It was early in the morning when Umbra woke up.
The sun's rays illuminated her room with a special quality. The slightly open windows generated a light air current that moved the curtains, creating shadows that danced across her face.
Opening her eyes slightly, she let out a yawn as she stretched to clear the sleep cloud from her head.
After that, she sat up in bed and began to watch the sun finish rising through the window.
This was going to be her first full day at the Academy, and furthermore, it was the day they would show the interview results to all the Sleepers…
She didn't care if she came in first or what position she ended up in. Rather, it was the fact that Sunny was going to find out her name.
He would make the connection between her and him, all on his own. Though there was also the possibility that he wouldn't—but Umbra highly doubted that.
And if he did—taking into account everything that had happened yesterday—the situation was going to become even stranger and more awkward.
For that very reason, she didn't want to go to the cafeteria at all.
But sadly, that option wasn't available to her, because as a princess of the clan, she had to act like one, and that meant using proper etiquette and representing the clan in the best way possible.
Getting out of bed—against all her desire to do so—she headed to the bathroom, and minutes later, she was ready. She put on black pants accompanied by a shirt of the same color.
Her sisters and even her mother had always asked her why she wore so much black, and she always gave the same answer:
"Because I like the color."
Umbra didn't really know where this preference came from, but she hadn't given it much importance.
She let out a sigh and went to the cafeteria.
The walk through the hallways was relatively quick and uneventful.
Once she arrived at the cafeteria, she got in line, and immediately, other Sleepers began to surround her.
"Good morning, Song Umbra," said one of the group.
She turned her head slightly to observe her and replied with a smile, "Good morning, Lea of Maharana Clan."
Lea smiled at her and positioned herself behind her in line.
'Phew, that was close.'
Umbra really hadn't remembered which clan she was from. Fortunately, she guessed correctly. Then, maintaining a cordiality worthy of her upbringing, she continued greeting the rest of the Sleepers who approached her.
Since most were from lesser Legacy clans affiliated with the Song Clan, the chances of getting the clan right were higher.
When it was her turn, she filled her tray with a balanced and healthy breakfast.
A bit of natural yogurt, accompanied by oatmeal and fresh fruit. Then a few slices of bread with scrambled eggs and some cheese. Finishing with black coffee, no sugar.
Afterward, she went to the table surrounded by other Legacies and had to endure again the energetic gossip about all the Academy's members.
'How the hell do they have so much energy so early in the morning!?'
Indeed, Umbra was not a morning person. She much preferred the night. She supposed this was due to the moon's influence over her.
There was also the fact that when everyone—except Revel—couldn't see anything in the dark, she could do so perfectly without complications.
Her Aspect was related to being a hunter, so what kind of hunter would she be if something as ordinary as darkness were a complication?
This and many other things had led to Umbra and Revel being quite good friends as well.
Both preferred solitude and darkness, and both had the hobby of reading novels whenever possible.
In fact, she had the habit of always reading a few chapters of whatever novel she was on before falling asleep. Obviously, out of the sadness she felt yesterday, she hadn't done it, but it was something she always enjoyed doing.
Currently, she was reading one called: "Transmigrated to a New World with a Level 999 Ability – Can I Marry All the Princesses?"
Umbra never claimed that what she read was of good quality. As long as it was entertaining, that was enough for her.
At that moment, a sudden commotion caught her attention.
All the Sleepers turned around excitedly to see their names on the screens, but instead of looking in that direction, Umbra focused her gaze on one of the tables in the corner, where only three people were sitting.
One was a social worker from the Academy accompanying the blonde girl whose Flaw was blindness.
The other member of the table was obviously her twin—whom she hadn't lost sight of from the moment he entered the cafeteria.
Obviously, she had been watching him from the corner of her eye, never directly. Besides, she was also very good at observing without being noticed.
At the moment of the commotion, he looked up from his ridiculously full tray of food and looked toward the screen.
Umbra noticed how his eyes analyzed the list, and when he appeared, her brother feigned little importance on the matter and quickly focused on other things.
