I looked around a corner, only to step back, a few creatures around a building, standing eerily still, their gazes locked on the building itself. I calmed my breathing and heart, looking again, this time staying as close to the ground as possible.
The creatures were wolf-like creatures, the tail replaced with a dozen jagged bone spikes. My form shuddered at the sight, then one sniffed. Then another one, then all of them started sniffing the air. And in that moment, I knew I had made a mistake, not waiting for a moment, I slowly retraced my steps, getting further from their undoubtedly good hearing. Then I bolted, I ran like my life depended on it, because it did in fact depend on it. I didn't hear anything, only the wind whipping past my ears, my eyes squinted, my heart pounding, and I was fully concentrated on running. It didn't matter if they were following me, either way, I would be dead if I tripped, and so I ran once again. I vaulted a bench, making a turn, I looked from where I came from, to see, nothing... I paused in the alleyway, catching my breath. Then I stopped breathing, putting my ear to the ground. Nothing.... unnaturally quiet.
The type of quiet that a predator used to make sure their prey wouldn't run. Then I heard it, a very low breathing, not human. Right above me... I paused, my breath hitching from fear this time. I slowly started turning my head, only for something wet to land on my head. Most probably saliva.
Then I turned my head as fast as I could, only to see nothing. I touched my head, and sure enough, it was wet. Real, yet nothing was there. I listened. The breathing was gone, and there was no tapping of footsteps.
I let out a breath of relief, yet the nagging feeling of something wrong, very, very wrong persisted in my mind.
The creature saw me, and I knew that, there was no debate.
Yet it left, not provocation, not an angry creature trying to chomp my limbs off. It had just left, as if I wasn't a meal, as if I wasn't nature and it wasn't an instrument to destroy it.
My mind swirled with theories, insane theories, laughable theories. In the end, after I was sure I was safe, I moved to find food, anything edible, anything to stop the growing hunger.
***
Returning to my new home, which didn't have the necessities, at least it was still better than every pile of rubble around. I looked at my stash of food, which was canned beans, some still growing greenery, such as carrots and potatoes. I surprisingly never encountered another creature on my trip after the wolves, strange, but I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Yet with each moment, my mind went into deeper panic, and now being in relative safety, it fully set in. I had nearly died; I was alive only due to one fact: it had chosen not to kill me. The mere thought of the encounter sent shivers down my spine. In the end, I decided to think about my crazy theories another time, so I ate carrots with the canned beans and raw potatoes. Was it disgusting? Absolutely. Yet it had enough nutrients to keep me on my feet. And so I just ate in silence, coughing at the taste from time to time. Then I went to sleep. I managed to find some wires and empty cans, so I made a terrible alarm system, yet it worked, hopefully. I couldn't test it, since it would attract more creatures.
And so I woke up the next morning, alarm system intact, feeling better than I have in a week, the existential dread of someone in my position, and very sleepy. Unnaturally sleepy, almost as if I was going to fall asleep and enter my first nightmare type of sleepy. My blood froze, and in an instant, I pushed away the sleepiness, my thoughts whirling like a maelstrom. I smacked myself in the head, how could I have forgotten? I was almost guaranteed to be infected, and it seems that I was, in fact, infected. Immediately, I rushed outside, barely checking for nightmare creatures. I ran up to a ruined building close by, collecting planks. I would need to make something as safe as possible, to preserve my body until I finished the nightmare or died inside of it.
Rapidly, I went back to my current humble abode, making a weak wall of the planks. Then I grabbed bricks, three at a time, outlining the wall for more support from both sides.
And I repeated, until four hours later, I was sweating, tired, and happy with the little safe corner I had made. It was about a 1m², not much space, but enough for me to fit inside, especially with my skinny and short body.
And so, I ate one last time for good luck, dragged myself to the corner, boarded up the entryway, and closed my eyes.
And so I waited, in eternal darkness. It felt like hours, but I counted only 40 minutes. Then I heard it.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the nightmare spell, prepare for your first trial!]
And just like that, I was inside the spell. I watched the void filled with thousands of stars, my eyes widening at the astonishing view. Then the spell started speaking,
[Prepar-]
And stopped, I looked around, more worried about where the voice came from than why it paused.
[Prepare for appraisal...]
Now I actually looked around, confused as hell, because even if I didn't know much, I knew I should be in a life-or-death battle right about now, rather than listening to my appraisal. I didn't do anything to receive the appraisal.
[You have received a memory: Twilight bow].
[You have received a memory: Vamparic dagger].
[You have received a memory: Assassin's wear].
I just stared at the stars, my mind still not comprehending what was happening, "How can I be appraised without a trial?" I echoed the question in the void, hoping that the spell would perhaps respond. Yet it didn't, it stayed quiet, eerily quiet. In the end, I decided that it glitched out or something.
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
[The -Unknown- sent a pawn to the waking world through his slumber. None managed to contest the Corrupted Terror, and so it rampaged, yet one human managed to physically touch it. The human was neither killed nor corrupted; instead, it ran away, and so the boy was now in the realm of dreams, nightmares, and fate itself. Yet it did not succumb, it did not feel the weight of thousands of eyes, it didn't feel the weight of the -unknown's- anger. The boy did not kneel, the boy did not bow, nor did he cry. Instead, he ran, scavenged, and hid, waiting for the time to return to his home.]
