Allen slowly paced through the halls of the school. It has been 2 hours since the last meeting of the Voyagers, and he realized he might’ve offended Trinity. That was a serious problem when there were only three Voyagers left. They needed as much power as they could. He has been looking for Trinity ever since.

Fortunately, going across another corner, Allen found the woman he was looking for.

“Trinity! Hey!”

“Wow wow stay back!” To Allen’s horror, the redhead woman took a step back. “Who are you calling Trinity? My name is Cathy! You must have watched the Matrix one too many times mister!”

Allen’s mouth went open, but no voice came out. The Voyager nodded slowly before turning around and walking away.

Time to make that three a two.

Allen’s heart sank. He and Jean were the only two left now. Since Trinity was attacked in the mere two hours, he suspected the same has happened to Jean as well. In the end, it might just be him.

He gripped his fist tightly. He wouldn’t give up. A warrior of Shaku would never give up, even if he was facing an end worse than anything else possible.

All Voyagers have their secrets, but perhaps Allen’s secret was one of the more significant ones. While most Voyagers were nobody before they were conscripted, Allen wasn’t.

Allen came from a world known as Shaku. Despite its warring tribes, it was a relatively peaceful world until one day, a portal to an alternate dimension was opened up. From that dimension came a horde known as the Daalias. The Daalias were scourges. They move from dimension to dimension, consuming all the resources and devouring all the inhabitants from the previous world before moving on to the next.

The warriors of Shaku resisted. They mastered a mean to channel energy from a group of dark gods. With this energy, the tribes of Shaku were able to hold their ground against the incoming horde in brutal battles. Perhaps not forever, but for long enough.

Allen later learned that the gods the warriors of Shaku drew their energies from served the Protectors. When they sensed the Daalias, they notified their overlords.

As the tribe Allen was in was overran, a squad of five Protectors descended from the sky. The next moment, fleets were obliterated and hordes were erased. The invincible enemy that has been massacring the inhabitants of Shaku were mopped off the dimension like they were insects infesting the corner of a house. When the owner didn't see them, they had free reign, but the moment the owner decides to spray some bug detergents on them, it’s game over.

After the victory, the tribes of Shaku pledged their allegiance to the Protector Corps and the Grand Protector. There were many connections between the two. The Protectors offered protection. Shaku provided resources, but Allen wanted so much more. He desired the power of the Protectors...the ability to take hold of his own destiny. First he sought a way to join the Protector Corps. Of course, that didn't go well. He later tried to join the Shaku Riders, an elite army the Shaku warriors created as the first layer of protection of their world. They were armed by the Protectors and occasionally went on missions with certain Protectors in the Infinite Realms. Unfortunately, the Shaku Riders were filled with soldiers much more experienced than him with tighter connections to their gods.

So Allen went to the next best thing and volunteered himself for the Voyager Corps.

Previous experiences of warfare and a hell bent determination made Allen an excellent Voyager. He has only been through two missions, but in an all out fight, he wouldn’t be any weaker than Jean Turner.

Suddenly, a group of hounds leaped out of the corners and surrounded Allen. Allen sighed. He had no desire to resist because through hundreds of deaths, he realized resistance was futile. Here we go again. He wasn’t afraid of dying at the hands of some dogs. If they were Daalias huntlings, then he might be a little more scared.

And then, just in front of him, the hounds blurred. When they solidified again, they have became two meter tall creatures. Two pieces of armored plating covered their back. They looked as if god has gotten drunk when he created them, but if anyone underestimated these beasts, they would quickly find themselves ripped to pieces.

Daalias Huntlings, the exact creatures Allen thought he was afraid of.

Wait a second…

Fear crept into Allen’s heart as he stepped back. He reached down to his belt in a subconscious effort to draw his arm, but he reached nothing. This only amplified his terror. If he had a weapon, then he would at least have a chance.

