In the waking world, the cohort sat together in a wide spaced office, opposite them sat Saint Cor, a transcendent that worked directly for the government, and standing beside him was Master Jet.
A few minutes after Merlin baffled the entire academy, Master Jet had showed up and demanded an explanation, but after the cohort had given her the overview of what happened, she simply sighed and muttered in her words 'They don't pay me enough for this…', then the situation was transferred to the officials above, so the cohort had to go back, then return for the questioning the next day.
Saint Cor stared at the multiple reports in front of his desk, these were written reports from the witnesses over the academy.
The government had tried their best to suppress the incident, but it was inevitable as the news still reached the great clans, not only that, but because of the sleeper involved, the awakened used their personal means to make sure the news travelled the edges of the waking world and dream realm, so in the end, their efforts were pretty much useless.
Cor dropped the reports then turned to the cohort and said.
"According to the surveillance cameras set up in the academy, we captured the entire process… of him shattering the pod, floating above the ground, and summoning that cloak memory…"
He sighed then continued, his voice now filled with undisguised probing.
"...But the moment he summoned that… according to the reports, a monocle, the surveillance cameras and all other electronic devices around the academy and a few distances away all encountered statistical errors…"
He picked up the reports and held it in his hand as he finished.
"And from what the witnesses said, Merlin… a sleeper used a strange ability to restore the broken pod to its original state… and he went back to sleep… is this report correct?"
The cohort all had flat looks on their faces, they had already replayed everything that happened yesterday in their minds countless times, after they left the academy, they still stopped at Sunny's house to discuss their next move, and they had come to the conclusion of simply letting life take its course, while putting in efforts to protect Merlin's secrets from becoming open, so for the entire conversation, they all agreed that Sunny would keep his mouth shut until spoken to directly, and if it ever came to that, Sunny would twist the truth in his own way.
"Yes Saint Cor, that report is accurate" Nephis answered calmly.
"That is what the reports say, what I want to know is what you guys have to say about the situation" Cor said as he looked at them sharply.
The cohort remained calm as Nephis replied.
"What we saw is exactly as the reports described, we also have no idea what happened"
Cor alternated looks between them then he turned to the reports on his desk he stared at it for a second then asked.
"According to the witnesses, you guys were all available when it happened… don't you think it's a little strange that the exact day you all plan to visit your teammates, this event happens?"
"Cassie said she had a vision about the academy, that's why we all showed up, we didn't expect what happened as the vision wasn't specific" Nephis answered again while the cohort behind her simply nodded along with her explanation.
"A vision…" Cor turned to Cassie on the side and asked "...what were the specific details of the vision?"
Cassie didn't flinch at the question as she answered calmly.
"All I saw in the vision was the academy and a black curtain… nothing else"
"Is that all?" Cor asked again.
"Yes, that's all I saw" Cassie said calmly.
Cor dropped the reports then he intertwined his fingers while keeping his elbows on the desk, then he turned to them and released the pressure of a saint, then asked.
"So can any of you explain how he awakened?"
The cohort met the pressure head on as Nephis still calmly replied.
"No we can not"
The answer was short and precise and it was also true… they had no idea how Merlin became an awakened without leaving the dream realm.
"Is that true?" Cor asked as he turned to the cohort, they all nodded in reply.
"Alright, that is all for the questions… you may leave" Cor said as he leaned back in his chair.
The members of the cohort stood up accordingly and left the office one after another, as they left, Master Jet who had been quiet since asked.
"Sir… what should we do about him?"
Saint Cor sighed and said.
"At this point, there's nothing we can do about him, but make sure to increase the surveillance on him, I don't know what the great clans might try to do to him with the supposed miracle he just pulled off…"
"But… is it even possible to awaken without returning from the dream realm?" Jet asked, confused, the normal procedure everyone followed was for the sleeper to return through a gateway and become an awakened, then the awakened can simply return to the dream realm by going to sleep.
Although Merlin had woken up once, completely completing the regular awakening process, he also returned to the dream realm and showed no further movements of returning, so the government officials speculated that Merlin never used a gateway in the first place, but instead found another way to awaken, they weren't sure if such a thing was possible, but after the questioning with Merlin's teammates, they had come to the conclusion that Merlin hadn't used a gateway.
"I don't know how he did it, but I've confirmed it, when I asked how he awakened, if it were a regular awakened, the answer should have been that he returned from the dream realm through a gateway, but they didn't say that… the answer they gave was 'we don't know', that alone was enough to conclude that this Merlin didn't awaken through the regular process…"
Cor pinched his temples and sighed then continued.
"If the great clans find out that a sleeper awakened without returning from the dream realm, we're going to have more than a difficult situation on our hands… make sure this information never leaves this room, and Jet… from now on, you're in charge of all things concerning awakened Merlin, and you will report any new development to me"
"I understand Saint Cor" Jet nodded and sighed inwardly 'another one to my workload'
As Jet was about to walk out of the door, Cor called out.
"And Jet… when he fully awakens, do everything to bring him unto the side of the government…"
"I understand…" Jet nodded then left the room.
…
In the Song domain… Inside the Jade palace…
"Mother… according to the investigation, yesterday the only noteworthy thing that took place was a situation concerning the sleeper Merlin, the one that Seishan scouted from the forgotten shore" Eubin said to the puppets that stood beside each other in the throne room.
"Call Seishan first… I want her to hear the report too" the male puppet said.
"Yes Mother…" Eubin bowed.
..
.
"You called for me Mother?" Seishan bowed as she asked.
"Yes Seishan… there's some new development about the sleeper called Merlin" the female puppet said.
