The battle for the Crimson Spire was over.
A small crowd of Sleepers gathered at the border between darkness and light.
Sitting on the cold stone floor, Aether inhaled deeply and looked at the people that surrounded him. He was leaning against Veynar's left, and Seraphine was leaning against Veynar's right. She had suffered a big portion of soul erasure.
Veynar himself had crossed his arms, resting.
All of them were exhausted, wounded, covered in blood, dirt, barely staying conscious. Their armor was broken and torn, and their faces were deathly pale. They sat on the ground, too tired to move or talk, breathing heavily, and stared down with empty eyes.
There were so few of them left…
But also much more than he had expected.
Out of eight hundred, three hundred had survived. They were the strongest, the bravest… but mostly, the luckiest warriors of the Dreamer Army.
Nephis and Cassie were there, of course. So was Kai. Effie was slumped against a wall, dressed only in her white chiton, which was now torn and painted completely red with blood. Her armor seemed to have been completely destroyed.
Seishan stood slightly apart from the rest of them, surrounded by a dozen surviving Handmaidens. The beautiful woman was heavily injured, the luster of her skin and sparkling eyes growing bleak and dim. From what Aether could see, she was barely alive.
Theola was unconscious too, however she did not seem to be injured as much as her sister, Seishan.
His deer was treating the others. However she was exhausted too from all the healing and commanding she had done. So Aether dismissed her.
His mind was basically fried. He could not make any complex moves, hell he couldn't even stand properly.
So much for just halfway..
He doubted he had any chances of helping the army now.
***
"It's time to go. Gather your strength. We are almost there!"
The Sleepers looked at her with tired eyes, the light of hope igniting in them with renewed strength. Slowly, they rose to their feet. Those who were relatively fine supported those who were seriously wounded. Those who had lost consciousness were being carried by their friends or fellow warriors.
Veynar was carrying Seraphine. Aether himself was walking with the help of the church's healer. Only a few of his followers had died today, most of them survived because he had appointed abominations on each of them. However most was injured too, so he had no one but the petite woman to aid him.
"My apologies for..." He couldn't even continue talking. How pathetic..
"No need to apologize.. I am honored to be of help."
***
"Everyone, back!"
Just a moment later, a wide ray of blinding light fell from somewhere above and swiped across the interior of the Crimson Spire, annihilating the tranquil darkness.
It didn't take a genius to realize that the ray was imbued with the same soul-destroying property as the deadly beams of sunlight outside… only this one seemed much more powerful.
It was also different. Although its movements were erratic and strange, they were unmistakably aimed at the exhausted mass of human invaders and full of intent.
"Hide in the shadows!"
Swiftly, the Sleepers dove behind growths of coral and pressed themselves against them. A few unfortunate ones lingered for too long and were exposed to the light. They didn't scream or struggle, just fell down to the ground, their lives extinguished in a split moment.
The rest froze, consumed by tense fear.
Aether found himself supported by the woman as she carried him to the shadows.
With most rays now pursuing Nephis as she leaped from one coral pillar to another, ascending higher and higher, the Dreamer Army could once again move.
And then Sunny took the lead.
"Follow me!"
***
The golems attacked them on their way but the sleepers prevailed.
The remains of the Dreamer Amry cut through the mass of golems and escaped it. Running with all the speed they could manage, the crowd of young men and women approached the Gateway and froze, stunned by the sight of it.
Hypnotized by it.
Their way home.
Salvation.
Most of them had spent so long on the Forgotten Shore that the thought of ever being able to escape it became nothing more than a distant dream. Even when they had followed Changing Star and chose to believe her promises, salvation was just a concept. An idea.
Now that they saw it as a real thing, many did not know how to react.
…Well, Sunny was there to make the process easier.
"What are you staring at, idiots?! Pick up your jaws and move! Battle formation! Protect the rear! Wounded and non-combatants go first, everyone else holds off the damn golems and then follows! One at a time, bastards!"
Aether was lead to the gateway as the petite girl aided him in walking. However he did not enter the gateway right away. He made sure each and every one of his followers made it in. The last ones to go in were Veynar and Seraphine.
He glanced at Sunny, giving him a smile and waving awkwardly. Sunny looked at him with pity, but waved at him anyways. That was enough for Aether.
He stepped through the gateway, his mind shut down almost immediately.
***
Once again, Aether found himself in the endless space between dream of reality. All around him, there was nothing but a boundless black void, which was illuminated by a myriad of bright stars. Between those stars, countless strings of silver light were woven into a beautiful and inconceivably complex pattern.
He was finally free from the forgotten shore. He was going back to the waking world.. he hoped he would get some good abilities..
[The Second Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers…]
Just like after the First Nightmare, Aether suddenly sensed something waking up within him. Back then, it felt as though this new power came from inside his soul as opposed to some external source. This time the feeling was very similar, only more intense, more defined.
It was coming from his Soul Cores.
They were radiating an ethereal, but almost palpable heat. The energy was circulating through his entire body, changing it, making it stronger. It was somewhat similar to the strange feeling he got every time he received a soul fragment, but so much more powerful.
…A thousand times more powerful.
And deeper, too.
His mind was better now too. He did not feel like it was fried.
Aether slowly sat down and crossed his legs, then closed his eyes, concentrating on the transformation.
Every fiber of his being was soon full of the mysterious energy. The familiar euphoric feeling overwhelmed him, washing over his mind like a warm wave.
