What the fuck.
Those were the only thoughts going through his head as he saw Nephis standing and looking through the bookshelf the academy had provided, and Cassie sitting on his bed facing toward him. While it was bad enough they were in his room, it was even worse when he remembered the fact that the only thing covering his lower half was a towel.
"Why are you just standing there? Don't make me repeat myself."
---
"Why did he kick us out? Did we interrupt him or something?"
"Ah… thinking on it, could it be because he just got out of the shower?"
"What!"
---
Cassie had been apologizing for five minutes straight, but he supposed it didn't matter. After all, he was sure that when they got to the dream realm, they would have to get used to uncomfortable moments like that anyway.
"What's so important that you want to talk about, anyways? Especially if you came here in the middle of the night."
"Actually, I don't know either. Nephis just told me to follow her after she came to my room."
Both he and Cassie turned to look at her now. Her facial expression was more serious than usual.
"Let's sneak out of the academy tonight."
"Are you crazy!"
Cassie's voice rang out next to him, and he agreed with her—what was she even thinking?
"I heard the instructors talking about it. There's a nightmare gate opening around 10 miles away. Though it's just a category one, I say we should try to get to it before any official Awakened can."
"And what makes you think they don't already have that area set and ready for the gate?"
He could already tell what she was getting at—real combat experience against nightmare creatures—but her logic was simply flawed.
"I know it won't be. They only just learned about it and haven't gotten the file for the location yet. They were also supposed to be the ones to handle it, so when they weren't looking, I changed the location."
"What! Don't you understand people can be in danger! Even if it's only a category—"
"Where is it?"
He cut Cassie off, glaring at Nephis. They had already wasted enough time with the chaos after he got out of the shower. No—maybe that was her plan so they couldn't refuse.
"It's right next to the park, just a mile away from the police station by the outskirts."
He didn't bother wasting time. Opening up his window, he looked back at Cassie.
"You stay here. We need someone in the room just in case. If someone comes, make an excuse."
"Wait, let's think about—"
Her words fell on deaf ears as he climbed out the window, slowly sliding down the wall. His fingers began to bleed despite having a stronger body than most. Nephis followed behind him, her flames igniting on her fingers before passing onto his, healing them both. He had no time to question it.
They started to run.
---
It took them around twenty minutes to reach their destination, avoiding suspicion along the way. But when they got there, an unexpected variable appeared. They didn't have much time before it opened, and on a swing set sat a young girl. She had black hair, black eyes, and pale skin—not as pale as Sunny's, though.
"You need to get out of here! A gate is opening!"
He rushed toward her in a panic—not because she was in danger, but because if she died, the academy would find out and they would most likely be kicked out. That was an early key to the first nightmare he could not afford to lose.
"W-What? What are you talking abo—"
If only they had arrived a couple of minutes earlier. But there was no time to regret. He could only brace himself as a rift in the world began to open, pouring out multiple creatures before something else emerged.
This didn't make sense. This was supposed to be a category one… so why was there a tyrant?