Seishan's head perked up as she asked.
"Has he returned from the dream realm?"
The puppet didn't answer but turned to Eubin, Eubin nodded and explained.
"Yesterday, in the academy…" Eubin described the scenario of what happened yesterday, her information was from her own investigation and the information from the witnesses.
The reveal left Seishan and Ki Song speechless, Ki Song expected something along the lines of baffling, but for a sleeper to effectively reverse the damage done, that was just impossibility at play.
"So… he didn't awaken?" Seishan asked carefully.
"Well the reports say that he's currently an awakened, but any other information is blocked" Eubin sighed.
"What did the government saint say?" The puppet asked.
"When I got there, Cor said that as long as Merlin doesn't agree to join the song domain himself, he cannot reveal any information concerning his situation" Eubin said calmly.
"That's enough… from now on Eubin, have someone keep an eye on Merlin in the academy, and protect him from Valor spies, as for you Seishan… when Merlin returns, make sure to convince him to join us…" the female puppet said softly.
"Yes Mother" the sisters bowed.
"That will be all"
Seishan and Eubin bowed again and left the throne room.
..
.
As they got outside, Seishan questioned Eubin.
"Sister… who will be in charge of watching Merlin?"
"Ooh~ are you volunteering? I can ask Mother to let you do it if you want?" Eubin said in a teasing voice.
"No! I will focus on challenging the second nightmare and becoming a master" Seishan refused sternly, she felt that if she met him as an awakened, she would feel inferior to him.
"Suit yourself… just do a good job convincing your little boyfriend to join us, if you can't do it you should tell me, I wouldn't mind using a little of my abilities on him, tho that'll make him follow me instead~" Eubin teased.
"I don't need your help" Seishan rolled her eyes and walked away.
Eubin smiled and muttered.
"We'll see about that sister… I'm also rather interested in this Merlin of yours…"
…
In a valor estate, Morgan the princess of valor sat on a chair as an awakened reported the product of their investigations on the sleeper named Merlin.
He was an individual that the people of valor had always kept a close watch on since the incident of the forgotten shore, so they were obviously informed about the situation that occurred at the academy, however they still sent someone to get more accurate information.
The saints in the clan were also interested in the situation, so they had handed it over to her to see it to the end.
"So you mean to tell me a sleeper reversed the damage done to a sleeping pod and it returned to perfect condition…" Morgan spoke calmly to the awakened that knelt on one knee not meeting her gaze.
"Yes lady Morgan, that was what happened, multiple witnesses confirmed it, even the awakeneds that kept an eye on him also witnessed it" the awakened answered.
"... And this sleeper is no longer a sleeper but now an awakened as of now… Am I right?" Morgan asked the sleeper, this was the most confusing part of the whole event, a sleeper possibly the world's current strongest based on the rumours, had been left on the forgotten shore, struggled his way through, conquered a citadel and awakened, only to return to the dream realm and not come out again.
The series of actions left most of the clan elders confused, some even speculated that he never conquered a citadel, but that situation was impossible as he would not have awakened otherwise.
The kneeling awakened nodded and said.
"We've asked around the academy, and also confirmed the situation, he is currently an awakened, but the reason he hasn't returned from the dream realm is still unknown"
"I see… you may go" Morgan waved off the awakened and sighed, then she stood up and walked away to report the situation to the clan elders.
…
In the rocky plain, Merlin wandered through the endless connecting paths, relying on his intuition, it was like a giant endless maze with hundreds of tight intertwining paths, he hadn't rested since he woke up, his golden eyes were still hollow and his hair had now turned pale ash just like Silver's, anyone who saw him now would instantly relate him to the ghoul version of Kaneki except for the eyes.
His journey had not been calm in any way, the creatures in the rocky plain had not left him with any moment of peace, although the rank of the creatures here were weak compared to the city of Civilth, they made up for it in their numbers.
Merlin had also used up all the shards he had left to raise his rank back to an awakened demon, and a demon was what he had been ever since he woke up in that conjured iron shed.
He had killed and killed nightmare creatures, he hadn't rested and hadn't run, the only thing he had eaten were the fruits from the soul devouring tree, they had served to quench his hunger and also increase his fragments.
He had planned to check up on the cohort, but he couldn't spend too much time in his soul sea, so he had just told them that he was in a tight situation and would try to make time for them later.
When he had entered his soul sea, he was shocked to find that there were almost a hundred new points of light floating around the castle in his soul sea, he hadn't checked them specifically, but the few he had checked were people from the academy, he also saw one for Master Jet and one other one, but he didn't have the time to answer to anything.
He had used the spectre suit to camouflage his figure, and hunt, but he noticed that staying too long in the camouflage state gave the mountains creatures a way to track him through sensing the vibrations in the ground, he had also used the wraith enchantment, but the essence drain of the enchantment on his awakened core was rather much, he speculated that would be able to keep it for five minutes at max, despite being a demon with three cores.
So he cancelled the idea of meeting the cohort in the wraith state, the drain from the enchantment and keeping them in his soul sea would leave him empty in under three minutes.
In the one day that he had spent inside the rocky plain, he had killed over thirty nightmare creatures, he was sufficiently lucky that none of them were above fallen rank, that's why his journey had been rather smooth.
Merlin who was still walking down the endless maze had steeled himself to one goal… get stronger and get Silver, the rest would have to come after he had achieved that.
And so his journey had begun…
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P.S I don't remember the government saint's name, and I didn't bother to check, so please if I'm wrong drop the correct name in the comments, I'll make adjustments.