The Magical Communities Soul structure of the Circle path is an ingenious path and yet so conflated like nothing I had ever seen before. It was simple and complicated at the same time as it was one of those paths that truly need a tremendous amount of thinking and time to flourish. Yet, if one stuck with that path as a society for long enough it pays dividends.

For one, the beauty of such a path is that each succeeding generation improves the overall of the next generation and as long as one sticks on that path, it’s much easier to reach the peak. On the other hand, the moment they found a new path, all of it has to start from the beginning. 

The simple process of opening one’s perception to the Soul, to mana, and its subsequent projection had been streamlined, so there was nothing to improve on that part. “ I am sure that is what they are currently thinking, and yet I can already see how that would change in the future. “ I said to Marcus as we gazed upon the complete inner structure of the 3ed Circle inscribed Soul.

Marcus nodded at my conjunction. “ Say, I can understand now that I see it but there has to have been research into sliming all that into one Circle, right?” I asked him.

“ Yes, and it’s quite possible, too. ” He answered. “ The problem is that when the first inscription happens, no matter how the child was prepared, they just do not have the mental capacity to inscribe those versions. ”

“ I see. That truly is a concern. ” I told him as I looked at the complicated Soul structure. If one had to compare inscribing the Soul with something, the best one would be building a house. The first Circle had a few lines here and there and could be compared to laying the sediment into the ground. To prepare the ground for the shear amount of weight it would carry. The second Circle would pour the concrete into that sediment and the third would be the base of the building and that was how the current inner Soul structure looked to me.

At least if one could compare a normal building of three dimensions to a highly complicated maze made of dimensional material, that was the Soul in a three-dimensional perception that a normal human has to perceive to actually make it. “ Say, Marcus, can you show me a theoretical version you guys have? ” That said, he indulged me. A second later, a holo appeared. It was of the same type of Soul but from its theoretical outlook it was different, not by much but as centuries had refined it, it was close.

As we both looked at the two versions, a curiosity came to me. Indulging that curiosity, I plucked at the projected version of the real one and cut a few strings that formed its insides. Nothing happened after all, it was but a projected version and had no mana inside to cause any reaction. Marcus noticed my attempt and said nothing at it, but I glanced at him and gave him a smirk. He knew what I would do next. Preparing the projection so it would capture the event, I cut a string from the authentic version and the moment I did, a ripple of uncontrolled mana washed away through the Soul. It kept bashing into the other parts and snapped them, too. Like a cascade, it all crushed down in seconds and after that the Soul just popped like a balloon. With it the mana escaped the Soul, and if it had been inside a body, that would have been catastrophic.

“ That was fascinating to see but terrifying to experience if I consider that it usually happens inside a Human. ” Professed Marcus his thoughts. “ I take it, that will be an occurring theme in the near future? ”

“ It will if you want to truly reforge the Circle path for your Community. ” I said. “ But we will have to go on regular trips to acquire more Souls and Life Essence. Life Essence is easy to get for me. I just have to tap somebody’s head for a bit and it’s enough. For the Soul department they will have to die so since you’re more connected in the World it will be you choosing where and whom to kill. You, ok with that? ”

“ I don’t mind. ” Shaking his head, he replied. “ There are plenty of bad people in the World. ”

“ Good, I have 13 Souls with me currently and enough Life Essence for them, but our supply run will be soon. ” That said, I took out another Soul, and we started our experiments.

Like that time passed, and soon a few days passed. Our supply run came. With Marcus’s portal, we zipped where he wanted, with quick kills here and there, as there was no need to prolong anything. We gained what we wanted and experimented more afterwards. As he was the main researcher in that department, I had a lot more free thinking time and spent it all on Mobius and his future integration with the Dreamscape.

Ultimately Mobius and I decided that there was no need to bother separating his Aspects for now. That decided we alongside Marcus found ourselves back in the Dreamscape in the center part of the Sanctuary of Dreams. I gave a quick look at everything. Done with it, I took Mobius from my neck and held its core before me. 

