C18 Dream Tree

How should one describe them? Pillars of the nation? The elite of society? Everything seemed perfect, yet being in their company sent a chill down one's spine.

"Mr. Egil, it appears your plane has been destroyed. If necessary, I can assist you in contacting the Azure Dragon Garden. After all, aside from the Military Academy, our Augustus Academy maintains a good relationship with Azure Dragon. We're certainly capable of arranging a direct line to the principal."

Look at that—the wound on Quintana's chest was bandaged by Egil himself. And just like that, she was speaking to Egil with such a businesslike tone.

Despite the offer of help, Egil felt not the warmth of camaraderie but the calculated investment of a politician.

"Thank you," Egil said, expressing his gratitude.

Martina let out a soft huff.

Egil went on, "I wouldn't want the folks at Azure Dragon Garden to get the wrong idea—that I have any special ties with other academies."

Martina huffed again, clearly dissatisfied.

"They've already branded you a traitor, haven't they?" Quintana said with a smile that reveled in misfortune.

"Thanks for the reminder, but it's not important," Egil replied, nodding to Quintana and then turning to nod at Martina.

The two women could take their time chatting.

With that, Egil walked away from the gruesome scene with determined strides.

"Quintana," Martina called out after Egil's figure had vanished into the distance, her voice notably louder than usual.

"What is it, Madam?" Quintana responded, her tone unchanged as if their previous power struggle had never happened.

"He's mine," Martina stated emphatically, eyes fixed on the direction where Egil had disappeared.

Quintana's eyes slowly widened, her face showing surprise for the first time, devoid of her usual businesslike smile.

She then returned to the illuminated area of the archaeological site.

In the distance, two women in white lab coats were deep in discussion over a fragment they held—one blonde, the other brunette.

The brunette, Becky, looked up and saw Egil. Her pen dropped to the ground, and she turned and ran off in a flash.

Clearly, the sight of the 'traitor' still elicited a strong reaction.

The blonde scholar picked up Becky's pen, gave Egil a smile, and passed by him.

Egil continued on, approaching a bustling crowd ahead.

The students of the Azure Dragon Garden were summoned together.

Their expressions were far from welcoming as they awaited Egil, each one looking rather fierce.

"You've arrived just in time. We haven't seen the professor all day, and we need to confirm his safety!" The leader, as expected, was Ivar, with Becky taking refuge behind him.

Egil surveyed his classmates, noting that everyone was accounted for. The solidarity of Vriudronians was indeed remarkable. Regarding the professor, Quintana had mentioned his chronic illness had flared up, necessitating his stay in the infirmary.

This wasn't the moment to clarify the professor's condition. How could Egil get them to cooperate smoothly?

After a moment's thought, Egil commanded, "Everyone's here. Good, follow me!"

The students stirred with unease.

"Where to?"

"Are we going to the professor?"

Ivar's voice boomed above the rest, "Where are you taking us? What are you planning?"

Egil continued walking, glancing back at a 45-degree angle.

Ivar and the rest of the students instinctively retreated a step.

"What's the matter? Are you no longer in pain?" Egil's words carried a veiled threat.

The students reflexively touched their swollen joints. Then, led by Ivar, they silently fell in line behind Egil.

Egil allowed himself a slight smile. True to the spirit of the Azure Dragon Garden, they were clever enough not to suffer a loss right before their eyes.

He hoped that upon arrival, they would maintain the dignity befitting the elite of the Azure Dragon Garden.

Leaving the excavation site and passing the Pure White Pyramid, Egil led the Azure Dragon Garden students to the site of the gunmen's demise at Martina's hands.

The boys couldn't stop vomiting, and the girls cried incessantly, vomiting all the while.

Ivar, gripped by fear, picked up a stone and eyed Egil warily.

Egil paid no mind to the stone in Ivar's hand. "Clean this place up," he ordered, then, with a flick of his sleeve, he left Ivar standing there, dumbfounded.

...Ivar vomited as well.

The following day, Egil awoke on the guest sofa near the Pure White Pyramid. Martina was already seated across from him.

Two cups of coffee rested on the coffee table.

"I didn't expect you to handle it that way. Couldn't you have cleared up the misunderstanding more amicably?" Martina inquired, lifting her cup of coffee.

"I've never attended university; I lack the confidence to persuade the brilliant minds of the Azure Dragon Garden," Egil replied, seizing his own cup and downing the coffee in one go, his tongue recoiling from the scalding liquid.

"Did you make it to the Azure Dragon Garden yesterday?" Egil asked, sticking out his tongue.

"Yeah, it was a very unique psionic power. It actually managed to sneak back onto the plane above."

"Who? Ivar? It couldn't have been Professor Merle, could it?"

"No, it was a female classmate named Becky."

Egil's eyes bulged with shock, which quickly made him shut them again. Clutching his head, he winced from the pain.

The surprise from Becky wasn't enough to make Egil pass out. What really caused his headache was the dream he had experienced the night before. He had woken up that morning still not recovered, and just one shock was enough to make his head throb.

Last night, as he lay on the couch, Egil had a dream about a mission from before he retired. In the dream, he had infiltrated the kidnappers' base alone, unarmed as per their demands, with the sole task of driving a car into the base for the kidnappers' use.

Inside the base, Egil activated his psionic power of Enhanced Perception and began to slowly gather all sorts of information. To the kidnappers, it seemed Egil had driven in, exited the vehicle, and fled in a cowardly fashion. They were oblivious to the fact that Egil had 'slowly observed' the entire layout and committed it to memory.

Indeed, Egil's psionic power made him an ideal lookout and intelligence officer for his team. Back with his unit, he relayed every detail about the kidnappers' base to his teammates, who then stormed in fully armed.

In his recollection, the mission was a resounding success: no casualties and commendations all around. But in the nightmare he had, disaster struck! As his teammates entered the base, gunfire was followed by a chorus of screams—first from the kidnappers, then the hostage girl, and finally, Egil's own comrades!

Egil, on lookout duty, screamed and charged in, only to witness the entire building collapse! In the chaos of his dream, a massive tree, its crown bearing an iceberg and rooted in the ocean floor, burst forth!

It shattered the entire scene from his memory, leaving Egil's dream-self in turmoil. His emotions were no longer those of the green recruit he once was, but those of a seasoned veteran, now retired beneath the Arctic relics.

Once his emotions had settled, he looked up again to find that his memories had fragmented, leaving him in an environment of complete darkness where he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. The blackness was absolute, with only a faint glow emanating from a solitary figure and a single tree, standing in opposition to one another.