Milo really wanted to be surprised that Eva was beaten out, but he was so occupied with other things that he couldn't have been bothered to. Things such as finally becoming competent with his new metal prosthetic. He also saw that same pervert in Wilderness Survival classes. Apparently that was the only class the kid would be taking, which Milo found rather smart. If he was from the outskirts, he probably had no education. Which meant he could only really focus on learning to survive in the wilderness.
If Eva was surprised, than she didn't show it. At best, she seemed mildly interested in Nephis. Milo didn't know whether that was good or not. Milo chuckled to himself, amused at his lofty worries compared to where he would be going tomorrow.
Tomorrow was the Winter Solstice, and with it came the time for Milo and everyone else here to travel to the Dream Realm. Milo would be lying if he said he wasn't scared. Even though he had accomplished a near impossible feat in his First Nightmare, it was solely because of his luck in the Obsidian Protocol Aspect. Without it, Milo doubted that he would even be here, lying on the comfy bed in his academy dorm room.
The next morning had a somber atmosphere. As Instructor Rock took the crowd of Sleepers and introduced him to the Hollows that resided in wheelchairs on a deserted floor of the medical wing. Milo looked on with contempt, he was glad that no people in his immediate family had contracted the Nightmare Spell. He was sure he would survive, there was no reason for him not to.
At least, that's what he told himself as he climbed into his pod. With a shaky sigh, he closed his eyes and heard the Spell once again.
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Milo!]
Milo immediately awoke to the sound of waves and soft wind. The material beneath his feet seemed to be some kind of vegetation from what Milo could tell. He looked upwards, and saw nothing, no stars, no moon. Just an empty, desolate void.
The first thing Milo believed was that he was in some kind of cave system. Though the sound of calm waves and the air hitting him from all sides only made it seem less plausible. It didn't make any sense then, as far as he knew, they were no documented cases of a starless region in the Dream Realm. Unless, Milo was in some sort of undocumented land of the Dream Realm, which just seemed absolutely horrifying.
"That would be the worst... why do I feel like I just jinxed myself?"
With nothing else to do, Milo felt around and took a seat against what he assumed to be a giant root of some sort. Turning his prosthesis into a bunch of interlinked chains, he secured it around the root. Then he let the dark abyss of rest take over his body.
Milo woke up to a loud rush of water. Looking around, he now knew what the strange vegetation he found himself on was.
'It's coral'
Looking beyond the crimson coral, Milo saw a black and dark sea receding. Slowly at first, then over the course of thirty minutes it had vanished entirely like it had never been there. Underneath the sea, was a forest of crimson coral just like the one Milo found himself currently on. Along with some dark seaweed clinging to rock formations.
Milo had a lot of questions, but due to his Iron Logic, he deduced three things. The first was that he was indeed in an uncharted part of the Dream Realm, the second was that the sea disappeared during the daytime, as that seemed to be the only thing that changed throughout the time when Milo was sleep. The last, was that he had zero idea for where in the world he was supposed to go. In fact, he couldn't see anything except for some tall cliffs and a statue off in the far distance.
"This is going to be a chore"
Milo allowed his prosthetic to change back into it's normal form. With a heavy sigh, he began to carefully descend the red coral. His first step was to begin scouting out his immediate surroundings, he had no doubt that he would come across some terrible monster. As soon as he touched the ground of the coral labyrinth, his prosthetic changed into the bladed whips he had been practicing with.
Stepping forward, Milo used grabbed anything he deemed useful. Realizing he was still naked, he quickly made a makeshift loin cloth out of the dark seaweed. Suddenly thankful he paid attention to basic survival skills in school, he pressed on, walking for the remainder of the dawn.
Deciding it was time to call it a day, Milo began to walk back towards where he had returned from. Only for something to shoot out from one of the paths to his right. Barely managing to throw himself backwards, Milo looked up to see a weird looking centaur crab staring him down.
"It's time now isn't it?"
This was the first fight Milo would have in the Dream Realm.