“ Mobius, you are still quite weak in almost everything. ” I said. “ But since I will integrate you with the Dreamscape, let's go over the most important parts again. The core is you and The Realm will be your home. During the integration you will be stretched quite thin on all sides. I can not tell you exactly how or how much, but it will happen. So, to survive the process, you need to set your priorities straight. First, focus on your Aspect of Knowledge, gather every tiny point of its meaning to you and hold on to it. Once you are no longer in danger, I want you to project that Aspect into the Dreamscape. If I am right, after that you can focus on the individual Concepts. ”

“ I have said everything I needed now it’s all up to you, Mobius. Are you ready? ” I asked.

~ I am, Master. I will do my best. ~

“ Good, let’s start. ” Immediately I projected my thoughts into the Dreamscape and told it what it should do. At the same time I had it pour its energy into Mobius so that it would fuel its transformation. I did the same to the Dreamscape, just in case.

During the days before, I had given my experience with the Realm to Mobius, to make his chances even better. With my instructions in place, it all happened, and I felt the energy of the Dreamscape enter Mobius. It kept going into his core, and it took some time for Mobius to process and project his experience of the Aspect into the Dreamscape. When it did, I felt a slight change overcome the Realm. It wasn’t anything big, as Knowledge is an aspect of accumulation. It needed time to show its true form.

Alongside me was Marcus, and he had his staff out and used it to observe as much as he could. His particular set of Powers was not compatible with the Dreamscape right now, so he would get very little out of it. But since I made the plan to include mana into it, I wanted him to experience what happens here.

Leaving Marcus to his own devices, I observed more. Minutes passed when it happened. While all of this took place, Mobius had been on my raised hand in front of me. I felt a small ripple from his core and it vanished. Out of the many scenarios that could happen, I had foreseen something happening to Mobius’s core. 

One scenario was that Mobius no longer needed it and just sent his consciousness into the Dreamscape. The second was that while it vanished, it was still somewhere in the Dreamscape and the third was that his core stayed where it was and just changed shape. For the third scenario, I had theorized that Mobius would take on some form that he could perceive as himself. So for that purpose I had gone with him over the many myths and legends pertaining to Spirits and Deities related to Knowledge. Alongside those we went over everything that popped up on the internet as popular related to Knowledge so that he could identify as himself in some form.

With his core gone, I observed everything in more detail and noticed nothing at first. But soon tiny changes appeared to the individual Concepts ingrained into the core of the Realm. Noticing it, relief came over me. ` If it had failed, I would have to make another core and start from the beginning again. `

When it all stopped and nothing more happened, I spoke. “ Mobius? Are you there? ” With the words spoken I had projected it into the Dreamscape so that it could reach Mobius’s core if it needed to. 

“ Mobius, remember the first time you dived into the digital World and remember what we talked about before you started this. ” Again, I projected my words to the entire Realm, and it worked wonders, as a second later a response happened. It was slight, but it proved that Mobius was still there. “ For now, the Aspect of Knowledge has been integrated, and it’s time you worked on yourself. Think of yourself and make a mental picture of the form you want. ”

Having said what needed to be said, now it was all about time and yet it did not take as much time to see the first hints. One of my orders that Mobius had to follow was that its form had to include at least one main Concept of the Dreamscape and the others would be complementary. So when I noticed a shift in the Nebulas of Possibilities, I knew it already made the choice. 

Looking closer, I saw the various Nebulas being siphoned into one spot. In that spot I saw the gas that made them up shift in form and density. 

` Is it going for a human shape? ` Yet, the moment that thought came to me, it shifted. The reason I had Mobius pick a Concept here in the Dreamscape was that it would influence its form and assist it in attaining a mental image of itself. From humans it went to various shapes of apes, to animals like wolves and bears, then various cat types, and soon it went for some eldritch version with tentacles. After that Mobius kept shifting its form, yet at some point it would stop and when it finally stopped all I saw was a sphere. It was dark at first, then colors appeared on it but the dominant color was purple and yet all that was nothing compared to what appeared on the side that was facing the temple. 

