Part One: The Tower of Crystals
The portal swallowed Kazuma whole.
He fell through a tunnel of screaming colors. Purple and gold and electric blue streaked past his eyes like shooting stars. The air was thick, sweet, intoxicating. It smelled of spun sugar and rain and something else. Something ancient.
His shadow stretched ahead of him, longer than it should have been, reaching toward the light at the end of the tunnel.
"Exciting," Kage whispered.
Kazuma had no time to answer. The light exploded.
He hit the ground hard. His knees buckled. His palms scraped against a surface that was not concrete. It was smooth. Cold. Alive. He looked down.
He was kneeling on a platform of solid, shimmering crystal. The crystal was clear as glass, but beneath its surface, colors swirled like living things. The platform was suspended in empty air. Below him, a city of impossible spires stretched toward a sky that had no sun. The sky was a canvas of permanent auroras, green and purple and crimson, bleeding into each other like wet paint.
The Yume no Sekai. The Dream World.
He had seen pictures. He had watched documentaries. He had memorized every detail from textbooks.
The pictures had not prepared him for this.
The air was thick with Dream Magic. He could feel it pressing against his skin, warm and buzzing. It made his teeth ache. It made his shadow stretch.
"So much food," Kage whispered.
Kazuma forced himself to stand. His legs were shaking. His stomach was empty. His head was pounding.
Behind him, the portal snapped shut with a sound like a breaking bone.
Kagura stood a few feet away, arms crossed, watching him with those violet eyes. Her grin had softened into something closer to curiosity.
"First time?" she asked.
"I studied," Kazuma said. "I read about this place."
"Reading is not standing." She walked past him, her boots clicking on the crystal. "Welcome to Hikari Tou. The Prism Tower. My home. My chaos. My beautiful, beautiful mess."
She spread her arms wide.
The tower rose above them. It was not built. It was grown. A colossal, multifaceted crystal that spiraled toward the aurora sky like a frozen scream. Bridges of solidified rainbow light connected it to smaller floating platforms. On those platforms, Kazuma saw people. Students. Witches. Some were training, their magic crackling in bursts of fire and water and wind. Others were walking, talking, laughing.
They all stopped when they saw Kagura.
They all stared at Kazuma.
"They smell the nightmare on you," Kage whispered. "They are afraid."
Kazuma pulled his jacket tighter, as if that could hide his shadow.
Part Two: The First Whisper
Kagura led him through the tower's lower halls.
The interior was even more disorienting than the exterior. The walls were crystal, but they were not flat. They curved and twisted in ways that made Kazuma's eyes hurt. The light came from everywhere and nowhere. His shadow stretched and shrank with each step.
"This place is unstable," Kage said. "The dreams here are loud. Hungry."
Kazuma ignored it.
They passed a chamber where a boy was lifting boulders of solid earth with his mind. Doryoku. Earth Dream Magic. The boy glanced up, saw Kazuma, and frowned.
They passed a chamber where a girl was weaving threads of light into a net. Hikariryoku. Light Dream Magic. The net shimmered, then collapsed. The girl cursed. Then she saw Kazuma's shadow and went very still.
"They know," Kage whispered. "They can feel me."
Kazuma kept walking.
Kagura stopped in front of a door made of black wood. It was the only non-crystal thing he had seen in the tower.
"This is your room," she said. "Sleep. Eat. The food is in the cupboard. It is not poisoned. Probably."
She turned to leave.
"Wait," Kazuma said. "You brought me here. You said you would train me. When do we start?"
Kagura looked over her shoulder. Her grin returned, sharp and dangerous.
"You start when your shadow stops whispering and starts listening. Right now, it is feral. Hungry. You cannot command what you cannot control." She pointed at his feet. "That thing is not your weapon yet. It is your enemy. And you cannot fight an enemy that lives inside you."
She walked away.
Kazuma stood in the hallway, alone.
"She is wrong," Kage whispered. "I am not your enemy. I am your other half. We are the same."
"Shut up," Kazuma said.
"You cannot silence me. I am your nightmare. I am always here."
Kazuma opened the door and stepped inside.
The room was small. A bed. A desk. A window that looked out at the aurora sky. A cupboard with bread and fruit and water.
He sat on the bed and stared at his shadow.
