Chapter 9: Appraisal
[Prepare for appraisal…]
Hugo found himself suspended in a space between dream and reality. It was an endless black void, yet it was alive illuminated by a myriad of cold, distant stars. Between these points of light, countless strings of shimmering silver were woven into a beautiful inconceivably complex net, forming a vast glowing nexuses and constellations that defied comprehension.
It was a tapestry of cosmic law, both breathtaking and utterly terrifying.
Somehow, Hugo understood that he was witnessing the the Nightmare Spell itself or at least it's inner workings.
He couldn't help but think it looked like the celestial equivalent of a neural network. If so… was the Spell alive?
It was a question that had haunted humanity for decades ever since it descended on the world brining with it many curses and blessings.
Still, The prevailing answer was that there was no answer. The Spell was neither alive nor dead; it was neither sentient nor mindless. It was a function of the universe, a fundamental law made manifest.
But Hugo was in no state to ponder cosmic philosophy. He was still reeling from the visceral trauma of his First Nightmare.
The sharp, soul-rending pain resulted from an outer power reshaping his soul had vanished but the memory of it was etched into his being with perfect horrifying clarity thanks to a particular attribute of his.
Yet The Spell did not give him the courtesy of repose as it was still appraising his performance. However, the first reward seemed to precede the final judgment.
[You have received a Memory: Polymorphic Crystal.]
'A Memory?' Hugo thought, his consciousness feeling strangely lucid despite the ordeal.
'It must have come from Vilgax or Albedo...' he reasoned, recalling how they were both devoured by the blinding, defensive surge of energy from the...
'Huh?!'
The memory jolted him fully awake. His eyes snapped to his left arm. There, fused to his wrist, was the device. The watch-like relic with the glowing green hourglass.
'It followed me here?!'
This was… unprecedented. It was common knowledge that Aspirants could bring back Memories and Echoes gained within a Nightmare, but bringing back a physical relic from the first nightmare? That was unheard of.
'And the Spell even said my Aspect was transforming… What the hell really happened in my First Nightmare?' he thought, The question à echo in the silent, star-filled void.
He exhaled, forcing his mind to work. "Alright, let's think this through, I was in the body of a prisoner, captured by the Galvans –a highly advanced, non-human race untouched by corruption– They were experimenting on beings for a specific goal… The reason I was chosen was because of unique my Aspect and my [Mutant] attribute makes me..." he murmured, piecing together the harrowing puzzle.
"Then, I was experimented on… my body, spirit, and shadow were forcibly filled with a 'mysterious power'… and then…"
His eyes widened as it instantly clicked together.
The mysterious power, the 'it' Albedo talked about, the First Thinker's magnum opus.
"The mysterious power was being injected into test subjects to create a vessel capable of… bonding with it... With this." He looked down at the relic on his arm, his touch tentative. It made a terrible sense. This was why he had felt so incomplete during the Nightmare and why the relic had called to him with such irresistible force. Six of the seven parts of his being had been saturated with the relic's own energy, making him the perfect keystone for whatever twisted goal the galvans wanted to achieve..
Then Suddenly, as Hugo was still processing the chain of events, the voice of the Spell filled the stellar void vast and impersonal.
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
[A nameless prisoner, taken as a specimen, endured the unendurable. Forged in hatred and sharpened by will, he broke his chains and turned his captors tools against them. He slaughtered all who stood in his path. Hearing the call of a divine relic, he infiltrated the sanctum of the realm's greatest mind, seized a power never meant for mortal hands, and bonded with it, defying the designs of gods and geniuses alike.]
[You have defeated an Awakened Beast: Galvan Soldier.]
[You have defeated an Awakened Monster: SixSix.]
[You have defeated an Awakened Monster: Galvan Commander.]
[You have defeated an Awakened Devil: Albedo.]
[You have defeated an Ascended Tyrant: Vilgax the Conqueror.]
[You have bonded with a Divine Relic.]
[You have achieved the impossible!]
[Final appraisal: Glorious. Your hatred truly knows no bounds.]
Hugo looked at the runes, his expression neutral, almost hollow.
"How ironic," he whispered to no one in particular "My greatest dream was to one day slaughter Nightmare Creatures, but in my First Nightmare, I didn't kill a single thing touched by corruption." His gaze was distant, wondering if the Spell had chosen this specific trial filled with creatures only following the path of ascension just to mock his fervent, foolish ambition
But the spell did not answer his curiously, instead it continued:
[Dreamer Hugo, receive your boon!]
The words resonated through him. He was an Aspirant no more.
[You have been bestowed a True Name: Paragon of Purity.]
Hugo's eyes widened, the profound significance of the event finally cutting through his numbness. "A True Name… I really got a True Name…" he exlahed, his breath hitching slightly...