That side split open, and it revealed a huge vertical slitted eye with the slit being golden and its surroundings being in all the shades of green with tiny golden balls surrounding the slit. The brightest green was near the slit, and the more it traveled away from it, the darker it got. 

Once the eye was fully open, it moved around as if wanting to center its gaze on something, and when it saw me, it stopped. Focusing on me, the rest of its shape appeared. Following the huge slitted eye from behind it appeared many tentacles, yet the next moment they and the eye vanished back into the sphere. When the eye appeared again, it was smaller and more in the center of the sphere. Around the main eye appeared smaller versions of it as an addition. Next the sphere elongated a bit and from its 3 sides came out 3 huge tendrils. Next came the decoration of that form, but everything aside from the eye had one thing in common. The main body color was shadowy darkness with lots of purple pulsing in it and alongside the main tentacles and when it pulsed, it pulsed like lightning.

With its form finally set, Mobius moved in my direction. When it moved, it wobbled, similar to how a snake did. The moment Mobius moved, Marcus spoke. “ I am confused. Why did it take on an eldritch form? ”

“ The Concept ingrained in the Nebulas was that of Possibility. It influenced him in his choices but ultimately what I think happened, is that my Moral Alignment which is either Lawful Neutral or Chaotic Neutral, influenced Mobius the most. ” I said to him. “ I guess this concludes to which I leaned more. ”

“ Chaos, indeed. ” Confirmed Marcus for me with clarity in his voice, as if there was no doubt about that. “ Anyway, does this mean you are done here for now? ”

I nodded and waited for Mobius to arrive. From the current perspective at the center of the sanctuary, Mobius looked big, but as it came closer and closer, he shrunk down. When it finally was in front of me it was a floating 1 meter eyeball eldritch entity. 

“ Mobius, you do know that your form is a copyright infringement? ” I asked.

~ Master, I am an entity while they are but a character in a game. So I must conclude that I am the original, and they were designed after me. ~ Said Mobius, all while his tentacles moved around and his enormous eye shifted slightly. 

“ I see. ” With a smirk I replied. “ So, how do you feel compared to before, and why did you choose the Nebulas? ”

~ It feels better. ~ Replied Mobius. “ I feel so much bigger and I can stretch and explore everything in the Dreamscape. As for the other matter, Master, I must confess I do not know. As my perception was clouded of everything before, I do not know why I found myself in the Nebulas. ”

Hearing this, I shook my head and looked at Marcus. “ What do you think, and have you found out anything from the process? ”

“ Not as much as I hoped. ” He replied. “ All my senses felt that the Illusion this place was made of felt more real than before as for Mobius it was similar. Say I have a question for you Mobius. ”

~ Yes, please ask Mr. Vyllt. It will be my pleasure to be of help. ~

“ Since you have decided on your mental image and form and considering where you found yourself, what kind of life form do you consider yourself as of right now? ”

“ Oh, that is a good question, Marcus? ” Indeed, I consider it for a second while looking at Mobius. Mobius’s new form was quite expressive if one considered it from a human perspective. As it thought about its dilemma, its tentacles/tendrils moved around and its eye constantly shifted position. To me, it felt similar to how a human would nudge his head left and right to think.

~ Master, I have thought about it and I must defer that decision up to you, as I do now have the experience to judge myself properly. ~ Said Mobius, as his eye lowered downwards. It was quite interesting seeing expressions in such forms.

