Awakened Academy

The Academy is a city within the city. It is built like a fortress, with a high wall made of hard alloy, a deep moat, and numerous large-caliber turrets which were placed in certain positions to create a deadly air-suppression dome. No Nightmare Creature, not even colossal titans, was supposed to be able to break through its defenses. It is the only government-funded educational facility on Earth for the Awakened.^[2]

Sleepers are entitled to enroll in the Awakened Academy. They'll be provided with food, lodging, and a wide choice of preparatory classes.^[3]

Logistics of the Academy were a constant headache for the administrators since the rate at which the Spell infected people was always chaotic. There was no way to orderly structure for batches of Sleepers to undergo any type of standardized education on a shared schedule: some of them had a full year to prepare for the Dream Realm, some only months, and some had mere days. That is why the induction ceremonies were held each month at the beginning of the year and then every week once the winter solstice began to loom near.^[4]

The granted personal living space in the dormitories was the same as the room the Sleepers lived in during their preparations to enter the Dream Realm for the first time, but with one significant difference: there was a smaller room adjacent to the main one, housing a humble meditation space and an individual sleeping pod. The pod, however, was not as advanced and state-of-the-art as the ones used for the Sleepers. It did its job fine as long as an Awakened remained in the Dream Realm for about eight to twelve hours.^[5]

The interior of the Instructors Lounge seemed simple and cozy. Most of the furniture was made out of natural wood, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Bright sunlight streamed through the tall windows, which were open slightly to let in the chilly winter air. Food is served by automation and it was more delicious than hospital food.^[6]

The hospital complex of the Academy is one of the best medical institutions humanity has to offer, combining state-of-the-art tech with ingenious spelltech, as well as employing many Awakened with actual healing Aspects. This is also where Sleepers enter the sleeping pods to venture into the Dream Realm. This is where many of the Hollow are kept, as well.^[7]

When the winter solstice comes, the sleepers are led to the Academy's medical center. The center looked more like a shrine than a hospital. Its interior contained both highly advanced technology, as well as some of the best Healers among the Awakened. For the duration of their first journey into the Dream Realm, the bodies of Sleepers would be kept safe in specially designed pods and sustained by the magical powers of those Healers if anything unfortunate were to happen on the other side of the Spell. Of course, whether or not they would wake up wholly depended on the Sleepers themselves.^[8]

The Sleeper part of the compound is relatively small and situated in the southern part of the academy, surrounded on all sides by training fields and parks. This is where Sleepers who are entering the Dream Realm for the first time in the coming winter solstice are brought to and taught to survive in the Dream Realm. While the Academy accepts all Sleepers, each Sleeper is judged by an interview of their first nightmare, their aspect, and so on, on their standing compared to other Sleepers of the same year.^[4]

Most of it is underground. Usually, there is a lot of activity inside and around it, but soon after the solstice, there are no sleepers around.^[9]

A square white building. Like most of the Academy, its walls were made out of smooth, pristine alloy, with wide windows that could be covered at any moment with reinforced shutters. Not a lot of people go to the library since most information is accessible from the network via the communicator, but it would leave a digital trail behind, or via public terminals that cost credits for usage. Inside the building, tall shelves full of paper books stretched into the distance. Between them stood tables meant for study. On the tables, there are terminals for note-taking but some people write by hand. Although gathering information from a terminal would be far more convenient, paper books are still being used because it is believed to be the safest way to preserve knowledge.^[10] Sunny thought the facility was interesting but also full of lies and propaganda.^[11]

Ren and Nickel are two of the librarians that work here.^[10]

During spring, the air in the park was warm and pleasant. The melodic drip-drop of melting snow disturbed the peaceful silence of the early morning. There are kiosks scattered around the Academy and the currency used for something is credits.^[5]

The Academy has many courses for different situations. All types of combat training, deep dives into Nightmare Creature categories and vulnerabilities, basics of various types of sorcery, artifact study, and so on.^[2]

• Wilderness Survival - Instructor: Julius^[12]
• Combat Training - Instructor: Rock^[13]
• Resource Management during Prolonged Expeditions and Intercitadel Travel - Instructor: Sunless^[14]

The Awakened Academy was opened almost eighteen years after the descent of the Spell. It was a project pushed by renowned Masters' factions, requiring the government to prioritize it. Despite previous plans for a centralized education facility for newly infected carriers of the Nightmare Spell and younger Awakened, logistics made it backburner until almost eighteen years after the descent of the Spell when the children of many original Awakened were swiftly approaching the age that would allow them to be infected.^[15]

The Awakened relatives experienced a higher infection rate than the general population, causing great distress among them.^[15]