Dream stood in silence before the throne of shadow. A minute passed, then two. The immense energy pressure emanating from the man seated before him pressed down on the nascent 'Rei' within him, forcing it to shrink like a flame in the path of a hurricane.
Then, slowly, Tai Gu opened his eyes. They were not like Ling Gu's arrogant eyes. They were calm, deep, and carried the weight of centuries of power and wisdom. He looked at Dream, one long, appraising look, as if he were reading every line of his history, every crack in his soul. Then, a faint, mysterious smile formed on his lips.
And he nodded.
"Good," Tai Gu said. His voice was not loud, but it resonated in the enormous hall as if it were the voice of the mountain itself. "You may leave now."
There were no other questions. There were no orders. It was simply a final word. Dream turned slowly and walked out of the room, feeling Tai Gu's eyes following him until the giant doors closed behind him with a muffled thud.
Kāgē was waiting for him in the corridor, her face as expressionless as ever. She looked him up and down.
"Very good," she said in her flat voice. "You behaved with non-barbaric etiquette."
She paused for a moment, then turned. "I will show you to your room. Follow me."
She led him through the silent corridors of the palace, but this time, they took a different route, one that descended into the depths. The further they went, the colder and damper the air became. They arrived at a simple stone room on the lower floors. It contained only a stone bed and an oil lantern. It was clean, but it was more of a cell than a room. Compared to Ling Gu's luxurious chamber, this was garbage. But Dream did not care.
"Now, I will leave," Kāgē said, and before he could register it, she had vanished into the shadows as if she had never been there.
Dream sat on the cold bed. It was midday, but no sunlight reached this depth. He began to analyze the data. He looked at Deo's metal bracelet on his wrist.
He thought about returning to the Forest of Restraint. Hong-min's memory told him that place was filled with raw emotions: fear, despair, and awe. It was the perfect place to collect data. But his logic told him he could not return now. He now had an ally, a powerful "friend." Ling Gu. He had offered to help with his mission. Logic dictated that he stay and cooperate to increase the chances of success. He must focus on becoming stronger first.
He closed his eyes and tried again to open his Soul Gate. He felt the 'Rei' around him, in the stones, in the air, like a silent cosmic hum. But he could not grasp it. It was like music heard by a deaf man. He kept trying all day, until a deeper darkness fell and even the lantern's flame dimmed.
The next morning, Kāgē appeared from the shadows with the same sudden silence. "It is time for training."
"Have you memorized the way to the training grounds?" she asked in her flat voice.
"Yes."
"Good." And she disappeared.
Dream walked through the palace as it began to awaken, wondering to himself where Ling Gu could be. He hadn't seen him since yesterday. Did "friends" not meet every day? Hong-min's memory data on the subject was chaotic and inconclusive. He reached the grounds, and the moment his feet touched the frozen earth, the sound of the majestic anthem rose. Everyone stood at attention, and he did the same. When it ended, he saw Wěn waiting for him in the same quiet corner.
"Yes, 'Dream'," Wěn said without preamble. "I have found a fighting style that will suit you." He tossed him an old book with a worn leather cover. "It is called 'Path of the Digger'. It seems you will be the first person in the Gu clan to learn it in a long time. It is not famous, because it is a specialized style for 'rapier' swordsmen. It consists of three stages: Clay, Dirt, and Grass. It is a 'Refinement Codex' level book."
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Upon hearing the word, Hong-min's memory flooded Dream's consciousness.
"Not the best," Wěn continued, interrupting the flow of memories, "but it is good. And it will be suitable for you."
The training began. Wěn spent the entire morning teaching Dream the basic movements of the "Path of the Digger" style. Dream was like a sponge, absorbing every move and every stance with mechanical precision.
"Talented," Wěn admitted. "Your body learns faster than anyone I have ever seen."
But when it was time to learn 'Rei', the problem appeared.
"Now, pull the 'Echo of Creation' into you," Wěn said. "And allow your gate to refine it."
Dream tried. He focused, and tried to pull the energy from around him. But nothing happened.
"Ah, right," W-ěn said. "Normally, this is the easiest step, after you have felt the 'Rei'. But I forgot you were special."
He approached and placed his hand on Dream's chest again. "Let me explain. Your gate is not one. It is chaos. I, for example, when I pull in the 'Echo of Creation', my body refines it directly into 'Rei', because my gate knows no other path. Your gate, on the other hand, is a crossroads in a storm.
You must choose the path yourself, impose your will upon the chaos. That is why I asked you six months ago to 'feel' the 'Rei' and memorize its form. You must focus on that form, and force your gate to produce only that."
Wěn left Dream and sat nearby, watching him.
Hours passed. Sunset came, then night, then dawn. Wěn remained beside him, watching in silence. Dream was wrestling with the void inside him. How could he "choose" something he could not see? He felt a logical frustration, like a perfect machine facing an unsolvable equation.
His systems were registering an infinite loop of failure, and this produced a state of internal static he had never known before.
Finally, after a full night of absolute concentration, he succeeded. He felt that sharp red thread form in his center, then flow through his body. He had opened his gate.
But Wěn noticed something.
He took Dream's hand and sensed the flow of energy.
"Your reservoir..." he said slowly, "is extremely small. It seems your talent stops here." He drained all the energy Dream had stored from this first refinement.
It was a minuscule amount.
It took two full hours of absolute concentration for Dream to fill his tiny reservoir again.
"This is very bad," Wěn said honestly. "I thought at first you would have a larger reservoir, which would solve the problem of your slow refinement speed since you have to manually refine the energy. The only solution is constant training to increase the speed of refinement."
He tossed him another book, thinner than the first. "The Art of the Dewdrop."
"You know how to read, correct?"
"Yes."
"This book focuses on using 'Rei' with maximum efficiency, without wasting a single drop. Every strike must be fatal. It is of the 'Mastery Codex' level and has seven levels. There is only one person I knew who ever mastered this style completely... but she is dead now. Her name was Eikumi."
Dream froze.
It wasn't just an echo of Hong-min's memory this time. It was a real feeling. A burning sensation that erupted from his secondary heart. A violent red flash lit up his consciousness, and with it, data he had not requested.
Hong-min screamed in his mind.
"From morning until noon, you will train with me in swordsmanship," Wěn said, unaware of the internal storm. "After that, you will remain here, training in refinement and reading these two books. You do not need to sleep or eat, which means you have a full day more than we do. Use it.
He turned to leave.
A month passed in this manner.
He was progressing. In swordsmanship, he reached the "Clay" level. In "The Art of the Dewdrop," he reached the second level, "Streams of Sand," and felt disgusted with himself every time he mastered a move, because it made him feel like he resembled her.
His refinement speed improved, from two hours to one hour. He was progressing slowly, but he was progressing steadily. One day, he couldn't stop himself from asking. "Wěn, where is Ling Gu? I have not seen him for a month."
Wěn looked at him coldly.
"It is none of your concern. He is a busy man. Focus on your training."
At the end of the month, Wěn came to him.
"Go rest today.
Tomorrow, you will go to be ranked."