It stretched across the floor, darker than it should have been. It did not move with him. It moved on its own, pulsing slowly, like a sleeping animal.
"Rest," Kage said. "You are weak. When you wake, we will hunt."
Kazuma lay down. He did not expect to sleep. He never expected to sleep.
But the Dream Magic in the air was heavy. It pressed down on him like a blanket. His eyes grew heavy. His breathing slowed.
For the first time in years, Kazuma Sato closed his eyes and did not fight the darkness.
He dreamed of nothing.
But his shadow dreamed of claws.
Part Three: The Rival
He woke to the sound of water.
Not rain. Not a river. Water moving with purpose.
Kazuma sat up. His room was dim. The aurora sky outside had shifted to a deep violet. He had slept for hours. His body felt heavier. His shadow felt thicker.
"Someone is outside," Kage said.
Kazuma stood. He walked to the door and opened it.
A girl stood in the hallway.
She was tall, with long dark hair pulled into a tight ponytail. Her uniform was blue and white, crisp and clean, not a single wrinkle. Her eyes were the color of a deep lake. Cold. Calm. Unreadable.
Water swirled around her wrists like living bracelets. Suiryoku. Water Dream Magic. But this was not the gentle water of a stream. This water moved with pressure. With weight. With the promise of drowning.
"You are the Mumei sha," she said. Her voice was flat. "The one Kagura-sama brought from Midgard."
"I am Kazuma," he said.
"I know your name. I do not care about your name." Her eyes dropped to his shadow. "I care about that."
The shadow pulsed.
"She is strong," Kage whispered. "Her water is deep. Cold. Angry."
"What do you want?" Kazuma asked.
The girl stepped closer. The water around her wrists tightened into blades.
"I want to know what kind of monster Kagura-sama invited into our home." She tilted her head. "Are you going to attack me? Is that what nightmares do?"
Kazuma's hands curled into fists. "I am not a nightmare."
"Your shadow disagrees."
"She is testing you," Kage said. "Do not fail."
Kazuma forced himself to stay still. "Who are you?"
The girl's lips curved into a smile. There was no warmth in it.
"Shiori Amano. Jutsushi of Hikari Tou. Ranked first among the apprentices." She let the water blades dissolve. "And I will be watching you, Mumei sha. If your shadow hurts anyone here, I will drown it. And you with it."
She walked away.
Kazuma watched her go. His hands were shaking.
"I like her," Kage said.
"You like everyone who wants to kill us?"
"She is honest. Most people lie."
Kazuma closed the door and leaned against it. His heart was pounding.
He had been in the Dream World for less than a day. He had already made an enemy.
Part Four: The First Lesson
Kagura found him an hour later in the tower's central courtyard. It was a wide, circular platform open to the sky. Other students trained in groups, their magic flashing in bursts of color.
Kagura was not wearing her pink jacket. She wore a simple grey training gi, her hair tied back. The mud was gone from her skin. She looked almost normal.
Almost.
"Sit," she said, pointing to the ground in front of her.
Kazuma sat.
"Your shadow. Call it."
"I do not know how."
"Yes you do." Kagura knelt across from him. "You have been hearing it all day. Whispering. Talking. That is not a one way connection. It can hear you too. So speak."
Kazuma looked down at his shadow.
"Kage," he said.
The shadow pulsed.
"Yes."
"Come forward."
The shadow did not move.
"I am always forward. I am your shadow."
Kazuma gritted his teeth. "Manifest the claws."
The shadow stretched. For a moment, the edges grew sharp. Then they stopped.
"I am hungry. Feed me first."
Kagura laughed. "It has demands. Good. That means it has will. A will can be broken or bent. Which do you want to do?"
"Bent," Kazuma said.
"Then you need leverage." Kagura stood and walked to the edge of the courtyard. She pointed to a training dummy made of crystal. "Use the claws. Cut that dummy."
"I cannot. It will not listen."
"Then make it listen." Kagura crossed her arms. "You are its master. Act like one."
Kazuma stared at his shadow. It stared back, if a shadow could stare.
"I am not a dog," Kage whispered. "I am your nightmare. You do not command me. We negotiate."
"Fine," Kazuma muttered. "What do you want?"
"More nightmares. Stronger ones. The Mara was weak. I want to taste something powerful."
