I cinched the straps of my rucksack. Because of my increase in strength over the past few months the pack was much lighter than I was expecting. I checked one last time to make sure I had all of my equipment, including a spare watch, a book on a type of Nightmare with extremely soft fur, and the coin Arebor Aeuronute gave me months ago, and left my room. The grandfather clock I had stolen from my parents ticking loudly behind me.

I walked toward the entry hall of our dorms, only to see a door nearby open. Brax walked out, his own rucksack bulging. When he noticed me he froze, looking at me with unreadable eyes. It had been so long since he had stopped bullying me that I sometimes forgot about him.

We both walked down the hallway, not next to one another, but close.

I decided to ask a question that had been with me for months now.

“Do you care about your followers?”

“What?” Brax said, seemingly startled that I would speak at all.

“Elina told me about what happened at Refill, how…” I didn’t know his followers names. “That one girl yelled out to warn you, even after Elina saved her life. She said that your group was more close knit than she was expecting. My own observations support those words.”

He was silent for several moments, when we made it to the entry hall of the dorm building I saw that only a couple of other students were there, including Vit and Cystella.

“After you stabbed me with that pen I looked up to my… friends, and saw fear. There was not anger or fear for me, it was like deer ready to run. At first I used picking on you to make them feel empowered, but after that I realized it was a shaky foundation to build a groups dynamic. After that I decided to truley learn about them. To become their freind before I became their leader.”

I stared at the larger boy for several minutes, partly to think, and partly to test something.

Like I thought he didn’t get angry like the first time we met. Well at least he wasn’t outwardly cursing at me.

“Is that your Dream? To lead people?” I asked invasivley.

“... No, close, but no.”

“I see.”

My emotions were split. From a personal standpoint the whole thing seemed like a waste of time. I had been bullied as a means to an end.

However at the same time I had personally seen a boy change the way he went about achieving his goal. Learning from his mistakes. Growth, change, nature at work in a social situation. It was quite facinating.

I wouldn’t say I held a grudge against Brax, I didn’t like him, but my resentment had faded.

“Do you regret bullying me?”

He met my eyes with a steely gaze.

“I- No, not particularly. I gained more than I lost.”

Nodding, I walked away from the bigger boy, and toward Vit.

“Good morning. Do you have everything packed?” Vit asked, thankfully not asking about my conversation with Brax.

“Yes… Do you?”

“Yes.”

We stood in silence for several minutes as more students filtered in from their dorm rooms. A surprising number of non-Dreamer students were there too, around seven or eight. Elina joined us after around five minutes, but Melanie took almost twenty before coming out of her room.

The door to the outside opened, showing the broad form of Mr. Rider. He was so tall his head almost brushed the top of the doorframe.

“I hope you all have prepared enough for this. Follow me outside and break up into your teams when we are at the front gate, cars will take us to the entrance of the Pillar. Does anyone have any last minute things they need?”

No one spoke, and we all followed the large teacher to the front of the academy grounds. The jangle of rucksacks bouncing on backs was a bit distracting, especially because almost no one was speaking, too nervous for what was about to come.

The Second Layer. To most people it seemed like a death sentence. Sure some people worked down there to collect resources like Sun Stones, but they had soldiers, Forged Order, and Dreamers with them.

However it was also considered the first layer of hell. Will O’ Wisps, Thunderbirds, Skulkers, The Locust Swarm, there were an uncountable number of dangers down there. I wanted to see it.

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At the gate the other three professors waited. I saw Professor Pure scanning through the students, his eyes met mine and he nodded quickly before moving on to his next student.

Behind the professors were ten or so cars each one had the Rising Dreamer Academy insignia stamped on the sides. When did the RDA get those? We had to call cars and carriages from the front gate when we wanted a ride.

Professor Liraca took a step forward, her teal hair in a tight bun on top of her head.

“Break into your groups, there shouldn’t be any extras anywhere.”

Most of us were already with our respective groups so we just separated from the others slightly.

“Our trip will take a month in total. Ten days will be on traveling there, during that time you will be given several tasks to complete, some are simple whiles others will require problem solving from you all. Then we will spend ten days at our predetermined location where the main test will begin. After that we will spend another ten days traveling back to Zuva. Before we leave we will meet up with the contingent of Forged Order that will accompany us, as well as receive a blessing from a Cardinal from the Solaris Church.”

The Solaris Church was said to have a decent amount of their own Dreamers, though I only went to church when I was forced to by my parents, and didn’t remember much except the amazing food.

