When Dream closed himself in the bedroom, he went and laid on the bed.

"Let's resume our study."

After he said that, runes began to form themselves all around the room. From the floor to ceiling, wall to wall. Every square foot had runes forming and soon, magic circles. The mana density in the room skyrocketed.

What Dream and Sophia had been working on last night was figuring out how different types of mana interacted with each other. One big question Dream had was, how exactly does mana, formed into runes, pull in specific types of mana?

Dream manipulated mana, and his biggest strength was his ability to affect the physical world with mana. His second biggest was creating magic using mana, just simply known as Magic.

But Dream felt that he lacked in the magic department. Sure he could enchant, but he was imbuing items with the ability to use copies of his skills. This was what he did with the mining robots and their power sources. But that wasn't doing something... outside reality.

The whole point of magic was to bend the world. It seemingly broke the universe based on how the user wanted. But Dream didn't feel that he was doing anything 'universe breaking'. He wasn't trying to literally bend the universe, but he wanted to do or make something unnatural. Or supernatural. And it seemed to him that the circles could be a way to do something like that.

Magic circles were the Will of a soul that was codified and infused into the world. It worked by controlling specific types of mana like elemental mana to affect physical objects, unlike Dream who directly controlled the object. Now one might think that directly controlling an object might be better, but there are certain peculiarities in the way matter reacts when being controlled by its designated type of mana that makes this application unique.

Let's take water. When Dream makes a magic circle, the circle pulls in water elemental mana to it. The elemental mana increases in concentration. And eventually, that mana begins to affect the physical water around it. And it's this influence exerted on matter by mana that intrigues Dream. It worked very different from his magic, but for him who loved gaining and using more knowledge, this was only a good thing.

So as Dream lay on the bed and filled the room with magic circles, he monitored each one along with Sophia closely, trying to see how it all interacts. He also experimented with the runes, attempting to create his own way of affecting elemental mana without the circles. For this he almost needed to create his own internal language, but they basically had that already.

Dream and Sophia had been using their 'soul language' for enchanting. It was way more efficient and they couldn't hardly mess up while using it. But enchanting was a bit different from these circles, and they wanted to know the effects of language and runes on the effectiveness of the circle. This was a battle of which language worked better. For them at least.

For a few hours Dream just lay there with his eyes closed, processing the overall data alongside Sophia. This went on until they were disturbed.

"Hey Dream! I was actually able to..."

Arrina burst into the bedroom with Mara in tow. She was trying to pass along good news, but she was enthralled by the sight of magic circles filling the room.

"How...How can there be so many sequences..."

Arrina stood there stunned, and Mara reacted no differently. When she saw the assortment of single and double layer circles along with runes floating all over the place, she didn't know what to think. Not only that, but she could feel the super high mana density inside the room.

Dream noticed them and sat up, facing them.

"What happened?"

"Uhh...What is all this?"

"They're magic circles."

"Well...I see that. But how are there so many?"

"Once your mind is strong enough, these become child's play. And along with the manipulation techniques I'm teaching you, you'll be able to do this pretty soon."

"I have a question."

Mara spoke up. Dream turned to her.

"I don't recognize a lot of the runes you're using. And the circles are maintaining themselves despite having only a portion of the runes from the language. How are you doing that?"

"A good question. To understand that, you need to understand the normal language you use and why you use it. Why are the runes designed the way they are, and what happens when you use other languages. Come sit."

Dream invited them over and they sat across from him on the bed while looking all around the room. He then began to pull them down his rabbit hole.

...............

..........

.....

That night, Dream spoke with Mara until the sun rose while Arrina had worked herself too much to listen to such complex concepts.

So come morning, Dream had put Arrina to sleep while Mara left for classes. This would be the second day in a row that neither Dream nor Arrina went to their morning classes.

That day, the three repeated the cycle. Arrina would wake up late, they'd go to practical, meet up with Mara at lunch, split again for healing, and meet up once more in the evening in Dream's dorm. Throughout the day, both of them helped Arrina where they could, and during healing, Dream and Mara would be talking with each other the entire time about magical concepts over telepathy.

And like that, 5 days passed and they came to the deadline for taking the advncement test. Dream's deadline anyway. But for Arrina, this could be the day too.

"Do you really think I'm ready, Mara?" (Arrina)

Arrina was sitting next to Mara on the couch, who had been showing her a set of sequences.

"I think you are." (Mara)

"Really?"

