[Dreamer Sunless, receive your boon!]
He was an Aspirant no more. Sunny grinned.
[You have been bestowed a True Name: World Shadow.]
His jaw dropped. A true name! He had received a true name! Never in his wildest dreams did Sunny dream of becoming one of the chosen few to accomplish such feat — and in his very first Nightmare to boot! Not even all of the Saints could boast of having one. He was an elite now, a bonafide cream of the crop!
He was going to be rich!
But the rewards kept coming.
[Your Aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve Aspect?]
'What kind of a question is that?!'
Sunny crossed his fingers and said "yes".
[Dormant Aspect Temple Slave is evolving…]
[New Aspect acquired.]
[Aspect Rank: Divine.]
Sunny fell over.
[Aspect Name: Parallel]
***
'Divine… it's Divine.'
Sunny was standing on his knees, stupefied. The shock was so great that for a second there he lost all control over his limbs and fell.
'It said "divine"... right?'
He raised a trembling hand and rubbed his eyes, making sure that he was awake. Or rather conscious, since, technically, he was still sleeping in the underground vault of the police station.
Confused by all this terminology, Sunny silently summoned the runes and found the lines describing his aspect.
Aspect: [Parallel].
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Description: [You are a Shadow of yourself. Your existence can't be explained through the known rules of the world. As such, you oppose to nature itself.]
Innate Ability: [Dependent].
Ability Description: [You are not properly connected to the world. As such, your rank is dependent on what your parallel reached at this point in time. Your parallel's death is the death of your aspect.]
That was… a lot to digest.
First of all, Sunny felt his heart beating faster. He heard it right! All the suffering and horror he had experienced in the First Nightmare paid off in the end. A divine Aspect, he had received a divine Aspect! Anything above Awakened was rare and immensely valuable!
People with Ascended Aspects were rare enough to be fought over by various factions. The factions themselves were built around singular powerhouses with Transcendent or Supreme Aspects. And he had never, ever heard of anyone acquiring a Divine one. Never!
Anything with the "divine" prefix was so hard to find that it mostly lived in the realm of myths and legends. After all, the human race had not reached that high yet; it was only slightly more than a decade since humans managed to finally conquer the Third Nightmare and receive the ability to evolve their cores to Transcendent rank.
As Transcendents — or Saints, as they were called in the real world — powerful Awakened ruled over the Dream Realm, but even they did not dare to face Nightmare Creatures of higher ranks. Subsequently, there were not a lot of Memories and Echoes of Supreme rank around, let alone Sacred… or Divine. The same went for Aspects.
And yet Sunny just got one!
He grinned, driven half-mad by joy and arrogance. However, his jubilation was a little muddied. After all, there was that weird innate ability. For whatever reason his power was tied to another version of himself, so even if he reached a gateway in the dream realm he may not awaken at all.
But it wasn't that bad. At the same time if his parallel reached a higher rank so would do Sunny. Essentially, he could rise in rank without challenging a second nightmare in the future.
However, all of this depended of the future of his parallel, which may die unexpectedly and leave him powerless at a moment notice.
'Not a problem,' Sunny thought with a smirk.
If there was something that Sunny would protect at all costs it was his own life, parallel or not. And his parallel would probably do his best to avoid danger after awakening. Allowing Sunny to relax as well.
[The First Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers…]
Sunny felt something waking up inside of him. With a startled cry, he clutched his chest and stared into the darkness, trying to understand what was happening. The feeling was not painful or unpleasant, yet it was like nothing he had ever experienced. It was as though his soul was being shaken awake, infused with strange new energy.
It was as if there was a rift in his interior, and from it this energy was coming. Strangely enough, it felt as something linked to him. Just not this version of himself.
The energy filled every fiber of his being. Sunny felt his emotions becoming clearer and sharper. Then, his body began to change, too. He felt as though a miniature star was burning in the center of his chest, right where the rift previously was: waves of heat were radiating from it, slowly reaching his stomach and shoulders, then his arms and legs, then his hands and feet.
