The rest of the two weeks went by without much drama. Just training, however Eva did seem hesitant to hang out with Milo, and when she explained why... Milo got his ass beat that day for laughing at her.
However, that was the end of his time at the Awakened Academy, he was now headed to the Dream Realm.
Milo had a lot to think about, it was not everyday that your life was on the line. He stared at the sleeping pod that would be his sanctuary until he found a Citadel and thus a Gateway to escape. Milo took a deep breath, and attempted to calm himself. He spent his entire life preparing for this to happen
'I can make it, I can come back.'
Milo climbed into the sleeping pod. Shutting his eyes, letting sleep overtake him.
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Milo!]
Milo braced himself. He didn't know how he would enter the Dream Realm, he could only hope it was on solid ground and not right next to a Nightmare Creature.
The las thing he expected was to feel nothing around him. He looked around, he was simply in an endless void. His head was ringing, it hurt so bad, why did it hurt?
Then he looked up. Above him was... could you even describe it?
He hurriedly looked down. That thing was not meant to be looked at by the likes of someone like him, any further and he would've died most certainly. He hurled, and threw up nothing but bile.
'Where in the world am I?'
His question wouldn't be answered. Instead, multiple golden strings of light revealed themselves in the darkness, dimly illuminating his body. They came closer and closer, Milo couldn't move. He tried to step forward, swim away, nothing worked. The strings hesitated when they were mere inches away, then they entered him.
It was like they were phantoms, simply slipping through his physical form, and diving deeper than even his soul. He could feel something warm envelop him, then something terrible. More strings poured around him, the Spell slightly glitched as it spoke
[You have gained an Attribute]
The strings enveloping held on tightly, then tighter. They were cutting into his skin, making him bleed, ones around his face slashed his eyes. His nerves flared with pain as he was being split apart by thousand of these strings. He tried to scream only for gurgling to come out. He was choking on his own blood!
[Your Attribute is ready to evolve]
[Your Attribute is ready to ev-]
[Your Attribute is ready to ev-]
[Your Attribute is ready to ev-]
The spell kept cutting itself off. Milo's hands reached out. What was happening, did he happen to run into an Unholy Titan and simply cease to exist? Was this his fate?
Then a laugh, a disturbing laugh, one that would make Milo flinch if he had the capacity to. All he saw was a tall figure in a nebulous mantle. A voice boomed from above him, one that sounded like the snarl of a thousand beasts.
"So you are the intruder? I must say... you disappoint us. We spent thousand of years creating an epigone, just for you and that woman to do what we would on mere accident? Absurd!"
Milo couldn't respond, and he already had a guess on who that woman was. Eva, was she actually telling the truth when she said she didn't belong to this world?
The folds of the mantle moved closer.
"Well. We suppose it wouldn't be a bad thing to keep you around."
[You have lost an Attribute]
The strings stopped cutting into Milo's body, they were being pulled away. The burning in his soul stopped, and Milo felt the pain subside, relatively. Milo felt the wounds on his body close, he felt his muscle reconnect, his skin stitch itself back together.
Even healing hurt, perhaps it hurt more than when the strings itself cut into him. He could finally make noise again, and yet he didn't have the strength to scream or groan or even whimper. He could only let out meager yet quick breaths.
Then he felt that same feeling of nothing, except he was very clearly high up considering how close the clouds were, and a large shadow was casted, enveloping him. Looking to his right he found that it was a mountain casting that shadow.
"Ah, I'm in the airRRRR!"
Milo hurriedly scrambled, his arm reaching out towards the nearby stone in hopes of hanging on as best he could. His prosthetic created sparks as it grinded against the stone. He gripped as hard as the prosthetic would allow.
In the end, he couldn't stop himself from falling, but he greatly slowed it down. That still didn't mean it wasn't a pain.
His body flopped and hit the hard rock with thuds that would make anyone cringe. The mountain wall made a sudden curve from relatively flat to a downslope. Milo braced, his arms covering his head as he bounced against the curve, cutting in some places, bruises in others. He slid and skidded to a stop. His body battered and his mind overwhelmed from everything he just experienced.
***
Eva had expected to be placed where everyone else was going. The Forgotten Shore, what a harrowing place that would be. That meant that instead of being met with water or coral she was instead met with rock and trees she was a little confused.
This was your typical forest, nothing too strange about it. The leaves were green, the bark was brown. So, with nothing else to do, she began to walk around. She walked and walked until she found the tree line. When she walked through the tree line, she heard to her left.
She turned around, just in time to see a comet fall from the sky. It bounced and skidded on the stone, rolling to a stop a couple of meters out. As the dust settled around the figure, she saw who it was.
"You poor soul."
Eva walked over, Milo's face was facing the floor.
Eva squatted down, and poked Milo on the cheek.
"You awake?"
Milo turned his head, looking up at Eva. She had to be perhaps the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. She was wearing some rather heavy looking plate armor. The armor itself looked like it was made out of stone.
"Do you mind, I just fell from the sky and I'm not in the mood to be bullied by you."
Eva chuckled, and then Milo heard the Spell speak.
[You have received a Memory: Hunter's Garbs]
Milo wasted no time summoning the memory. Eva's finger moved from his cheek.
The Memory was relatively high quality, brown reinforced leather in important places and basic cloth in others. He felt something settle on his face, taking it off. It was a mask made out of a skull of some fanged creature.
'Neat.'
Milo stood up and brushed himself off.
"So you were lucky enough to gain two armor Memories?"
Eva shook her head. She pointed at her chest plate
"This is an Attribute of mine, the same one that makes me hard as stone."
Milo's shoulders slumped.
"Wow... I feel jealous honestly. What's next? You're immune to all types of non physical attacks?"
Eva whistled an innocent tune, though of course that was more than likely sarcastic.
"Oh come on! That's bullshit."
Eva shrugged. "Can't win them all, I don't even have a weapon Memory."
Milo ignored her and looked around, they were in the middle of a forest. Were they somewhere nearby Bastion? There were some forests lining the very outskirts nearby Bastion, that or Ravenheart.
"Any clue where we are?"
Eva shook her head. "Not a clue."
Milo sighed, he stretched his arms. The armor was very flexible.
"Alright, guess we should start moving. Thanks for the armor by the way."
"Next time you get a Memory, it's mine."
Milo nodded, should he tell her what happened before? Was she trustworthy enough?
Of course she was.
"Hey Eva, once we settle for the night. Something happened that I feel like I should tell you."
Eva looked back.
"Alright, if you're confessing its an automatic no."
Milo snickered. "Nah, maybe if I was going just off looks, than you would stand a chance."
"You know, we are in the middle of nowhere, do you really think its a good idea to be antagonizing someone who can overpower you?"
Milo shrugged. "Probably not, however..."
Milo summoned two things. One was a Memory, and the other was an Echo.
Milo sat atop Triscarion, one hand petting the giant hound, while the other was holding a straight single edged sword made out of a futuristic black material.
"I think that advice applies more to you than me."
Eva was stunned into silence, her body trembling.
'Heh... I bet I look so cool right now.'
Then Eva laughed, she laughed so loudly Milo wouldn't be surprised if every Nightmare Creature within a five kilometer radius were rushing towards them.
"Oh... oh you thought you looked cool didn't you."
Milo's head hung in shame. One of Triscarion's heads turned back to Milo, she seemed empathetic of his current situation.
Eva walked up, petted Triscarion, then hopped on its back.
"Lets get some scouting done, than you could tell me what you need to."