Chương 49: Dreamlife

Ryland's Glyph washed over Sint with immense power. The world lost its harshness, the jagged edges of her emotions smoothening to harmless touches. She remembered the feeling well from the Entrance Trials. It really was working. Everything was breaking down. Sint tried to brand her family's faces into her memories. Her father's rugged stolidity, her brother's youthful exuberance. Their embrace, though comforting, soon faded as her family dissolved into sparkling dust.

Her heart panged, but Sint managed to hold herself together. Then she saw the monstrous nature of the Calamity in actual reality. The mist had thickened and coalesced into giant arms that had wrapped around Sint and her supervisor. Elsewhere, it was coagulating into a fleshy substance, her instincts screaming that she was looking at purplish living meat and innards that was somehow forming from the gas that had entered through the rift.

It was impossible to tell if High Academ Tyra had been lost in some kind of vision too, if she had been forcefully pulled out of it like Sint had been. Ryland stood at the centre of it all, brimming with power. His rift was gone. Sint was suffering from too much whiplash to properly feel anything even akin to surprise. His cloak ruffled around him, his eyes shining with burning sunlight as lines of radiant magic swam around him. Magic pulsed out of him like a titan's heart.

Rapid, thumping, world-cracking beats thundered through the air, establishing Ryland's claim over reality, enforcing his will into every iota of space, into every particle inhabiting their surroundings.

"Sorry I'm a little late," he said. Even his voice was an octave more ephemeral, rippling with sorcerous ferocity.

"Its clutch on the rift was stronger than I had anticipated." It. As in, the Calamity. He was still talking about it like an unfathomable monster that could trap its victims in dreams no different from reality was nothing more than something he could fix with mild effort.

"Ryland," Sint said in warning, hating how utterly broken her voice sounded.

"Don't worry, Sint." He smiled at her.

"It's over." The Glyph, the one that had shattered her overly realistic vision and instilled a sense of irrepressible calm into her, changed. Sint couldn't believe her eyes, even though she had gone through a sequence of events that really should have shattered any notions of suspensions of disbelief. A Glyph transforming into another in real time? That was unheard of. No one could do that. Except, it appeared, Ryland. The new Glyph was more jagged. Far stronger defined. And several degrees more powerful too.

"Will we be safe, Ryland?" High Academ Tyra asked. In answer, the new Glyph took effect. It ripped through the space and tore into every bit and piece of the Calamity, etching itself onto both the enormous meaty pieces and the tiniest of its violet particles, leaving nothing untouched. A tiny, cerebral part of Sint told her that she was about to witness utter eradication. Which she did. The detonation that shook the chamber and momentarily blinded and deafened Sint was all the answer Tyra needed.

Violent energy like Sint had never seen before rammed outwards from every bit of matter affected by Ryland's Glyph. They collapsed in on themselves, their fundamental links breaking to unleash a storm of devastation. Sint would have stared if her eyes hadn't forcefully closed themselves. Even as it was, her mind was reeling at the sheer intensity. Her barrier— Ryland's barrier—was cracking. What new madness had he unleashed? Without [Eternal Bastion], she and the High Academ would have been eradicated.

"Are you alright?" Ryland asked when things settled down. Somewhat. The air still crackled, the world was still warped in Sint's line of sight. Her legs wobbled. A sense of wrongness prickled at her skin and hair. She wanted to sink to her haunches and just let everything roll over until her internal sensibilities recalibrated themselves.

"That was…" Even the High Academ was having trouble expressing herself. She was no less dishevelled than Sint, her glasses and hair askew.

"I was expecting complications after you mentioned your preferred procedure of… acquiring what I wanted, but a Calamity is stretching things a bit too far." Ryland pursed his lips.

"The Dreamlife Calamity was supposed to be relegated to a distant Realm. Admittedly, I don't keep constant track of them all, but it feels implausible that it could have somehow transported itself to a different, far-off Realm."

"No one can keep track. This is why we go to great lengths to stay prepared. Yet, how is one supposed to prepare against something like this Calamity…?" Sint couldn't imagine how either. Although, at that moment, thinking of anything was more or less beyond her. She was starting to realize that the more she associated with Ryland, the more she was forced to reckon with things that were beyond anyone except Ryland.

