15 power stones for one more chapter.
25 power stones for two more chapters.
...
Gilgamesh was sitting in Master Jet's car or, PTV, private transportation vehicle as it was called here.
Gazing out the window of the car he looked around the world he had found himself in with wonder.
The buildings, streets, roads, shops all looked like it was taken directly out of one of those pictures of what the world would look like in the year 2100.
'Wasn't the sky in these Shadow Slave cities artificial or something?'
Turning his gaze towards the sky he didn't see anything out of ordinary, it looked perfectly normal, just as it looked in his own world before...that.
'Which country am I even in.' Gilgamesh thought furrowing his brows in thought.
He went through his predecessor's school days memories to see if he had any useful information about this topic.
Going through the memories, he felt bad for the poor guy, he didn't have many friends, the 'friends' couldn't even be called that, they barely interacted talking only when necessary.
He spent most of his time reading webtoons, studying and fascinating about saving the world and getting all the heroines.
An average bloke.
Nor did he have red eyes or golden hair. It seems that he had gotten it after the First Nightmare.
He was pretty tall though.
Gilgamesh returned his attention back to finding the location of NQSC.
'Ah ha there it is, so the length and breadth of the Northern Quadrant Siege Capital—what a weird ass name for a country— spans all the way from the central parts of Russia, Mongolia, China and even some parts India and some more outposts near the Indian Ocean.'
It made sense considering NQSC hosted about half of the remaining population of Humanity.
How did they even have the population to defend such a vast area?
"I'd like to give you both three pieces of advice, whether you listen to it or disregard it, is up to you."
Seeing that Jet had started speaking he turned his attention towards her.
"First: once you're registered in the Academy, they'll offer you psychological counseling again. There will also be a valuable reward for sharing your experiences in the Nightmare and the details of your Appraisal. You'll be able to receive a soul shard, maybe even several of them."
He didn't say anything instead opting to remain silent.
"Are you trying to get me to visit a psychiatrist again?" Questioned Sunny with a frown on his face.
Jet shook her head.
"No, I'm telling you to refuse."
She looked at both of them seriously before continuing:
"You're too green to understand, but out there in the Dream Realm, Nightmare Creatures are not the only danger. Once you grow powerful enough, humans will become an equal threat. The less they know about your Aspect, the better."
Leaning against the wall of the PTV, he mulled over the words of Master Jet. While he didn't necessarily disagree with what she had said—he wasn't stupid enough to reveal everything about his Aspect— he wasn't going to stay silent and not reveal anything at all.
"The easiest way to defeat a powerful Awakened is to use their Flaw. That's why young fools in the Academy are encouraged in various ways to share the details of their Aspects. I'm not saying that the government will leak your information, but once two people know a secret, it's no longer a secret. And there's a lot of people working for the government."
He was not planning on revealing his flaw to anyone either way.
"Thank you, Master Jet." Said Sunny with a grateful look on his face.
She gave him a nod before continuing,
"Second: there will be a lot of courses to choose from. All types of combat training, deep dives into Nightmare Creature categories and vulnerabilities, basics of various types of sorcery, artifact study and so on."
This time Jet looked solely at Sunny.
"Disregard all of that. The only course you have time to attend is Wilderness Survival."
"Why?"
Master Jet glanced at Gilgamesh.
"It's different for city kids, who learn all sorts of useful things in school and from their tutors. But we don't have that advantage, do we? What was the biggest threat to your life during the Nightmare."
Seeing that Jet was speaking to Sunny, he tuned her out.
Looking at Sunny—was he supposed to look this feminine? No wonder they made memes about him being a femboy— he considered whether it was worth enslaving him or not.
He was mostly against it, not only because he was a fan of Sunny in his previous life but also because it hurt his pride if he'd have to make someone his slave just to make them listen.
How did his flaw even work? What would happen if a Non-Awakened oerson were to say his True Name, would it still work?
Or what if someone said it from another planet? Did the distance matter at all?
On the matter of planets, what happened to the other planets? If a gate could open on the moon, then surely there would be some gates on Venus, Mars, Jupiter, hell maybe even the Sun aswell.
