Gwin's entire being was flooded with euphoric heat. It flooded out from deep within him and spread through his entire body. The heat saturated every muscle, tendon, and bone. He was trembling all over barely able to stay standing. He felt the heat travel from his abdomen to his legs and finally his feet where the heat circled back up hitting every fiber of his being again in a second wave of ecstasy.
He could feel himself being rejuvenated. It felt like his very being was being improved. Newfound strength found its way into his body filling him with earned confidence. That energy coalesced in his abdomen where it began swirling before it crept its way up his spine.
He could feel his senses growing stronger as the heat reached his head. It was euphoric. His face burned with extra intensity. His eyes, nose, ears and mouth all felt true bliss.
Finally that heat began to return to his abdomen where it stayed and swirled. The coolness that followed was almost just as blissful. He hadn't even noticed that he had fallen to his knees. He stood and gazed at the new runes that formed under the rest while wiping the drool from his mouth.
[Dormant abilities acquired]
Dormant ability name: [Chimera]
Ability Description: [The Heir of all beast has the right to plunder what he sees fit from his slain enemies.]
Gwin's vision doubled. He still saw the darkness of the void but he now also saw a calm sea of crimson liquid. On further inspection it resembled a still and unmoving sea of blood. He recognized this as his soul see. Looking upwards he noted the sky was tinted red and painted with a myriad of scarlet stars. These stars seemed natural compared to the ones forming the all-encompassing net around him. High in the sky hung a large red moon with a small orb of light orbiting around it. That was his soul core.
'This is…very pretty but kinda eerie.'
He hadn't expected his soul sea to be so creepy.
'Also a moon? I thought soul cores were supposed to like small suns? Maybe I shouldn't try to apply common knowledge when I have a divine aspect, it's obviously going to be different from others.'
He turned his attention to his aspect ability.
"Slain enemies? It means nightmare creatures right? Does that mean I can transform into any nightmare creature I slay? I so have to kill a dragon now!"
Gwin was quite the nerd when it came to nightmare creatures although he would never admit that to anyone. Dragons had always been his favorite with him looking at sketches of them and watching shows about them in private. It seemed others shared the same passion for dragons too.
New runes appeared in the midst of Gwin's excitement. They carried foreboding news.
[All power comes with a cost]
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Gwin wanted to argue in protest over his flaw. Instead he sat in silence while glaring at the runes in front of him.
Your Flaw is: [High Horse]
Flaw description: [You cannot speak]
'Why does a horse being high mean I can't speak?!'
Gwyn was more than a bit angry. Not being able to speak deprived him of his one true purpose in life. To brag. How else was he supposed to share the fantastical stories he would eventually have to share?
He was going to have to brush up on his sign language.
'All I know are combat signs though!'
It was true. Most people learned the most basic of hand sign communication in case the need to communicate silently was ever needed. However most of these were combat related, not at all designed for drawn out and detailed conversations. He opened his voice to speak, curious about what would happen.
"Uah"
He had been trying to say "hey". His mind was racing at the moment. Not only was his flaw really noticeable, it was difficult to hide. It wasn't all encompassing though, it seemed he could still make noises at least. What counted as speaking though?
'Well wait a minute, maybe it won't be too hard. Ah! I've got an ide-'
As he was pondering what to do he felt himself be jerked and pulled. White sparks surrounded him in a whirlwind drowning out the entire world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gwin stirred awake only to be met with the stuffy smell of the alloy-plated room he was in. In front of him was the awakened man he had seen escorting him before. He was a tall and handsome man with ebony skin and deep blue eyes like sapphires. He was currently leaning against the glass of the observation room and looking at Gwin.
He was wearing blue robes that were the House of Night' color.
"I am awakened Troy. Congratulations on passing your first nightmare, kid."
He flashed a blinding white smile and pushed off the wall and approached Gwin to begin undoing his restraints.
"Your family has already been notified you passed. Luckily for you the winter solstice is a little over six months away so you'll have time to discuss things with your parents first. Oh yeah, I've gotta go over the procedure.E-Ehm, there's a few things to know, notably you are privileged to receive psychological treatment from the House of Night as a part of your fathers rank. You are also privileged to attend the awakened academy…are you listening?"
Gwin had decided how he was going to hide his flaw, at least for the moment.
He was going to act like he had gone crazy. Currently he was staring at the ground and moving his lips slightly as if to mumble something.
The awakened moved closer to get a better look at him. With a sigh he said.
"Damn, poor kid. Guess I don't need to finish though…I probably should though there's cameras in here. I'll get in trouble if I dont…"
'Is this guy serious?'
They had sent the least professional awakened they could! Well that might actually work better for Gwin since he didn't seem like the type to pry.
Before Awakened Troy could continue hurried footsteps burst into the room. It was his dad, and he looked even more gaunt than usual which pained Gwin.
"Son.."
Gwin looked up to meet his father's eyes. He couldn't bring himself to act like he had gone crazy, that might make his father the first awakened to die from a heart attack. Instead he sluggishly locked eyes with him before standing. As he stood his dad wrapped him in a tight hug. He seemed incredibly relieved .
'If only he knew'
Gwin chuckled in his head. He had run full stop for hours and slain an actual devil after being swallowed by it just to see his family again. He would have to brag about that when he got his communicator.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Things had passed by in a blur after that. His father completed some procedures to get Gwin from the stronghold and back home. He only had two days to organize himself before he was going to be sent to the awakened academy. Currently he was riding in his dads PTV going home. He hadn't even had the chance for a shower yet. His normally stoic dad had a cheesy grin plastered on his face the whole ride which made Gwin feel uncomfortable.
'This is weirder than the nursery…'
He had never seen his dad smile this much before but thankfully his dad wasn't much of a talker so Gwin wasn't forced into any awkward silences with him. He still felt like he was going to have to explain his flaw to his family though.
'I could share at least that much, right?'
The PTV soon pulled into their neighborhood and parked in the driveway. It looked exactly the same as when he had left which left him surprised for some reason. He wasn't even gone for that long yet he felt it should have changed, maybe because he had changed? Him and his father stepped out and headed for the door. Suddenly the door burst open and three sniveling nightmare creatures burst from within. Before he could even react they pounced on him and began viciously covering his shirt in snot.
"sniff…Gwinnnn~~"
He tried to push them off but their grip was like steel. He couldn't even cry out in protest, instead a strange growl came out which made everyone pause.
"Did you just…growl?"
His older sister verene seemed furious.
"Here we are worried sick about you and you think it's funny to growl like an idiot?! Is this funny to you?!"
'Ah…there she is.'