The man standing in front of her claimed to be her grandfather, and was somehow more than confident that he could win her trust by doing so.
Cavina, in fact, had never seen this man in her life. Yet here in her dream he stood, sending shivers down her spine for what he may be up to.
" Why do you know my name?" Cavina asked, "And why should I trust you?"
Walder chuckled, " Why wouldn't grandpa Walder know your name granddaughter? Your father raised you well, sad that Ned doesn't let me visit you all often."
"Father despised you, he warned me that you're a despicable man." Cavina kept her hands upfront, she could sense the danger Walder posed despite this being her dream.
"Well it would only be fair if you allowed me to prove that accusation wrong, wouldn't it?" the elderly replied.
"I mean you no harm Claire, even if I did I couldn't in a dream,"
Walder raised his hand, and following the motion sand slowly raised too. Twisting and turning his wrist, the sand followed suit and was shaped into solid form, Walder had sculpted a sword out of sand. In the blink of an eye, Walder swiftly stabbed the sand sword into his own chest. Cavina shrieked, shocked by the unprecedented suicide attempt.
Yet Walder did not collapse, seemingly unharmed by the attack without a wound to be seen. The sand sword was stuck in Walder's body, yet Walder continued to smile.
"Just like you Claire, grandpa Walder is also a lucid dreamer. I've been goofing around and having fun like this for decades, and I think it's safe to say that there is much I can teach you. So will you let me join your adventure?"
Still trying to digest all that had just happened, Cavina held her tongue before giving out an answer. Her heart was telling her to say yes, she loved exploring Dreamland and would never miss an opportunity to expand her horizons in this newly found world. But her mind continued to echo the warnings her father gave. Could she really trust Walder? He did not seem like a dangerous person and had even gone to the lengths of stabbing himself to prove himself harmless. What more proof did she need from him? What could this man possibly have done that would make him deserve to be ignored and outcasted?
Cavina took a deep breath, she trusted her instinct and gave a response.
"From now on, call me Cavina."
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"FOCUS on your energy!"
Walder's voice gripped Cavina's wandering mind back into focus, he made it clear how seriously he took this starting from day one, so Cavina knew she was not getting away with this attitude.
Having spent more than a decade as a student, Cavina spent no less time studying and acquiring knowledge than the average student. From basic algebra to advanced Spanish, Cavina had conquered the syllabus with ease and often learnt at an accelerated pace well beyond her years. Learning, was in the words of Cavina, "a natural ability possessed well before one's first breath". In other words, she wasn't smart, but that majority of mankind was struggling with something easier than breathing.
Yet during the past three months, she found herself being the one who was struggling to catch her breath.
What Walder had taught her was confusing to say the least, to say it was abstract and bewildering was an understatement.
"What's the word for that? Oh right," Cavina thought after her first lesson with Walder learning about the essence of Dreamland.
"Absolutely maddening."
Normally a quick search on the Internet would lead her towards thousands of sources which could help explain the parts she didn't quite catch the first time learning a subject.
But there was literally nothing that mentioned it.
"The concept of Dreamland is a well kept secret, Cavina," Walder said.
"Not many people get to lucid-dream and remember every single detail. And even if they did, who would possibly imagine that somehow the regular bus stop in their dreams was somehow connected to the place of their nightmares?"
"True," Cavina thought
"And for all I know what you've said might just be fiction." Still she held her tongue.
How could anyone know the vast unknown was in our minds all along?
Before meeting Walder, Cavina was not aware of the limits of her capabilities as a lucid dreamer. She was more than satisfied to be able to craft herself a small and blunt dagger in a dream or two's time, but based on what she knew now her efforts had been worthless. She had been playing in survival mode when creative mode was available.
"To put things into simple terms, the stronger your willpower, the more you will be capable of creating, just by imagining it." Walder said as he demonstrated in front of Cavina, Walder simply held up his hand and pointed to the distant ocean. And within seconds, green mist clustered around the spot Walder pointed at and began to show formation. A colossal castle of glass emerged as the mist dispersed, and behind it was an even bigger ice sculpture of Walder.
Cavina was dumbfounded, such power came with almost no consequence nor limit that seemed to restrain the creation of something that could collapse the whole system of Dreamland. Cavina had already thought of at least fifty ways such power could destroy Dreamland after witnessing it being used in such a dubious manner once, the continual existence of Dreamland til this day felt perplexing.
"Walder…" Cavina said.
"You said that the consequence of creating something beyond your capabilities is memory loss?"
After hearing the question, Walder originally held his silence. But after a couple of seconds, the old man replied.
"Yes, Cavina. The consequence is memory loss."
"Permanent memory loss?" Cavina asked.
"Permanent." Walder said.
"I see… " Cavina nodded, "I guess no one would like to experience that, would they?" Cavina asked.
"They wouldn't. And hopefully you won't either." Walder said.
" That's it for today, I'll see you tomorrow." Walder turned around and waved, and with that his body dispersed into a cloud of green mist.
Cavina waved, her focus shifted towards the distant castle remaining.
She didn't believe him.
Walder was hiding something from her.
There was probably another reason why lucid dreamers were not creating apocalyptic weapons and cataclysmic creatures.
She did not know the reason, yet she dared not risk her life to find out.