Beneath the physical changes that his body was undergoing to become better, stronger, more perfect… was another, subtle, but equally incredible change.
It was happening to his soul.
It felt… natural, right, and profound. As though he was coming one step closer to becoming complete, to what he had always been meant to be.
A better being.
Unlike forming new soul cores, this was a much better experience.
Soon, the pulsating waves of heat retreated, replaced by a wave of soothing coldness. The dull ache in his mind that had remained there, unnoticed, ever since leaving the Forgotten Shore lessened a little. His mind became calm and tranquil.
He exhaled slowly and opened his eyes.
His body felt stronger, faster, and more enduring.
Before, he could vaguely feel his Soul Core. The feeling was elusive and ethereal, but unmistakable. He felt its emptiness at the start of his journey, and felt it brimming with power near the end.
Now, that power wasn't contained inside the Soul Cores anymore, but broke free, flowing naturally through his entire body. It circulated slowly, coming and going from the cores, passively saturating his bones and muscles with power.
Aether instinctually felt that, with some practice, he would be able to direct the flow of soul essence to concentrate it in a certain area. He could expend some amount of essence to give his arms incredible, explosive strength for a short amount of time, or feel his legs with the power to jump a dozen meters into the air.
In short, it wasn't as though he had become monstrously strong and would be all the time, crashing through walls and breaking delicate things by accident. Instead, by wisely controlling his soul essence, he would be able to gift himself short bursts of truly inhuman physical might. The rest of the time, he would enjoy a much smaller, but still considerable passive effect of his body being saturated with freely flowing essence.
'More training…'
Aether could now control the soul essence by instinct, but if he wanted to truly master it and do it more efficiently, he would have to learn from experienced Awakened. Some instructors at the Academy existed for the sole purpose of teaching newly Awakened just that, after all.
And then there was a whole another layer of combat strategy that he would have to understand and master.
Sleepers thought much like mundane humans, only with more power and tools. But battles of the Awakened were much more tactical. While essence always restored itself to the core's maximum capacity, it took time. In the reality of a battle, it was a finite resource. Because of it, one had to be smart and careful about how and when to use it.
Luckily he could have seven of them..
But this new amazing quality he had received was not the end of the Awakening. The main event was yet to happen…
The Spell spoke again, filling him with anticipation.
[Awakening Aspect Ability…]
[...Aspect Ability acquired.]
[Aspect Ability Name: Fluid.]
[Awakening Contradiction Ability...]
[...Contradiction Ability acquired]
[Contradiction Ability Name: Soul Bullets.]
Aether blinked, then hurriedly summoned his runes.
Name: Aether.
True Name: The Blasphemer.
Rank: Awakened.
Class: Tyrant.
Soul Cores: [5/7].
Soul Fragments: [760/5000].
He was finally an awakened after a year!
Aspect Ability: [Fluid].
Ability Description: [Your manipulation of essence is unrivaled. Your essence shall bow down to your every command.]
'Um.. Can't I already do that?'
What the hell? Was he scammed? Perhaps he was not being imaginative enough.
For example, if you put too much essence into your muscles, they would immediately tear. Since this was an imaginative area, he decided to test it out and filled his left arm by emptying one of his soul cores fully.
And his arm did not explode! It was a nice addition, he could basically punch in the force of an ascended probably. But he doubted this was all there is to it, he would experiment with it once he was out of here.
Contradiction Ability: [Soul Bullets].
Ability Description: [By consuming your essence, you are able to shoot bullets that are able to damage the soul. The bullets are capable of bouncing off solid structures.]
'Dang.'
This was undoubtably a powerful ability. Abilities that had something to do with souls were rare themselves anyways.
[You have received a new attribute: Fae.]
Immediately Aether felt like his body was going through some changes. He felt like his soul cores become a little larger and his essence grow in amounts. He noticed that the ends of his hair, which had grown past his shoulders, had become white. His skin became extremely white.
Then in the corner of his eye, Aether saw that his shadow become bigger, distorted and monstrous. He felt like he could change between presences? Currently he had two, a presence that felt very safe, and one that felt very eerie.
'What is happening..?' Aether raised his brows and summoned his attributes.
Attribute: [Fae]
Attribute Description: [You are a Fae. Not the glittery, whimsical Fae of the children's tales, but the unsettling, uncanny kind. The kind that never lie outright, but instead twist their words, misdirect, and entrap mortals with half-truths and bindings.]
'Okay.. not ominous at all.'
[Two of your attributes have evolved.]
Attributes: [Complexity], [Trust], [False Sight], [Ever Winter], [Flame of Divinity], [Gambler], [Fae.]
'So, spark has evolved into flame right away.'
And it now seemed that Ever Winter's [Shell] trait had extended to both his arms. Both now had a blue quality to it. And he could summon a saber to each hand, or he could assimilate them and form a sword called Bagua.
There was also a new trait called [Moons], which consumed essence to unleash shockwave slashes.
Overall Aether had received a huge boon, now waiting for the spell to finish up.
[Wake up, Aether!]
And instantly, the black void full of bright stars and silver light disappeared.
***
What did you all think of the siege? Which POV was your favorite, and who do you think contributed to the siege the most?
What are your thoughts on Aether's abilities?
This was the end of Volume 1. It was rather rushed, but I will focus more on the church and the characters during volume 2.
I won't be focusing on the main cast, the story will revolve more around thechurch.