In other words, she needed to get away from the living, breathing disaster that was this enigmatic, overpowered mage.

"A Glyph of Dreamlife," Ryland murmured. An imprint of magical script, constructed of more complicated swirls and lines than she could ever recall seeing, glinted above Ryland's palm. It was weak. Tier [1], going by its dull ochre-yellow colour. But the name… He had a Glyph from the nature of the Calamity he himself had just defeated. It had been a mere vestige, a tiny piece of its true form. But still. Ryland had defeated it. And now he had its power as a Glyph.

[Achievement Recognized: Calamitous Survivalist You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. You have survived your first brush against a Calamity. Recognized Calamity: The Snare of Dreamlife. Rank up from Gold [13] to Gold [20]. Reward: 15 Soul Glyph Evolution Prints.] Sint goggled at the screen from the Grand Frame. What in the…? She had been so subsumed by everything that had happened, she had forgotten that her experiences could result in an achievement.

Sint didn't even care about whether she deserved it or not. The rewards alone made her eyes threaten to pop out. Sint had gone up seven ranks. Seven. The last time she had achieved something similar was when she had been Iron-ranked and had landed the killing blow on a Hunt way beyond her. And then there was the reward. Fifteen Evolution Prints had to be enough to evolve her Soul Glyph of Distortion.

Having acquired twenty through other achievements such as when she passed the Entrance Trials, she now had the requisite thirty to take her Soul Glyph to Tier [6] before she herself reached the peak of Gold. This… She really didn't want to just shove aside the sheer avalanche of everything she had gone through and be happy about it all because she had, technically, grown. And in more ways than just her magical prowess, if she was being honest.

But at the same time, the idea of a Tier [6] Soul Glyph already was almost starting to make her feel like it was all worth it. High Academ Tyra was gazing fondly at her prizes that Ryland had brought from other Realms. He had cast [Eternal Bastion] on them too, so they were fine.

"Well, at least we acquired nearly everything I needed. Regrettable that the last one was interrupted by a Calamity."

"Not to fear." Ryland tossed a strange orb of grey stone pitted with glowing holes.

"I managed to secure it before destroying the rift." Sint stared. Her mentor laughed.

"Well, of course you did." She stared at the orb in wonder.

"Amazing. Since you've managed to secure everything, I'll overlook our unfortunate… interruption."

"I'd prefer we stick to our original deal," Ryland said.

"High Academ." Sint stared between the two mages. A large part of her wanted to shake them because they had literally just repelled a Calamity inside the academy. She had no idea how many rules they had broken, how many policies they had violated, how many alarms they had triggered and were even now calling in an army of reinforcements seeking to fight off a Calamity. As if the High Academ had heard her thoughts, she said, "You're lucky we're inside the Experimentation Chamber.

The wards are much looser and the Inscribed Glyphs won't be sending alerts to local Wardens and all the high-ranked mages of the academy. I don't think even Alaric will realize what's happened." Sint stared at her supervisor.

"Are you seriously considering not telling the Headmaster?" The High Academ winked at Sint.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Isn't that right, Ryland?"

"Actually, I disagree," Ryland said. Sint couldn't believe Ryland was siding with her against her mentor. Her hopes were dashed soon, though. His disagreement turned out to be less ethical and more academic.

"Ignorance can be fatal," he continued. Sint would have loved to slam thick spectacles on his face just to emphasize his ridiculous tone.

"In many cases, proper preparation driven by knowledge may have prevented a catastrophe. For instance, your lack of knowledge about the Dreamlife Calamity would have been a significant contributor to your demise." The High Academ stared. Sint laughed. It was a little too tinged with hysteria, though. But… she looked around and admitted the High Academ had good reason to remain unbothered. There was no sign that the dregs of a Calamity had entered this chamber.

No one besides the three of them would ever know what had happened here. Sint sighed as Ryland and Tyra lightly debated the merits of ignorance. Of all the things her family and her old home had told her to be wary of, insane people weren't one of them. Ryland once again had to admit that Tyra was shrewd. She was now busy taking some time to go through everything before seeing to his side of the bargain. He had decided against taking umbrage at the implication that she was verifying they were all real.

