Lucien woke from a restless sleep, plagued once again by a strange vision. It was as if the vision was a continuation of the previous one, set in the same location with the same routine, and the same body. The only thing that seemed familiar was the routine of the body: wake up, eat, go to class, mess around in class, return home, eat, shower, and sleep.

Determined to unravel the mystery behind his visions, Lucien asked Artemis to take notes of his dreams so that he wouldn't forget. He began recounting every detail, trying to recall all that happened in his dream to the last detail.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the house, Tomas woke up with a sense of purpose. Today was the day he would fight in the final of the tournament against his friend Marlon and emerge victorious, earning the title of the strongest first year.

Thanks to the old lady's healing powers, Tomas was back to his full strength. The only downside was an insatiable hunger, caused by the accelerated metabolism and the depletion of nutrients in his body as a result of the healing process.

In a world where beast hunting and tribal warfare was a way of life, the old lady's powers were highly sought after by all the big Clans. Her ability to keep the Clan powerhouses and young promises alive and well was invaluable, and it allowed the young warriors to push themselves to their limits in training, getting them used to getting wounded.

The old lady was considered one of the ten most important people in the mixers Clan, with the other nine being the Clan powerhouses and the old seer Kairos.

Without wasting any time, Dalton took Tomas for his second session of bomb massage.

"I promise I will bring him back for lunch, okay baby?" Danton said to Artemis as he left.

"Okay! Have fun, and don't hurt little Tomas too badly, he still has an important fight this noon!" Artemis reminded him, in the midst of transcribing Lucien's vivid descriptions of his visions.

The twin brothers arrived at the training grounds before their friends this time, eager with excitement for their own reasons. They were greeted by Duke, the combat class instructor, who noticed their early arrival.

"You're here early today, boys. If you want, I don't mind answering a few questions for you," Duke said with a hint of boredom in his voice.

Tomas seized the opportunity and asked about Marlon's power. "Teacher, can you help me understand Marlon's power? I've watched some of his fights, but I still can't figure it out. How does it work exactly?"

However, Duke declined to help Tomas. "It's part of the battle to figure out your opponent's power. Do you really think someone will be there to explain things to you all the time during your fights?"

Duke offered some encouragement before walking away. "All I can say is that, like his father, Marlon's power is something only he can understand fully because of his dreams. Even if he tried to explain it to you, you would still only comprehend a small fraction of it."

Tomas sighed with frustration. "Such a tricky opponent..."

Meanwhile, Lucien was absorbed in his own thoughts and didn't pay much attention to the conversation between Duke and Tomas. He suddenly realized that he had missed the chance to talk to Duke about his class change before the start of the class.

As he was starting to walk to the center of the training grounds Duke suddenly halted his steps, like he had a sixth sense, he noticed Lucien’s angust. The instructor with his back turned to the young boy, spoke, his tone heavy with warning, "Your father already informed me of your class change and the conditions that come with it. He made it clear that if you utter a single word about reverting back to the support dream user's class, you will not be permitted back here ever again."

Then he turned around, his piercing gaze locking straight onto Lucien's eyes, exuding a sense of pressure that the poor boy had never experienced before. Lucien felt as if he was stranded all alone in the middle of the ocean, facing off against a monstrous great white shark, with no escape or place to hide.

"So, I will only ask you once," Duke said, his tone firm and unwavering. "Will you quit?" This was Duke's challenge to Lucien, who he knew was just a ten-year-old child with no exceptional abilities. If he was to survive in this class, he would need to possess, at least, an unshakable willpower.

Lucien was paralyzed, his body unwilling to respond as it had in his visions. But this was reality, and he knew it all too well. Fear coursed through his veins - a primordial instinct that lived within every living being, only surfacing when one was forced to confront their role as prey. In a moment of desperation, Lucien nearly surrendered. However, his goals were not so small that it could be shattered by a mere gaze. Summoning every ounce of strength and determination within him, Lucien pushed through his fear and managed to utter the words, "No, sir."

Turning his back on Lucien once more, Duke walked away, his thoughts wandering to the child's remarkable endurance. "At least he can withstand this much," he thought to himself.

As the intense pressure dissipated, Lucien fell to his knees gasping for air, feeling as if he had just been saved from suffocation. Tomas, concerned for his brother's wellbeing, asked, "Are you okay, brother?"

"Okay? Of course not! Teacher Duke almost killed me!" Lucien exclaimed, his voice ringing with indignant anger. "I think you're overreacting," Tomas replied with a hint of skepticism. "He was just asking if you wanted to quit."

"Forget it, you're too dumb to understand," Lucien retorted, using the opportunity to insult his twin brother. Tomas, taken aback by the sudden attack, was about to form a response when Duke's voice cut him off.

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"Alright kiddos, let's begin where we left off yesterday, okay?" Duke declared, his voice booming across the training grounds. "Second years and above, you may start warming up for training. First year kids, let's end this little tournament of yours with a bit of a surprise, okay?"

The young students, all six years old, gathered around the arena dug into the ground, eager to witness the final epic battle. Tomas and Marlon, fully focused, stepped into the arena, ready to make this a match to remember. As he felt the soft soil beneath his feet, Tomas suddenly noticed an unexpected presence in the fighting area. He knew exactly who she was.

"What are you doing here, Cindy?" Tomas stammered, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief. Standing in the opposite corner tying her black hair, Jess’s older sister gave a cold smile to Tomas. And before he could even process his thoughts, Duke chimed in with a surprising announcement. "As you've noticed, little Cindy here will be joining the final. This exercise is meant to show you how vast the world is, and so, you two first-year finalists will fight together against a single second-year." Duke's smile was almost a smirk as he watched the two boys struggle to comprehend what he was saying.