How did the gates even work anyways? He vaguely remembered something about gates appearing due to the Awakeneds? Something about ranking up and that the gate of that rank would appear either in the past or future.
This world was truly fascinating, filled with mysteries.
He would definitely uncover all its secrets layer by layer.
Master Jet stopped the PTV and walked out of it after telling them to follow her.
Pushing himself of the wall, Gilgamesh put his hands inside his pockets and walked out of the PTV with Sunny following close behind.
When Gilgamesh was out of the vehicle, he finally took his first look at the Academy.
The Academy was more like a city within the city. It was a hunk of metal built like a fortress, with a high wall made of hard alloy, deep moat and numerous large-caliber turrets which were placed in certain positions to create a deadly air-suppression dome.
Though it looked impressive he doubted it would be stopping any colossal titans anytime soon.
"This is as far as I'll go." Master Jet said from beside him, looking at the walls of the Academy cheerlessly, "I have already notified them, someone will be coming to pick you up."
With his hands inside his pockets Gilgamesh looked ahead at the Academy with a serious expression.
He was aura farming.
As a future King and as a normal person he knew just how important it was to farm as much aura as possible.
Gilgamesh turned his head slightly towards Master Jet.
"What's the third piece of advice?" He asked Master Jet, hands still in pockets looking ahead nonchalantly.
Master Jet glanced at him.
"Remember: no one can survive in the Dream Realm alone. That's not an opinion, that's a fact. Try to get along with your peers, even if they don't treat you well. It might save your life."
With that she patted him on the shoulder.
"Both of you have done a good job staying alive till now. Because both of you have come together with me, I'd advise the two of you to atleast become acquainted with each other; Hopefully you, Gilgamesh can protect her and she, in turn can protect you if you both arrive close to eachother, you'll never know when you might need it."
Nodding at her words and with a final pat on his back Jet went back to the PTV.
He threw a glance at Sunny who was standing beside him awkwardly.
"Don't worry, if we arrive near each other in the Dream Realm, I'll protect you, afterall it is my duty as a King to take care of my subjects."
Wrapping his hand around Sunny's shoulder, he started leading him towards the gates whilst Sunny tried escape his grip.
'Wait a second... why did Master Jet call Sunny a she?'
...
After discovering that this Sunny was actually a female instead of a male, Gilgamesh was standing in the hall where the induction ceremony was going to take place.
(Image)
'How did I not realise that Sunny was a female,' He glanced embarrassedly at the girl sticking close to him, 'She does have longer hair and a body with more curves than a normal male but I thought that Sunless was just built different.'
Trying to distract himself embarrassment, Gilgamesh started looking at the people assembled here, hoping to find either Cassie, Caster or Nephis.
'Didn't Nephis come with us, where did she disappear.'
Looking around, Gilgamesh found her leaning against the wall, wearing headphones with her eyes closed.
'Truly, she is a master at the art of aura farming.'
Chuckling to himself, he shifted his focus trying to see if he could find the other non-NPCs.
When he was turning towards the left, he saw Sunny slip by him going to make a fool of herself.
Just then he was approached by a girl, looking curiously at him.
"Hey! are you one of the Legacies too? I didn't see you interacting with any of them though, plus you're wearing a normal police issued tracksuit. It's nice to meet you by the way, my name's Elsesa."
She extended her arm forward for a handshake with a smile on her face.
"It's nice to meet you too," He held her hand and kissed it gently, flashing her a charming smile, "My name's Gilgamesh and no I'm not an Legacy, I do however plan on creating my own Clan in the future however, how about I tell you about my plan and you decide whether you want to join me or not?"
She looked at him, interested in what he was saying with the blush still on her face.
Seeing that she was curious about his plan he started sprouting bullshit. With the combined power of [King's Charisma], his looks, natural confidence and his lying skills he was easily able to weave through the conversation even as dozens of people—mostly females—surrounded him after hearing what he was saying and started to ask him questions.
