My experiments with Senses continued for the rest of the week, but I needed to focus on Dismantle as the time until the excursion to the Second Layer got closer. However I needed some inspiration for my Mind Palace.

I decided that a trip to the Sun State University might help as it is a place of learning. The problem with that was the Cheshire family attacking anyone from the school. I did not have the capability to protect myself, neither did Elina or Melanie. Cystella would likely be able to protect me, but she would gather a lot of attention. Not to mention the fact that she would probably say no.

That left Marollo and Heidi. I hadn’t spoken to Marollo once, meanwhile I had talked to Heidi a couple of times. She was attractive, nice, and seemed to love helping people. She was the perfect option to ask.

I went straight to Marollo instead.

He liked to stay in the cafeteria and commandeer a table for himself during the weekends. I knew he liked puzzles and to study, so hopefully he would be interested in a trip to the university.

“No,” Marollo said, then went back to playing chess against himself.

“Why?”

“I’m not allowed in Zuva’s university.”

“Why?”

A slight blush appeared on his tanned skin.

“I uh, accidentally broke a students arm a few months back. They didn’t know I was a Dreamer and I didn’t know my own strength. Also I don’t want to.”

“Ok.”

I watched him play himself in chess for a minute longer. I knew how to play, and enjoyed it, but I wasn’t going to intrude.

“Thank you, goodbye.”

“See ya.”

I left the building and went to sit on a bench outside. Should I have been more insistent? I had only spoken in one word sentences, but if I spoke too much then people would be annoyed by me. It was better to get to the point quick.

Heidi was in her training room, I even knew which one, but…

Could I just go alone? No, that was stupid, other students were getting assulted on the streets and I would not subject myself to that just because I couldn’t muster up the courage to talk to a girl.

… What about Professor Pure? Could he escort me? Wait, no, he left for the rest of the week.

Taking a deep breath I steeled myself and walked into the training building, stopping in front of room number five. I stood there for almost a minute, holding onto the face of my watch and letting the ticks bring my mind to equilibrium.

I knocked on the door and immediately lost the equilibrium I had just gotten. A floor shaking thud reverberated through room in front of me.

“Yes? Come on in.”

“Excuse me,” I said, opening the door.

Inside I saw several weights on the ground. They were big, the kind you would expect someone of Mr. Rider’s size to use.

Heidi wore a simple pair of shorts and shirt, her hair in a short tail. She threw the towel she’d used to wipe the sweat off her onto one of the weights.

“Hey Monty. What’s up?”

Shit.

“I was hoping to do some research in the Sun State University, however because of the attacks on students it would be dangerous to go alone,” I said a bit too quickly.

“And you want me to escort you?” Heidi asked with a kind smile.

“Yes.”

“Sure, when were you planning on going?”

“Tomorrow if you are available. I was hoping to leave by ten at the latest.”

“That works. I’ll be at the gate by nine-forty-five.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it,” I said, moving back to the door so I could escape.

“Glad to help!” she called as I slowly closed the door.

Next time I would just ask Cystella, I was much more comfortable around her.

—

The following morning I stood at the gate, I had already asked Ms. Dule to call a cab for us. To which she cursed at me then lit up a cigarette. I don’t know why they employed a woman that would curse at the students as their gatekeeper.

I wasn’t wearing the schools uniform, instead I was wearing one of the outfits Elina had helped me to buy. It was a blue button down collared shirt, black slacks, and suspenders. I saw no need for suspenders when I had a belt on, but Elina said it was “in.”

I was planning the route through the university when Heidi arrived. She was wearing a simple blouse with a corset and knee height frilly skirt. That meant of course that she looked very cute.

“Hey Monty. Did you already call the cab?”

“Yes… I did.”

“Awesome. Whatcha writing?”

“I’m planning the most efficient route through the university to save time.”

“Oh, I’m free all day so you’re good to take as long as you need.”