While receiving a True Name in the First Nightmare was astronomically rare, it was not entirely unheard of. Hugo knew of one other who had done the same thing nearly a decade ago.
Smile of Heaven of the Immortal Flame Clan.
One of humanity's greatest champions, a legend who had fought against the horrors of the Nightmare Spell until she, along with her father, the legendary Immortal Flame had fallen when a Category Five Gate devoured the entire nation of America.
The grim tale was a stark reminder of the fate that often awaited even the most brilliant lights in this cruel world. For a moment, a tinge of sadness touched Hugo's heart wrapped in a question of doubt: Would he fare any better?
The Spell's voice once again interrupted his somber thoughts.
[Your Aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve Aspect?]
Hugo didn't hesitate. "Yes."
[Dormant Aspect: Omni Being is evolving…]
His eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed the different name of his dormant aspect...
[New Aspect acquired.]
[Aspect Rank: Divine.]
Hugo looked at the rank, a flicker of dark amusement in his eyes.
'Divine… It's really Divine...'
By all accounts, he should have been ecstatic, screaming with triumphant joy. It was truly an event without precedent. No Awakened in human history, not even the great Broken Sword or the legendary immortal flame had ever awakened with a Divine Aspect. The highest ranks ever recorded were . Transcended and supreme and those who possessed them were fought over by great clans and eventually became pillars of humanity themselves.
Now, Hugo held potential greater than all of them combined. Divine was the final, theoretical peak an Aspect could achieve.
Yet, he felt a strange, cold impassivity. It was as if he had expected nothing less. Perhaps it was the sheer, harrowing difficulty of his trial, or maybe it was the twisted, single-minded determination that had crystallized within him. If he wanted to become a force like Soul Reaper Jet, he needed to be the absolute best. It was only logical that his Aspect would reflect that.
He summoned the Spell's runes, unwilling to drown further in philosophy.
Aspect: [Omnitrix]
Aspect Rank:Divine
Aspect Description:[You have bonded with the first divine relic created by mortal hands, transforming you into a being woven from the primordial blueprint of life itself. Created by the greatest of minds in pursuit of a perfection forbidden by the absolute law of reality, you carry the potential to become any creature. Your existence is a testament to adaptation and the boundless diversity of the world.]
Innate Ability: [Essence Imprint]
Ability Description:[No creature is an alien to your existence. You possess the ability to imprint the fundamental essence of any being onto your soul, storing its template within the relic.]
[First Imprint: Chimera Sui Generis]
[Second Imprint: Galvan]
[Third Imprint: ––]
[Fourth Imprint: ––]
[Fifth Imprint: ––]
[Sixth Imprint: ––]
[Seventh Imprint: ––]
[Eighth Imprint: ––]
[Ninth Imprint: ––]
[Tenth Imprint: ––]
It was… a monumental amount to process.
The description confirmed he was bonded with a Divine Relic—the Omnitrix—created by a mortal, whom he assumed was the absent "First Thinker."
The being's lack of presence in the Nightmare made sense; a creator of a Divine Relic would be a power far beyond the scope of a First Nightmare's trial. The Spell, for all its cruelty, was always fair in its scaling.
He shrugged slightly in the cold void. "So he tried to achieve a perfection, and it was forbidden by an absolute law?" The distinction was subtle but important. It wasn't about universal perfection, but a specific, coveted state that reality itself forbade.
"And it seems he succeeded, in a way." The relic was completed, and now he held a perfect replica of it, forged by the Spell. But then the thought led to another, more troubling question.
"Wait… what happened to the original Omnitrix? Did Vilgax eventually claim it?" His mind wandered through the tantalizing and overwhelming fragments of ancient lore he had witnessed.
"Well either way, it's not my problem to think about... For now at least " he chided himself focusing on the more important stuff for now
"So I carry the potential to become any creature. Is my Aspect a shapeshifting one?" A thrill of excitement warred with a deep-seated disgust. That could mean transforming into the very Nightmare Creatures he loathed above all else, the abominations that had taken everything from him so naturally The idea felt like a betrayal of his own core.
He sighed, grappling with the paradox of his new power. It was confusing, especially since an Innate Ability was typically a passive effect or a general affinity. But his Aspect was Divine and as such it operated on a level beyond normal comparison.
His focus returned to the runes, specifically the two already-filled imprint slots.
"Ah, right. The Spell mentioned I received an 'imprint.' Do I get these by killing creatures, or is it an active process I must initiate?"
More questions with no immediate answers started to pile up, filling his head with different possibilities...
But the Spell, as was its nature, offered no clarification. Instead, its voice resonated once more, final and transformative:
[The First Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers…]