"Sigh... it isn’t working."

Eager to experience that strange warmth again, Silas barely exchanged a few words with Laros before hurrying back to his dormitory.

Only after glancing at his wristwatch did he realise that more than five hours had passed since he had entered the meditation class. The passage of time had escaped him entirely.

But he hardly cared. His thoughts revolved around a single desire; he wanted to feel that embrace again.

Unfortunately, things did not unfold as smoothly as he had expected.

Seated cross-legged in his room, Silas regulated his breathing exactly as Laros had taught him. Yet instead of sinking into tranquillity, he encountered the same invisible resistance he had faced during his first attempt at meditation.

Only this time, no matter how long he persisted, the barrier refused to yield. And hours slipped by.

He adjusted his posture, steadied his breath, and cleared his mind again and again, but nothing changed. Eventually, Silas opened his eyes and frowned.

"What am I missing?"

While preparing another instant noodle meal, he replayed every detail of Laros’ class in his mind. He recalled the tiniest details, the rhythm of his breathing, the stillness of the room, the sensation that had washed over him.

"Perhaps it’s the special mattress I trained over?"

Silas recalled Laros sharing a specially soft mattress before starting to meditate. It felt like an insignificant detail, but Silas instantly looked for something similar in his dorm.

In the training room, he found something similar. It was a mattress designed for fitness exercises. He instantly grabbed it, dragged it to the hall, and tried to meditate.

Yet again, he failed.

Not getting dejected by the failure, he sat on the soft mattress and started to recall everything again. Then, suddenly, he found the answer.

"It wasn’t just the breathing, the posture, or the mattress..."

Silas activated his wristwatch.

"Can you play music suitable for meditation?"

The AI assistant complied immediately, and soft melodies drifted from the watch’s speakers. Silas listened for a few moments before shaking his head.

"Play it throughout the entire dorm."

A brief pause followed. Then the music emerged from every direction.

Gentle notes intertwined in perfect harmony, filling the room with an indescribable atmosphere that resonated deep within his soul. Silas immediately resumed his meditation posture. This time, the resistance shattered almost instantly.

He chose not to dwell on why the music had made such a difference. Instead, he surrendered himself to the familiar sensation unfolding within him.

The same tide of emotions rose from the depths of his heart. And then warmth embraced him.

It travelled through his body from his head before eventually stopping near his abdomen, unable to advance further. Even so, Silas found himself reluctant to let go of the feeling.

It was comforting. It was addictive, even. Once again, time lost all meaning. And eventually, the warmth faded away.

Silas slowly opened his eyes. He kept himself in that posture for a few minutes, savouring the feeling. Then he looked at himself, feeling something had changed.

But he simply could not tell what.

"Meditation..." he murmured. "Thanks for the advice, Cher."

He glanced at his wristwatch.

"Another five hours..."

He did not feel disappointed. If anything, longing only tightened its grip around his heart. Yet he knew he pushed his limits twice in a single day. And he couldn’t tell if he pushed further: was he doing himself a favour or instead bringing harm to his mind, soul, and heart?

"I still don’t understand this world of meditation," Silas said as he rose to his feet. "I don’t know whether I’m progressing quickly or slowly... or whether I’m doing this correctly at all."

He decided to ask Laros about it the next time they met. As he prepared for bed, his gaze drifted toward the bathroom.

For a fleeting moment, temptation surfaced; he wanted to test himself inside the Time Mind World. Yet, the thought vanished almost as quickly as it appeared.

"I’m barely learning how to crawl, and I already want to run a hundred-meter race?"

Silas let out a bitter laugh. Meditation gave him hope, but hope alone could not erase fear. He still remembered what awaited him within that mysterious world.

Choosing reason over impulse, he collapsed onto the soft bed mattress. Only then did he realise how exhausted he truly was, and sleep claimed him almost instantly.

***

At some point, Silas began to dream.

He found himself suspended high above the clouds. He was falling. Strangely, though, he felt no panic, no fear.

