There was no mana in the air here.
Naturally, that meant magic was useless.
To most people, that would sound like a crisis.
But that doesn't mean the situation is hopeless.
All the cadets around me has talent and that talent has nothing to do with magic.
For example Leo's weapon master talent.
Now, coming to the monestr name Specter.
The so-called "Specter."
Despite the ominous name, it was barely a monster at all—just a weak, low-level creature. The only problem we are facing right now is that there numbers is very large.
...And aside from these low level Specter the high level Specter have been occupied by Ryen and Leo.
The situation is hopeless but not so hopeless that everyone will die.
Rest of first cadet should focus on these low level Specter leaving high level on to Ryen and Leo.
Now, the main problem is how to get out of here even after killing all the Specter.
Well, I know how.
And I was going give everyone hope in this hopeless situation.
That's all I could do now for anyways.
"Specter… is monster that only appears in Arcana also known as dream space."
I shouted at the top of my lungs so everyone could hear it.
And they did.
Ryen and Leo turned their gaze towards me for briefs moment before turning away to fight the high level Specter.
Rest of cadet flinched slightly at my words as their expression turned slightly pale.
Dream Space—also known as Arcana.
A realm of dreams, separate from reality, where strange powers and rules existed. A place where the impossible could become real.
A chill crawled down my spine as the realization settled in. We weren't just trapped in some strange room. We were inside someone's dream.
It must be the villain dream, after all he was going to attack on the academy and I can't think of anyone else but him.
Then a realisation settled upon me.
"I think I've figured out how to escape this place."
"…What?"
"Really?"
The tension in the air shifted instantly. Some People turned toward me, eyes wide with a mix of hope and disbelief.
I didn't flinch under the sudden attention.
"This world," he began, "is what's known as the Dream Space—Arcana. Simply put, it's someone's dream."
A ripple of unease ran through the group.
"A dream…? Then how do we get out?" someone asked in the middle of battle.
"Dreams are made of memories. That means fragments of the dreamer's memories must be scattered somewhere in this space. If we can find those fragments and gather them together…"
He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.
"…we can wake up and escape."
For a brief moment, no one said a word.
Only the sound of battle filled the air—the screech of the Specters, the clash of weapons, and the ragged breaths of terrified cadets fighting for their lives.
Then, slowly, murmurs spread through the group.
"Fragments of memories…?"
"So if we find them, we can escape?"
"Where do we even start looking?!"
Their questions overlapped, tinged with both fear and hope.
I couldn't blame them.
The concept of "escaping through memories" wasn't exactly comforting when ghost-like monsters were trying to claw our faces off.
But at least they weren't panicking anymore. That was good enough.
---
20 minutes later....
The battlefield around me before was nothing but chaos.
All I could see was corpse, human monster alike.
There were casuality, but in my cold logic sense this time at least results was better.
In the original novel, over half of the first year students dies but compared to that this is nothing.
Students were dead but I can't do anything, I can't save anyone else.
In fact, I bearly managed to stay alive.
My ribs are broken and I'm sure that there is some internal bleeding and my whole body was in pain, it's verge of unconscious but I manged to hold on.
Because I know that if I sleep, I sleep for forever and I don't want that happened.
After taking a deep breath I looked around me.
The air around us, thick with the stench of blood, fell into a heavy silence. The echoes of the battle slowly died down, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing.
"Is it… is it really over?" someone asked, their voice shaky.
The spectors body, other monster lay still, its once-intimidating figure now just another corpse among the chaos. The cadets who had been too scared to move before were now standing, eyes wide and unsure, trying to process everything that had just happened.
The battle had been very firce and hard but it was clear to anyone else to see that this time Leo outperform Ryen in slaying the monster.
Leo, the one who'd landed the critical blow, stood silently, his spear resting in his hand, blood trickling down the shaft from the troll's gory wound. His face was expressionless, his stance proud, but there was a trace of something—something deeper—that flashed in his eyes.
It wasn't the cocky, arrogant Leo I was used to seeing.
It was… quieter. Almost like he was reflecting on something. Maybe even learning.
The words hung in the air, heavy and cold.
I glanced back at Ryen.
His eyes met mine for a brief moment—those same, uncertain eyes from earlier. The weight of being a protagonist was heavy, and I could see it.
He didn't say anything, but I knew what was on his mind.
This wasn't the role he expected to play today.
The thing was, Ryen had power. We all knew that. But something had shifted in the battle. Something that Leo had been able to grasp. In the world they lived in, strength wasn't just about raw power—it was about adaptability. It was about the will to push beyond the limit.
And maybe, just maybe, that was the key to what made Leo special.
While Ryen was strong, Leo was already becoming something else. Something that could evolve with the flow of battle.
And as much as I hated to admit it, I wasn't sure who would come out on top anymore.
'I have survived.'
But a lingering doubt gnawed at the back of my mind.
I felt like I was forgotting something very important.
Something was wrong.
And a few moments later, I was proven right.
—
I exhaled sharply . First, I needed to assess the situation.
Ryen and Leo were standing at the front, still basking in the aftermath of victory. The Guard, though visibly exhausted, was keeping an eye on the remaining cadets.
Everything looked normal.
But I knew better.
This moment—the supposed end of the conflict—felt too clean, too perfect. Like a breath before the plunge.
"Now.... Let's look for memories fragments."
It was Ryen who said that and everyone else also nodded their head in agreement.
"Okay then—"
But before he could say anything, someone appeared in the dream space out of nowhere.
And I was sure, he was the main behind this incident.
The villain who trapped us here has arrived.