hil and shane went to their dorms quickly. shane told hil theres probably a curfew so they had to hurry up. the corridors were indeed empty, the few kids who still werent in their dorms hurried over there, some poor kids didnt find the dorms section yet so they wandered and ran around in search of it. hil and shane arrived to the dorms. fortunately, the spare card hil got was the same as his. they entered the dorm, it was fairly large: there was a large room with a small sofa, a coffee table and some drawers and a cabinet. there was another large room, there were 3 beds in there and some drawers.
'wait... 3 beds?' hil thought as he looked at shane. shane also looked at him, it looked like he has the same question.
they looked around a bit more. there was a small bathroom and a little kitchen but there wasnt another person. they also noticed the sofa has enough seats for exactly 3 people. by now hil and shane were sure there another person assigned to this room. they decided to not sleep yet as they were curious about their dormmate. they ate the fish they bought from the shop and left some for the person that hasnt come yet. they sat down on the sofa and talked a bit. their dormmate still didnt come. after some time shane told hil hes going to sleep, a few hours passed before he said it. hil was also tired but he still decided to wait a bit more. now that shane was asleep hil meditated on the sofa. after some while his mind stat rose by 7 points and then he decided to check if the person finally arrived. the person didnt arrive yet. hil checked the bedroom, the bathroom and the kitchen but never found the person.
he decided to meditate again, meditating has always been hil's last resort before falling asleep; it gave him some rest, calmed him and passed some time. it was the same as resting with eyes closed, just with a bit more benefits. after a while he got a message from the system.
[ your mind is more in tune with the unseen forces of the world ]
[ you feel like you will have a breakthrough soon ]
hil read the messages and kept meditating. he doesnt feel the flow of time while meditating so it was very hard for him to tell how much time has passed but he was sure a lot has. his mind stat rose by 11 points this time but there was no hint for the breakthrough that was promised. he checked again for the missing dormmate, nothing. he decided to meditate one last time in hopes of getting the promised breakthrough. he meditated for a while on the floor this time. hil fell asleep after meditating, he didnt know how much time has passed but he knew it wasnt good. when one is meditating he mustnt lose focus or he will forget what he found out. the mind is a fragile thing as well; if the person in question fell asleep while meditating, he would be very vulnerable to attacks since when you are meditating you connect your conscious to the world and connecting yourself to the world means connecting yourself to anything and anyone.
hil dreamt. he woke up in a flat and empty land. all he could see before his eyes were countless hills filled with grass. the sun was shining high up in the sky, the sunrays soothed his skin and warmed him like a hug from a loving mother. the grass tickled his feet and felt like a one giant, warmed mattress.
he ventured through the unknown land. despite the calming warmth of the sun and the tickling grass he had an eerie feeling. he kept walking, the never ending hills started to become smaller. he didnt know why but something was keeping his cautious on a paranoid level, he felt like the grass was just making him feel calm and the sun helped it install false hope and sense of security into him.
he was already walking for a long time, the hills started to get even smaller. the grass started to look less rich and a few tiny patches of the dirt could be seen. hil still couldnt shake the ominous feelings he had.
he walked a little more, the area around him started to change drastically: there were no more hills in sight. large patches of dirt could be seen, it would be better to say the some patches of grass were still present. the sun no longer warmed hil, even its light started to dim a little. he suddenly felt cold, he got goosebumps.
he kept walking, snow started to fall. new hills started to pop from the ground but this time they were made out of snow. the sun was no longer present in the dark, grey sky. hil was still feeling theres something wrong here, like this dream wont end with just a little cold.
the cold was undeniable now. hil was shaking and every single step was hard for him as there was so much snow that his legs sank into it. he saw a tower at the distance. it was grey and out of place, he could swear he didnt see it a few minutes ago. he decided to walk towards it.
at last, he arrived at a tower. the tower was so tall that hil couldnt see the top. the tower was made out of large, rough stone bricks. he saw a door in front of him. the door was made out of sturdy wood and had a large handle at the middle. he knocked on the doors a few times. in an instant, hil's body was pulled a few meters from the door. demonic shadows started to pop from nowhere, none of them looked alike. they all looked at the tower, it looked like they were waiting for something.
hil woke up. he was sprawled on the cold floor. the sweat was all over his body, as if he jumped into a pool. it wasnt morning yet, only a few rays of light could be seen from the window. his mind was a mess, he had a strong headache the moment he woke up and he was extremely hungry. he went to the kitchen. the leftovers from the dinner still were there so he ate. he still felt hungry, he wasnt even a bit satisfied from the leftovers. he looked outside the window, it was still pretty dark, he doubted the shop is open. he went to the bedroom, shane was still sleeping there but the missing dormmate still hasnt arrived. hil decided to take a stroll outside, he searched for his dorm-card and credit-card, they were both left where he fell asleep. he went to the door and something on the floor caught his eyes. there were 2 papers on the floor. he picked one and started to read:
dear hil,
we welcome you to nirnorm, our humble establishment. the year will start soon and we have a few things to inform you of:
1. we have noticed you were causing trouble for other students and almost killed one. if such things will happen again and a teacher will have to intervene again, you will be punished.
2. you have been asked to visit the following classrooms today by the evening:
a. 1-32
b. 1-36
c. 1-63
d. 2-11
3. according to your efforts and achievements here you will be awarded with daily credits. the amount will vary and may be changed weekly. the starting amount for all of the students is: 10.
4. once assigned a class you will have to attend all of the lessons. inability to do so will result in punishment. you are allowed to change classes by speaking to your homeroom instructor.
further information will be given by your future homeroom instructor. we hope that you will have a good time here.
the council.
hil finished reading the letter and then proceeded to take a walk outside. he folded the paper and put it in his pocket. he noticed that his clothes are still looking pretty bad, he got some when he went out of jail but they arent looking good. hil visited the shop, unsurprisingly it was still closed. he searched for an exit from the building. after a few minutes of wandering he found it, it was locked. hil sighed and kept wandering. he was still hungry and had a the terrible headache he woke up with. strangely enough, he remembered the dream vividly. he knew it was very strange to dream while falling asleep like that, usually you would just blackout. but it didnt matter now, he couldnt think too much of the dream since he had to either go back to sleep or get rid of his hunger and headache. he walked to the shop again, it was open this time. he bought a big jar of water and some weird, hard block. the shopkeeper told him its great if hes feeling extreme hunger, he said that its made out of different foods that were grinded together and mashed into this shape.
hil bought a few of the food blocks. the shopkeeper told him its good for up to 10 days. he ate 2 of them while returning to his room, they made his hunger go away and lessened his headache. the taste itself wasnt too good, it was like mixing a lot of ice cream flavors but without any sugar. hil arrived and entered his dorm and put the food in the kitchen. he drank a few glasses of water and went to the rooms that were on his paper.
"what a nice day to start the day, running around like a mouse" he said as he closed the door behind him.