I Can Only Cultivate In A Game-Chapter 177: Nightmare Fuel

Then Victor remembered: when he had returned to Ascendant Realms after months away, his avatar had still been active. That meant...

...based on certain conditions... a player avatar could remain in game even after logging out.

He turnef toward Tarkos. "Hey. I need to leave for a bit. If I do it now, my body stays here."

Tarkos nodded slowly. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Just keep heading for the city. Take my body with you and keep it safe. I'll be back."

Victor proceeded to tap log out and his vision darkened.

In the real world, back in his dorm, Victor's helmet powered down. His eyes fluttered open as he slowly pried it off his head.

He stretched, cracked his neck, and glanced at the time. Just past 4:40 A.M.

"Alright," he muttered. "Back to reality..."

...

...

Thursday mornings at Camp 11 brought with it one of the most demanding trials in the academy: the Obstacle Course.

Victor stood among the assembled first-years with his eyes narrowed in focus. The chill of dawn clung to the grass, but his body felt warm with anticipation.

It had been a month since they all entered the Academy, and now with the rankings due tomorrow, he knew it was time to stop holding back.

"Go!"

The moment Instructor Vex Rhane barked the command, a surge of power exploded across the field as hundreds of students took off. Victor's eyes flicked once, then his entire form became a blur.

He gathered wind around his body while activating Wind Dash.

Air surged beneath his feet and hurled him forward with explosive momentum. Other students jolted as he blurred past them with his form gliding like a leaf caught in a cyclone.

The course had changed again.

Tall rock columns, twisting root bridges, unstable terrain that shifted like quicksand, even a forested region laced with swinging tree stumps, nets, rotating logs, and launching traps.

It was chaos by design, tailored to test every instinct, reflex, and ability the first-years possessed.

Berserkers roared their way through the stone towers, using brute strength to shatter barricades. Mages conjured spectral platforms to skip through the more treacherous terrain. Warriors leapt with calculated movements while slashing away traps with their blades.

Victor soared over gaps that should have required a rope climb. His foot tapped a falling plank, springing him toward a slanted cliff that others had to climb.

He leapt it in three bounds.

A tree stump that was as large as a boulder swung at him from the side.

Victor clenched his fist and threw it forward with force.

Boom!

The tree stump shattered on impact causing wood fragments to fly like confetti.

He raced through a narrow jungle path with sharpened vines whipping out like snakes. He ducked, spun, and used his wind arts to burst across, evading every strike.

Behind him, assassins tried to close the gap, using vanish-based skills and smoke teleportation arts. They were the fastest class in Camp 11. But Victor was a storm today. None of them could match his momentum.

By the time he reached the finish line, the other students were barely halfway.

He slowed to a jog while breathing steady.

Gasps rang from the monitoring instructors.

"He's done? Already?"

"That was impossible speed. Is that an S-ranked skill?"

Vex Rhane narrowed his eyes. "No... that was raw control. He's just that fast."

Minutes passed before the next group began to arrive. Rylan looked stunned.

"Bro... were you always this fast?!"

Victor scratched the back of his head. "I've just been... pacing myself. Since tomorrow's the big day, I figured I should try to dodge the bottom ranks."

Others who had all done well in their own right—were left staring.

Even some of the instructors were whispering.

After the exercise concluded, the students made their way to the massive central auditorium for General Studies. This was one of the few lectures where every first-year attended together regardless of their magic class.

Victor headed to his usual spot, but paused when he noticed Selene already sitting there.

She twirled a lollipop between her fingers. "Took you long enough, Speedy." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

Victor blinked. "Where'd you come from?"

"Secret assassin things," she winked before scooting over to give him room.

Kai, Aria, Reed, Danny, and Rylan followed soon after, creating a small cluster. It was rare for students to form such a compact group unless they shared the same camp, but the instructors didn't complain.

The lecture began moments later.

Instructor Kaelani Vos floated into view atop a platform orb. Holograms materialized around her and a murmur swept through the hall.

A series of images projected above them. Slender, eerie humanoids with elongated limbs, antlered heads, and glowing, pupil-less eyes. Skin like polished bark. Clothing made of leaves, flowers, and woven moonlight.

"Today's lesson is on the Sylrith," she began.

"Back in the early days of the mana surge, after the veil between worlds fell, the Sylrith claimed the forests of our world. Their magic enchanted the land itself, creating zones of illusion so powerful that thousands of humans vanished without a trace."

She waved a hand and an image showed a lush green forest shimmering and changing form like a dream.

"They do not age like us. They do not think like us. Their lives are woven into the flora and fauna. To enter their domain is to enter their dream... and dreams are not bound by logic. They remain the most difficult of the three species to deal with despite being relatively physically weak."

Another image was displayed: A soldier lost in the woods, walking in circles as vines subtly constricted around his limbs without him noticing.

Victor leaned back. "That's nightmare fuel."

Selene chuckled beside him. "They say even thoughts can betray you if you linger too long in Sylrith forests. Think of fire... and it burns you. Think of fear... and they feed on it."

"Sounds like I'll just think about taxes then," Victor muttered. "No one survives that."

Danny burst into a stifled laugh while trying not to get called out.

Instructor Vos continued. "In the war that followed the Sylrith invasion, only three major strongholds in the East remained standing. The Sylrith turned entire cities into overgrown graveyards."