--
Fwoosh!
Like a breeze of air, TJ's consciousness arrived in a strange place.
He was surrounded by clouds everywhere he looked; he was even stepping on one. There's a narrow road forwards, leading him deeper into the clouds.
TJ didn't go right away; instead, he began moving his body to see if there's anything different that he could notice.
TJ's body felt light and airy, a sensation he only felt when he removed his training weights. Aside from that, he didn't feel any less different. He looked down at himself and saw that he was wearing his training outfit; even his rapier followed him here.
After discovering that there's nothing wrong with him, TJ began following the path ahead of him to see where it would take him.
The path led deeper into the larger and puffier clouds. The deeper he went, the brighter his surroundings became. Eventually, he arrived at the base of a white staircase with a large archway at the end.
TJ stepped into the staircase, and to his mild surprise, it felt solid. It also lit up slightly as he stepped on it.
Once he got to the top, he looked at the large archway and saw words embedded in it, saying:
[Dream Echo Battlefield]
Yes. TJ finally decided to visit this place since he awakened the boon.
He had been holding off for quite some time because he felt that his abilities were insufficient to do anything worthwhile here. But with his major mastery of his basic fighting techniques, he figured that now, he could see what it's like at least.
There was a film of light on the archway serving like an isolating barrier. TJ stretched out a hand to touch it and felt it stretch with just a bit of force.
He stepped forward and passed through the film, and when it popped, he felt as if he was hit by a strong gust of wind.
Stepping to the other side of the archway, he ended up seeing a vast and seemingly endless platform made of clouds. The skies above here were clear and bright; it wasn't hot, nor was it difficult to breathe either.
Not too far from him, TJ saw several small statues of people. He curiously approached them and saw that they appeared to be complete strangers to him. There were ten of these statues right now, and TJ's instincts were telling him to inspect them all and pick one to challenge.
"Ah, these statues must be the Dream Echoes," he mused to himself.
This assumption was correct. These statues indeed represent the Dream Echoes he has collected so far.
As TJ went on about his day in the waking world, he would sometimes see Dream Echo fragments. They appear as puzzle pieces to him, bright and ethereal. Only he could see these things, and once he gets close enough to any of them, they will instantly be sucked into his body, then his system will notify him that he has collected the fragment.
The fragments aren't all the same. Sometimes, he'd collect Warrior Fragments; other times, he'd have Caster Fragments. He's yet to collect fragments from Fusion Classes, though; they seem to be rare in the district.
But even when he collects fragments of the same class archetype, there seems to be an additional distinction, which is identity.
TJ would sometimes collect dream echo fragments coming from the same person. They're not always at the same place; in fact, he has only ever managed to condense a single 'named' dream echo so far.
That Named Dream Echo is called 'Jacob Nash.' TJ was now standing before his statue in this place. As he inspected it, he could see some relevant information about this person.
Jacob was of a warrior class; he reached 5-star apprentice rank before he died, transitioning into the knight class. He apparently died during a dungeon run.
According to what he learned, if he could defeat Jacob, TJ could either choose to learn one of the skills he had when he was still alive, one of his pieces of equipment, or inherit all of his memories.
As exciting as that sounds, TJ unfortunately can't fight him just yet because Jacob starts at the apprentice rank in strength. He's no match for that, so he could only forget about it for now.
Fortunately, he's not really empty-handed here. He's got nine unnamed dream echoes, all at the 1-star Novice Rank in strength. Six of them were warriors with varying weapon specialties, while the rest were casters.
TJ deliberated for a while and decided to fight a warrior that wielded a sword. This statue was produced from the mixture of fragments from all sword-wielding warriors he collected.
One thing TJ noted is that apparently, the unnamed dream echoes' strength will be adjusted to meet his current strength level, for now, at least. He had to reach the next professional rank for his boons to be upgraded after all.
"I'm already here, so might as well..."
Once he made this decision, the battlefield warped to accommodate his wishes. The other statues disappeared into the background. Only the statue of the opponent he chose was left.
Shortly after, the statue in front of him lit up with a faint reddish aura. When it subsided, the warrior came to life right before his very eyes. The man didn't speak, nor did he look conscious. His face was obscured by a shadow that hid his face.
Like TJ, the warrior was also wearing the same training outfit, and it stood there slowly getting into a fighting stance.
TJ drew his rapier out and similarly went into a fighting stance. Then, after a brief staredown, the opponent suddenly dashed towards him.
Eyes constricting in alertness, TJ's body tightened up to receive the attack. He immediately realized his mistake as soon as their steel clashed.
'Tch. Why did I confront him head-on? His force is greater than mine because he's using a sword.'
Realizing this, TJ twisted his hold on his weapon, deflecting the force pushing him back away from him. The enemy's sword slid past him because of this. Then, with a quick draw, TJ performed a lunge, striking at his opponent while they were open.
TJ's move was quick, but not quick enough to hurt the enemy. The dream echo recovered and managed to block his attack just in time. TJ wasn't discouraged by this; he simply pressed on the advantage, launching three stabs in a row.
Each one was blocked by the enemy, but TJ could see that the blocks were messy. Clearly, the enemy was flustered by his swiftness, and he planned on taking advantage of that.
Calm washed over TJ right now.
Because he was focused on the fight and the sensation of being in this place for the first time, he had completely missed the fact that the voices that he constantly hears in his head didn't follow him here.
This is why TJ was able to focus very easily on his task. His mind and body felt very light, and his control over his body was enhanced due to this.
Ting! Ting! Ting!
The sounds of steel clashing echoed in the battlefield. The Dream Echo managed to recover from its carelessness and was now receiving TJ's assault calmly.
From their clash so far, TJ knew that his opponent was more skilled than him. In terms of basic fighting, breathing, and footwork, and even the weapon art, the enemy has the upper hand.
But that didn't diminish TJ's enthusiasm. Why? That's because:
[Fighting Technique +1! ]
[Breathing Technique +1]
[Footwork +2]
[Fencing +5! ]
This is why.
It turns out that his innate boon, [Limit Breaking Hard Work], was working here too.
The bonus training speed that came with the equipment didn't follow him here, but TJ didn't even care. This was already such a cheat no matter who you ask.
He's technically sleeping, you know? His skills shouldn't be upgrading right now, but because of this surprising development, they now could!
This is why TJ couldn't complain even if his opponent was currently stronger than him. It wouldn't stay that way for long, after all.
Truthfully, TJ was skeptical if this was really happening. After all, isn't this a bit too much? He's already progressing ahead of many people. Adding this was just excessive, wasn't it?
It's the sensation of improvement that proved to him that this was happening for real. He could feel himself improving in the middle of the match; his fencing skill was quite literally getting better as he clashed with his unnamed opponent.
Joy filled TJ's heart, and before long, he became completely immersed in the fight.
After about 10 minutes or so, a new notice flashed past his vision.
[Fencing upgraded! ]
• Fencing (Minor 1/250)
As soon as he saw the notice, TJ immediately got immersed in the feeling. Then, with a smooth swerve of his blade, he deflected the enemy's attack while also driving his blade forward.
The sharp tip of his rapier pierced through the enemy's heart, causing him to still in place and then dissipate into the air.
Its disappearance was followed by a warm feeling blossoming within TJ's body. Then, he lost consciousness, being lulled into a deep sleep.
When he opened his eyes to reality, he realized that the whole night had already passed, and he felt stronger than before.