'He's from the Outskirts… I don't think a simple list is going to change much for him, although… there's something about his reaction that doesn't add up.'
Usually, when someone receives negative news—which this obviously was for him—they tend to close off their body as a protective system. But he didn't make any of the common gestures at that moment.
There could be many reasons for this, but the main ones were:
He didn't care, because he already knew it was going to happen.
Everything went according to plan.
Umbra mainly wanted to believe it was the second reason, but she had no way to verify it, so she now focused on the screen to see when she would appear.
Eventually, the list reached the top positions:
Third place was with a photo of a man with slightly dark skin, brown hair, and green eyes.
Name: Caster Han Li Clan
Just above him, the portrait of the silver-haired girl with clear grey eyes could be seen.
Name: Nephis
True Name: Changing Star
And finally, at the top, in first place, was the portrait of a young woman of delicate beauty, with pale skin accompanied by two completely black eyes and hair of the same color.
Name: Song Umbra
True Name: Lost Promise of the Moon
At that moment, the cafeteria exploded in noise.
"How… how can this be?!"
"I'm not seeing things, am I?"
"What kind of monster are those two!?"
Then, everyone turned robotically to look at the top 2 members.
Even so, Umbra paid no attention to any of this, because she was staring fixedly at Sunny's reaction.
He had a completely lost look and his lips were slightly parted. As if he were remembering something he would have preferred to bury in the depths of his memory forever.
She noticed how his gaze remained fixed on her name. He didn't care at all about the fact that there were two True Name bearers. He didn't care what those True Names were.
His eyes were completely centered on where it said "Umbra" and then the image of someone who looked like how he would have if he had had proper nutrition.
Finally, he began to search for her, and at that moment, she allowed herself to look directly into his eyes.
The moment she did, Sunny turned sharply, and his black eyes fixed on Umbra's, which were the same color.
Holding his gaze without even making a move, she noticed how her brother's eyes first narrowed slightly—as if he were straining to see—then they opened slightly, and then his pupils began to dilate.
While the reaction could be due to yesterday's situation, Umbra knew in the depths of her heart that this reaction was because he recognized her.
She hoped it was because he recognized her.
Then, Umbra had to break eye contact because she began to feel another gaze with the same intensity.
Turning her eyes slightly, she met light gray ones. It was the girl in second place.
Nephis—or Changing Star, as the Spell had decided to call her. The girl she had been told to stay away from.
Returning her gaze, she decided to smile at her slightly. Her smile received no response, as Nephis turned at the presence of Caster, who was standing in front of her.
However, Umbra didn't manage to hear what they were talking about, because at that moment, she overheard a conversation from some Legacies at her table.
"Maybe she lied in the interview?"
"Are you stupid? If it was that easy to deceive the administrators, the crazy pervert from yesterday would have been in first place instead!"
Umbra's head immediately turned to that Legacy, and with a serious tone, she warned him:
"If you want to continue representing your clan, I advise you to never refer to someone as 'crazy pervert' again." Shifting her expression slightly, she added, "Am I understood?"
The Legacy lost all color in his face and immediately apologized. "My apologies, Lady Umbra. I only wanted to make a joke. My intention was nothing more than comic relief."
She analyzed him and immediately realized that his words carried no weight behind them, so she decided to add: "I don't care what your intention was. You made a joke about someone's personal situation without knowing all the problems they may have had to go through in their life. If that is your way of representing your clan and our society, then we are facing an ugly future, and there will have to be consequences."
The Legacy rose from his chair and bowed to her. "Please forgive me, Lady Umbra, if my attitude seemed ill-intentioned. I did not mean to cause conflict or incorrectly represent our society and clan."
At that moment, the entire cafeteria was in complete silence, so Umbra decided to play along a little more:
"If that is your stance, then I am not the one you need to apologize to, don't you think? Jin of Titan Clan…"
Umbra added his name on purpose to make it perfectly clear that she knew who he was and what could happen if he didn't act correctly.
