[Prepare for appraisal…]
Kieron found himself in a space between dream and reality. It was an endless black void illuminated by a myriad of stars. Between those stars, countless strings of silver light were woven into a beautiful and inconceivably complex net, forming various nexuses and constellations. It was truly breathtaking.
The things he had read about before, he was finally getting to experience them.
The inner workings of the nightmare spell… Sunny was correct, it does look a lot like the celestial equivalent of a neural network.
Waiting for the spell to say something, his heart raced.
[You have received a Memory: Vivienna's Armor]
Yes! This is definitely better than my current armor. I believe it's a tier 3 awakened armor. A tier six awakened armor is just so… amazing! Especially, since I killed the thing on my own. As a damn sleeper! Granted it was injured and somehow it got injured while trying to puppet me, perhaps some sort of failed usage of its power? In any case, this is not a feat just anyone can do. Wait… Vivienna? It was a woman? That's not the kind of hug I want from a woman…
He wanted to take a look at the Vivienna's Armor, but there was no more time. The Spell was done with its appraisal.
Here in the void, its voice didn't sound subtle and familiar anymore. Rather, it seemed like the universe itself was speaking. Kieron held his breath, listening.
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
[A puppet of a terror escaped the grasp of a being astronomically more powerful than him. Everything that met him, met their end. Entering the ruined castle of a long-depraved knight, he fought her fair and square, freeing her from her curse.]
[You have defeated three dormant humans, names unknown.]
[You have defeated an awakened beast: Crimson Mountain Bear.]
[You have defeated an awakened Monster: Centipede Bear.]
[You have defeated an awakened demon: White Demonic Wolf.]
[You have defeated an awakened terror: Vivienna of the Thunder.]
[You have received the Memory of a long-forgotten apostle of Knowledge.]
[You have achieved the impossible!]
[Final appraisal: glorious. Your survival was not a crown you wore, but the blade you carried.]
Satisfaction.
It is a feeling that arrives not like a wave, but like the slow cracking of dawn across a bruised horizon. The body, wrecked and trembling, hums with the aftershock of survival, each breath a rasping hymn to endurance.
And yet, beneath the ache, beyond the adrenaline's echo, something ancient stirs: a deep, bone-hollow satisfaction. Not the fleeting thrill of achievement, but the kind of contentment that settles into the marrow, earned, sacred, absolute. Kieron had looked death in the eye, stood on the knife-edge of his limits, and did not flinch. He was peeled open, stripped of pretense, and what remained, fierce, stubborn, unbreakable… endured.
It is the satisfaction of standing atop the ruins of something that tried to kill you, hands shaking, heart roaring, and realizing you are more alive than ever.
Kieron sighs contently
I can get used to this.
[Dreamer Caster, receive your boon!]
[You have been bestowed a True Name: Opposer of Miracles.]
About damn time.
The rewards didn't stop there.
[Your Aspect is ready to merge and evolve. Evolve Aspect?]
Yes! Obviously.
[Dormant Aspect Detached and Ascended Aspect Lies of Motion are merging and evolving.]
[New aspect acquired.]
[Aspect Rank: Divine.]
Kieron's eyes shining with triumphant fire.
[Aspect Name: Lies of the Omniscient Reader.]
Divine… I'm on the same level, if not above the divine trio! The name of the aspect is pretty darn fitting. Actually, wasn't there a webtoon with a similar name? I don't think I've read it…
Aspect: [Lies of the Omniscient Reader].
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Description: [There are three ways to survive in a ruined world… Strength lies in speed. The essence of speed is motion… Everything is fading and unclear now… But what is motion if not the false perception of an arbitrary reference... But one thing is certain. The you whose reading this, you will survive.]
Innate Ability: [Character list]
Ability Description: [You can see aspects, attributes and true name of others.]
Holy shit, that description is a mess. It's like two descriptions merged together, if I remove the part of the description that came from my previous one, it says… "There are three ways to survive in a ruined world… Everything is fading and unclear now… But one thing is certain. The you whose reading this, you will survive." What does this mean. Is this related to my transmigration? I finally have a clue, but I don't know what it implies. The one who sent me here, probably doesn't want me to die, seeing that description. Is it the apostle I got the memory of? It's at least a possibility… But I doubt it. And the book of books… it seems to be a really incredible memory. A boon of transmigration of sorts I guess.
The spell calmly began to speak again:
[The First Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers…]
***
Kieron felt something waking up inside of him. With a startled cry, he clutched his chest and stared into the darkness, trying to understand what was happening. The feeling was not painful or unpleasant, yet it was like nothing he had ever experienced. It was as though his soul was being shaken awake, infused with strange new and old energy.
However, that energy did not come from some outside source. Rather, it was coming from within, as though it had always been there, sleeping. And perhaps from the original caster too, however it was small.
Their souls had begun to truly merge now. The energy filled every fiber of his being. Kieron felt his emotions becoming clearer and sharper. Then, his body began to change, too. He felt as though a miniature star was burning in the center of his chest: waves of heat were radiating from it, slowly reaching his stomach and shoulders, then his arms and legs, then his hands and feet.
Under that heat, his bones, muscles, organs and blood vessels were being rebuilt and revitalized. Sunny felt like he was being reborn. He was becoming stronger, faster, healthier.
It was euphoric.
After some time had passed, the star burning in his chest finally cooled down. The heat was replaced with a soothing coldness. That coldness washed over Kieron's body, taking away all the aches and discomforts that had been accumulated there over the years. Then it moved up, reaching his brain and, finally, his eyes.
His vision strangely doubled.
He could still see the void populated by an endless pattern of stars. But he could also see something different.
He could see a bright, lonely, crackling and thunderous sun illuminating the sea below him in a bright, blue tint.
The soul sea…
Thunder crackled across the sea and a jagged, snarling sound that tore through the silence.
Very different from how my soul sea was before.
Kieron looked at the sun, he saw five spheres of light orbiting around it, as though caught in the soul core's gravity well. A subtle smile appeared on his face.
These were his Memories: Green Jade Jian, Hourglass Charm, Poetic Mantle, Book of Books and Vivienna's Armor.
Then, the Spell's voice suddenly pulled him out of the Sea of Soul.
[Awakening Aspect Ability…]
[Aspect Ability acquired.]
[Aspect Ability Name: The Fourth Wall.]
Just as he read the name, an excited smile appeared on his face.