Thud!
The sound of wooden hitting wood echoed inside a dojo.
'Breathe!'
A young woman struggled in breathing as she sparred against an another woman. Their wooden swords clashed against each other as they moved in practiced ease.
The girl who was struggling to breathe as she danced around her opponent with calculated strikes was Vera.
Vera had short black hair that barely reached her chin, with messy bangs that covered her forehead and hung just past her eyebrows. Her skin was pale and unmarked, free of any moles. High cheekbones and a razor-sharp jawline framed her face, giving her a fierce elegance.
She stood slightly more than six feet tall and her toned frame was covered by the robes she was wearing.
'Breathe dammit..!'
Her beautiful eyes, which contained a shade of purple had sunken. Dark circles had formed around her eyes, sweat dripped from her forehead, her short hair clinging to her skin. She was tired and had not slept for days, it was getting increasingly hard for her to keep clarity.
***
'This wench..!'
I sidestepped the incoming downwards slash, avoiding it completely. The one I was sparring was.. I did not remember her name. But I knew that she was a classmate of mine.
All those aside.. this girl was just not giving up! No matter how much I avoided her attacks she did not seem to be getting tired. On the opposite she seemed to be getting even more fired up!
Sweat dripped to my spine, tickling me slightly. And at that moment I dodged backwards as my classmate slashed against me with her wooden sword. I could not really take the exhaustion anymore, so I had decided to end this quickly even if I ended up injuring her.
I brought my sword, imagining that I had a scabbard tied to my belt, I sheathed the katana and took my stance. The stance I assumed was not a complicated one. It was a low, crouched stance with my knees deeply bent and torso leaning forward, almost parallel to the ground. My back foot firmly planted to the ground, ready to launch me forward.
And indeed it did.
I launched forward like a coiling spring. My arm which was holding the hilt of my wooden katana sprung forward in a linear motion, ready to hit her neck. The wench was already bringing her sword to block it, however she was not fast enough.
Thud!
My eyes widened slightly, making me forget about my exhaustion. I stood straight and looked ahead of me. The instructor had intervened and blocked my swing with her hand.
"That is enough for today, as it seems you cannot control yourself." She narrowed her eyes at me. I immediately withdrew my sword and bowed.
"My apologies."
The woman simply clicked her tongue and walked away. I did not lift myself up until she was gone. That woman was an awakened that our school had hired for the dojo. She was really elegant but very strict, it made me question why she was out here instructing us rather than battling nightmare creatures.
I made my way to the girls locker room. While I was changing my clothes, I couldn't help but flex my toned arms in the mirror, letting out a dumb chuckle. I left the room afterwards. Walking down the long corridors of the school, I headed to exit as the dojo class was the last one on my schedule.
The school was rather a prestigious one, many rich kids attended and even some clan members had sent their daughters and sons to attend this school.
But being rich was not the only way to enter, if you scored a high point in both intelligence and physical exams in the entrance exam, there was a slight chance you could enter with no expenses demanded from you. I was such a student, scoring a high point in every subject and a perfect score in the physical exams.
But it did not matter anymore.
The cool breeze hit my skin as I walked out of the school building. I never once looked back, all the hard work I had done in the past to enter this academy was all for naught, or so I thought. I could not bear to look back.
I was infected with the nightmare spell, I had not been able to sleep for five days. In all honesty, I felt scared. I did not have much experience in fighting other than the spars, which were not real fights. As for my analytical and plan making skills, they were slightly above average for a mundane human.
'Tough shit..'
***
The sun was setting, I walked the streets alone until I stopped to enter a hospital.
'Big ass hospital..'
I did not like it here. I took the elevator to the upper floors, and made my way through the colorless halls filled with patients and nurses. As I walked to in front of a door, I placed my hand on the doorknob, but did not enter immediately.
Sighing to myself, I pushed the door open and entered closing the door behind me. What greeted me was a simple hospital room with a bed on the middle. The person that was lying on the bed was a middle-aged woman.
I observed the woman as I took a seat next to her bed. The woman was none other than my mother, she was in a coma due to a brain injury she had suffered. The doctors said that her chances of waking up are slim, and even if she did wake up she would most likely be disabled.
I reached out to hold her hand. My vision becoming slightly blurry as I did, but I did not let any tears fall from them. This could be the last time I would be seeing her, I perhaps could never witness her waking up from her coma, if she did wake up she would have no one to look after her if she was disabled.
