A sight that he's learned is normal for the beginning of the nightmare that explodes in front of him.
Expanding in front of him was obsidian — black as night, broken and jagged. He watched as the center of the land bulged. Slowly. Steadily. The bulge grew. And grew. Then — a blinding explosion.
He couldn't close his eyes. Couldn't look away. The crater it made became a volcano — impossibly tall, wreathed in flame. Even whatever state his current body was in, he could feel the incinerating radiance coming from the ungodly cataclysm. In the distance, he could see mountains rose high, dwarfing even the unholy god of flame in front of him. The ridgeline expanded far beyond his sight to the left. Then — a sea. Inky black. Endless. It's depths unknown. The sun vanished. Ash clouds swallowed it whole. Gray rain fell across the wasteland evaporating the instant it touches the superheated ground.
He watched as the ash and rain from the calamity settled, before paths were dug out leading to the center of the volcano. A giant furnace was erected into the center of it all, glowing a deep red from the molten magma flowing through it. Giant bones could be seen under the magma, showing the sacrifice needed for whatever its people were crafting. Finally the last thing to appear were cages. So many he could barely even begin to count how many there were. Inside were all manner of creatures, giant glowing beasts, beast black as charcoal, and terrifyingly… humans both inside the cages and free walking in between them all in chains of their own.
Time resumes, creatures and humans moved — no longer in fast-forward.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial….]
First, searing heat. The air itself fought not to boil. Each breath burned him like inhaling a live flame. Then came the feeling of the ash sticking to every inch of his body. No sweat coming from his body. It instantly evaporated from his tanned skin. The toxic feeling of the ash sticking to the roof of his mouth. It coated his tongue with chemical filth.
He takes a step forward. Chains biting into his back. He and 5 other slaves were pulling a huge block of metal. Towards the center of the volcano was where the giant furnace stood. Where the seared air was somehow even worse. To his left: a giant. Over 8 feet tall. A mountain of muscle. No doubt pulling half of the load alone.
"I think I'll call him 'Coal'" He says in his mind. To his right: a woman. Smaller than himself. Who walked with a slight hunch. The cloth around her chest was the only thing that gave it away. 'Grandma' he thought. Every slave he saw was bald. Hair long burned away. Together he and the other 5 slaves pulled the alloy dragging it through the dirt and ash arriving at the furnace.
When he met Coal, he thought he had never seen a person so stupidly tall.
Will was about 30 feet away from the furnace. But next to it was a massive Golem. Standing about half the height of the 3 story tall structure. Made of black glassy obsidian. Holes pierced it's body with no pattern that he could see. Steam shooting out at random like a train whistle. Loud and piercing as it works. Two of its 3 arms glowing past the wrist a dark red as it plunged a giant blade in the metal into the magma. It's aura pressed down on them all. He could see the others next to him flush red. Then green with nausea. It was obvious this creature was terrifyingly strong. It will crush any of them if it pleases. Or burn alive with molten air. Whichever came first.
The Golem pulled the glowing blade from the magma placing it onto an anvil in front of it. The center of its body twisting and rotating, switching out one of its two arms for an appendage with a hammer twice Coal's height.
The first strike boomed. Each impact sent wind and ash into the faces of the group of slaves. Unable to move away. After a few minutes the blade the Golem was working on loses its glow forcing it to plunge the blade once again. This happens a few more times, the slaves unable to do anything but stand there and watch as they suffer from what will be tinnitus, and heat exhaustion if they even live that long.
Runes were everywhere. On his shackles. On the anvil. On the hammer. Runes were on everything. Just like the novel. Some would call it stupid. Obsessing over runes in a death trap like this. But he knew better. He knew from the later chapters the power that could be expressed through these mysterious characters was scarily powerful. He knew that he was very unlikely to be able to use any of the other sorceries existing in the world and if he wanted to learn any of them this would be his only option. Really he was just a big nerd and wanted to make cool things with magic.
After some time he grew bored of the things, it was impossible to tell the similarities and differences in a language he knew nothing about.
The Golem didn't look like it would be done with the blade anytime soon and the other slaves had already sat down conserving energy for whatever grueling task they would be given as soon as it was.
Sitting down and he looks up as he pulls his runes gifted to him by the Spell. There the first line starts with his name.
***
Name: Will Ryder
True Name: -
Rank: Aspirant
Soul Core: Dormant
Memories: -
Echoes: -
Attributes: [Fated], [Void Affinity], [Essence Siphon]
Aspect: [Abyssal Kinship]
Aspect Description: [Your soul bears a fractured bond to the profane void, allowing fleeting connections with Nightmare Creatures. Born from a corrupted seed, it whispers promises of dominion but hungers for essence to stabilize itself.]
