Everyone fell silent in the presence of the man. Wearing a dark blue uniform, he was exactly the kind of person Giovanni imagined when people spoke of the barbarians of the past.
A handsome brown beard, broad shoulders, and a muscular build, it was not hard to say that he would take down anyone in that room in a direct fight, in basically every possible scenario.
He stared at the audience for a few moments and spoke in a deep voice:
"I am the awakened Rock. Welcome to the academy."
Giovanni walked toward the front rows, wanting to hear the speech up close.
"In six months, all of you will be summoned to the Dream Realm. Some of you may have the false impression that you are fully prepared, so let me warn you now: you are not. The world you are about to enter is treacherous and lethal. Too much confidence is the recipe for a quick death. No one is guaranteed to survive, not even the strongest among us."
Glancing toward the other youths, he noticed some bitter reactions on their faces, while others ignored the words completely.
He could only pray for those who decided not to take them seriously.
"In the coming weeks, we will do everything and then some to increase your chances of survival. The best instructors will be at your disposal, but do not be deceived by their fame. In the end, the only person capable of guaranteeing your return is yourself. The responsibility to survive is yours and no one else's."
Giovanni disagreed, but he understood the point. The taste of having to depend on others was as bitter as when he had first learned of his flaw.
"You are no longer children. It is a shame, because you should be. Unfortunately, the spell decided otherwise, and its sentence is final. You were able to complete the first nightmare, so you are capable of understanding. We cannot help you there."
As the speech continued, people in different places reacted in their own ways.
Near the entrance, a girl with glasses swallowed hard, frightened by the speech and clutching a diary tightly.
Beside the stage, sitting in silence, a tall and imposing young man listened impassively, staring at the reflection of his own face in his armor.
Among the students, expressing disdain and disinterest, a girl with colorful hair blew bubbles of chewing gum, playing with a die between her fingers.
Outside the hall, a slender and seductive young man twirled long strands of hair around his fingers, fixing himself in a hand mirror.
And finally, a brown-haired youth with greenish eyes stared at the stage from the front row, full of determination and nervousness.
All of them came from origins so different that they seemed to live in parallel worlds.
But at that moment, they shared the same thought.
They would survive.
***
Next, the instructor described and explained the differences between how nightmares function and how the Dream Realm worked.
Receiving technical explanations from an experienced individual was far better than any gossip or general knowledge from where he grew up.
From the "role" of the awakened in conquering nightmare seeds to prevent the creation of gates that would allow aberrations to invade the world, to the fact that the Dream Realm does not obey the same laws that govern nightmares.
That place was not fair, and the world would have no mercy in throwing creatures far stronger against a weaker individual. Giovanni felt a strong urge to question how fair that challenge really was!
Perhaps that was the way the spell found to balance an aspirant having the power to perform miracles, but the scars left by the traumatic experience would not heal easily.
After the end of the speech, everyone was instructed to find their dormitories and head to the cafeteria after finishing unpacking their belongings.
The interviews would only take place after everyone had finished eating, so he had some time to properly rehearse what he would say.
The area where the dormitories were located was on one of the lowest floors, which made sense. If there were any invasion or calamity, the students would be safer far away from the surface.
When he opened the door and saw a room just for himself, he felt a slight pang in his chest. In theory, he also had his own room at the orphanage, but that place had once been a shared dormitory, no longer so.
"Growing up is really scary… the next step is having your own house or apartment."
He commented in a melancholic tone, already opening his suitcases and transferring his belongings to wherever seemed most appropriate.
Everything he needed was there, from a wardrobe, desk, private bathroom, a soft bed, and a few other simple pieces of furniture.
There was even a fake window, simulating a picturesque view of the outside. Unfortunately, there was no breeze coming through it, so he had to give the orphanage the win in that regard.
He was not in the mood to eat, but he forced himself to go out and join lunch. Even without an appetite, a well-fed body would only bring benefits for training later.
Just as he had imagined, the place was loud. The speech had served as a wake-up call for some of the more idealistic youths, and most were talking about where they might be sent on the solstice, plans to grow stronger, or simply getting to know one another better.
He chose a relatively crowded table after serving himself and quickly found himself surrounded by some familiar faces.
Most of them were people with whom he had exchanged friendly words earlier, greeting him, but some were new faces.
"Do you and Eric have some kind of rivalry? When I saw him going after you, I thought a fight was about to break out…"
Huh? So that was the big guy's name? Giovanni would like to say no, but even he was not sure what exactly had happened.
"I don't think so. We didn't know each other beforehand, after all. Is he someone famous?"
The energetic gossiping girl nodded enthusiastically.
"He's the heir of the Starfall Clan! They're vassals of the Valor Clan, and from what I've heard… they can do crazy things with gravity. Some people are saying he's the strongest of the new batch of sleepers, so be careful!"
What luck. Giovanni did not let his nervousness show on his face, offering only a gentle chuckle.
"I will, I promise."