Kind, I was practically a stranger and yet she was willing to set aside a whole day to help me out. If not for my instincts telling me that she was just a giving person then I would be suspicious.

Why though, what was different in her mind compared to most others. Was she born that way? Or did some part of her childhood shape her to want to help others for no personal gain.

“Monty? The cab is here.”

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Damn, I was doing the silent stare again.

“My apologies.”

“All good, all good.”

We entered the cab, a Solarian woman giving the two of us a wary look before driving toward the city.

“So what kind of research are you doing in the university?” Heidi asked.

“I hope to gain inspiration for my Dreamscape’s layout,” I said quietly so that the driver didn’t hear.

I didn’t know if we were allowed to talk about a Dreamers abilities with non-Dreamers around. It was one of those things that was implied more than said.

“That’s great, I hear a lot of new Dreamers will usually just create basic square Rooms or their family home for their Mind Palace. I had a Dreamer tutor the year before I came here and she said that a Mind Palace that is meaningful to both you and your Dream is best.”

“Yes. I spent the first few months after learning of Rooms just testing out the functions of the Dreamscape.”

“Definitely better than what I did. I just hopped straight into making Wits. It helped me figure out what I want in one, but now I have to make changes to my Mind Palace without starting all over. Which is much harder.”

Our conversation tapered off as it became more difficult to answer with more than one word sentences. Luckily it didn’t take us long to reach Sun State University. The complex of buildings was massive, each one made up of large dark stone blocks. On top of many of the buildings were large disks that had been opened up for the weekend. They were mirrored so that they could funnel sunlight into the Sun Stones that powered the school.

In the courtyard of the school I could see more than a hundred students milling about.

The Sun State was not very diverse racially. Around eighty percent of the population was Solarian and a bit less than twenty percent was Empyrean. The final percentage went to mainly the Glass Kingdom, with the very rare Bronze Islander. However the Sun State University was famous throughout the Core Layer and many students came from across the Layer to enroll.

I saw many dark skinned students with mirrored jewelry native to the Glass Kingdom. Nearby a group of Bronze Islanders, distinguishable by the numbers over their left brow, walked with one another. There were Empyreans that didn’t wear the Solarian style clothing, but instead were in the Empire’s style, showing that they were from the Charred Continent.

I even spotted a mid toned woman with striking blue eyes similar to Professor Pure. Which reminded me that I still didn’t know where he was from.

There was an overwhelming amount of people, and it was a weekend.

“Alright Monty, where to first?” Heidi asked, also looking around with a bit of wonder in her eyes.

“My plan is to hit the labs first. If someone stops us we can just say we are looking around, and if that doesn’t work we just show our pins.”

Heidi frowned.

“I don’t like abusing my power like that.”

I didn’t view it as abusing power. As far as I could tell no one would be negatively affected by me looking at their labs, but Heidi was here as a favor, so I should be accommodating to a degree.

“Then if someone stops us we ask for permission and say that it’s for our Dreamer studies.”

“Alright, but we’ll try and be as polite as possible.”

“Okay,” I didn’t have an issue with that unless the people were being overtly annoying.

It turns out that nobody had an issue with us just walking around. A lot of students started at the University around my age so we just blended in as fellow students.

We entered the lab area. This what where scientists, doctors, and engineers spent their time. Even on the weekend they were full of people. Heidi and I poked our heads into a few of them, getting a glance or two from the occupants, but no one bothered us.

After a little bit I was able to find an unused laboratory.

From it seemed to be a chemist’s lab, and I was surprised it wasn’t locked. It was clean, nothing left out on the tables. Heidi turned on the light, which gave the room a warm, lively feel.

“Make sure not to touch anything,” she said.

I nodded, it would be wrong to mess with others tools without permission. Walking around the room I ran my hand over the stone tabletops, stopping in the front of the room where a teacher would stand.

I… liked the feeling of this room. It was the epitome of efficiency. Beakers, vials, and dozens of other apparatuses lined the shelves. Locked cabinets held different chemicals, as well as whatever else chemist’s used. I wasn’t knowledgeable on that topic.