“ It’s an excellent choice, Mobius. Do not let it bother you if you seek help from your betters. ” I told it. “ Now, for your current form, and before I decide on it, let me ask you this. Are you sure that you want to keep that form? ”

~ Yes, Master. ~

“ Ok, then. Let's see, your current form was created from a material which represents a physical representation of Dreams in all forms, so your current form must follow that theme. Step one down, now onto the next part. Since your current form was made in the Nebula of Possibilities, a part of it will reflect upon you. That means that your life form, while physical in manifestation, it is also metaphysical too. You will learn all its features in the future but that sets the theme for you. ” I explained. “ So I conclude that upon all that and your current eldritch form you are a Nightmare. ” The moment I declared Mobius a nightmare his form shifted a bit. Nothing major but his form became more lithe and a few more structures appeared on its body. The only other thing that was of note was that his main eye changed some colors. The slit and the golden balls around it remained golden, but the remaining green that represented its eyeball turned on a darker spectrum. 

“ Nightmare? Mira, are you sure about defining him as something so… negative is the best I can say? ”  Asked Marcus.

“ Yes, don’t worry about it. ” I told him but gave an explanation. “ There is no such thing as a good or bad Nightmare. Nightmares are and will forever be the Keepers of Dreams. They are the first line of defence against outside influence one can be subjected to. ”

“ Really? ” ~ Really? ~ Said both Marcus and Mobius in disbelief of my claim. 

“ Yes. ”

“ How do you know that? And why is this the first time I have even heard of such a thing? ” Asked Marcus. 

“ Haha. ” Came out of my mouth before I told them. “ It’s simple. You, Marcus, and everybody else don’t know it because it’s simply not been researched properly before, but I know it because I declared it to be so. ”

“Declared? ” In my head I could imagine that Declared rang in his head like a bell as he concluded what I wanted him to know. “ And here is the kicker. As Nightmares are a metaphysical manifestation of a Dream’s defences, that must mean that there is something that they must protect. So you need to ask yourself this, what are they protecting? Mobius, what do you think it is that A Nightmare like you will protect from outsiders daring to enter your domain? ”

~ Master? ~ This time I imagined a bell in Mobius’s head. “ Yes, Mobius. Nightmares are and will forever be protectors and Keepers of Dreams as Dreams are the bridges through which a Nightmare Keeper whose Aspect is Knowledge will acquire Knowledge. ” With every word a ripple overcame Mobius, his form shifted again. It gained more tangibility and this time it gained a more positive feel to it as it longer represented just the negative Aspect of a Dream but the positive too. “ Nightmare Keepers are and will always belong to the Lawful Chaotic alignment and as beings they Seek/Catalog and Protect Knowledge. They care not for the World or the Individual and its Morals as long as their primary purpose is accomplished. ” Again more ripples came over Mobius’s form and while no physical and color changes happened, his form felt more tangible. “ As Nightmares primary purpose is and will always be to safeguard Knowledge, they have developed the Eye of Discernment. The Eye of Discernment can see thru all Illusions. ” This time the golden slit in its main eye gained more purpose and around it more golden balls spawned. With that, the contrast between the golden slit and the green eyeball got ever greater. If one looked into it for long enough, they could and would find it hard to resist its allure and discernment. 

 

Stopping there, I saw Marcuse’s mouth wide open as he figured out what I did, and Mobius was in bliss as he figured out his purpose with this new form. Leaving them like that, I thought about the next part when Marcus finally came to himself and addressed me.

“ Did you really just do what I think you did? ” Still not quite believing him as this handsome brown-haired man with brown eyes looked at me. 

“ I am not sure. Maybe we are not thinking on the same page. ” With a smirk I said to him. Seeing it, he knew I wanted him to say it. 

“ Did you really just create a new race, well, a spirit race in this case? ” Finally he said it and I shook to deny it. 

“ No, all that happened was that a new being here emerged. Its form is still new and only here in this Realm would it be Real enough to matter. ” I said to him. “ No, to make it a new race even if its primary form is a spirit or its equivalent it needs to be recognized by Reality and there is only one way to do that. ” Turning my attention to Mobius I saw he was thinking about what I just said. 