The rest of the conversations were mostly idle chatter, whether creating fantastical scenarios and discussing how they would survive, or imagining fights between some of the more famous legacies.
Giovanni said his goodbyes after finishing his meal and headed to where he had been instructed to go to begin his interview.
The woman in charge of the questions was very respectful and kind, but he could not have been more worried.
First, he refused psychological counseling, both because it would be wasted time he could spend training and because of personal preference.
He was straightforward about his aspect, but also very careful with his words.
Instead of talking about the system of servitude, he described it as a support aspect that strengthened multiple allies under his leadership.
When asked about his abilities, he described them in the way that best favored his narrative. His ability to control terrain was extremely versatile and powerful, capable of acting as a defensive barrier, attacking enemies, and robbing them of their balance through elaborate traps.
He had managed to briefly test transmutation during the single night between dinner with Omar and leaving for the academy, but he still needed an open space to safely explore its limits, so he used the spell's description to inform the interviewer.
Things went out of control when she asked the question Giovanni had been waiting for:
"If you are willing to share, could you tell me the rank of your aspect?"
Giovanni nodded positively, answering without a moment of hesitation.
"Of course. It's Sacred, miss."
The pen she was using to take notes fell onto the desk. Her fingers, previously steady, seemed to tremble in surprise.
"Pardon me, could you repeat that?"
She spoke calmly, but her demeanor had suddenly grown restless.
"The rank is Sacred."
When she saw that Giovanni was willing to answer any question asked, more and more questions came one after another.
From the creatures he faced in the first nightmare, information about the setting where everything took place, to its conclusion.
"I managed to sneak through the underground, since the surface was far too dangerous. It took a while until I reached the eastern area, but I managed."
"But how did you kill the nightmare creature? You claim it was of the Corrupted rank, correct?"
Even Giovanni was not sure how he killed the centipede. Beings of that magnitude were more than capable of withstanding rocks to the head. If he had to guess, it must have been related to the material that tower was made of.
"Oh, it was simple. I lured it close to the wall and collapsed part of the canyon. It was crushed in the process, and the nightmare ended."
Everything he said was documented in a hurry. He was quite descriptive when narrating the landscapes and the city, because he knew people were rewarded for new information about places unknown to authorities.
Giovanni would not be able to obtain Soul Shards on his own, so any opportunity to grow stronger was welcome.
"To finish for today… what was your final evaluation of the nightmare?"
"Glorious. Ah, and one last thing… I obtained a true name! The spell calls me Light Seeker."
***
That seemed to be the last straw for the poor woman.
He was dismissed after finishing the adjustments to his profile, leaving a stunned woman behind. It was quite possible that the information in his report would spread like wildfire by tomorrow, but that was fine.
The day would be free, and he intended to spend it wisely. Climbing the floors of the complex, Giovanni once again found himself in the vast green fields on the surface.
With so much space and land at his disposal, he would not need to worry about damaging the environment.
"Alright, time to go all out!"
The environment around him felt tangible, like an extension of his spirit. His mind infused the terrain with his will, and before he realized it, he could move earth and rock with mere thoughts.
If he were to estimate the effective limit of his seismic sense at the moment, it would be around ten meters in all directions. Beyond that, the images and sensations gradually became more imprecise and simple, until disappearing completely at the thirty-meter mark.
That applied only to the passive effect, since when he actively tried to expand his sense farther, he could, with effort, reach a distance of at least two hundred meters.
As a consequence, he needed to focus entirely on that point, essentially losing the ability to sense the nearby environment.
His position also drastically influenced its effectiveness. If Giovanni was in direct contact with the ground, the process was fast and efficient.
If, for any reason, he was distant from it or lifted into the air, maintaining the sensory connection required more effort. This would likely become more critical the higher he was.
"I wonder if I can fly using this…"
The idea was quite simple. He could make rocks float in the air. As long as they could support his weight, why not explore the cosmos?
It only took a few experiments to realize that it was impossible for now. Giovanni could even stand on a rock and float, but the height limit did not go much beyond four meters.
Besides being slow as hell, it was extremely unstable. It was like trying to balance on top of a balloon!
Thus, the "Flying Board" project was shelved for the time being.
His next test was to see what the largest thing he could control. Using total focus, he managed to raise a respectable wall of pure stone, the hardest material to control, but also the most durable.
With four meters in height, five in width, and two in thickness, it was great work… if he wanted to die like an idiot!
No creature would sit around waiting for him to finish his architectural project. Taking ten seconds to raise a single defense was terrible!
The expenditure of soul essence also had to be taken into account. One wall alone did not drain him much, but since it was incapable of killing, the number of opponents would not decrease if he were alone.
"Haha… how bothersome. I might need to train until death."
A normal person would only need to train until they became decent or good with their ability. Being able to throw rocks at enemies' heads and kill them would already solve most problems.
But Giovanni needed to be capable of defeating and incapacitating creatures as strong as or stronger than himself without causing a single injury. Being good was not enough, maybe not even exceptional.
Giovanni needed to become the greatest transmuter and earthbender that ever existed.