A fairly lean-looking young man with pale skin and heavy dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes were ones of a murderers eyes they were calculative, and cunning a single glance was enough to scare enough off sending shivers down their bodys, he was sitting on a rusty bench across from the police station. He was cradling a cup of coffee in his hands — not the cheap synthetic type slum rats like him had access to, but the real deal. This cup of plant-based coffee, usually available only to higher rank citizens, had cost most of his savings. But on this particular day, Sunny decided to pamper himself.
After all, his life was about to change either he died or he lived.
Enjoying the warmth of the luxurious drink, he raised the cup and savored the aroma. Then, tentatively, he took a small sip… and slightly grimaced to himself.
To the normal everyday eyes his face didn't change at all but if they looked closer his face was slightly grimacing just though slightly.
'Its... Bitter.'
Giving the cup of coffee an murderous look like he was trying to solve the bitterness probably by intimidating it but obviously it didn't work, Sunny sighed and forced himself to drink some more. Bitter or not, he was determined to get his money's worth — taste buds be damned.
"I should have bought a piece of real meat instead. Who knew actual coffee is so disgusting? Well. It's going to keep me awake, at least."
Sunny chuckled to himself seemingly entertained by his own misery or madness.
He stared into the distance, slightly dozing off, and then bit into his tongue waking his self up not wanting to slap himself knowing it might leave a red mark.
"Tsk. What a rip-off."
Shaking his head and cursing, Sunny finished the coffee and stood up. Rich people living in this part of the city were rushing past the small park on their way to work, staring at him with strange expressions but when he glared at them they immediately looked away terrified for their own lives. Looking haggard in his cheap clothes and from the lack of sleep, unhealthily pale, Sunny was indeed out of his place here. Also, everyone seemed so tall sunny himself was only 5ft'5. Watching them with a bit of envy, he tossed the cup into a garbage bin.
"I guess that's what three full meals a day would do to you."
The cup entered the bin with terrifying precision and accuracy. Sunny continued to walk away he felt annoyed for the distance he was supposed to walk, stopping in — front of the station contemplating if he should even go there considering his horrible reputation. Then annoyed he continued to walk, and with a slight grin, he crossed the street and entered the police station.
Inside, a tired-looking officer gave him a quick glance and frowned with obvious distaste, but when he took a second and even longer look his earlier distate was immediately replaced with an terrified, horrified look he quickly grabbed his gun and pointed it to sunnys face.
"Sunny what the hell do you want, we already said to you that we will shoot you the next time we see you!"
The officers voice was cracking with every letter and word he spoke off, sunny just gave him a quick glance eyes tainted with mirth.
Sunny looked around the station already familiar considering he spent most of his life inside jail and only escapd whenever he wanted too, noting reinforced armor plates on the walls and poorly hidden turret nests in the ceiling. The officer, too, looked genuinely terrfied and his earlier confidence completely gone. After sunnys quick look he noticed the only change was that one the flowers that was somewhat healthy was fully — grown now.
"Sunny! im talking to you if you have any weapons put them away now!"
The officer loud voice caught the attention of other officers which they immediately went to the source of the voice.
"Luke, what the he-."
They immediately noticed sunny their face were pale completely rid of colors.
Sunny finally looked at them and his disturbing grin widened it looked even scarier.
"Hey there guys how long has it been since i was last here hmm... Ah three weeks ago right."
Sunny cleared his throat and then he scratched the back of his head and added:
"As demanded by the Third Special Directive, I am here to surrender myself as a carrier of the Nightmare Spell."
The officers faces finally regained some colors they looked relieved their earlier thoughts were probably erased by his words.
"Well then why didn't you say so, when did you start showing symptoms sunny?"
Sunny just shrugged indifferently.
"Eh, like a week ago i think."
The officers faces didn't change.
"Sunny are you sure you got infected i mean you barely sleep in a single month and are you sure that your enemies weren't tailing you and you just got paranoid?"
Sunny pondered for a while before speaking.
"I already killed them all before i got infected but don't worry their bodies are in the usual alleyway you guys can just clean it whenever you want."
The officers sighed looked at one another and nodded to each other and the first officer, officer luke pressed a button on his terminal.
"Attention! Code black everyone! I repear code black!"
***
The Nightmare Spell first appeared in the world a few decades ago. Back then, the planet was just starting to recover from a series of devastating natural disasters and subsequent resource wars.
At first, the emergence of a new disease that caused millions of people to complain about constant fatigue and sleepiness did not attract a lot of attention. But when they started to fall into an unnatural slumber, with no sign of waking up even days later, governments finally panicked. Of course, by then it was already too late — not that an early response could have made any difference.
When the infected started dying in their sleep, their dead bodies turning into monsters, no one was ready. Nightmare Creatures quickly overwhelmed national militaries, plunging the world into complete chaos.
No one knew what the Spell was, what powers it possessed, and how to fight it.
In the end, it was the Awakened — those who survived the first trials of the Spell and came back alive — who put a stop to its rampage. Armed with miraculous abilities earned in their Nightmares, they restored peace and created a semblance of a new order.
Of course, it was only the first of the catastrophes brought upon by the Spell. But as far as Sunny was concerned, none of it had anything to do with him — not until a few days ago, that is, when he first started having trouble with staying awake.
For an average person, being chosen by the Spell was as much of a risk as an opportunity. Kids learned survival skills and fighting techniques in school, on the off chance of being infected. Well-to-do families hired private tutors to train their children in all sorts of martial arts. Those from the Awakened clans even had access to powerful legacies, wielding inherited Memories and Echoes in their first visit to the Dream Realm.
The richer your family was, the better your chances of surviving and becoming an Awakened were.
But for Sunny, who had no family to speak of and spent most of his time scrounging for food instead of going to school, being chosen by the Spell presented no opportunity at all. To him, it was basically a death sentence.
