein would be able to use him as a stepping stone to introduce himself to his fellow legacies. So Dein immediately answered with a grin.
"What kind of question is that? I just woke up as well! I came here to prepare for the winter solstice just like everyone of us here legacies."
At his words, the other Legacies' view of him changed. It was more genuine now unlike earlier when they were questioning his identity. The Legacies exclaimed when they found out he's a Legacy as well.
"Whoa! You're a Legacy too? What Clan are you from?"
"The Clan of Hearth!"
He proudly answered. Then another one asked with curiosity.
"What's the rank of your Aspect?"
"Oh, only awakened."
"Only Awakened? Haha, same as us then! Only Caster here got an Ascended one!"
Dein's eyes widened when he heard that. He glanced at Caster, thinking how lucky the bastard is. For a moment, Dein almost felt jealous but he did not let it show. Instead, focusing on talking making friends with his fellow legacies.
"Did you receive any memories in your first nightmare? I received a powerful charm on mine!"
"That's cool! I received two memories!"
"What appraisal did you get? Mine's excellent. Just like Caster."
This time, Dein lied the answer. After all, he doesn't want anyone to think he's some kind of loser for only getting a Good appraisal from the spell. At the same time, he also feels like he doesn't deserve the "Good" appraisal for everything he'd accomplished in that nightmare so he doesn't feel guilty lying.
And it's not like anyone would know if he lies so who cares?
For the next few moments, Dein answered questions and asked questions as well. Truly, it's the art of making friends. But just as when he's feeling more comfortable with this people.
Caster suddenly spoke, he'd been in deep thought earlier but now, he looked at Dein with a strange look in his eye. However, he did not mock Dein or anything, he simply asked as if genuinely surprised and curious. As if he can't believe it.
"So you just woke up as well? Then, doesn't that mean that you've spent two years in your first nightmare?"
Everyone froze when they heard that.