[You have achieved the impossible!]
[Final appraisal: Glorious. Your will to survive knows no bounds.]
I just stared on, my reeling, confusion, and fear mixing into pure unadulterated terror. What have I gotten myself into? What is the unknown? Why was that censored? In the end, I didn't even get time to think when the spell continued in its monotone.
[Dreamer #####, receive your boon!]
Even the spell didn't know his name? How was that possible? Perhaps I never had a name to begin with.
[Dreamer #####, you have been bestowed a True Name: Apex Of Nightmares].
My heart felt as if it had stopped. I couldn't believe it; even the people on the outskirts knew what it meant to receive such a boon. It meant luxury, money, fame, and success in life. But my mind wasn't on that part. I was most happy about that I now have an actual name. A name, a thing I've never had, a proof of one's existence. And now I had one, more powerful than most.
[Receive aspect? Yes/no].
I paused, taking in a breath to relax.
I had a strange feeling that the spell wanted me to say no, so just in pure spite for the terror I had experienced, I answered in the only way I knew to annoy it.
"Yes".
[Aspect acquired.]
[Aspect rank: Unholy.]
My breath caught in my throat. Unholy? "UNHOLY?!" I shouted out, more fear than happiness in my voice.
[Aspect name: Oblivion's Heir].
I summoned my runes, by pure instinct, I was scared to find out what was on the runes, yet I read anyway.
Aspect name: [Oblivion's Heir].
Aspect rank: [Unholy].
Aspect description: [Chosen by the -Unknown- to wield a fraction of its power, you bring Chaos and Oblivion].
Innate ability: [One of their own].
Ability description: [As the Heir of Oblivion, no creature shall challenge you, unless you challenge them].
So this confirmed it, I was a nightmare creature or something of the sort, either way, it was clear, I was favored by the creatures. Then my train of thought died, favored by the creatures... " That's why nothing attacked me!" I shouted out in surprise, but another thought struck me. The creatures saw me as one of their own even before the spell, which meant that the -Unknown- was the one responsible for this. A being on the level or even above that of the spell. Which was itself looked upon as a God.
[The first seal is broken.]
[Awakening Dormant powers...]
I prepared myself for anything mentally, but did not expect my body to be the target of the shock. People described the experience as a one-of-a-kind gift, a blessing of pure relief, joy, and acceptance of one's soul. I did not feel that; instead, I was screaming out in pain, my hands clenched into fists, nails digging into my skin, drawing blood, knuckles white. My heart pounded, blood rushed through my nose like a fountain and my vision turned blurry. I felt as if I was electrocuted, stabbed, thrown in acid, torn apart limb from limb, and then put together, repeating the process again and again. I couldn't even keep count of the time and so I didn't know how much time I spent in my broken position, weeping, screaming, and laughing. A truly Unholy experience.
And then it stopped. I opened my eyes to see nothing, not the dark, but a visible void of the spell, but the stars, nothing. As if everything vanished, as if I was staring into nothingness itself. I snarled, the pain obviously having damaged my psyche. I shouted at the spell, screamed at it, nothing. Silence, even more silent than the usual.
I just kneeled on the invisible ground, wishing I were at my home, true home. And suddenly it was in front of me, appearing from thin air. I gazed upon the wooden shack, my second-ever home, the one I worked so hard to fix up, only for a master to barrel through it mid-fight, completely destroying it. Yet there was no master here, no creature to fight; it was emptiness, the house, and me. It was peaceful.
Then I looked towards the sky, noticing something like I shape. I tried to focus, wishing for this place to be slightly brighter. And then I saw it, a massive orb filled with darkness, or perhaps the void itself. What looked to be thousands of miniature hands tried clawing from inside of it, trying to escape. My whole body shuddered, then I noticed three smaller orbs around it, circling it like moons around a planet. They were different, lighter than the void-filled orb; they looked like they existed.
Suddenly I was in the void filled with stars once again, the spell's monotone continuing its appraisal of the deeds I apparently did.
[Awakening aspect ability...]
[Aspect ability acquired].
[Aspect ability name: Warp].
I summoned my runes, and immediately wished I hadn't, because what greeted me couldn't be a dormant ability.
Aspect ability name: [Warp].
Aspect ability description: [Warp the very fabric of reality, making the space be replaced by anything you wish it to be, even yourself].
This was not a dormant ability, granted I didn't know much, but I knew enough, and this seemed to be something Saints would have, perhaps special masters. And the ability itself? Magnificent, perfect, powerful, versatile.
It had everything a Dreamer would ever need to complete the winter solstice, speaking of which, I had no idea which month it was.
[All power has a price].
[You have received a fla–]
The world around me seemed to shudder, the very fabric of reality, time, space itself seemed to recoil away from me.
Then the spell continued.
[Flaw: The "perfect" being].
I quickly summoned my runes, confused as hell.
Flaw name: [The "perfect" being].
Flaw description: [You are "perfect" and so a perfect being does not have a flaw].
I stared at the runes, taken aback, how was this possible? And was the spell mocking me? Before I could contemplate the questions and answers the spell continued.
[Wake up, Apex Of Nightmares!]