Suddenly, Allen’s heart went back to his homeworld of Shaku. All around him, screams echoed through the battlefield. He tried to stand up, but for some reason, he couldn’t. He wasn’t restrained or injured, but he simply couldn’t move.

“Fall back! We’ve been overrun!”

“Where are the reinforcement?”

“Forward men! For the survival of...ahh!”

“To your last dying breath!”

“Stand your ground, warriors! We are all that stands between...uh!”

Allen’s every muscle tensed up. For a moment, he was no longer Voyager Allen. He was warrior Allen of clan Kai, and he was in a final stand against the Daalias onslaught. He wanted to fight. He had to. But he couldn’t move a muscle.

Out of all the screams and cries, Allen suddenly heard a soft call.

“Allen…”

Allen gulped as his last sense of resistance crumbled under that single voice. Screw the Voyagers. Screw the mission. A part of him knew what was happening to him, but he didn't care. All he knew was he couldn’t let her fall again.

Fear has consumed him. Fear of something that has already happened.

Just then and there, five light beams came down from the sky. Allen turned to that direction.

There, five white figures stood tall.

Every Daalias entity within sight started melting. They screeched in fear, an emotion Allen never knew the Daalias were capable of. As the enemy of the Daalias, Allen could feel himself growing excited.

That was the moment Allen needed. At that moment, his hope overcame his fear. At that moment, all the hunterlings around him backed off.

At that moment, he came to a sudden realization.

Everything suddenly made sense.

Jean described how all the details of the fight were a little blurry. Some things aren’t acting as they were supposed to...in fact, one could even say it was dreamy. It was almost as if certain details were neglected...forgotten. Either the creator of this dimension wasn’t awake, or the Voyagers weren’t.

How did the watches leave the Voyagers? How did the Voyagers’ powers disappear? Even if their powers could be stripped away or blocked out, how did someone remove Voyager watches from their users? Through the initial surge of memories, every Voyager was told by the Protectors that their watches couldn’t be removed, and the Protectors have never been wrong. There was no reason a random Trial Mission could break that rule.

The answer was simple. The Voyagers are not in this dimension, at least not in the traditional sense. The watches and their powers are connected to their souls, and their souls are not here. Someone has taken a piece of them and placed it here. This piece of their soul was capable of thinking and acting like the Voyagers themselves, but it didn't have any power.

But for what? What is this all for?

The ways in which this world kills the Voyagers were always changing, always evolving. It wasn’t simply trying to kill them. It was trying to find a way to scare them...to let them fall into the endless abyss of their past fears...and the endless cycle of death and revival ensured this dimension could get as many tries as possible.

Voyagers like Chaos weren’t killed. They weren’t erased. They have been reduced to who they were during the period of their utmost fear. Chaos must be terrified of something when he was a student, and this dimension has gotten hold of him and broke him. He was so consumed by his terror that he forgot who he truly was. It must be the same with Trinity. Trinity was just a code name. Cathy must be her name when she went through whatever she was the most afraid of.

Moments ago, all he did was think about how terrifying the hounds would be if they were Daalias huntlings, and the next second, the transformation was done. Unless someone was able to read his mind, this dimension is corresponding to his own thoughts...almost as if it was in his subconscious.

Connect that to all the other clues...and Allen has found himself a conclusion.

This must be it...this explains everything. Why did this dimension go through all the trouble to kill them the proper way? Because killing them in this environment would be pointless. No real harm would be done to them. Sheer pain wasn’t enough either. The only way to truly hurt them was by combining what the Voyagers feared the most and using that fear to override the real consciousness of the Voyagers.

Trial Missions were designed to empower the Voyagers, and what better way was there to empower a Voyager’s mind than placing him, powerless, against his greatest fears? Those who survive would be fearless war machines.

A Trial indeed.

As for where he is now…

Blurry details…

A world that moves along with his subconscious thoughts and fears and materializes them…

No watches and no powers…

An environment which only included a town...

“This...this is a nightmare.”

The Core Realms. The Dream Realm.