"Try not to get too badly beaten, and good luck," Duke finished with a chuckle.

Marlon was quick to bring Tomas back to reality, "Come on, Tomas, let's finish her quickly and then have our final! It’s not like we haven’t fought against her before"

Tomas nodded in agreement, "Let's show them we're not weaklings. She's just one year older. Just be careful for her close combat abilities, she was really good before she ended the training with my dad"

But Cindy didn't waste any time with the boys' banter. Duke had asked her to teach the cocky first-years a lesson, and that was precisely what she intended to do. She strolled towards the two boys, taking her time, not preparing herself in any way, which made them both tense up. Their instincts were on high alert, telling them that something was off, so they assumed a fighting stance, ready for anything.

As the two boys stood in the arena facing off against Cindy, they were well aware of her mastery over the element of light. They had seen her perform incredible feats with her power and had a general idea of what she was capable of. But at the same time, Cindy had also observed their battles and was familiar with their abilities.

The audience, which consisted of their peers and instructors, buzzed with excitement as the competition took an unexpected turn. They were eager to see their best warriors take down the confident girl and shut Professor Duke up in the process.

In a matter of seconds, a sphere of darkness enveloped the arena, with Cindy at its center. Tomas, who had experienced a similar situation before against her sister Jess, remained calm and prepared himself to counterattack. However, he was unaware that Cindy's dream had a completely different approach.

She absorbed all the light around her, condensing it to its absolute limit, creating an almost tangible darkness. After a minute of blackness, she unleashed all of the absorbed light in one explosive burst.

The audience shielded their eyes, bracing themselves for a potential blinding light show. And as they suspected, a mini sun was born in the center of the arena, catching both Tomas and Marlon off guard. Their eyes, which had just adjusted to the darkness, were suddenly bombarded by the brightest light they had ever seen, causing them to go instantly blind and feel dizzy.

Marlon, who was already struggling to regain his footing, frantically lifted his hands up, creating a blur in front of him, hoping that it would give him some time to recover from the blinding light. But Cindy was relentless, and she focused all the light that she was emitting from her body in Marlon's direction, creating a concentrated solar beam that shot out of her hand with pinpoint accuracy. The beam struck the blurry area in front of Marlon and then continued on to hit him directly in the leg.

The attack was devastating, and Marlon instantly gave up. His leg was growing increasingly hot until it was unbearable. Despite his power to distort and compress space to slow down attacks, it was no match for the speed of light.

As Marlon was being rescued, Tomas found himself alone in the arena, facing off against the monster that hid behind Cindy's innocent exterior. She still wore the same bored expression, as if the match was not even a casual training session to her.

Not wasting any time, Cindy started her leisurely walk towards Tomas once again, and before he knew it, everything went pitch black once more. Like the first time, after a sphere of darkness, the arena was once again illuminated by the brilliant mini sun, but this time, Tomas was at least prepared and had his eyes closed, which prevented him from losing his vision again. Cindy didn't show any mercy and followed through with her attack, focusing her light output into a laser aimed at his torso.

But Cindy was caught off guard this time. Despite knowing that Tomas was an exceptional tank, she didn't anticipate his resilience being so remarkable. He stood unscathed, even after her barrage of light. Against heat and shockwaves his dream to endure explosions was probably the best.

The only thing that suffered was his shirt, which was now singed and smoldering. "C'mon Cindy,"

Tomas complained, his voice carrying a hint of annoyance. "You didn't have to burn my shirt."

Adapting her strategy, she sucked all the light in the arena again, and went to melee combat. She had to take advantage of his blindness while she still had stamina to use her abilities. Tomas adopted his fighting stance ready to counter attack, but different from Jess, Cindy had gone for grappling attacks and quickly thrown the unprepared boy to the ground, pinning him face down.

Tomas struggled to break free, but Cindy was relentless. She maintained her hold and tightened her grip, choking him from behind. However, her attack was fruitless once again. The pressure she applied to his neck was insignificant compared to his formidable constitution.

After several minutes of trying to subdue him, she suddenly had an epiphany on how to defeat this unkillable young cockroach.

As Cindy straddled Tomas with her knee planted firmly on his back and his right arm dominated, she taunted him with a triumphant grin, "Ready to give up?" Tomas, full of determination and a burning desire to win, opened his mouth to respond with a defiant, "Of course not...Aghhhh!" But before he could utter another word, Cindy made her move.

With lightning speed, she yanked his hair back with one hand, while using the other to stuff dirt from the arena into his mouth and nostrils, blocking off his airways. She swiftly resumed her choking technique, but this time, instead of targeting his neck, she locked her grip on his mouth and nose.

The teachers and audience were left in stunned silence as they watched Cindy's unexpected and brutal move. Duke, however, couldn't contain his excitement, with a wide smile stretching from ear to ear as he witnessed her cunning strategy.

Tomas was thrown into a state of desperation for the first time in the competition. He had never faced a situation like this before and he was quickly losing control. His heart raced, his mind became muddled, and his lungs gasped for air. But like a fly caught in a spider's web, he was unable to escape from Cindy's grip. In a final act of defeat, he reluctantly tapped the ground, signaling the end of the match.

The defeat was a crushing blow to the young spectators who watched in awe. The world was indeed vast and there was always someone stronger and more skilled out there. No one was ever safe.