Under that heat, his bones, muscles, organs and blood vessels were being rebuilt and revitalized. Sunny felt like he was being reborn. He was becoming stronger, faster, healthier.
It was euphoric.
With each second, his transformation was becoming more profound. New confidence settled in Sunny's heart. He was not a weak, frail street kid anymore. He was not as vulnerable against anyone who would wish to bully him as he was in the past.
With his powers awakened and his will tempered by the horrors of the First Nightmare, he was now someone you would not want to cross.
After some time had passed, the star burning in his chest finally cooled down. The heat was replaced with a soothing coldness. That coldness washed over Sunny's body, taking away all the aches and discomforts that had been accumulated there over the years. Then it moved up, reaching his brain and, finally, his eyes.
His vision strangely doubled.
He could still see the void populated by an endless pattern of stars. But he could also see something different.
A silent, calm dark sea illuminated by a lonely black sun.
From his previous knowledge, Sunny knew that this was his so-called Soul Sea. But he also knew that it was supposed to look quite different.
For starters, it was supposed to be much more lively. The star hanging above — the visual representation of his soul core — was supposed to be burning with bright light, filling the Soul Sea with a warm, blinding shining.
However, Sunny's soul was dark and lightless.
'That's strange.'
He took a look at the black sun. At a closer examination, it actually turned out to be transparent, and a little ghost-like. It's just that with no other major source of light around, the star appeared to be as dark as its surroundings.
Also, no one was supposed to be here except for him. It was his soul, after all! But Sunny had a nagging feeling that somewhere just beyond the periphery of his vision, hidden in the darkness, shapeless forms were constantly moving. No matter how he turned his head, he couldn't catch a clear glimpse of them. And yet the feeling would not go away.
Not wishing to waste any more time on this right now, Sunny turned back to the black sun and finally spotted two spheres of light orbiting around it, as though caught in the soul core's gravity well. A subtle smile appeared on his face.
These were his Memories: Silver Bell and Pupetter's Shroud. Later, there would be dozens of such spheres here. If he was lucky, he would even acquire an Echo or two!
The Spell's voice suddenly pulled him out of the Sea of Soul.
[Awakening Aspect Ability…]
'This is it. The moment of truth,' Sunny thought.
Divine Aspect or not, his immediate future still depended on the first Aspect Ability he would receive. His role in the Dream Realm would be based on its characteristics. If it was a combat ability, he would be most useful on the frontlines of the bloody battles against the Nightmare Creatures. If it was tied to sorcery, he would likely become a powerful, but fragile ranged fighter.
If it was something having to do with utility, he would be a vitally important part of the behind-the-scenes workings of the Dream Realm. Utility Abilities were also extremely valued in the real world, where Awakened performed many tasks that kept it going.
If he was lucky, he could even become a healer. Healers were very rare, and as such, sought-after specialists.
[Aspect Ability acquired.]
[Aspect Ability Name: Foreign Shadow.]
Sunny hurriedly summoned the runes. He wanted to go to the description of his new ability right away, but then decided to give his overall information a look first.
Name: Sunless.
True Name: World Shadow.
Rank: Dreamer.
Shadow Core: Dormant.
Shadow Fragments: [12/1000].
'What? What is that?'
Where the rank of his soul core was supposed to be written, a mysterious "Shadow Core" appeared instead. Sunny looked at it, blinking. He had never heard of anyone having a different kind of core before. Was he that unique?
This enigmatic shadow core would certainly explain why his Sea of Soul looked so strange. And also… He moved his eyes down, noticing the "Shadow Fragments" counter. Usually, there was supposed to be an indicator of the number of soul shards consumed. However, it was nowhere to be seen.
'Do I… do I actually have a completely different progression path than all Awakened?'
The idea was as exciting as it was frightening. Not having to fight for resources with anybody else was an incredible advantage. Most of the human society in the Dream Realm was built around the acquisition of soul shards. If he had no need to gather them to evolve… not only would he be able to become more powerful with incredible speed, he would also be completely self-sufficient.