***
A few minutes later, Sunny was yawning while several policemen were busy putting him in restraints. Soon he was fastened into a bulky chair that looked like a weird mix between a hospital bed and a torture device. The room they were in was situated in the basement of the police station, with thick armored walls and a formidable-looking vault door. Other officers were standing near the walls, with automatic rifles in their hands and grim expressions on their faces.
Sunny did not particularly care about them. The only thing he could think about was how much he wanted to sleep.
Finally, the vault door opened, and a gray-haired policeman walked in he was obviously the chief officer. He had a seasoned face and stern eyes, looking like someone who had seen a lot of terrible things in his life. After checking the restraints, the policeman glanced quickly on his wristwatch and then turned to Sunny:
"Hey there sunny i was actually quite surprised you weren't here because you were found guilty of mass genocide, and mass arson how strange."
Sunny laughed which he thought sounded normal even though it just sounded like a maniacs laughter in the ears of others.
"Im telling you it was self — protection, mark."
The chief officer sat down on a nearby chair.
"Well anyways sunny we kinda have to record a conversation about your personal information to send to the government so that they send an awakened to get here."
Sunny just nodded understandably.
The chief officer cleared his voice gave the signal for one of the officers to start recording.
"Well kid, what's your name?"
Sunny shifted slightly trying to get comfortable.
"My name is sunless."
The chief officer started to write his name into a book to send to the government also, sunny decided to add:
"It's because I was born during a solar eclipse. My mom had a poetic soul, you see."
The officer just sighed and wrote it down clearly irritated for already having heard of the explanation for the thousandth time by now.
That's why he got this weird-ass name and his little sister was called Rain… back when she still lived with them, at least. Whether it was the result of poetic imagination or simple laziness, he did not know.
The police grunted and spoke.
"Age?"
Sunny responded.
"16"
The officer spoke again.
"Date of birth?"
Sunny already knew the answer for this question.
"Winter solstice December 21"
The officer continued writing.
"Alright final two questions sunless, do you have anyone you would like us to call? And how long do you think you have until you fall asleep?"
Sunny thought for a good second or maybe two but he eventually answered.
"There's nobody don't bother, and not very long at — most i give myself atleast twenty minutes before i sleep."
"Already the rest is just up to common sense so ill just fill them out just wait for a while until i ask you about other stuff related to the nightmare spell."
Sunny indeed had to wait for a while a good five minutes until he finished writing.
The policeman sighed after finishing writing.
"Then let's continue and because we have minimal time for a proper conversation about the spell. Try to resist for as long as you can and listen to me very carefully. Okay?"
Not waiting for a response, he added:
"How much do you know about the Nightmare Spell?"
Sunny gave him a questioning look.
"As much as anyone, I guess? Who doesn't know about the Spell?"
"Not the fancy stuff you see in dramas and hear in the propaganda broadcasts. I mean how much do you really know?"
That was a hard question to answer.
"Don't I just go into the Dream Realm, kill a few monsters to complete the First Nightmare, receive magic powers and become an Awakened?"
The old policeman shook his head.
"Listen carefully. Once you fall asleep, you will be transported inside your First Nightmare. Nightmares are trials created by the Spell. Once inside, you will meet monsters, sure, but you will also meet people. Remember: they are not real. They're just illusions conjured up to test you."
"How do you know?"
The policeman just stared at him.
"I mean, no one understands what the Spell is and how it works, right? So how do you know that they're not real?"
"You might have to kill them, kid. So do yourself a favor and just think about them as illusions well killing for you isn't really much of a problem isn't it?"
"Yeah killing should be easy enough."
The old policeman waited for a second, then nodded and continued.
"A lot of things about the First Nightmare depend on luck. Generally, it shouldn't be overwhelmingly hard. The situation you're in, the tools you have at your disposal and the creatures you have to defeat should be within the range of your abilities, at least. After all, the Spell sets up trials, not executions. You're a bit disadvantaged due to… well… your circumstances. But kids from the outskirts are tough. Don't give up on yourself just yet."
"Uh-uh."
Sunny was getting more and more sleepy. It was becoming hard to follow the conversation.
"About those "magic powers" you mentioned… you will indeed receive them if you survive until the end of the Nightmare. What those powers will be, exactly, depends on your natural affinity as well what you do during the trial. But some of it will be at your disposal right from the start…"
The voice of the old policeman sounded more and more distant. Sunny's eyelids were so heavy that he was struggling to keep his eyes open.
"Remember: the first thing you must do once inside the Nightmare is to check your Attributes and your Aspect. If you get a combat-oriented Aspect, something like a Swordsman or an Archer, things will be easier. If it is reinforced by a physical Attribute, then that's even better. Combat Aspects are the most common, so the probability of receiving one is high."
The armored room was growing dimmer.
"If you're unlucky and your Aspect has nothing to do with combat, don't despair. Sorcery and utility Aspects are useful in their own ways, you'll just have to be smart about it. There are really no useless Aspects. Well, almost. So just do anything in your power to survive."
"If you survive, you will be halfway to becoming an Awakened. But if you die, you'll open a gate for a Nightmare Creature to appear in the real world. Which means that my colleagues and I will have to deal with it. So… please don't die, Sunless."
Already half-asleep, Sunny felt a bit touched by the policeman's words.
"Or, at least, try to not die right away. The nearest Awakened won't be able to get here for a few hours, so we would really appreciate it if you don't make us fight that thing ourselves…"
Sunnys immediately spat out his earlier words of being touched and now only thought of one singular thing.
'What a bitch'
With that last thought, Sunny finally slipped into a deep slumber.
Everything became black.
And then, in the darkness, a faintly familiar voice rang:
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]