🕯️ Chapter 34
"Not every monster hides in plain sight. Some live in the quiet corners of your soul."
🏫 Scene: Sinjai Academy Dormitory – Midnight
It started quietly.
One student.
Then two.
Then ten.
By midnight, eighteen students across different classes had fallen unconscious — eyes open but unblinking, their bodies cold, but alive.
The medical team was baffled.
"It's like their consciousness… was stolen.""No mana disturbance. No physical injury.""This isn't sickness. It's sorcery."
🔍 Scene: Headmistress' Chamber
Diamond-tier Instructor Zareth clenched his jaw.
The reports showed that all the affected students were present in the arena yesterday… watching one specific match.
"Aeren."
But Aeren? He was healthy. Asleep. Or… pretending to be.
🛏️ Scene: Aeren's Room – The Dream Spiral
Inside Aeren's mind, things weren't normal.
He stood in an endless hallway filled with locked doors. At the end — a single one flickered with blue fire.
"They're feeding," whispered a voice."Feeding on what?""Fear. Memories. Hope."
He turned. The cloaked man from his visions appeared again.
"The shadows aren't random. They're sent to test your vessel. Open the door, Aeren."
When he did—
He saw Sinjai Academy burning, monsters crawling through the walls, and a black fog suffocating everything.
"This is not a dream, boy. It's a warning."
🌌 Scene: Reality — Aeren Awakens
He woke up drenched in sweat.
His hands glowing faint blue. The sigil on his back pulsing again.
He could hear whispers — not in his ear, but in his head.The thoughts of nearby students. Their fears. Their dreams.
"It's starting again," he whispered."But this time… I won't run."
🥊 Scene: Preparation Room – Training Arena
Anshi was there early, punching the reinforced walls of the sparring chamber.
Her breath was heavy. Her eyes — distracted.
"What's wrong?" Aeren asked.
She turned sharply.
"Did you hear? People are collapsing. It's not normal."
"I know…" he said softly. "I saw it — before it happened."
"What?"
"In my dream… or whatever that place is. I think I can sense it now. Like… emotions. Fear. Darkness."
Anshi looked at him, stunned.
"You're changing."
"I don't know if it's for good or bad," Aeren replied."But if I don't do something now, more people will fall."
🌒 Scene: The Hidden Chamber – The Order Moves
Deep underground, beneath the ancient ruins of Kaelmoor, the Order of the Silent Eclipse began their ritual.
A floating orb in the center of the room showed Aeren's glowing mark.
"The dreamer stirs.""The bond is forming.""Prepare the next wave."
A portal rippled open — and three shadow beasts emerged: invisible to the naked eye, but fully capable of draining a soul.
"Release them at dawn."
🏹 Scene: Morning – Training Forest Test
The academy proceeded with the day's training simulation — unaware of what lurked nearby.
Aeren, Anshi, and other top teams from the first-year batch were deployed into the Mana Simulation Forest, a closed magical terrain where illusion and reality blurred.
But something was wrong.
"The air feels… heavy," Anshi muttered."It's not the air," Aeren whispered. "It's fear."
He suddenly stopped. His vision blurred.
In front of him appeared a figure — half-shadow, half-serpent — snarling without sound.
The other students saw nothing.
But Aeren saw everything.
"Anshi. Behind that tree. Move."
She trusted him — dodging instantly.
A massive claw swiped through the air where she stood.
"Wha— there's something invisible here!"
Aeren's eyes turned bright silver.
He stepped forward — slowly.
"I can see it. I don't know how. But I can."
⚔️ Scene: First Combat with the Shadow Beasts
Three invisible enemies circled the group.
Aeren's mind activated — quickly analyzing their patterns, movement, weakness.
He shouted instructions:
"You two cover the left! Don't aim — listen! Use sound, not sight!"
Anshi summoned her frost spear, coating the nearby trees with ice — revealing the shadowy silhouettes.
One by one, they became partially visible.
The students fought bravely — but one beast leaped toward a bronze-tier student.
Before it could strike—
Aeren grabbed its claw mid-air.
With a scream, his sigil flared — and the shadow screeched and dissolved, as if burned by his very touch.
⚠️ Scene: Cliffhanger Ending
Back in Kaelmoor, the cloaked leader growled.
"He's adapting faster than expected. The Vessel grows unstable."
A second figure, fully hooded, asked:
"Do we abort?"
"No. We accelerate."
Back in the forest, Aeren collapsed briefly, blood leaking from his nose, his body overheating.
Anshi held him, worried.
"Why are you doing this?! Why do you push so far?!"
Aeren looked up, his vision fading.
"Because I'm tired of being weak…"
"…and I think I'm the only one who can stop what's coming."