On the other hand, he had no idea how to acquire these shadow fragments. However, he had gotten twelve of them somehow already: so whatever it was that he had to do, he had already done it in the First Nightmare.
'I'll have to explore this carefully.'
Satisfied with this decision, Sunny continued to study the runes.
Memories: [Silver Bell], [Puppeteer's Shroud].
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Devoid], [Foreign Divinity], [Child of Shadows].
Aspect: [Parallel].
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Abilities: [Foreign Shadow].
Aspect Ability Description: [Your shadow is more independent than most. It is a door, and unnatural among its peers.]
'What is that supposed to mean? And what happened to my attributes?'
Sunny held his breath and began to read the description again, but at that moment, a new set of runes appeared just below it. Simultaneously, the Spell's voice resounded in the black void.
[All power has a price.]
[You have received a Flaw.]
[Your Flaw is: …]
'W-what the Spell?'
Flaw: [Devoid of the World].
Flaw Description: [Your connections to the world retaliate against you.]
'What is that supposed to mean? Why is the spell launching so many strange descriptions.'
There were many strange things about his aspect and flaw. The spell itself seemed to describe everything about him as unnatural, which was strange, almost as if the world itself rejected him. Something that the name of his flaw seems to make quite clear.
'It seems that my spite scared existence itself.'
Of course, Sunny didn't believe that such a thing could be the reason. Actually, if he had to guess he would say that this is more of an existential truth than anything else.
After all, an outskirts' rat like himself had already been rejected for the world, just in a more mundane way.
'...Great, just... great.'
The situation sucked in a certain way, yet he would not surrender, even if the world itself was his enemy.
Sunny was about to check the changes in his attributes, but at that moment the spell talked once again. But... was he imagining things or his voice had become progressively weaker.
[Wake up, World Shadow]
***
Sunny opened his eyes.
The armored ceiling of the police station's vault hang above him. No one would call its aesthetics beautiful, but to him, it was the most majestic sight. Only now did he realize how much he had missed the real world.
It was safe and familiar. There were no monsters or slavers… well, at least officially. There was no constant fear of torturous death.
It was home.
In addition, Sunny felt incredible. The cold that had crept deep into his bones during the Nightmare was gone, taking with it all the pain that his wounded body had been enduring day after day. His feet and wrists were not in agony, his back had forgotten the bite of the whip, and he could even breathe without feeling the sharp edges of his broken ribs cutting deeper and deeper into his lungs.
What a blessing!
The sudden disappearance of pain, coupled with the new vitality that permeated his body, almost made Sunny cry.
'I really survived.'
He slowly looked down and then froze, breathless.
On a cheap plastic chair placed beside his reinforced medical bed sat the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
She had short, raven-black hair and icy blue eyes. Her flawless skin was smooth, supple and as white as snow. Actually, this was Sunny's first time meeting someone as pale as he himself was. However, while Sunny's pallor looked strange and unhealthy, the beautiful stranger was nothing short of striking.
The woman seemed to be in her late twenties. She was wearing a dark blue uniform with silver epaulets and black leather boots. The jacket of her uniform was casually unbuttoned, revealing a black tank top beneath.
Currently, she was stretching her arms above her head, clearly bored and sleepy. The gesture forced the thin fabric to tighten, provocatively accentuating her full breasts.
Mesmerized, Sunny almost missed the fact that there was a shoulder insignia on the woman's left sleeve. There were three stars on it.
'Three stars, huh,' he thought, distracted. 'Three stars means an Ascended… huh… yeah. Wait. An Ascended?!'
But before Sunny could fully digest the meaning of this word, he realized that the woman was staring at him, too.
"What are you looking at?" she said, not a gram of humor in her voice.
Sunny blinked a couple of times, embarrassed, and quickly came up with an excuse. Then he opened his mouth and answered:
"Your Insignia."
The woman smiled.
"Hmmm... So you realized that I'm an ascended. Anyway, welcome back to the land of the living. Congratulations on surviving your First Nightmare, Sleeper Sunless."