He released the bow and looked at her for a few seconds, then replied, "You're right, Lady Lost Promise of the Moon."
Then, he walked away from the table and headed directly toward Sunny. Moments later, he stood in front of him while Sunny remained seated with a completely raised eyebrow.
The Legacy lowered his head a few millimeters and said, "Jin of Titan Clan wishes to formally apologize to Sunless. I hope my comment did not cause any discomfort."
Her brother looked like he wanted to hide under a rock, but eventually, he replied.
"Uhh… Sure."
The Legacy let out a smile practiced in etiquette class and returned to the table, leaving Sunny completely confused and Umbra on the verge of bursting with laughter.
The rest of breakfast continued with a slightly tense atmosphere, but it didn't present many complications for her.
Once she finished her meal, she said goodbye to the group, taking her tray with her and leaving it on the dirty items counter. She left the cafeteria completely and headed toward the Dojo.
It was time to start the introductory combat class.
She didn't really need it, but she wanted to see Nephis' level.
'I want a fight with her.'
If she was talented enough to obtain a True Name in her First Nightmare, she must be good at fighting.
What kind of sword does she prefer? What is her fighting style like? What does her Aspect do? Does she prefer close combat or ranged combat? What is her Flaw?
Between what happened in the cafeteria and now the possibility of facing a great rival, she was feeling quite happy.
Smiling as she walked through the hallways, she finally arrived at the Dojo.
It was completely empty because she had come half an hour before class started.
The dojo was a room of ridiculous dimensions, stretching for meters and meters along its length. On its walls were rows of equipment, all available to use whenever one wished.
There were even different sections inside the dojo itself.
There was a section full of machines for different exercises, then half a dozen rings scattered throughout. Additionally, there were areas dedicated to sword sparring and even zones solely for archers.
Basically, everything that could be trained could be done perfectly there.
Even so, Umbra wasn't impressed.
'The clan compound has even more things.'
Obviously, it was an exception. No other clan—apart from Valor—could have equipment and facilities of the same quality as the Song Clan.
Shrugging her shoulders, she headed to one of the small tracks inside the dojo and immediately began doing warm-up exercises for her muscles.
After finishing her routine, she went to look for a sword on the shelves along the walls, and after a few seconds of searching, she finally found her preferred sword.
A ninjato.
The sword was obviously made of wood, but the dimensions were quite similar to those of the Memory she used.
In general, it is a straight, single-edged sword. Its blade is approximately 80-90 centimeters long, and its design is intended for speed and combat in enclosed spaces. Its specialty is functionality, stealth, and versatility.
This sword suited her perfectly because its design helped her a lot with quick movements and adhered to her fighting style perfectly.
Additionally, she had the advantage of having arms a few centimeters longer than average, so the short blade didn't affect her at all. From the first time she saw it, she knew this would be her sword for the rest of her life.
She also knew that clinging to one sword type was a mistake, since not all Memories one obtains are the same. For that reason, she had also trained using other types of swords.
But she always returned to her trusted ninjato.
She spent the rest of the time practicing movements with the sword and developing a new fighting style she was slowly working on.
The remaining minutes passed, and the dojo began to fill with Sleepers, so she stopped to avoid showing the style she was developing to anyone and went to sit down while she waited for the teacher to arrive.
Meanwhile, she took a water bottle from one of the dojo's dispensers and stayed watching which Sleepers attended the class.
Part of her wanted Sunny to walk through the door, but the chances of him being interested in this class rather than Wilderness Survival were low.
Umbra knew of the existence of that class because Professor Julius was quite well-known for his reports, and she had read a few of them as well.
Even so, her brother also needed training with the sword or bow—she could teach him both—so in the future, she planned to have him under her tutelage, and the sooner, the better.
While observing the rest of the Sleepers, she ended up crossing glances with Nephis.
Her black eyes connected with Nephis's gray ones for a brief instant.
'This is going to be fun!'