After finding out that I would only have two weeks to get used to my powers, it was time for them to run a couple of tests on me. But before that, my father insisted that I take a shower, because I smelled horrible.
"Fair enough. I spent two whole weeks lying down."
During the shower, I remembered my runes, something I should have already checked. As far as I knew, after finishing the First Nightmare, the Spell always gave you an appraisal and showed you your Aspect and your Flaw.
Trying to summon my runes the same way I had during the nightmare, I realized something.
I couldn't summon them.
No matter how many times I tried, no runes appeared.
Panic began to form inside me once again. But thanks to the cold water of the shower, I managed to calm down and focus my thoughts better.
Alright… I feel my body differently, and it has definitely changed. Not just in terms of looks. I feel stronger, like I'm no longer mundane. I'm a Sleeper now.
Now the bad part. I can't open my runes, and I also can't feel my aether sense that I got used to during the nightmare. And I don't think this is because there's no aether in the environment. From what I understood, aether exists everywhere. Maybe the density is lower in the Walking World and that's why I can't feel it? It could be a theory, but I don't think that's the case.
What was strange was that I still felt tired. Not physical exhaustion, that would make perfect sense after being immobile for two weeks, but a drowsy kind of fatigue. It reminded me a lot of the sensation I felt when I was infected by the Spell.
'Wait… is that it?'
Gray said that what he was about to do would hurt, and the bastard was right. But he didn't say anything about the nightmare ending afterward.
Don't tell me I'm still inside the nightmare. Was none of this real?
'Damn it… why can't I have a normal first nightmare?!'
Let's say I haven't actually finished the nightmare, but I'm in the Walking World. What would I have to do to end it? Maybe go back to sleep?
Even if that's what I need to do, it would be dangerous to fall asleep here without someone supervising me. I'll have to wait until I'm somewhere safer, or with someone who can keep an eye on me. And just so happened, that person was in the waiting room.
After that, I finished cleaning myself and headed to where they were going to run the tests. Most of them were physical tests, with a few related to the changes in my hair and eyes. The latter didn't show any issues, so they were approved quickly.
The physical tests, however, were peculiar. And not because I was in bad shape. Quite the opposite. My physical results were above average in every aspect. And not just compared to mundane people, but even compared to other Sleepers.
Once all the tests were done, I met up with my father, who was still waiting in the waiting room. I was surprised he even had time to supervise me. At the end of the day, he's a Master working for the government, and it's well known that the government tends to overwork its employees. My father and Master Jet are clear examples of that. Both of them are often called to clear Gates at almost any hour of the day.
There were even times when Master Jet came over to our house for dinner, when her schedule allowed it. Working closely with my father and then doing all the paperwork with my mother, I eventually got to know her and exchange a few words. What surprised me the most at first was that she was from the Outskirts of NQSC.
I know the difficulties people from those places face when trying to survive their first nightmares, since they have no access to education or training. Taking that into account, the fact that Jet became a Master always filled me with admiration toward her.
Once inside the government PTV my father was using, it seemed like a good moment to try sleeping and see if my theory was correct.
Looking at him while he was driving, I warned him:
"Father, I'm going to close my eyes for a bit until we get home, okay?"
He nodded, a slight mischievous smile on his face, and replied:
"That's fine, Art. Take advantage of the chance to rest now, because when we get home your mother and sister are going to bombard you with questions."
Smiling faintly, I closed my eyes and let sleep embrace me. I didn't have to wait long. After just a few seconds, the world turned completely dark. But it wasn't the darkness of closing my eyes. It was far deeper.
And from within it, a voice was heard.
[Wake up, Arthur! Your nightmare is over.]
[Prepare for appraisal…]
I found myself 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.
Here in the void, the voice didn't sound subtle or familiar anymore. It felt as though the universe itself was speaking. I held my breath and listened.
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
[A reincarnated soul was cast into a fractured domain of aether and nightmare.
He wandered through ruins shaped by forgotten laws, where beasts born of distortion hunted without mercy.
Through blood and will, he learned not to dominate the unseen force, but to move alongside it.
Monsters fell, the realm answered, and the aether acknowledged his existence.
At the heart of the nightmare, he stood before a remnant of Fate itself and endured its gaze.
Broken and remade, he returned, marked, changed, and no longer untouched by destiny.]
[You have slain a Dormant Monster, Fleshwhip Abomination.]
[You have slain a Dormant Monster, Bladebound Abomination.]
[You have slain a Dormant Monster, Devouring Abomination.]
[You have slain a Dormant Beast, Phantom Grove Stalker.] x27
[You have slain a Dormant Demon, Phantom Grove Alpha.]
[You have slain a Dormant Monster, Phantom Reaper.]
