Kane opened his eyes and saw a ceiling above him, one that looked both simple and majestic. The sight relaxed him, but all of a sudden, he heard whispering words like "Murderer," "Traitor," "Villain," and other vile terms, describing him and urging him to kill himself, spoken in unknown voices. The voices were low, but noticeable. Kane was confused, and then he realized what was happening: his flaw had started to take effect immediately, triggered by the deaths of the people and those surrounding him. These voices were more of an auditory nuisance; they kept bugging him. Kane thought, "The people that died around me were up to a count of forty. That's what's causing these voices... How am I going to manage this?"
As he was thinking about it, he was shaken suddenly. He saw a woman with short, raven-black hair and icy-blue eyes. She had pale skin, even paler than his own. She said, "Hey, can you hear me? What are you thinking?" Kane replied with a sigh, "Sorry, I got caught up in some thoughts." She was wearing a dark blue uniform with silver epaulettes and black leather boots, which were unbuttoned, revealing a black tank top beneath. Then he saw three stars on her shoulder; Kane instantly realized that she was an Ascended. The voices were starting to nag him again, but this time, the female officer slapped him. She said, "Are you awake now? Good. Then welcome back to the land of the living. Congratulations on surviving your first Nightmare trial, Sleeper Kane." Kane nodded and said, "Thanks."
She said, "I am Ascended Jet, who was stationed to watch you and another kid who was admitted lately, a week later," and then she started to unstrap the bindings that had been placed on him while he was in the Nightmare Spell. Kane had a doubt creep into his mind, and he asked, "Are you not a Master? Why are you stationed here instead of dealing with the gates?" She looked at him and said, "Good question. There are many gates opening in the area, thus Awakened would be either wounded or busy, and there are not a lot of Awakened who work directly under the government like me. Would you abandon wealth and fame to work for a sense of duty?" Kane replied, "No, I wouldn't choose that." Her reply came, "Good, then take a quick shower; you reek of Nightmare. Another Sleeper is waiting for you."
After that, Kane directly went to the bathroom and started to take a bath. Kane was enjoying the shower, but he was silently disturbed by the whispers he heard, and then he took a look at his body structure. It had changed to something better. The changes were minor, but noticeable. He was much more slender and leaner; the frailty he had possessed was gone. All of a sudden, he summoned his runes again to check on his Aspect ability. He summoned the runes and read the ability description again.
Aspect Ability Description: [You have a divine form and can comprehend soul, mind, and body.]
Kane thought, "I have a divine form, huh? Is it a transformation ability?" Just as he thought that, he transformed into a different being. Even though he didn't change into a creature, his skin color changed to a light blue and was covered with golden lines on his arms, chest, and extending to his and stopping under his eyes. It looked like some sort of runes of an unknown language. His hair turned completely silver from its auburn color, and his whole body seemed like that of a holy person. Kane was shocked by this transformation and thought, "So this was my divine form, huh? Quite cool!"
As he was about to turn back to normal, he saw something peculiar. He could see a red star on his chest and some sort of waves firing around his body. As he moved his left hand to touch it, the firing around his left hand started to increase rapidly. Then Kane grasped the basic idea of what it was. "So, this is what comprehending soul and mind means, huh?" As he commanded himself to shut down his transformation, he finished his shower and took the police tracksuit that he got from them, as he didn't have proper clothes until now. After changing his dress, he headed directly towards the cafeteria. He saw Master Jet and another person waiting for them. He was quite a short person with black hair and was also wearing a tracksuit. He saw Kane coming near the table and said, "You took your time." Kane, used to this remark, replied, "Yeah, just checking on some things." The guy scoffed at him but was interrupted by Master Jet.
She said, "Kane, meet Sunless. Sunless, meet Kane. You both have stayed here for your trials." Both of them looked at each other and nodded. Master Jet then handed over the food and said to Kane, "Help yourself." Kane immediately grabbed the bowl and started to eat at a fast pace, as he hadn't eaten anything before the trial for a week. All the hunger seemed to act up now. Master Jet and Sunless were in shock. She said, "Slow down, the food won't go anywhere." After completing his food, Jet spoke, "Then I will begin. As per protocol, I am obligated to inform you of a few things. It is mostly a formality. First of all, concerning your Nightmare..." She glanced at both of them and said, "You are entitled to receive free psychological counseling. No matter what traumatic experience you have encountered, there is no shame in asking for help. Your mind is as important as your body; it's only right to keep it healthy. Are you interested?" Sunless and Kane both nodded their heads, and Jet asked the follow-up question, "As you wish. You can also talk to me. Was it very hard?"
Sunless took the initiative and said, "It was simultaneously much worse than I expected and exactly as bad as I expected," and as Jet turned to him for the question, Kane answered, "Hard, but it was enlightening." Kane thought for a minute about Sunless's answer and came to the conclusion that this guy went through quite a predicament and survived it. Jet nodded in satisfaction and replied, "That's a nice attitude. I won't pry any further. Us outskirts rats are way more resilient than people think." Both of them looked in surprise. Before Kane could ask a question, Sunless overtook him and asked, "Master Jet... You grew up in the outskirts?" She grinned and said, "What? You couldn't tell?" Kane replied, "Yeah, we couldn't tell. Are there many Awakened people from the outskirts?" Jet replied, "No, there are few and can be counted on a single hand." Kane expected this answer because the outskirts are a harsh environment, and it increased Kane's confidence that he could grow stronger.
Sunless immediately asked, "Is there anything else you are obligated to tell us?" Jet replied, "That's it. There are some additional hoops regarding your family, but I read both of your files, so it doesn't apply. The only thing that's left is to prepare for your first journey through the dream realm." She looked at her communicator and grimaced. "Both of your luck is exceptionally bad; there is not much time at all. First of all, you are free to do whatever you want. No one will force you to do anything. You can go partying till the lights go out, but I will advise against that. As a Sleeper, you are entitled to enroll in the Awakened Academy. You will be provided with food, lodging, and a wide choice of preparatory classes. This late into the year, you won't be able to learn a lot, but that's better than nothing." She was silent for a few seconds and continued, "Most importantly, you will get acquainted with the people who will enter the dream realm with you. Some of them might become companions for life." Kane thought, "And create possible enemies that endanger my life," but Kane knew what he should do. Then Jet spoke, "So, what do you say? Do you want me to take you?" Both of them replied, "Yeah, I want to go to the academy."