🌌 Chapter 35 Preview:
"The Eye of the Eclipse – Secrets of the Dreamwalker"Aeren begins to unravel his connection to the ancient Dreamwalkers — beings who once ruled the balance of fate, time, and memory. But a forbidden truth awaits him, buried deep in the ruins of a forgotten world...
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🌑 Chapter 35: The Eye of the Eclipse – Secrets of the Dreamwalker
"Those who walk in dreams… shape the fate of the waking world."
🛌 Scene: Sinjai Medical Wing — Aeren's Bed
The battle was over — for now.
Aeren lay on the medical cot, his breath shallow, muscles sore, but his mind… racing.
His sigil had calmed, but the doctors noticed something strange — his body had zero mana flow, yet he was still alive, and had defeated an invisible monster that even silver-tier seekers could not detect.
"His vitals are unstable.""He's not dying. He's… syncing with something.""With what?""We don't know."
🧠 Scene: Aeren's Dream Realm
In his unconscious state, Aeren was no longer in the academy.
He stood atop a floating platform of shattered stone and starlight.
In front of him — the cloaked man once again.
But this time… he took off his hood.
He had no face — only a glowing third eye in the center of his forehead.
"You've seen the first layer of truth," the figure spoke."Now comes the burden of memory."
Suddenly, thousands of swirling visions surrounded Aeren — cities falling, mountains breaking, beasts bowing, and seekers vanishing into nothingness.
"This is the fate of the Dreamwalkers. We existed before time had a name.""But your soul… is a broken piece of our kind.""The Eye you bear… is not a mark. It's a key."
📖 Flashback Vision: The First Eclipse War
Aeren was pulled into a memory — not his, but someone ancient.
He saw:
A world once ruled by Dreamwalkers — beings who controlled the four threads: Space, Time, Thought, and Reality.
They were guardians, but some rebelled — became corrupted by nightmares.
This led to the Eclipse War, where monsters were born from broken dreams — the first invasion of the Crosnic Verse.
In the end, one Dreamwalker locked his power away, splitting his soul across time, hoping one day… a worthy vessel would awaken it.
That soul… was now reborn as Aeren.
🌘 Scene: Awakening – "The Eye Opens"
Back in the real world—
Aeren's eyes shot open.
His irises flickered like clocks. He could see the flow of time and energy lines around everything.
"Anshi…" he whispered.
He sat up suddenly.
Anshi was asleep nearby, her hand still holding his.
He reached up and gently touched her forehead.
And then — a strange feeling.
He heard her thoughts.
"...please don't leave me again… please don't fight alone…"
Aeren's heart throbbed.
"Is this what she always feels?"
He didn't speak. But for the first time — he understood.
🏫 Scene: Headmistress Zia's Chamber
Instructor Zareth stood before the crystal archive orb, replaying the battle footage.
They watched in silence as Aeren caught a monster mid-air with bare hands.
"This power… shouldn't exist.""The last time we saw a ripple like this… was during the Eclipse."
Zia stood up.
"We must send him to the Depth Archives.""But he's just a first-year!""That's exactly why. If we wait longer… the enemy will reach him first."
☀️ Scene: The Morning Announcement
A hologram shimmered above the training field.
"To all first-year students:Due to rising threats and recent anomalies, the remaining qualifiers will be replaced.You will now participate in a Cross-Dimensional Combat Trial — a simulation built from real battlefield memory.Survivors will be ranked based on survival, combat, and analysis performance.Trial begins in 72 hours."
The crowd went silent.
Whispers started.
"Cross-dimensional?""Wait… wasn't that banned 30 years ago?""That's an S-tier simulation. People have… died in those.""Why now?"
Anshi gritted her teeth.
"This isn't fair…"
Aeren stood beside her, silent.
But inside him — something else stirred.
A voice whispered again.
"They're coming."
🕯️ Scene: Final Scene — The Dark Council Awakens
In a temple hidden in the mountain's shadow, cloaked figures sat around a crimson altar.
A glowing orb pulsed in the center.
"The Eye is active.""One of the lost vessels… is awakening.""If he bonds fully… the seal will break.""Then let the Sleeper awaken."
They chanted — and with every word, a storm gathered in the Crosnic sky.
🧠 Aeren's Powers (So Far):
Dreamwalking & Dream Realm Access
Power Suppression Lock (unstable form)
Mind Reading (Selective & Emotional Absorption)
Extreme Observation & Combat Analysis
Time and Space Perception (not yet under his control)
🌌 Chapter 36 Preview:
"The Trial of Memories – Entering the Forgotten War"The academy prepares for its most dangerous trial yet. But hidden within the simulation is a memory not meant to be seen — the forgotten truth behind the fall of the Dreamwalkers… and the monster who was once one of them.