He didn't know whether to be happy or terrified that aspect might be strong or self destructive. Anything related to the void in the two worlds was beyond dangerous. The Entity in Void was exactly what the Profane creatures are born from. It could very well lead to a painful death for him.
He looks to his hand where the small bead that is in the center of his hand.Barely the size of a jawbreaker. Lines were etched into his skin. Swirling from the center emerging from it and tracing up his arm. Like a plant growing up a pole. It was like a giant tattoo stopping at his shoulder.
This seed thing must have been what was affecting his abilities, somehow it had latched onto him when he was traveling through the immense darkness of the orb the Shadow used on him. Will had no idea where it came from. He was already being sent into the orb when it had emerged from his dead body.
He dismisses his runes when the Golem slams the blade into the dirt looking over to the slaves and the alloy they had dragged over. The Golem walks over to them, grabbing the huge alloy in one hand lifting it, and the slaves chained to it dangling freely. It presses a rune somewhere on the chains and the slaves all hit the ground unceremoniously in a heap luckily uninjured. It rotates the alloy inspecting it for damage or something else Will was unsure.
A hatch opened in its side. It reached in. Dropping obsidian at their feet. They were giant bowls of black glass. Reflecting the magma's gloss on their surface.
"Gather the ichor, a new blade is needed." Its voice was mechanically punctuated with a hiss of steam shooting out from the side of its neck. "Move." Its last word was a command as it walked back to the blade plunging the new alloy into the magma.
Coal moved instantly. Lifting two of the bowls like toys. Will turned to the woman who he was next to earlier. He realized now she's about late 40s, almost 50 maybe. It's a miracle she has been able to survive through this whole ordeal but now he could guess why. The massive man that was Coal was taking care of the heavy lifting she couldn't do on her own. Together they walked away from the direction from the forge to the outer edge. One side of the gigantic crater made the massive cages look much smaller. Inside each one was a Nightmare Creature chained and weighted down so heavily they could barely move their eyes to look as the slaves carried their bowls to them. Besides Coal and the old woman. The other 4 slaves were doing their best to push, pull or flip the heavy bowls towards the cages.
As Will pushed his bowl through, his feet dug through the ash leaving a trench through it. His muscles were screaming at him. So his mind thought.
What was he supposed to do to beat this Nightmare? Was helping create some great weapon the answer or prevent it being made? Was he supposed to defeat the terrifying Golem somehow or maybe deactivate it? He had no clue. In Sunny's first nightmare, the story probably played out with the slave dying or maybe escaping down the mountain while the 'Hero' fought the Mountain King. But instead, he was able to kill the Hero and assist in killing the Mountain King. But there were no shrines or mysterious dead gods going to help him here so he had to figure out how he was going to survive this mess.
The bowl struck the side of a cage. Clang. The glass was as hard as the iron. He stayed there. Exhausted. Taking deep disgusting breaths of filthy air. He looked up. Over the rim of the bowl, orange eyes of a giant salamander-like Nightmare Creature glared at him. Stunned for a moment as the creature locks eyes with him. He cannot move. He can't breathe. This creature was judging. Was he prey? Slowly closing its eyes resting its head on the metal, it seemed to have decided that it either wasn't hungry or he didn't offer any nutrition. That's when he notices the chains and runes on this creature seemed to be more numerous and powerful. It had twice as many chains making it completely unable to move a muscle inside the huge cage it was in. The Salamander was about the size of a sedan, it could easily eat him in a bite or two. It emanates a heat similar to the anvil the Golem was working on. Could that anvil be made from one of these creatures or maybe a more powerful version of it. From what he could sense it was much weaker than the Golem but that could be the dozens of chains dampening its strength. Whatever the case was, he felt better having taken a break. Will pushed himself up from the ground moving to the gate of the cage, there was one on each end. There was one facing towards the center with the Golem and the other was facing towards the wall of the crater. The magic around the gate powers down as he drags the bowl closer to it. Will notices that on the bottom of the bowl in the center of it there was a cluster of 4 runes that were ignited now that he brought it to the opening. He stared at it for a few moments trying to memorize them.
"You should hurry and get the ichor. Those runes turn off the door and that weakens the restraints on the beast inside. Too much time and the hungry thing will snap you up in an instant" Will turns to the voice realizing it was the old woman. Grandma. He decided that was her name. Next to her, Coal was walking out with a half full bowl from what looked like a smokey spider creature that was held together, unable to disappear in the ash by the chains binding it. "You'll need to drain many creatures but that one usually doesn't like anyone near it. Usually it just lets its skin scorch everything up making it impossible to get near. Somehow it allowed you to get near. So, count your luck." As she finishes the thought, she looks over to it. The Salamander opens one eye, like an orange spotlight, glares at her body. Will could see the grandma's body freeze under its gaze as well. For a moment it looks like she'll be stuck as a statue forever until- "Bah you don't scare me you overgrown lizard. I'm much too old to care about getting eaten by a moody reptile" She grumbles waving an annoyed hand at it before following Coals lead to the next cage. "Wait up you big lug. You're moving too fast" She shuffles after the quiet giant.