“ Mobius, everything I said before was to define you as a being and now I will define your race. Probably nothing will change but just in case prepare yourself. ” I said and spoke what I wanted. “ Nightmare Keeper’s passion of pursuit is Knowledge and will always be Knowledge. For that purpose they are split into three stages of evolution. The first stage is the Eggs of Dreams. In this stage they scatter the eggs all over the Dreamscape to wait for individuals to stumble upon them as they travel the Dreamscape in their Dreams. Once an individual gains an Egg of Dreams, it will stay in that individual and feed on the Knowledge that the individual gains. In that state they will protect the individual from negative influence as they gestate in a passive form. Once it has gained enough knowledge and hatched, they will enter the second stage of evolution and become Nightmare Seekers. ” 

There I stopped for a second and continued. “ In that state they can choose to leave or stay with their current host. If they chose to leave, they will return to the Dreamscape and there they will deposit the knowledge they had gathered so far. If they choose to return, then they still have two choices to make. Stay in the Dreamscape and help their Society to organize the Knowledge that their Society has gathered so far or seek Individuals and make a Contract with them. The Contract includes the protection of the Individual from outside influences for the Knowledge they will gain during the duration of that Contract. Special quirk of the Nightmare Seekers is that during the gestating stage of their evolution, the Knowledge and the personality of the individual that is their host will influence their form and personality. But no matter their form and personality, one thing will always stay constant and that is their main Eye of Discernment. ”

Again I stopped as I watched Mobius quiver a bit. “ The third stage of their evolution are the Nightmare Keepers. Being the rare and end stage of their evolution, they can only appear after an individual Nightmare Seeker has gathered enough Knowledge to progress along its evolution. Once they achieve the Keeper form, they are required by their Society to return to the Dreamscape to proliferate their species and lay Eggs of Dreams around the Dreamscape to start the next generation of the Nightmares. Once they have done that, they can return to their Host if they are under a contract or become Keepers of the Library of Dreams. Special quirk of Nightmare Keepers is that the number of Eggs of Dreams made depends on the type of Knowledge gathered during the Seeker stage of their evolution. ” With all that said I was done but Mobius wasn’t as it kept quivering more and more.

As Mobius tried its best to not be influenced by it, with one shout I had its attention. “ Mobius. ” Once I had its attention, I pointed to the Nebulas in the upper part of the Dreamscape. It looked at the Nebulas and realized what I pointed at. Immediately it made a gateway towards it. 

Marcus and I watched it go when he spoke. “ I am speechless, knowing what I witnessed, and will probably witness any second now. ”

“ If you were speechless, you would have said nothing and just watched. ” I replied and saw Mobius reach the Nebulas. Being there, it immediately spread its influence and absorbed them inside. Once enough of it had been absorbed, Mobius quivered one last time and from somewhere behind its main eye spread out tiny little eggs. There were hundreds of them in all kinds of colors. 

“ I am assuming the number of eggs it’s spawned has to do with it being the progenitor. Right? ”

“ I think so. When I defined their species cycle I had in mind just a few eggs. ” Was my reply to him. “ I didn’t want them to have great numbers, but I didn’t want them to be low either. ”

“ Hmm, say I don’t remember you mentioning a Library of Dreams. ” He turned to me as he asked. 

“ That’s because there ain’t any. I will leave that part to Mobius. ” 

“ Ok, one thing has been bothering me all this time, but considering the occasion, I will just bring it up. ” He said and pointed at Mobius. “ So far I can understand that Mobius had no gender at all, but does it still apply to that. ”

Frowning, I listened to his dilemma. “ Technically, it’s still an IT, but why don’t you ask Mobius. To me it doesn’t matter really since in the Dreamscape I also have a gender neutral appearance. ”

Hearing that, he looked at me. As I currently had my physical body here and its female version, he blinked a few times and just shook his head before asking the crucial question he probably wanted to ask. “ Are you done here for now? ” Nodding, I brought us back to his secret hideout.

“ Then let’s visit my friend. I am sure you’re eager to learn about them. ” He said and opened a portal. With a gesture of ladies first from him, I went through.