"You will get nothing if you do not help me now."
The shadow was silent for a long moment.
Then it stretched.
The claws extended from Kazuma's shadow, black and sharp, reaching across the courtyard. They wrapped around the training dummy and squeezed. The crystal cracked. Then shattered.
The students nearby stopped training. They stared.
Kazuma's hands were shaking. The claws retracted.
"Satisfied?" Kage asked.
"No," Kazuma said. "But it is a start."
Kagura was grinning. "Good. Again."
Part Five: The Duel
Three days passed.
Kazuma trained from dawn until his body gave out. He learned to call the claws on command. He learned to retract them. He learned to extend them to different lengths.
He also learned that the other students hated him.
They whispered behind his back. Nightmare boy. Shadow freak. Mumei sha. Some of them crossed to the other side of the hallway when he passed. Others just stared.
Shiori was the worst.
She did not whisper. She did not avoid him. She stood in his way.
Every morning, she was outside his door. Every meal, she sat across from him in the refectory. Every training session, she watched from the edge of the courtyard.
She was waiting.
On the fourth day, she stopped waiting.
"You have been here long enough," she said, stepping into the courtyard. "Show me what your shadow can do."
Kazuma looked at Kagura. Kagura nodded.
"A duel," Kagura announced. "First to yield. No killing. Everything else is allowed."
The other students gathered in a circle. They were excited. They wanted to see the freak get crushed.
Shiori raised her hands. Water poured from the air around her, forming into spinning rings.
Kazuma's shadow stretched.
"Finally," Kage whispered. "Food."
Shiori attacked first.
The water rings shot toward Kazuma like circular saws. He dodged the first two. The third clipped his shoulder, spinning him around. The fourth would have taken his head.
His shadow moved.
The claws extended, black and sharp, and sliced the water ring in half. The water splashed to the ground, harmless.
Shiori's eyes narrowed. "Fast."
She summoned more water. A wave this time, crashing toward him like a tsunami.
Kazuma could not dodge. He could not block. So he did the only thing he could think of.
He ordered his shadow to consume.
The claws retracted. The shadow opened. A dark maw appeared on the ground between Kazuma and the wave. The water poured into it. Not splashing. Disappearing.
Shiori's wave vanished.
She stared. "What did you do?"
"Tasted her," Kage whispered. "She is salt and depth. Angry at the world. Lonely."
Kazuma did not answer. He was too busy staying upright. The shadow had taken more than water. It had taken his energy. His vision was blurry. His legs were weak.
Shiori saw it. She raised her hand for another attack.
Then Kagura stepped between them.
"Enough."
Shiori lowered her hand. Her face was flushed with frustration.
"He absorbed my magic," she said. "That is not a technique. That is theft."
"It is survival," Kagura replied. "And the duel is over. Kazuma did not yield. You did not defeat him. It is a draw."
The crowd murmured. A draw. The Mumei sha had drawn with the top apprentice.
Shiori's cold mask cracked. For just a moment, Kazuma saw something underneath. Fear.
Then she turned and walked away.
Kazuma collapsed to his knees. His shadow pulsed weakly.
"Worth it," Kage whispered.
Kazuma did not agree. But he did not disagree either.
Part Six: The Night
That night, Kazuma sat on his bed and stared at his hands.
He had used the shadow. He had fought. He had not lost.
But he had not won either.
"You are thinking too much," Kage said.
"I am thinking about what I am becoming."
"You are becoming strong. That is all that matters."
Kazuma looked out the window. The aurora sky was beautiful. Cold. Distant.
He pulled out his phone. No signal. No bars. Just a small icon indicating he was outside any network. He had sent a message to his parents before stepping through the portal, but there was no way to know if they had received it. No way to know if they had replied.
He was cut off. Completely.
The weight of it settled in his chest. He was not in Tokyo anymore. He was not anywhere his parents could reach. He was alone in the Dream World, with only a nightmare for company.
He put the phone away.
"They do not matter," Kage said. "Only we matter."
"Shut up."
"You cannot shut me up. I am your nightmare. I am the only one who will never leave."
Kazuma lay down. He closed his eyes.
He did not dream.
But his shadow dreamed of claws and water and a girl who was afraid of the dark.
END OF CHAPTER 2