As the pair leave seemingly satisfied with their exit, the Salamander closes its eye once more, relieving the pressure Will felt merely from it being open.
What rank is this thing that just its eye was enough to paralyze me? Are the chains even affecting it or is it even more powerful without them? If he had to guess it would have to be an Awakened Monster or Demon. There was no way he was as unlucky as Sunny was to be against an awakened tyrant in his own first nightmare? Did the spell want him dead too because he wasn't from this world?
Will got into a squat to pick up the bowl. Taking a deep breath before lifting and it nearly shoots up. It felt so much lighter now? Slowly approaching the Salamander. Will attempts to get near its side, and he can see that it was actually severely hurt. Its skin had purple and red streaks. Now that he was closer, he realized now that the red streaks were actually cracks in its hard skin blood leaking from it. It seemed to be hurt from some battle. Probably when it was captured and placed in this cage. Getting closer to the creature he could feel a cold sweat running down his body despite the heat around him and coming from the Salamander.
This close he could notice that the Salamander was actually having trouble breathing. Each one it took was laborious. Painful. It shuddered with each exhale made. The air around them spiking up dozens of degrees with each one. Finally, he presses the bowl against its skin. Will could feel the blisters threatening to develop if he kept close for too long. When the obsidian makes contact against the Salamander's skin, the bowl reacts. The rim slowly lights up one rune at a time in a circle like a clock ticking down. It only takes a few moments till the runes fully light up around the rim. Slowly, the blood coming from all the cracks in its skin float up, defying gravity itself from the magic of the runes. Collecting itself into the black bowl forming a small puddle of crimson red. He can see the salamanders breathing become fainter having the lifeforce sucked out of it definitely didn't help its wounds. Otherwise, it didn't seem to be reacting to being robbed. He slowly backed away pressing his back to the bars of the cage watching the bowl fill excruciatingly slowly. In the meantime, he might as well check on his attributes since he never read them.
[Fated] Attribute Description: "The strings of fate wrap tightly around you. Unlikely events, both good and bad, are drawn by your presence. There are those who are blessed, and there are those who are cursed… but rarely both"
[Void Affinity] Attribute Description: Grants faint resistance to abyssal corruption while subtly easing Nightmare Creatures' aggression by marking you as "kin."
[Essence Siphon] Attribute Description: [Siphons trace essence from nearby abominations to slowly repair your faulty seed.]
He recognized the [Fated] attribute as both the bane and blessing of Sunny. Leading to many times where he suffered greatly but also gained amazing boons from these events. This was both an exciting and terrifying prospect. If Sunny's experiences from the novel was anything to go off, he was in for more than a few worlds of pain in his future. His other two attributes seem to come from his Aspect [Abyssal Kinship] which then seemed to be a result of the seed in his hand and nearly nothing to do with the Nightmare he was in.
Dismissing his runes and looking at the salamander the blood had slowed to a trickle and the beast breathing was nearly imperceptible. The heat it emanated was considerably less than before.
The reason it must have allowed him to get close was because it saw him as a nightmare creature or some half breed. Lucky for him. If not, it might've fried him the moment he got too close to the cage.
He also realized as he picked up the bowl nearly full of 'ichor'.The blood of a Nightmare Creature. That the bowl was lighter. So much so that he could lift it like Coal. That must have been [Essence Siphon]. He was draining the poor Salamander of it's blood and essence after it trusted him to get close. Maybe it mattered what rank and class the creature was. The Salamander being at least an awakened monster was much stronger than him.
He felt a pang of pity. But he remembered. If he didn't have his aspect and attribute, this thing would've killed him without a second thought. So, he still needed to treat it like a wild animal. Capable of killing him at any moment if it decided. He backed out the cage slowly. Eyes locked on the beast. Then moved to the next cage.
Inside this one was a similar creature to the one Coal and Grandma harvested from. It regarded him with less hostility than the Salamander seemingly okay with him approaching.
"Making my job much easier compared to the 'grumpy' one over there" He sighs to himself. At least his aspect is helping him survive. Some of these creatures could kill him in an instant. This close, completely unarmed, he was barely different from an infant.
Walking back to the giant furnace, he wonders the implications of his aspect. Right now he could influence Nightmare Creatures into seeing him as no threat, what did that mean when he became dormant and awakened later on. Would he be some sort of stealth build specializing in assassinating powerful singular Nightmare Creatures?
His thoughts about his future prospects were shattered by an ear piercing scream echoing throughout the entire crater.