Professor Liraca flared her Intent, she was royal blooded of the Glass Kingdom, which meant she shared their bloodline. It did not show in the typical steam like haze, instead the arm where she concentrated her power turned to glass. The smooth arm and clothing turned to angled geometric shapes, like a sculpture that hadn’t been finished. From that arm small shards of glass fell and disappeared into nothingness.

Professor Liraca waved her arm and thousands of pieces of glass were summoned from her Intent taking the shape of what at first looked like an odd tree, but when a city was built at the top I realized it was the capital city.

“As you all should know, the main Pillar of the Sun State is the Zuva Pillar. This is where the largest known concentration of Sun Stones are in the world. However like with the Glass Kingdoms capital and the Bronze Isles capital this Pillar is special.”

The Pillar grew again, becoming more than twice as tall as it was before.

“It is a double Pillar, meaning it reaches all the way down to the Third Layer. It is beleived that this is why there is such a rich resource as Sun Stones. As the further one goes down the Layers the better the resources.”

A glowing red glass ball formed at the top of the display. It slowly began to move down the Pillar.

“What this means for you all is that we may encounter danger that is far above what you can handle while traveling down the Pillar to the Second Layer. The Pillar itself has been reinforced over the years to create barricades and choke points for any such dangers, so that they cannot reach the First Layer. It is imperative that should any such situation occur that you follow our orders. As you are the future of the country we need you all alive to protect it.”

As the light reached where the shell of the First Layer ended and the top of the Pillar started it stopped.

“This is where we will offload Professor Alyci, who will be acting independently during this test. The rest of us will be taking lifts down to the bottom.”

The Third Layers Pillar disappeared, and the rest grew for more detail. The red light traveled down until it reached the base of the pillar, where a glass landscape formed.

“Once we reach the ground of the Second Layer we will begin our trek to our final destination. We will be traveling on foot for this, to test each of your ability to survive in the harsher environment. I hope you all have done enough research of the potential dangers of the area, as we will be doing a very hands off approach. If we are able to, we will do what we can to save your life, but do not rely on that.”

In front of me Elina shifted uncomfortably. Was she remembering her encounter with a Nightmare on the island of Refill?

“Now all of you load into a car with your teams and we will head out. We will have breakfast before we depart down the Pillar.”

The four of us stuffed our packs in the trunk, barely fitting, and went into the large seating area in the back of the car. I glanced down the line of other students. Brax and his three teammates entered the one next to us, further down Cystella went into her own vehicle alone. Heidi meanwhile had a group of five, the four others being non-Dreamers. Apparently she had volunteered to protect any of them that desired to go and test their luck. Marollo and his team were near the front, just behind the professors vehicle.

Immediately when we entered the vehicle Vit pulled out our conjoined binder.

“We have just learned new information so we should adapt our plans to the situation,” he said, flipping through pages.

“Did anyone else notice that while we have ten days to travel there completing tasks we have an additional ten days traveling back? Shouldn’t the time be much less as we won’t be working?” Melanie said.

“I did, I don’t know if that means we will have additional tasks or lessons, but reasonably it we should have saved a least a couple of days of travel if we had no tasks. That is, unless the tasks we are given are very easy.” Vit said, noting it down on the binder.

“We are also traveling on foot once we reach the Second Layer. Does everyone have a spare pair of boots and socks?” Elina asked.

We all affirmed that we did.

“The weather in that area is warm, even at this time of year. So we need to make sure to drink plenty of water and watch out for bugs.”

The cars began to move, and we headed off to Zuva. A brief shock of anxiety ran through me as I thought about my parents. If they knew I was heading to the Second Layer, how would they feel?

I really didn’t know. I knew their names, place of residence, jobs, what they looked like, but I didn’t know them as people. They were just a wound.

“So do we know if it's going to be the same members of the Forged Order that we brought to The Forest of Living Dreams?” Melanie asked.

“I believe so. There are nine teams, though Cystella is by herself. Each team will get ten soldiers and ten Champions. Thats at least ninety Champions, but we only had a bit more than thirty for our trip into the Forest of Living Dreams. I believe that there will be a mix of veterans and newbies to help them train as well,” Vit said.

“I never got to meet any,” Elina grumbled.

“Well you will now,” said Vit. “Monty, can you help me calculate feasible travel time between the different settlements in the Second Layer?”

I agreed, and took out a notebook to begin calculations.