On the blackboard were formulas and notes that I could not comprehend, but I could appreciate their beauty.

I went over to the singular desk and looked at the books. A Look At Chemistry 1, A Look At Chemistry 2, A Look At… Belfer Maringal’s discovery of hard liquid, Stygoscript and its Uses in the Lab.

This was more than a place of study, it was a place of experimentation. This was where explorers of the little world went. Why look at vast mountains and raging rivers when there was still so much to learn about the world we already lived in?

I checked my watch, then, in my mind’s eye, the room around me shifted. I didn’t need half a dozen tables, those were for multiple groups working with one another. I needed one main table, where the magic would be happening, the others would hold tools and research.

The walls would be filled with diagrams of various animals and plants- No, I would quickly run out of room. The room shifted again. Every wall was covered in bookshelves. Each one labeled with an animal or plant. Better, but I didn’t like the layout.

Checking my watch again I saw that I stood there for sixteen minutes and fifty-three seconds. Heidi had taken a seat on the other side of the room and was looking out the window to a garden. She didn’t seem to mind the wait so I took out my notebook and wrote my thoughts on the room.

“Thank you for waiting. I’m ready to head to the next place.”

“No problem!” she said, getting to her feet.

The next place we went were regular classrooms. I quickly decided that I didn’t like the feel of them in comparison to the lab.

A classroom was not a place of learning, it was a place to teach and be taught. To learn something you needed to experience it yourself. Being taught was just inheriting the biases of those who came before you.

We went to gymnasiums, theater halls, the roof of the main building, but none of them really spoke to me the way the lab had.

In the end we only had a single place left, the library. I had saved it for last as I thought it would be the one that I would spend the most time in.

The university library was located on the western part of the complex and the building was enormous. There were five floors, and the entire thing held more than two million pieces. It was the fifth largest library in the world, and was solely dedicated to knowledge of history, science, and culture.

The moment I entered I felt overwhelmed by its majesty. Tall arches, A wide center hall with a glass ceiling showing the bright sun overhead. The four other floors were in a u shape around the center hall.

“This will probably take a while,” I told Heidi. “How about we meet back here in an hour?”

“Sure,” she said, shrugging, and went off to check out some of the books.

I walked around the first floor, going in between bookshelves. I could smell the old books, the leather of their covers, the slight musk of their pages. I needed to remember this, it could help with Senses. I noted down the layout of the floor. How the bookshelves were displayed, where ladders were sporadically placed, the tasteful art pieces on the walls and pedestals.

I stopped on in the center of the library, and took it all in. I liked this place, it reminded me of the lab in a way. It’s purpose was clear, it was orderly, and the polite silence that other people gave one another put a small smile on my face.

I went up the stairs to the other floors, examined the out of date pulley used to heave books up and down. The higher I went the more obscure the topics or wares became. Larger pieces, like maps and diagrams were down on the first floor, but there were music pieces, poetry and other things higher up.

Once I was done I stood over the guard rail and began to write in my notebook, planning not just the Room for Dismantle, but my entire Mind Palace. I might not know what other Wits I wanted yet, but I knew that planning for them to work in tandem would be best, and that meant everything needed to be uniform and have a commonality.

At some point I glanced down at the first floor and saw Heidi leaning on the wall where we had split up. Checking my watch I saw it had been a little under an hour and a half. Shit.

I hurried down the stairs to her.

“My apologies, I lost track of time,” I said.

I was already cringing, waiting for her to call me rude, or that I was taking advantage of her kindness.

Instead she gave me a kind smile and shrugged.

“It is what it is. A Mind Palace is very important for a Dreamer so I don’t mind waiting if you still need time.”

She was… way too kind. I would have been livid if Elina had made me wait a half hour over what we agreed upon.

“I only need to put a few more thoughts into my notebook, then I should be good to go.”

“Go for it.”