"Hghhh…"
Day's eyes slowly fluttered open. His face was still planted flat on the ground beneath. His arm was folded under his body. His legs were folded, pushing his toes into the ground in an uncomfortable position.
He had a terrible migraine, and his body was sore.
When he came to his senses, he pushed off the ground slightly and then fell back onto his stomach. He tilted his head up to look forward, his eyes dazed. His bed frame was directly in front of him.
Day slowly lifted his arm up and gripped onto his bed. He slowly began to lift his body up…
Then his bedsheets came flying off, and he tumbled back down, hitting his head on his bed frame.
Day's head was still positioned against the frame, but Day didn't react. Instead, he just slowly let himself slide off of the wooden frame until his head fell.
Then he closed his eyes again. This time, in a more comfortable position.
Or at least as comfortable as the floor could be.
"..."
When he woke up again, he felt fresh.
This time, he did himself better by actually pulling himself up on something hard. When he finished rising, he stood completely still on the spot, contemplating the events of the night before.
He came to a quick conclusion, however.
"Huh. Lesson learned."
He put out his hand in front of him and stared at it for a moment, and then grimaced and raised that hand to rub his head.
He glanced around his room and checked the time. He still felt sluggish; but to his dismay…
It was already breakfast time, and subsequently, almost class time as well.
He knew that they would be checking out the classes they were planning on taking today.
He had already decided that he would focus completely on the combat classes, but he assumed that today, whichever instructor was running it would just talk for a while. Then, tomorrow, all of the Sleepers would gather so the instructor there could measure their abilities. He had some work to do to prepare for tomorrow… He was grateful that the Academy was set up how it was.
Sighing, he picked up the bedsheets that had graciously bundled up and landed on the back of his neck the night before and threw it up and over the bed.
"Damn… I feel terrible. I need water. Difficult classes or not, I should eat a hefty meal and get rid of this damned headache.'
Once he finished, he lifted his leg and turned it around with one big motion, like a toy soldier, walked up to his door; then exited the room languidly.
"..."
On his way to the breakfast hall– an area a fair bit away from his room. He actually began to go over what had happened.
As he walked, he weaved past multiple Sleepers journeying in any given direction.
'So I can create simple shapes, and create more complex shapes… but if I create complex shapes, I pass out? No- That doesn't sound right. It's probably more intricate than that.'
Day put his hands in his pockets and frowned.
'Did I go too far? Ugh… Yeah, obviously you did, Day, or you wouldn't have passed out.'
"Tch…"
Multiple Sleepers passing by slowed down and looked at him with confusion in their gazes when he made an audible noise, but Day paid it no mind.
'What are the limits? Everything is still just speculation. Damn- I should have gone slower. Maybe then I would have known to stop. I passed out so fast that I didn't even sense anything amiss. I wasted so much time that I could have spent figuring things out.'
There was a lot for him to work out now. Much more than before. Now, he had to worry about the objects he created and the amount of light he attempted to pull out. All he knew at the moment was that it could be dangerous. Perhaps, that was the best information of all that he could have gained from that session…
'Still, it was sort of fun… I wish it didn't end so soon. Yeesh, it's already feeling like public school. Taking me away from fun things for eight hours of nothing, or maybe even more.'
He turned another corner and spotted the entrance to the cafeteria.
'I'll think about this later… Sweet food, here I come!'
He crossed the threshold between the Academy and Heaven on Earth, and put his hands together. He started rubbing them excitedly as he entered…
Then, he froze.
It was like the world itself had its gaze on him. He stopped rubbing his hands, but kept them planted together.
Practically the entire cafeteria was looking in his direction. Many of them were standing in front of a giant board while looking wearily in his direction… but hidden beneath their gazes was unmistakable admiration.
'Did I do something…? What's this about?'
A couple students standing nearest to him walked up to him with a glimmering shine in their eyes. A girl standing in the front grabbed his hands into hers and shook them up and down.
"Day, it's you, right? The other person who obtained a True Name?! It's so nice to meet you! Gosh, I'm so glad I was near you."
She leaned in closer, whispering into his ear with the same excited tone.
"You see… I actually really wanted to talk to the other girl, Nephis, but she was sort of hard to approach."
Day prepared to open his mouth to speak, but he couldn't.
Instead, he was bombarded with incessant chatter as the girl who was speaking to him a moment before was promptly pushed away. She seemed terribly disappointed that their conversation was cut off so soon.