"...You've learned all of the basic sequencing concepts and have already moved into the intermediate realm. As far as I know, you're ahead of Dream in pure academic knowledge, so yes, I think you're ready."

"...Okay. So Dream, when's this test?"

They both looked over to Dream, who had over a dozen sequences floating around him. They had gotten used to this sight after seeing him do it for several days.

"I've talked to the counselor and he said we'll do it after 4th period."

"It's lunch right now. So we've got a few hours." (Mara)

"Ahh, I'm so nervous!"

"You'll do fine. Worst case you don't pass, and I'm pretty sure we'll be able to try again later."

"Easy for you to say. Not everyone can just talk to such a high-level counselor whenever they want. How did you come to meet him anyway?"

"Heh."

Dream snickered. This was definitely not the first time Arrina had tried to pry into this topic. Not only that, but she and Mara both had tried to get him to say where he was from and how he came to know the stuff he did. His manipulation 'techniques' had obviously been exposed to Mara, and her curiosity overwhelmed her shyness, so they both had tried to find out his secrets.

But Dream wouldn't see easily give away who he was. Whether it was him having fun seeing them pout or just plain distrust, he hadn't given them any hints. But despite this, it hadn't caused Mara or Arrina to be wary. Everybody had their secrets, and eventually it just became them playing around with him.

After talking and finalizing everything for this test, they went to their 4th period. For Arrina, these 3 hours passed too slowly. But for Dream who wasn't worried and Mara who wasn't taking it, it was quick and they soon met back up at his dorm.

"Alright, you ready?"

Outside the room, Arrina was nervously fidgeting. Dream hadn't made her workout at all so she could be in peak shape, but it seemed like her nerves were still getting to her.

"You'll be fine. Now come on, time to go meet the counselor."

Dream waved them on and they followed. They walked out of the dorms and interestingly, didn't go to the administration building. Instead, they arrived at the big practice stadium.

"Why are we here?"

"Its a magic test. It would be difficult to test us inside a small office."

Dream pushed open the door to the stadium used for their practical class and went in. Two people were already there and greeted them when they came in.

"Dream. You're here."

"Boy."

Amitel and Riddick stood in the center of the stadium. The three walked over.

"What's up, Old Man."

"Are these your friends?"

"They are. This is Arrina, and this is Mara."

"I see. Nice to meet you two. I hope this brat hasn't given you two much trouble."

"N-no. At least not that much."

"..."

Arrina nervously answered while Mara stayed silent. She still wasn't comfortable around people she'd never met.

"Alright. I'm under the impression that there are two people taking this test. Arrina will be the second, correct?" (Amitel)

"Yes." (Arrina)

"Then there's no time to lose. I have a series of knowledge and practical tests that'll make sure you fully understand the extent of the basic sequencing concepts. I will judge whether or not you move on to the next level based on your performance."

"Understood."

"First will be Dream. Step up to the line."

Dream nodded and moved to where Amitel indicated. In front of him were several wooden and metal targets.

"First. I want you to show me a 26 rune, two-layer sequence."

*Woosh*

Dream raised his palm and immediately made a circle. It didn't take more than a second to form.

"Very good. Now, I want a 42 rune, two-layer sequence."

Once again, Dream formed the circle, but in the other hand. Both two-layer circles maintained themselves.

"...Interesting. Now, I want you to make a water elemental, 22 rune, single-layer circle. Its purpose will be to conglomerate a ball of water."

Dream dissipated both circles and formed the water circle in his hand. Soon, the elemental mana flowed to the circle and with it, water.

"Well done. Now earth."

*Woosh*

"Good. Now two-layer water."

*Woosh*

"Two-layer earth."

*Woosh*

Dream made circle after circle. He did everything exactly as Amitel wanted. The counselor nodded and moved on.

"Now, the final test will be to test your circles against those targets. Destroy two targets on the left and two on the right."

Dream nodded and formed two magic circles in his hands, pointing them to the left and right. Earth began to form on the left, and water on the right. Then, they were launched towards the targets.

The left targets were wooden, and the right ones were metal. They obviously differed in difficulty, but Dream just dealt with them all at once.

Two rocks were launched at the wooden targets, punching giant holes in the center of the targets. Meanwhile, the water slashed the two targets on the right in half, causing half the metal plate to fall to the floor.

*Clank!*

"...Very good. Congratulations Dream. You have passed the test. You are now an intermediate student."