[A Sacred-ranked existence has acknowledged your soul.]
[Matching identity detected: King Grey.]
[A divinity has acknowledged your existence.]
[You have achieved the impossible!]
[Final appraisal: glorious. You carried ancient life, embraced forbidden truth, and remained untainted.]
'Wait… a divinity acknowledged my existence?'
After that, I felt that my chances of obtaining a high-rank Aspect were extremely high.
[Dreamer Arthur, receive your boon!]
[You have been bestowed a True Name: Paragon of Purity.]
My jaw dropped.
A True Name.
I had received a True Name.
Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined becoming one of the chosen few capable of accomplishing such a feat.
[Your Aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve Aspect?]
'What kind of question is that?!'
Crossing my fingers, I said, "Yes."
[Dormant Aspect Resonance of Aether is evolving…]
[New Aspect acquired.]
[Aspect Rank: Divine.]
I fell over.
'Divine… it's Divine.'
[Aspect Name: Singular Existence.]
I was kneeling, completely stunned. My face showed nothing but pure shock. I raised a trembling hand and rubbed my eyes, making sure I was awake. Or rather, conscious, since technically I was still sleeping.
After that, I hurried to summon the runes. I needed to see my Aspect's description immediately.
Aspect:[Singular Existence]
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Description:
[You exist as a singularity within reality. Your presence cannot be replicated, substituted, or overwritten by the world. However, what is singular cannot fully belong. The more firmly you exist, the more distant everything else becomes.]
'That´s badd!'
Innate Ability: [Aether Integration]
Ability Description: [You are integrated with reality through aether. The world yields to your passage, and aether moves to accommodate your existence. However, every exertion of authority consumes a portion of the aether within your core.
Power is not borrowed. It is spent.]
'What?! Every time I use aether I become weaker? How does that make any sense?!'
Even so, I was jumping like a child. Not only had I obtained a Divine-rank Aspect, something that had never happened in history, but I had also obtained a True Name. And on top of that, it was insanely cool!!.
'Paragon of Purity!!'
While I was celebrating in absolute glory over the rank and the True Name, completely ignoring the fact that every time I used my powers I would become weaker, the Spell continued.
[The First Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers…]
I felt something trying to awaken inside me. But after a second, it stopped. I could already feel the physical changes in my body, so the Spell skipped the physical enhancement altogether.
I could still see the void filled with an endless pattern of stars. But now, I could also see something else.
A silent, calm purple sea illuminated by a lonely purple sun.
From my prior knowledge, I knew this was my so-called Soul Sea. But I also knew it was supposed to look quite different.
For one, it should have been far more lively. The star hanging above, the visual representation of my soul core, should have been burning with bright light, filling the Sea of Soul with a warm, blinding radiance.
Instead, my soul was entirely purple.
'That's strange… but not that strange. The aether particles I absorbed from creatures always turned exactly this color.'
The Spell's voice suddenly pulled me out of the Sea of Soul.
[Awakening Aspect Ability…]
'This is it. The moment of truth.'
Aspect Ability: [Sovereign Assimilation]
Ability Description: [Upon killing a Nightmare Creature or a human, you may absorb the majority of their soul essence. Regardless of its original nature, all absorbed essence is refined and converted into pure aether essence, becoming part of your core.]
'Nice. In a way, my Aspect Ability counterbalances my Innate Ability. I'm in a constant equilibrium, unless I overuse my powers and fail to kill anything. That means I'm terrible in long battles… But if I can defeat them quickly, there's no problem.'
'Alright… now comes the hard part. My Flaw. This is going to decide a lot about my future.'
[All power has a price.]
[You have received a Flaw.]
[Your Flaw is: The King Does Not Kneel.]
Flaw Description: [A king that bows ceases to be a king. Your will cannot bend to authority that is not your own.]
'Wait… that's not that bad, is it? I just can't follow a will that isn't mine. If my goals align with someone else's, nothing should happen, right? It also doesn't say what happens if I force myself to follow someone else's will anyway.'
Before everything fully ended, I decided to take a complete look at my runes.
Name: Arthur Leywin
True Name: Paragon of Purity
Rank: Dreamer
Aether Core: Dormant
Aether Fragments: [70/1000]
Memories: [Infinite Lash], [Phantom Armor], [Dawn's Ballad]
Echoes: -
Attributes: [Realmheart], [Djinn], [Former King], [Being of Aether and Flesh], [Life]
[Realmheart]
Description: [Your consciousness opens to the branch of the aether of existence (Vivum). The aether permeating the environment becomes visible to you, revealing its flow and structure. By perceiving it, your interaction with it becomes more precise and efficient, not through force, but because understanding its movement allows you to guide it.]