An old man was sitting in front of a pond. Inside the pond was the image of Allen, as well as his declaration.

“This...this is a nightmare.”

“That’s not too bad for someone your level,” The old man said to himself quietly. “if you were born into our race, you could’ve been a good Dream Lord.”

He waved his hand. The pond started bubbling. The next moment, the school the Voyagers were in disappeared. Three figures found themselves standing in a whole new environment.

Yes. Three. Allen, Jean, and Trinity. The rest never left that dimension.

After all, they have already succumbed to their fear. They were defeated already.

A puff of smoke formed behind the old man, and from there emerged a man in his forties.

“Al-siq-la.” The newcomer stated, but his eyes stared at the old man. He was far from friendly. “My brother.”

“Ka-siq-la.” The old man sighed. “What are you doing here?”

“No, my brother. The question is, what are you doing here?” Ka-siq-la stepped to the rim of the pond. His eyes trained on his brother. “The Pond of Sorrows. The relic of our kind. It was constructed by our ancestors millennials ago to train our younglings to become better Dream Lords.”

He spoke slowly, drawing his sentences out.

“It takes a piece of subconscious from the challengers and puts it through two tests. The first is a nightmare. The Pond will explore the challenger’s subconsciousness until it finds an entrance point. After that, the Pond will attack that point relentlessly. Those who persevere, whether by realizing the true nature of this world or by overcoming his fear, will move onto the next task. Those who fail...shall stay with the Pond for an eternity, sunken in their past agony. The challengers who survive both tasks will see their souls drastically strengthened.”

“That is enough.” Al-siq-la rose his voice. “What do you want?”

“This relic was used strictly for our kind, and yet, it is used on foreigners.”

“You know as well as I do that this Pond is the only thing keeping our kind alive!” Al-siq-la suddenly snapped. “You were there when the Protector Corps attacked our world! You were there when the Grand Protector ordered the death of thousands of rebelling Dream Lords! At this point, this Pond is the only way we can be useful to the Protector Corps. If we refuse, we become useless, and we die!”

“I am well aware of the danger of the Protectors. That’s why I hid for thousands of years as you sold out everything we valued.” Ka-siq-la’s voice was dangerously quiet. “But things have changed, and that’s why I’m here.”

“What?”

“I am here to inform you things have become very different.” Ka looked up at Al.

“What do you mean…”

“Another force has emerged. A force strong enough to match the Protectors. A force that has agreed to help us restore our past glory.”

Al’s eyes widened. All modesty or politeness have left him as he realized what his brother just did.

“Have you gone mad? How many times have we heard about an enemy that could defeat the Protectors? Where are they now?”

“This is different.” Ka shook his head. “I have seen what this force can do. I have watched as it destroyed multiple Protector outposts and escaped. The Protectors are losing control, brother. They carry out their laws in the Infinite Realms without mercy or leniency and that annoys a lot of people. Lords and emperors who were forced to surrender their power at gunpoint have never truly yielded. Thousands of worlds have already secretly joined the coalition. If we show what we can do, a thousand times that number will join. The Protectors...their days are numbered.”

Al sat back down.

“If you have everything planned out, then what do you need me to do?”

“First of all, kill these so-called Voyagers. Our relic shouldn’t be exhausting its energy for outsiders. Next, assemble all the remaining of our people and ready them for war. If we Dream Lords are the first to strike, then we will be the first to take the loot. Our seat at the new world will be sealed.”

“The rise of our civilization is at hand!”

Al nodded slowly. As his brother disappeared in a puff of smoke, the old man turned to the Pond. Inside, the three Voyagers ventured down the path toward the second challenge.

He made up his mind.

The Dream Lords have survived through more than their share of pain and suffering. He would be damned if their heritage end here, right before his eyes.

He quietly pulled out a communication device. The owner of the device was here a while ago when he made some special requirements about the mission.

“Protector Welch, I have something urgent to inform you…”