Considering how much time she had taken to just meet him, it was evident she liked to take her time about these things. There was no point in rushing her. Ryland visited Heldon the next day. He had taken a small bottle of the noxious, gaseous extract that the Snare of Dreamlife used to entrap its victims. While Heldon appeared inscrutable and inactive from the perspective of a researcher, Ryland figured the sleepy Academ would still be interested.

He had already proven that he certainly wasn't unaware of proceedings, what with his vocalized acceptance of Ryland as an apprentice and then the letter to Alaric to help with the theft of the Vestige. The man was a bit of a mystery, but not someone fully divorced from the academy's ongoings. As Ryland walked, he glanced over the new achievement and the Glyph it had gifted him. [Achievement Recognized: Dream Living You have eradicated a minor Incursion of a Calamity. Recognized Calamity: The Snare of Dreamlife. Rank up from Gold [37] to Gold [52]. Reward: Glyph of Dreamlife.] It was odd. The Glyph itself wasn't that strong. Its dull, deep yellow shade was proof that it was a mere Tier [1] spell. Were Glyphs awarded by the Grand Frame always at Tier [1]? That seemed a little backwards. It would be disappointing for powerful mages to receive just a Tier [1] Glyph. Pointless tedium. Especially since judiciously using one's own Glyph Prints to construct Glyphs could result in a new Glyph that was already high-Tier.

Yet, when Ryland cast his new Glyph, its potential was there for all to see. Just by casting it at Tier [1], he was causing the world around him to warp and change. Reality dug into new layers, folding in on itself as it sought a new meaning, inverting and pulling out its innards until the notions of real and fake lost all meaning. Needless to say, Ryland quickly shut it off. This wasn't a Glyph to be tampered with willy-nilly. He left it alone for now.

While Ryland would never turn down the addition of new Glyphs to his magical repertoire, it wasn't one that he saw himself using frequently. It could be an interesting addition to some of his spell circles, though… What really poked his brain, however, was the source of the Glyph. That had been the first time he had faced the Snare of Dreamlife. While he had heard of it during his travels, he had never encountered it or anyone even affected by it.

So what were the chances that trying to get a random fruit would lead to him pulling in a Calamity into the academy itself? This really couldn't be yet another way of Fate messing with him, could it? He was thankful for the Experimentation Chamber keeping the whole incident under wraps, grave breach of security though it was. It was nice that High Academ Tyra was pleasantly easy-going. When Ryland reached Heldon's office, it was business as usual.

The man was still sleeping, still seemingly insensate to the world, with every bit of his room designed to lull the unwary intruder to sleep alongside him. Ryland carefully placed the bottle of Dreamlife on Heldon's enormous desk.

"A small gift for you, High Academ. It's a piece of a Calamity—a Vestige, I suppose—but there's nothing to worry about. I've layered more defensive spells on it than even my own self. You won't be able to open it till you've ensured the necessary conditions. I hope you find some use for it." Ryland received no response whatsoever as Heldon continued breathing in and out in that gentle manner of his. He had been smiling when Ryland had entered, and it hadn't changed yet.

With a polite nod and a smile of his own, he turned to leave. Just as he reached the door, he paused and looked back. Then blinked. The bottle was simply gone. Heldon was still insensate. Chuckling to himself and shaking his head, Ryland left. He spent the early morning of the next day intensely anticipating and then enjoying another episode of Echoes of Stardust. This time, a simple rift wasn't going to do. At least, not one for his eyes and ears and other senses to take it all in from far away.

So instead, he threw himself into the rift and watched the whole episode live on Realm 21. Definitely a very different experience from watching at an intergalactic distance. Ryland figured he ought to do that more often, though he had been saying that for at least three decades now. When Ryland returned, he had thought he'd get started on preparing for the next lesson. But that wasn't to be. Arcoryx Academy was on high alert again. Even higher alert this time. Not because there had been yet another theft.

But because the Incursion that Alaric had warned Ryland about was upon them.