Jacob reappeared abruptly within the silent expanse of the Infinite Space, rather than in Whiteness’s Dreamscape Realm.
A moment ago, he had been unraveling inside that impossible light, and the next, he was back, seated exactly where he had been before Whiteness’s unconscious body.
But something was off. His skeletal frame remained upright, yet unnaturally still. The faint flames within his eye sockets flickered weakly, unfocused, as if struggling to anchor themselves back into reality.
For a brief moment, even the space around him felt distant, like he hadn’t fully returned. Then Nyx’s voice came, not sharp or teasing like before, but soft, layered with unmistakable concern.
"Hey...can you hear me?" Her voice reverberated through his mind, steady and grounding, "You pushed too far for your first Primary Nightmare, and for your first try, it’s a huge feat. So, even if you failed in the end, this kind of failure... It’s natural."
There was a pause, as if she was carefully observing him, "The important part is, you didn’t use your identity even in the end, and continue to persist while playing your role and slowly manipulating the Primary Nightmare. But it seemed you had diverged the Primary Nightmare too far, despite not meaning to.
"Nonetheless, since you stayed in your role and didn’t take unnecessary action, that’s the reason that saved you from experiencing a grave backlash, for if you had revealed yourself in there, the backlash wouldn’t have been this simple withdrawal from the Dreamscape."
Her tone lowered slightly, "...Instead of being expelled... your consciousness could’ve been trapped inside that Dreamscape. Or worse, some part of your soul might’ve been rewritten in there, dividing your personality into something far worse....ahem, forget the ’worst’ part."
A faint ripple passed through the Infinite Space as her presence steadied, "So don’t mistake this as a loss. You came back intact. That alone is progress, and I’m sure next time you’ll devour that Nightmare!"
Suddenly, Nyx’s chattering stopped as she tried to cheer up Jacob, since she thought he might be feeling down after his first failure and was probably suffering a small backlash.
But only did she notice that Jacob hadn’t moved, not even a flicker of response could be felt from his stoic frame. His flaming eyes remained dim, staring straight ahead at Whiteness’s body, yet clearly not seeing it.
The silence stretched, heavy and unnatural before...
"Jacob?!" Nyx called again, this time more firmly, but still nothing.
But right at that moment, suddenly, the flames in Jacob’s hollow sockets sharpened coldly
"...Were you watching everything?" He asked an unexpected question in a low yet controlled voice.
But beneath it was something rigid, something tightly coiled between anticipation, disbelief, and trepidation.
Nyx paused, clearly caught off guard by the question, but still, she answered after a brief hesitation, "Indeed, I was observing the entire sequence. I didn’t interfere because you told me to let you experience this yourself, and unless you were in absolute danger of losing yourself or the Dreamscape reacted..."
At that moment, Jacob cut her off abruptly.
"Then you heard it, right?" His eyes flickered, the flames within them tightening into narrow points, "That voice!"
A brief silence followed as Nyx’s tone shifted, now tinged with confusion, "...I heard a voice, yes. But it was fragmented. Probably distorted by the collapse of the nightmare, or more likely, you’ve strayed completely into a different direction from the original Primary Nightmare.
"In fact, it’s quite possible that you might’ve gone into another Dream or Nightmare connected with that Primary Nightmare. Haven’t I already told you about this scenario, which we called Dreamy Overlap, remember?
"A Dreamy Overlap could easily happen in a Dreamscape if you’re not careful and stray into a different direction from the initial event, and you’ve already been avoiding it since you were only diving into Fragmented Dreams and Nightmares.
"But the chances of a Dreamy Overlap are quite high within a Primary Nightmare and high category dreams and nightmares!"
Nonetheless, after a brief pause, she still focused as if recalling that voice for Jacob seemed to be unusually focused on this voice, and she could tell he had discovered something important.
But she couldn’t piece together and helplessly said, "Anyway, I can’t help you. Maybe you’ll find the answer you’re looking for in the Dreamscape again. Especially if that voice is part of that Primary Nightmare.
"However, even if it isn’t all, you need to find the correct memory, but if that was a false category nightmare or dream, then I’m afraid you’re obsessing over something dangerous and forget about it!"
Nyx sincerely advised, as she thought Jacob might have been affected by a false dream, since it could happen; there was no telling how powerful it was.
But Jacob’s gaze didn’t waver as his voice dropped even further, "No, I’m confident if I heard correctly, it wasn’t a false dream or nightmare, but a real memory.
"After all, you’ve personally told me that without experiencing it or having an extensive knowledge where one can fantasize about it, no one can emulate anything in their dreams or nightmares."
He said matter-of-factly, "Not to mention, creating something so terrifying that just by touching it, a Zodiac Beast of peak Fable Legendary State could simply evaporate it, not to mention making it like a bane to the very Void Energy."
Nyx couldn’t retort to Jacob’s reasoning anymore, and even she became interested in just what Jacob had discovered to make him like this.
She asked curiously, "Just what did you see, really, to make you riled up so much? Could it be you stumbled upon some huge secret?"
"Something like that, because if I’m not wrong, the voice said the ’Light of Aurora’, and if that Light of Aurora is the same ’Aurora Light’ that I need for the Art of Nature: Aurora Meditation." Jacob’s eyes flickered with a hint of gloominess, "Then I’m afraid, the trip to the Universal Void will become even more necessary, not to mention perilous!"