The man looked over the two of them with an overly joyful expression on his face, the smile stretching from ear to ear with his strange silver eyes dancing in the fading daylight,
"I am so sorry, I have yet to introduce myself. Where are my manners? My name is Javier and I am the leader of this… little sanctuary. Please follow me inside so we can talk in relative safety away from the nightmare creatures."
Turning around Javier unhurriedly stepped forward, walking at a leisurely pace in between the columns of other survivors clearly expecting for them to follow, Damian looked around to Jasper who simply shrugged and followed behind the very eccentric man. The group followed behind them like silent sentries, as they were walking Damian was the first to speak,
"Well it's nice to meet you Javier, my name is Damian and this is my companion Jasper, would you mind telling us a little about how you came about this place with all these people under your command?"
Javier looked over his shoulder, his face was the same but there was a hint of something in his eyes,
"Well of course, I found these…people who were barely surviving in this factory, they were starving and scared, trapped in there with no way to escape. So I showed them a better way to live, gave them weapons to fight with, a stable supply of food and transformed what was once their prison into a temple of my protection."
He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts as he approached the entrance, as another set of survivors opened the doors for them and closing them with a simple gesture of his hand,
"It may sound strange to some, but I have seen the horrors the nightmares bring better than anyone alive I fear, but when I awoke from my dream I was reborn, not as a man but as a god. I am a being of transcendent strength, for that was my gift from the nightmares. I know it's a lot to take in but here in Reserve there will be plenty of time to get adjusted to your new way of life here, away from the horrors of the outside world."
Javier led them up some old alloy stairs to what would have once been an old office space, which was now transformed into a rather lavage dining space considering the condition of this place, the tables had been dragged into here with table clothes draped across without a single crease, cutlery and plates were laid out neatly with many empty glasses littering the table, the roof had been torn open with a number of pipes and old walkways collapsed above forming an intricate network above.
"Please sit wherever you wish, my men will be bringing out a meal for us to enjoy shortly, whilst we continue our discussions."
Javier quickly found his way to the head of the table, the chair was clearly modified to be twice the size it once was, with old cushions and fabrics draped over the back to make it a more comfortable, its armrests had been extended and seemingly reinforced by a number of very sturdy nails, in fact everything around here was held together by dozens of perfectly crafted nails, without even a single flaw marring their surface.
Damian and Jasper took opposite side of the table to each other close but not too close to the leader of Reserve, he seemed friendly but some of what he said seemed to put the two on edge a little, Jasper was the first to speak,
"Pardon my um question Sir Javier I…"
Jasper was suddenly cut of by a the man's friendly voice, now commanding some level of authority,
"Lord, if you are to address me in any hierarchical fashion I would much rather the title of lord."
Jasper's eyes darted to Damian with a strange emotion before looking back,
"Alright…Lord Javier, I remember you saying something about waking from a nightmare, correct?"
The man looked at him and smiled,
"Well yes, it must sound very strange to others but yes. When I first found myself to be infected I was devastated to say the least, my family had many ties to the government so we knew the effects long before the general public did. I was abandoned by my family in a random ditch somewhere along the way to a nearby shelter which was recently overrun."
Damian's eyes widened as the man continued his story
"When I eventually succumbed to the gnawing sensation of drowsiness I found myself in a strange land of desecration, overrun by a myriad of humanoid…bug like monstrosities, I eventually found my way through and managed to dispatch the one behind the hardships I faced whilst trapped there."
His face scrunched as he remembered the details of his nightmare, with Jasper and Damian staring at him in understanding,
"After that all happened the world went dark, and soon a voice called out to me, and soon enough I was reborn as a god, with powers beyond belief, I know the tale sounds mad but my power is most certainly real."
He held up his strange spear for all to see, its surface coiled around itself as with a deeper look it could be seen that the weapon was actually three nails, perfectly coiled around each other to form the shape of a formidable weapon.
"This is my prized possession, I crafted it not too long after awakening from my slumber, I have yet to recreate its beauty in any of my other creations, all those failures are what my subordinates wield around you."
Damian stared at the guards posted around them in the chamber, each nail they wielded was like a spear, this small militia was possibly the current strongest fighting force in the country if not the world, each one carrying around weapons capable of fighting all types of creatures.
Damian let the words linger in the air for a moment before he spoke,
"That is quite the tale, and my condolences for what you have been through. From the seems of it however you were blessed with a rather remarkable aspect. I'm sorry if this is asking too much but is it just nails or can you control metal itself?"
The man smiled as he responded,
"Well thank you for your condolences, they are very much appreciated. However I would rather keep the details of my aspect to myself if you don't mind. You never know what might be listen…."
He stopped, his smile fading as his expression turned serious as he faced Damian, the guards all looked at him as well with mixtures of confusion and something else…was it hope?
"How have you come to learn of the term…Aspect?"
Damian simply smiled as he answered,
"Simple, me and my companion here are the same as you, people who have managed to return from the depths of the nightmarish trials and returned stronger than we ever thought possible, and despite what you may think, we are not gods, just people who are stronger than the rest."
The room remained quiet for a few moments, with the guards eyes becoming wider as expressions of all forms crossed their faces, however it was soon interrupted by bountiful laughter from Javier,
"HAHAHAHAHA, Oh this is good to know! I thought I may have been the only one to survive, tell me did you have to face the wretched Beetle knight as well or did you find another way to come back?"
Damian shook his head,
"Every person's nightmare is different, I was a soldier in a merciless desert of white sands personally, so whilst I never met this Beetle Knight you mentioned I did meet my fair share of creatures."
Javier seemed curious to hear more about Damian's nightmare as he leaned forward, at that time a group of settlers came in, they were carrying plates of food and bottles of expensive looking drinks with them as they put them down in front of their guests and leader before quickly leaving the room.
"Perfect, our food has arrived, please enjoy yourselfs, It's not everyday you get to enjoy such luxuries in a world such as this so make the most of it, but please continue Damian, I am more than curious about what tales you bring to this feast."
Soon enough the room was full of tales from his time in the desert all the while they enjoyed a splendid meal, Javier even opened a bottle or two for them to enjoy, it burned as it went down, scratching at the back of their throats as it went down.
Javier and Jasper both were enamoured by the tale of Damian's adventures through the Nightmarish desert, his tales of gods and war brought about visions of an ancient world on the brink of collapse, after a while Javier asked Jasper about his but he didn't want to talk about his experience, all he gave away was that he never wanted to ride another boat as long as he lives.
Sharing what little details they had learned between themselves was good, Javier had seemed to grasp a lot of what he was capable of, he had even regarded the voice by name, calling it the Nightmare Spell or simply the Spell for short, regarding the opening words the voice said to all of them. Javier reluctantly even gave up his aspect rank as being of the Transcendent Rank, slotting another piece into the puzzle.
It had been too long since Damian had dropped his guard like this…so why was he still so nervous of the look in the young man's eyes sitting at the head of the table.