[Djinn]
Description: [You are a descendant of the Djinn race, known as the People of Life. Your blood preserves that heritage as a natural affinity with the deeper laws of the world.]
'People of Life huh?'
[Former King]
Description: [You were a king in another life. After encountering that existence, a fraction of its experience seeped into your soul. When this attribute activates, your way of thinking, moving, and fighting is influenced by habits forged through a life of war, rule, and survival at the top.]
'It was to be expected'
[Being of Aether and Flesh]
Description: [The flesh does not limit you, and the aether does not reject you. Both exist within you as one.]
'Does that mean that I can control aether now?'
[Life]
Description: [You have claimed the legacy of the War God.]
"WHAT?!"
[Wake up, Paragon of Purity!]
And in that moment, I opened my eyes.
I saw my father looking at me strangely. We were still traveling, but we were already close to home.
"What?"
He raised an eyebrow and replied,
"I don't know, you tell me. Why were you moving around like a ten-year-old kid?"
I scratched the back of my neck. "Ah… I was checking my runes."
"And?" he said eagerly. "Come on, tell me. What rank is your Aspect?"
"Nope. You'll have to wait until we're all together."
He slumped his shoulders sadly and sighed.
"Alright, alright. But it better be something good, kid!"
After that, we kept talking about everything I had missed during those two weeks. He told me that Master Jet had come over for dinner recently, and she seemed happier than usual. My parents thought she had gotten a boyfriend or something, but it turned out she had been supervising another Sleeper from the Outskirts and had grown a bit attached to him during that time.
She also said the guy's name. Sunless. A bit strange, but who was I to judge? She also told them that if I ever had the chance to approach him, I should try, though it would be difficult since he didn't trust anyone and was kind of… paranoid?.
Still, it was understandable. Life in the Outskirts was harsh. I'd see what happened during those two weeks.
We also talked about how, a few days ago, my sister had brought a classmate home to "study." I couldn't help but feel a vein pulse on my forehead. If anyone wanted to date my little sister, they'd have to be stronger than me. I definitely needed to talk to her about that. There was no way I was letting it slide!!.
Eventually, we arrived home. My father parked the PTV in the garage, and I headed toward the door. I hadn't even managed to open it when I felt a pair of arms wrap tightly around my waist.
Of course, it was my little sister, Ellie.
After her warm welcome, we went inside. My mother already had dinner ready. As I sat down at the table, I couldn't help but think that I was going to miss moments like this while I was at the Winter Solstice.
Dinner conversation shifted between stories from my parents' work, Ellie's school life, and of course, I brought up the "classmate" who had come over to study. Ellie didn't like that very much, but if her older brother didn't protect her, who would?
Then they started reminiscing about our childhood. Like the time I got lost in a forest when I was fourteen and had to figure out how to make it back to civilization. A story my mother never liked and still punished me for, even after all these years.
Finally, they told me something that hit me hard. It was about one of my childhood friends: Cassie.
They told me her Flaw was one of the harshest they had ever seen. Because of it, she had lost her sight. Since then, she hadn't returned home and had stayed at the academy ever since her nightmare ended. When she talked to her family over calls, she sounded completely different, as if she had already accepted her death at the Winter Solstice.
And honestly, no one could blame her. Her Flaw was among the cruelest and most unforgiving someone could receive in this world. And she had gotten it.
Hearing that, I couldn't help but make up my mind to help her during these two weeks. If I had known earlier, I would have done everything I could to return from my nightmare sooner to be there for her. But I couldn't. I had been trapped inside it for two full weeks, and because of that, I missed my chance to support her when she needed it most.
I didn't know why, but thinking about that made a strange sensation form in my chest.
Lastly, and most importantly, we talked about my nightmare. Of course, I didn't tell them everything that happened. As strange as it felt to hide things from my parents, I couldn't tell them that I had reincarnated. Even without memories of my past life, what if they thought I wasn't their son anymore? What if they blamed me for having "killed" their real son and taken his place?
I couldn't bear that. Some things were better left unsaid.
I also told them about my Aspect. I summarized it by saying it altered my perception of the environment. As for the rank, I only said it was high. They pressed me for more, but in the end, I didn't tell them.
While all of that was happening, I found myself worrying about my Flaw. I still didn't fully understand how it worked. When they insisted, I didn't feel anything, even though the pressure went against my will.
I figured it was because there was no real authority behind their questions. They weren't orders, just insistence. Since they were my family, there was no system I was subordinated to, and my Flaw didn't activate.
After dinner and the long conversation, I went to my room to get some sleep. Tomorrow, my time at the Academy would begin, and I couldn't wait to see what the future had in store for me.