First, Strange used magic to assess the status of Peter's soul. He said: "There is absolutely no problem. His soul status is very healthy and normal. He has gotten rid of the hyperactive state. The Faith Power is partly stored in his symbiont within him, but the rest has been absorbed by his soul. It won't cause any additional effects."
Professor Charles also used his abilities, checked his brainwaves, then said: "There's a slight anomaly, but it can't be considered a disease. Probably just fatigue from lack of rest. Sometimes, Beast shows the same states in his brainwaves from staying up late for experiments. Kid, have you been staying up late recently?"
Peter shook his head and said: "No, I haven't. I've been going to bed early recently."
"How is the quality of your sleep?" Shiller asked.
"Not so good." Peter pursed his lips, "I don't know why, but I've been having trouble falling asleep recently. Once I fall asleep, I constantly have dreams, but I can't remember anything when I wake up."
"Before, I only needed three to four hours of sleep. Even if I didn't sleep for a few days, I wouldn't feel particularly tired. But these past few days, I need to sleep at least six hours and I still feel sleepy." Peter sighed, "Could it be that college life is too tiring? But the materials are so easy to understand. I don't exert much effort and I can understand and memorize them."
Peter did look a bit worn-out in his appearance. His typical energetic demeanor had left a strong impression on them, hence, when he seems weaker than usual, everyone becomes more tensed.
"Peter, go to bed early tonight, we'll meet in our dreams." Shiller said afterwards.
Since Peter had taken the afternoon off, after his consultation with the doctor, he went directly home. Aunt May had cooked him delicious meals, but he didn't have the appetite. When he got to his room, he fell fast asleep.
Pikachu crawled out of his backpack. He saw Peter, asleep but his brows were furrowed. He also mumbled in his sleep. Pikachu didn't know that Peter had sleep talking habits as they often slept together.
If one looks closely at Peter's furrowed brows, inside the consciousness space, in the room that looked identical to Peter's bedroom, Shiller was standing in the center of the room.
At this moment, there was a faint noise echoing around the room. Shiller concentrated to listen, but the noise disappeared.
Shiller grabbed the door handle and opened the door. Outside, it was pitch dark, implying that this room must be Peter's consciousness world.
Shiller understood that within the Consciousness World, the size of the architecture does not matter. It doesn't mean that the grander the construction, the stronger the person's spirit is. What matters is the durability and the degree of the details.
In Peter's Consciousness World, the small room where he has lived for a long time is very sturdy. The room was full of memories of him growing up. This is what denotes healthiness.
Shiller turned around in the room numerous times, but he couldn't locate the source of the noise. After careful listening for a while, he realized it was a sort of vibration, but there was nothing in the room that could generate such a sound.
Obviously, this sound is the main cause of Peter's troubled sleep. Although Shiller couldn't find the source of the noise, he knew how to treat the problem.
He shouted to the air, "Professor Charles, block every sound here. Let his dream enter a silent mode, free of all disturbances."
Charles, who was also observing from afar, also noticed the abnormality. But he also could not find the source of the noise. Hence, he nodded and used his instinctive abilities to interfere with Peter's Consciousness World, blocking all incoming sounds.
From the real world, Pikachu saw Peter's brows relax. He rolled over in his sleep and was no longer tense. He slowly sunk into dreams.
Shiller wanted to study where the noise was coming from overnight, but it was already 9 in the evening, well past his bedtime.
Therefore, he decided to sleep first and check if there were any anomalies with Peter the next morning.
Shiller was staying in Arkham Sanatorium. There was a really nice bedroom in the top floor. After changing into his pajamas, Shiller lay on the bed and started to drift into sleep.
But as soon as he arrived in his Thought Palace, he heard a familiar noise, a continued tremble.
Instantly, Shiller woke up. He sat up from the bed and said doubtfully: "What was that just now?"
"It was Spider-sense." The Gray Mist responded with certainty.
Shiller paused and asked: "What did you say? That noise just now was Spider-sense? Even though before..."
"It was just a weaker Spider-sense." The Gray Mist replied: "The reaction was weaker, but it lasted longer."
Of course, Shiller hadn't forgotten. He also had the Spider-sense, but his Spider-sense was not as strong as Peter's. It didn't have foreseeing abilities.
Shiller lay back down. Once his consciousness sank into his Thought Palace, he discovered that the noise was slightly weaker than when he was with Peter.
Being in this environment, if he listened carefully, it sounded like a string being plucked.
"Da, da, da," followed by a faint "buzzing" noise. This reminded Shiller of the sound of a spider web being played, and also of the annoying vibration of a cell phone.
Shiller closed his eyes, made an effort to concentrate, allowed the Gray Mist to control his body, breathed and made his heart beat to the rhythm of the noise, and then started meditating with the image of a spider web in his mind.
Soon, in the rhythmic noise, he seemed to hear a nearly inaudible female voice:
"Spider Man... Spider Man... Wake up, the cosmos needs you. Come quickly, come to me…"
Shiller noticed that once his breathing and heartbeat lost rhythm or if he isn't focused, the noise would immediately disappear.
When he adjusted his state to its best, in that moment, he felt like he could communicate with the other party. So he said:
"Who are you?"
"The Totem... along the Totem Power... come here..."
"Totem? What is the Totem?" Shiller asked knowingly.
"Spider Totem, the magical power that resides in your body. Close your eyes, focus, you will see a Spider Silk leading to here... follow the Spider Silk to come here... we have been waiting for you for a long time..." The female voice always sounded ethereal and feathery, always on and off, but seemed to exist everywhere.
Shiller chuckled coldly, then said:
"Stop calling me!"
After saying so, he immediately disconnected the connection, then returned to his bed, turned over, ready to sleep.
But as he was about to fall asleep, the "da da da" and "buzz buzz buzz" sound started again.
"Come here... we are waiting for you... Spider Man..."
Shiller instantly woke up. He lifted his head, looked at the clock on the wall. It was 9:20 in the evening. This was the sixth phone call he received that day.
Shiller sat up from the bed, took a deep breath, then said in a low voice:
"Wait for me, I'm coming."