Multiple people started to speak to him at the same time making, Gilgamesh mildly annoyed at all their voices.
Backing away he raised his hands in surrender while giving them a helpless smile.
"Ladies, ladies one at a time please, even though I'd love to speak to all of you, I can't if all of you are speaking at once," He paused for a second, pretending that someone was calling out to him, "Ah, it looks like my friend is calling me, it's been nice talking to you all, don't worry I'll be back after some time."
Gilgamesh swiftly moved away from them with the perfect amount of cool and swagger.
After all a King should be in a perpetual state of aura farming no matter what situation he found himself in.
Once he was far away he finally let out a sigh of relief.
It was incredibly irritating to answer their annoyingly stupid questions.
Suddenly he saw Sunny talking to a female Sleeper, with a couple of other Sleepers around them, curious about what she was saying, Gilgamesh started to walk towards them.
"I even got an armor-type memory in my Nightmare. It's an enchanted robe. Would you like to see it?"
A perverted look appeared on Sunny's face.
"I'd rather like to see you without it..."
The black haired NPC became agitated at what Sunless had said and raised her hand and struck it towards Sunny's face.
Just as her hand was going to hit, Gilgamesh intercepted it, pulling Sunny behind at the same time.
"You should be glad I didn't catch you after you had hitten her already, filthy mongrel."
He released her hand and turned his attention towards the other people in her group.
"If I see anyone else even harming a hair on her, then you shall witness my wrath."
He stared at all of them in the eyes threateningly.
As Gilgamesh stood there, the shadows around him seemed to deepen and lengthen, falling over his body, his red eyes glowed from the dark shadows intensely with an ominous intent. The air seemed to cool down and time ceased to exist.
Leading Sunny away, the group of Sleepers staring at him terrified, hurriedly parted away like the Red Sea, making a way for them.
Once they a were far away, Sunny scowled, looking up at him, "I didn't need your help."
"I know."
Sunny looked at him, perplexed at what he had said.
"Then why did you stop her from slapping me?"
"Because I wanted to."
Sunless looked even more confused, the idea seemingly alien for her.
She opened her mouth to say something but closed it.
Staying quite, she looked ahead with a thoughtful look on her face.
However she did not pull away from his grip.
Gilgamesh too, started to think if he might have overdone it. After all, there was a thin line between farming aura and being cringe.
You would never know when you crossed that line unknowingly.
He'd have to play it more safely in the future.
Gilgamesh spent the rest of his time talking with a few other Sleepers luring them in his new grand plan of making a Clan, while also making sure that Sunny didn't slip away to further destroy her reputation and test her flaw.
Finally after all that time, Awakened Rock arrived. He was a huge man with broad shoulders and a bear-like build with brown eyes, hair and beard.
He surveyed the group of Sleepers with serious but calm eyes, who had quietened down after feeling his aura.
"I am Awakened Rock. Sleepers, welcome to the Academy." He began solemnly piercing each of them with his eyes.
"In less than a month, you will be summoned to the Dream Realm. Some of you might think that you are well prepared. You're wrong. The Spell is merciless and cunning. The moment Awakened begin to think too much of themselves, they die. I've seen countless Sleepers like you lose their lives. I've also seen experienced Masters lose theirs. Even Saints are not assured to survive."
Gilgamesh was already bored.
All these talks might be important for the NPCs but he personally couldn't care less about it.
If he somehow got himself killed by a pathetic Nightmare Creature then he simply couldn't call himself a King.
The only form that the Nightmare Creatures would be allowed to exist would be in the form of Memories, when he would be ruling the entirety of the Dream Realm.
A new ambition formed in his mind.
'From the Stormsea to Bastion to Ravenheart and Godgrave. Even the Hollow Mountains and the Underworld, I'll conquer it all.'
Gilgamesh clenched his first with determination.
"In the following four weeks, we will do everything in our power to increase your chances of survival..."
Gilgamesh was bought back to reality by the strong voice of Awakened Rock.
He went back to ignoring him.
Sighing, he stood there patiently. Hoping he'd end his speech quickly.
...
Word Count: 2540.