"Thanks."

Dream casually stepped off the line and walked next to Riddick. Amitel then called up Arrina.

Amitel gave slightly differing, but mostly the same sequencing tests. And she did them all perfectly. Dream had taught her how to incorporate manipulation with sequence forming, and it had greatly increased her ability to not only learn the runes, but form and maintain circles.

As Riddick watched, he noticed the similarities in how Dream controlled his mana to how Arrina controlled hers. Dream had actually explained to him how he was teaching Arrina manipulation, and it looked like she had made plenty of progress.

Soon, Arrina finished her sequencing test and was told to destroy the same targets that Dream did. She did, and was expecting for the test to end there, but Amitel gave her one last question.

"Before we end, can you show me a three-layer circle?"

"Oh, alright."

Arrina didn't question it and created a three-layer circle. Amitel smiled.

"Good job. And congratulations. You are now an intermediate student."

"Thank you!"

Arrina smiled brightly and squealed a bit before calming herself and backing away from the line. Amitel glanced towards Mara before speaking again.

"I'll arrange for your class today and by tonight you'll have the information. Until then, here are the documents for your books. Return the basic books and you'll get the intermediate ones. You'll also be moving up to an intermediate practical class appropriate for your skills. Any questions?"

Arrina and Dream read over the documents. Dream nodded in approval, but Arrina noticed something off.

"Wait, we'll be moving up in the elemental class too?"

"Yes. Sequencing, elemental, and practical. All three are integrated, and I tested you for all three. So you will naturally move up in all three."

"Okay!"

Arrina was even more excited than before. She only thought it was for sequencing, but what Amitel said made sense.

"Then if there's nothing else, I'll be going. You can exchange for the books now, so I suggest you do that."

"We will."

"Good. I'll talk to you later, Riddick"

"Sure."

Saying bye, Amitel left the stadium. Riddick turned to Dream.

"Dream, may I speak to you alone?"

"Oh, sure. Mara, if you don't mind taking Arrina to get her new books."

"Sure."

The girls nodded and left, leaving Riddick and Dream alone.

"I have some news that I feel you should know about."

"Something happen?"

"I think you already know about them. The demons."

"I do."

"Then I'll keep it short. I got reports about them making contact with soldiers and mercenaries from the Mercenary Empire."

"They've come to the continent?"

"They weren't already?"

Both Riddick and Dream were surprised by each other's comments. Dream explained.

"No. The demons originated from the third continent. They've already wiped out a few kingdoms and I had known that it wouldn't be long before they came up to the human continent, but I didn't think it'd be so fast."

"Interesting. Well, the reports said that the soldiers and demons have already gotten into several battles, and the Mercenary Empire is using its power to quell the threat. Which will be easy for them, but they did note that their strength is increasing constantly. One week, there are only class 1's, the next there are class 2's. And there's a lot of them."

"And those are only their vanguard forces. Their main force is still on the third continent, so there's much more to the demons than they think."

"Knowing this, if you don't mind, I'd like to get the intelligence that you have. I want to send it over to the Mercenary Empire. I also wanted to get your opinion on this demon threat."

"Well I'll let you in on some insider info. Demons have come to my home world as well. I've been collecting intelligence from there too, and I can confidently say that if left alone, it has the potential to be world-ending. It's not a threat to take lightly. So yes, I will give you what I have for you to send."

"Thanks. And the people up top have thoughts similar to yours, just not as dramatic. They understand the abnormality of the demons, and want to do something about it. And hearing what you have to say, I've also made up my mind. Here."

Riddick took some books out of his inventory and handed them to Dream.

"These are the intermediate, advanced, and master copies of sequencing theory."

"There's a master copy?"

"There is. It's for high-level class 2's and class 3's. And it's not something that's just given out. I had thought about refraining from giving you the master copy, but since there's a new threat, I've changed my mind. Another reason is because I might be leaving."

"To the Mercenary Empire?"

"Correct. The Empires are sending out support troops in accordance with the alliance. And knowing my skillset, I was the top candidate."

"When will you leave?"

"Depends on the reports, but a month at most. And the report that I'm going to pass on from you may accelerate my leave. Who knows, I may be gone in a week."

"Hmm..."

Dream went into thought. He wasn't worried about Riddick leaving, but the increasing threat of the demons. He was also wondering if he should leave with Riddick, but after thinking about the preparations he wanted to make, he didn't bring it up.