That was why I needed to come back to her. I needed to survive and become an awakened. Perhaps this way.. I could also cure her if I made some connections and money.
Wiping the tears away, I stood up from my seat.
"I will definitely come back mom.. I promise.."
'I will save you.' I muttered as I left the room.
***
After she left the room, a single tear fell down from the closed eyes of the woman that was in a coma.
***
I made my way to the nearest police department, still dressed in my school uniform. With a heavy sigh I entered through the doors.
Once I entered inside, a tired police officer gave me a quick glance and frowned slightly.
"Is there something I can help you with?"
I looked around with curiosity, noting reinforced armor plates on the walls and poorly hidden turret nests in the ceiling.
"Yes.. As demanded by the Third Special Directive, I am here to surrender myself as a carrier of the Nightmare Spell"
The officers look changed from calm to wary. He looked at me and analyzed me with piercing intensity.
"Are you sure you are infected? When did you start showing symptoms?"
I shrugged.
"I am definitely infected, it started almost a week ago."
The poor man's face grew paler.
"Shit.."
Then, with a hurried motion, he pressed a button on his terminal and bellowed:
"Attention! Code Black in the lobby! I repeat! CODE BLACK!"
***
Several minutes later, I was put in restraints. I was fastened into a bulky chair that looked like a weird mix between a hospital bed and a torture device. The room they were in was situated in the basement of the police station, with thick armored walls and a formidable-looking vault door. Other officers were standing near the walls, with automatic rifles in their hands and grim expressions on their faces.
'Ugh.. my chest hurts..' I complained inwardly as the restrains pressed against my chest.
Finally, the vault door opened, and a gray-haired policeman walked in. He had a seasoned face and stern eyes, looking like someone who had seen a lot of terrible things in his life. After checking the restraints, the policeman glanced quickly on his wristwatch and then turned to me:
"What is your name?"
I yawned slightly.
"Vera."
"Do you want me to contact your family?"
I shook my head. She is in a coma.
"I see. I am sorry to hear that." without pausing, he asked. "How long can you stay awake?"
"Honestly.. not long. I am tired."
The policeman sighed.
"Then we don't have time for the full procedure. Try to resist for as long as you can and listen to me very carefully. Okay?"
Not waiting for a response, he added:
"How much do you know about the Nightmare Spell?"
"Um.. you need to clear a scenario, once you do you get an aspect."
"Listen carefully. Once you fall asleep, you will be transported inside your First Nightmare. Nightmares are trials created by the Spell. Once inside, you will meet monsters, sure, but you will also meet people. Remember: they are not real. They're just illusions conjured up to test you."
She nodded. "What about them?"
"You might have to kill them, kid. So do yourself a favor and just think about them as illusions."
"Oh."
The old policeman waited for a second, then nodded and continued.
"A lot of things about the First Nightmare depend on luck. Generally, it shouldn't be overwhelmingly hard. The situation you're in, the tools you have at your disposal and the creatures you have to defeat should be within the range of your abilities, at least. After all, the Spell sets up trials, not executions. As far as I see, you seem well trained, you won't face many hardships."
'huh? Thanks for the motivation sir.' I appreciated inwardly.
"Remember: the first thing you must do once inside the Nightmare is to check your Attributes and your Aspect. If you get a combat-oriented Aspect, something like a Swordsman or an Archer, things will be easier. If it is reinforced by a physical Attribute, then that's even better. Combat Aspects are the most common, so the probability of receiving one is high."
The armored room was growing dimmer.
"If you're unlucky and your Aspect has nothing to do with combat, don't despair. Sorcery and utility Aspects are useful in their own ways, you'll just have to be smart about it. There are really no useless Aspects. Well, almost. So just do anything in your power to survive."
"If you survive, you will be halfway to becoming an Awakened. But if you die, you'll open a gate for a Nightmare Creature to appear in the real world. Which means that my colleagues and I will have to deal with it. So… please don't die, Vera."
The policeman frowned.
"Or, at least, try to not die right away. The nearest Awakened won't be able to get here for a few hours, so we would really appreciate it if you don't make us fight that thing ourselves…"
"I will try my be..-"
With that she lost her consciousness.
Everything became black.
And then, in the darkness, an effeminate and cheery voice rang:
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]