'Sleeper...'
The beautiful woman stood up and approached the reinforced medical bed. With practiced moves, she began to undo the restraint holding Sunny in place.
"You can call me Master Jet. These past three days, I was on watch duty due to your Nightmare."
'Right… before I fell asleep, the policeman told me that an Awakened would arrive in a few hours to monitor my condition. To kill the Nightmare Creature if… if I die and let it through.'
Still... an awakened should have been enough for such duty.
"Master Jet? I have a question."
"Go on."
"Why would a Master be put on watch duty? Isn't it… below your pay grade?"
Jet gave him a dark look.
"You're smarter than you seem. Recently, there was a lot of Gates opening in this sector. Most of the local Awakened are either wounded or occupied with the clean-up. Or dead. It's always like that close to the winter solstice."
She opened the final restraint and took a step back.
"Plus, there's not a lot of Awakened who, like me, directly work for the government. It's by far the least lucrative or glorious career one of us can choose. Would you abandon wealth and fame to work abysmal hours and risk your life, fuelled only by altruism and sense of duty?"
Sunny wanted to say something flattering. Instead, he looked Master Jet right in the eyes and smirked.
"That is not reasonable for me."
She stared at him with a smile.
"See, I was right. You really are smart."
***
Sunny was enjoying a hot shower. After their short conversation, Master Jet had sent him to clean himself, saying that he "reeked of Nightmare". The unnatural slumber of the Spell would slow down the body's metabolism, and the medical apparatus he had been strapped into was supposed to take care of the rest, but he was still asleep for three whole days.
Even if only psychological, the scent of bloodshed and despair lingered around him.
However, right now Sunny was mostly focused about his flaw. In his way here Sunny realized something strange. For some reason the shadows were way too unfathomable. Instead of being able to see through them it was as if they were made of absolute darkness. Not allowing him to discern anything beyond them.
'My element hates me? How does this make any sense?'
Pondering about the matter was generating a headache to Sunny. Did it mean that all his affinities were going to become weaknesses? Or was it only because of his singular connection to shadows?
Furthermore...
'I feel as if going near any shadow is dangerous... At least for my shadow.'
Aspect Abilities: [Foreign Shadow].
Aspect Ability Description: [Your shadow is more independent than most. It is a door, and unnatural among its peers.]
It was only an assumption, but Sunny was starting to think that an unnatural shadow would be rejected in some way, which could be a kind of barrier or something else. However, what did it mean that his shadow was a door?
Sunny fixated on his shadow for a moment.
'What can you do?'
He tried to focus on his shadow with all his might. Suddenly it pulsated for a moment, before looking around, visibly confused.
'Wow... how does it feel being suddenly alive?'
The shadow looked at him for a moment, or at least that was what Sunny thought that it was doing. Then, it separated and started to look around. Just like himself, his shadow avoided any other shadow, which was discouraging.
'So you can't be an useful scout, at least not a very furtive one.'
Sunny chose to check his runes before continuing testing his shadow. He needed to check his new attributes.
Name: Sunless.
True Name: World Shadow.
Rank: Dreamer.
Shadow Core: Dormant.
Shadow Fragments: [12/1000]
Memories: [Silver Bell], [Puppeteer's Shroud].
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Devoid], [Foreign Divinity], [Child of Shadows].
Aspect: [Parallel].
Aspect Rank: [Divine].
[Devoid] Attribute Description: "You don't truly belong anymore to the world."
[Foreign Divinity] Attribute Description: "You have been blessed by —Unknown—. You carry divinity that doesn't belong to this world."
[Child of Shadows] Attribute Description: "Shadows recognize you as one of their own."
'an unknown? The spell doesn't know what blessed me? If it doesn't, then it wasn't Shadow god alone who caused this. Or maybe the spell translates like that the names'
And that first attribute. How does it related to his flaw?
There were too many questions, but Sunny couldn't keep pondering about it. It was time to chose what comes next...