The world stretched beneath him like a painting viewed from an impossible height, distant and detached. Yet, for reasons he could not explain, he felt that this dream mattered.

Clouds drifted past him, and gradually, they grew thinner. Then he saw it: a bubble.

At first, it resembled nothing more than an ordinary soap bubble, fragile and insignificant. But the closer he descended, the larger it became, until it filled the entire world below.

Silas somehow knew what he was looking at. It was a protective dome, one not unlike the barrier surrounding the Elfine Kingdom.

His descent slowed as he neared its surface. And beneath the translucent shield spread an enormous city. Buildings of every shape and size stretched across the horizon. Streets wound between orderly districts, giving the impression of careful planning and prosperity.

Silas saw people filled those streets, children laughed, merchants bargained, and families walked together beneath the open sky. Life flourished in this city, alongside peace.

Then the scene shifted abruptly.

Silas found himself inside a colossal structure. From the outside, it resembled a towering monument. Within, it was vast enough to rival a stadium, where countless large stone pillars rose toward the ceiling.

Each pillar bore intricate runes that glowed in countless colours. The floor itself disappeared beneath mountains of Mana Crystals piled several meters high.

For some reason, Silas thought of the rune structure he had once been tasked with protecting. A sudden movement caught his attention as a group of cloaked figures entered the structure. They were Enhancers, and without hesitation, they began collecting the Mana Crystals into strange rings.

Silas had remained calm while falling from high altitude to the ground, yet this sight sent terror crashing through his soul.

As time accelerated, the crystals vanished, the runes dimmed, and the pillars felt like they were dead. In the distance, Enhancers fought desperately against the intruders. But it was already too late.

ROAR!

A single roar twisted the world. Silas found himself above the bubble once more. Only now, everything had changed.

The once-impenetrable barrier had become thin and riddled with enormous holes. Dragons tore through the sky, fiercely attacking the city.

His mind froze as he watched flames consume entire districts. The once majestic buildings collapsed. And humans fled in terror, while many died where they stood.

Pain, unlike anything he had ever known, pierced his heart. It felt as though an icy hand had reached into his chest and squeezed hard.

Suffering from such pain, Silas suddenly felt something extra.

Far at a distance, one dragon turned its massive head towards his direction. And it stared for a few moments.

’Impossible.’

’I’m inside a dream’

’It shouldn’t see me.’

As if the dragon heard his thoughts, it roared. And this time, the entire sky answered.

ROAR!

A chill ran down his spine, as something was terribly wrong.

Many dragons surged toward him. They turned toward him as though they could see him. As though they knew he was there. They roared and attacked. Countless breaths descended upon him at once; fire, ice, wind, lightning, and water breaths engulfed the world all around.

The dream shattered, darkness followed, then silence. Silas jolted awake with a violent gasp. He stumbled out of bed, his breathing ragged.

"W-What the hell... was that?"

His back was drenched with cold sweat, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

For nearly half an hour, he remained standing where he was, struggling to steady his breathing and suppress the lingering panic clawing at his mind. If anything, he was sure this wasn’t a normal dream. It was so vivid to be a mere dream.

’It has to be a nightmare.’

’So why did the grief still feel real?’

Eventually, exhausted, he collapsed onto the nearest couch. He stared at the bed as though it had transformed into an instrument of torture. Nothing about the experience made sense.

"I need a shower."

Only cold water seemed capable of washing away the remnants of that suffocating fear. Silas headed into the bathroom, while taking a glimpse at the world outside the hall’s small window. Morning had already arrived, and blue sun rays started to faintly appear.

He intended to clear his mind before heading to the cafeteria for breakfast. He took off his clothes and went to take a shower.

Standing there, Silas couldn’t help but steal a glance at the bathtub. Then he took a deep breath and shifted his gaze away.

"Since when did my dorm turn into a horror house?"

Throughout it all, he failed to notice the faint rune glowing upon his back. The moment cold water touched his skin, the mark faded away, then vanished completely, as though it had never existed at all.