Day felt sort of bad for her, but his attention didn't stay on her for long.
It felt almost like the entire cafeteria had come to greet him near the door. This wasn't the case at all. Nearly all of them had stayed far back, deciding to simply watch. Not even a dozen people had come to surround him, but Day was dazed; so he didn't know better.
In a loud cacophony of human chatter, he was asked a plethora of questions.
"How did you do it?! What did you do in your first Nightmare to be blessed like that?"
" Day- Day! Why are you so low on the rating? You got a True Name, but you aren't even in the top ten!"
"Can I call you New Horizon?!"
Day was freaking out. He had already expected people to be surprised about his True Name, but this- this was not what he expected.
"Um… Um! I uh… Sure?"
"Come on, you all. Certainly, it's exciting, to have not one but two people in the same batch of Sleepers with a True Name… but you all need to cut him some slack. He just arrived."
Suddenly, the crowd split, and someone appeared. Like a knight in shining armor- The charming Legacy Caster had come to save him with a smile on his princely face. When he arrived and walked up to Day, the other people sighed with contempt and started to disperse, like Caster's presence made them lose their interest in Day immediately.
"Day, yes? I remember you. We had a quick chat before the induction ceremony. You were certainly quite impressionable, even though you left so quickly. Cheers to a prosperous Nightmare. Congratulations. "
Day coughed.
"Thank you."
"You're quite welco-"
"Thank you for saving me."
"Excuse me?"
"Thank you for saving me from those people."
Caster's smile disappeared for a second, then his mouth opened, then the smile returned once more.
"Sure, Day… I have a singular question for you, if I may? Here, would you like to walk with me? I assume you are hungry."
"Oh… Sure."
Caster turned around and began to walk towards the buffet-like arrangement while signaling Day to follow. Day took a few smaller steps, then quickly trotted forward happily and slowed down next to Caster.
The ways Day and Caster walked were entirely different. Day walked dreamily, like a happy dog bringing back a ball to their owner obliviously. On the other hand, Caster walked with short steps and scanned his surroundings, giving glances at any Sleeper who started to approach, like a cat on alert. By the time they arrived at the food stands, people were just watching from a distance, unwilling to disturb the peculiar duo by the influence of Caster.
"So, Day- I'm quite curious. How was your First Nightmare? Pardon me if I'm asking a difficult question, but… Well, to be honest, I tried to talk to Lady Nephis, but she nodded me off rather quickly for a cup of coffee. Luckily- There are two of you, so I'm here asking you instead."
Day and Caster arrived at the self-serving area, and Day picked up a plate. Day then glanced over at Caster, and then back at the food, and then back at Caster again.
"Difficult," he said quickly.
Before then looking back at the food once more and beginning to fill his plate.
"Is that all you have to sa-"
"Oh, I learned a lot though."
Caster's eye twitched.
"Right, of course. Difficult indeed. You know, there were more than quite a few Sleepers who doubted your abilities and wondered if you had lied… I can't say I expected much- Not in a rude way, so it's quite a muse to see someone who I talked to before being such an anomaly."
Day picked up some carrots, frowning as one of them dropped into a different holder full of celery. He carefully used the tool to pick up the carrot and place it back in.
"I don't blame them."
"What?"
Day didn't respond for a few moments; he was busy grabbing a sizable chunk of meat.
"I don't blame them for doubting me, honestly. It's pretty shocking."
"Yes, indeed- That's certainly… Exactly what I've been saying. Anyway- Where are you from, Day? I'm not quite sure I know of your clan…"
"I'm just from a humble abode."
"Haha… Ha… Right, a humble abode, you say?"
Day turned around and looked Caster in the eye with a big smile. His plate was chock full of delicious food. Caster glanced down at it for a moment, and one of the sides of his mouth twisted down, before then twisting back up.
"Yep, a humble abode."
Caster's mouth opened for a second, then closed, like he was struggling to formulate what to say.
Day's smile widened.
"Are you at a loss for words? You did that a couple of minutes ago as well. Are you feeling okay? Have you eaten? Have you drunk enough water? Did you get enough sleep?"
"Wh-"
"I will say, Caster, this food is pretty good. I can't help but gorge a little bit on it. Maybe you should take a seat and try some- We can always chat later."
Day was about to pat him on the shoulder, but settled with simply leaving him behind to grab some food.
'Don't want to disturb him with something like a pat on the back. He's a legacy, after all.'
'Ah- I'm so thoughtful…'