"Elira," Jimmy decided, the name a command. "Summon her. Now. Use the link. Make it… urgent. Frightened."
Lana closed her eyes, her brow furrowing slightly. Through their heightened Dream Synchronization (96%), a psychic pulse, laced with fabricated panic, shot towards the Professor's mind – a vision of Ardin, broken and raving about "Sleepless Tyrants," being silenced by shadowy figures in the dead of night.
Minutes later, Elira burst into the chamber. Her usual stern composure was shattered. Her robes were askew, hair disheveled, eyes wide with the lingering terror Lana had implanted. She saw Jimmy and stumbled forward, oblivious to Lana melting back into the shadows.
"Jimmy! They... they know! Or they suspect! Ardin... he was taken! Quietly! By... by people with no aura! Like voids!" Her voice was a frantic whisper.
Jimmy moved with preternatural speed, courtesy of Ghost Step, appearing directly before her. He cupped her face, his touch cold, his silver eyes boring into hers.
"Breathe, Professor. Tell me exactly what you saw. These 'voids'." He layered his voice with Dreamweaver (Lv. 5 - Dream Architect), reinforcing her fear, twisting it into a desperate need to confide in him, her anchor in the storm.
Elira gulped, leaning into his touch, her corrupted mind eagerly accepting the fabricated intimacy.
"Th-they moved... wrong. Not invisible, but... absorbing light? The wards... the dreamwards near the old Alchemy storage... they flickered out as they passed. Like they swallowed the magic. Ardin screamed about 'no dreams' before they... silenced him."
She shuddered. "There's talk... among the senior council. Secret files. They call it Project Somnus Null. They're looking for something... someone immune. A weapon against... against whatever's causing the dreams."
Her eyes flickered with a dawning, horrified realization she couldn't quite grasp. "Against... you?"
Jimmy's smile was icy. "Perhaps. This 'Project Somnus Null.' Where are these files, Elira? Who oversees it?"
She trembled, caught between ingrained duty and the overwhelming corruption compelling her obedience to her dream-king.
"Headmaster Helgarth... and... and Professor Kaelen Thorne. Restricted Archives. Sub-level Gamma. Biometric keys... dream-locks..." Her voice trailed off as Jimmy intensified the mental pressure, sifting through her surface thoughts.
"Kaelen Thorne," Jimmy repeated, committing the name. The Arcanist specializing in dimensional theory and warding – a logical choice to hunt a dream-walker. And Helgarth, the ancient elf, was undoubtedly the mastermind. "You've done well, Elira. Rest now. Forget this conversation. Remember only your fear of the 'voids,' and that only I can protect you from being... erased." He planted the command deep, a Dream Architect scenario where he was her sole salvation against the terrifying nothingness.
As Elira slumped, eyes glazing over before she mechanically turned and left, Jimmy turned to Lana. "Kaelen Thorne. We find him. We observe. We find his weakness. Not his dream-weakness," his eyes gleamed with predatory anticipation, "his human weakness. His pride, his greed, his lust... his fear. Everyone has a crack. Even those hunting voids."
[New Objective: Infiltrate Restricted Archives - Sub-level Gamma]
[Sub-Objective: Identify and Exploit Professor Kaelen Thorne's Psychological Weakness]
[Ultimate Target: Locate and Assimilate the True Dreamless Entity ("Project Somnus Null")]
Lana nodded, a feral glint in her eyes. "Shall we use the Vault path, Master? Or the shadows of the waking world?"
Jimmy looked towards the window, where the first hints of dawn painted the sky. The academy slept, dreaming his dreams, unaware of the true battle about to unfold – not just for minds, but for the very nature of consciousness against the void.
"Both," he whispered, power coalescing around him like a shroud.
"We walk the edge of dreams and delve into the heart of their waking dread. The throne demands its challenger. Let the hunt for the void begin."
The stagnation of his Evolution (62%) was an itch, a hunger. The True Dreamless wasn't just an obstacle; it was the key to his next ascension, the ultimate prize to conquer or consume.
The game had just entered a far more dangerous phase.