Guardian Corps
After a day of waiting, the nightmare spell finally activated and slumber overtook Chiron, as he fainted and the world shifted around him.
...
When his eyes opened, all he could see was a wast nothingness, as if the world had forgotten it existed in the first place, but then it seems as if it remembered and the world began to be created... No, it was un-destroyed. The process was faster than he could comprehend, but it slowed gradually. The first thing he managed to see was a gigantic mountain, but before he knew it, it disappeared and what replaced it was a ruin covered in vegetation. In a tenth of a second it turned into a simple ruin, a single second later, it turned into a magnificent city and ten seconds later... Nothing happened.
Chiron stared at the city, but he didn't get even a good look, as he felt the world blur. He was violently dragged descending, as if something was dragging him down into hell itself and then he opened his eyes and regained his sight.
...
A small fortress city stood, surrounded by miles on miles of castle walls, as peasants entered through the main gates with wagons full of crop and even their farming equipment. Most came from the south, or was it the south? No one knows. The peasantry kept coming without an end in sight, as if death was mere minutes away from claiming them and they could only survive if they entered this one city.
Guards stood on the watchtowers and kept their bows and Anti-Siege weapons at the ready, prepared to act any second if someone... Or thing, went out of line. Beneath the watchtowers, in the catacombs, stood hundreds of guards, who were training or simply resting.
Under one of the watchtowers, a middle aged man laid on his back, snoring lowly, as his eyes suddenly sprang open and he sat up on the bed.
*Aspect*
Name: Shangrinn.
True Name: —
Rank: Aspirant.
Soul Core: Dormant.
Memories: —
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Hoarder], [Impatient], [Overdraft].
Aspect: [Guardian corpse].
Aspect rank: —
Aspect Description: [A snapping turtle is an immovable creature, that just waits and keeps waiting until it can strike and deliver the finishing blow! Being the greatest failure of the Guardian Corps, the shamed one dares not even utter his affiliation!]
Abilities: bunker down[Dormant]: Your body seems to condense and strengthen itself, gaining the durability equal to copper, maybe even greater!
*The f"ck? I mean, fair enough with the Failure part of the aspect, I don't care much for the description. The name I had in my last life was quite a surprise, but I have already forsaken it. Most in the slums don't have a name, so I guess it defaulted to my "old" name. I did spend potentially decades in my last life not moving, but that's after I got shot through the skull multiple times. The ability seems decent, but what's with the weird attributes? Why are my attributes being a hoarder, impatient and whatever the f"ck overdraft means!*
[Overdraft]: Pushing the limit over, and over, and over, and over...
*Okay, what even is this? I've been reading the description for half an hour already and it keeps saying "-and over, and over" for infinity basically. A "pit" attribute, if you will. I hope hoarder is something good at least.*
[Hoarder]: Unwilling to let go of anything this person considers theirs. The attachment to all things theirs is supernatural in levels.
*Understandable. So if I gain a memory, I can keep holding onto it and maybe use my attribute to make the memory or echo more "mine" than it already is. Somewhat useful, but no clear use yet. Need memories and such items to test with.*
*What is Impatient? Besides overdraft, it is the one I am most interested in. Impatient means hot-headed, act-before-you-think kind of thing, so what does that have to do with me?*
[Impatient]: Action, action and more action. It seems as if waiting is a foreign concept. The explosiveness of this creature's personality is unprecedented, as it rushes to the finish line.
Chiron stared at the screen for several minutes, but he still couldn't understand anything about it. *I don't get it. It seems to directly contradict everything else, that is "me". My aspect is a defensive one, One attribute is waiting and gathering, my aspect is about being so durable I can stall for the time needed to gather, but Impatient? What does that add? I'm not even that impatient of a person. Guess this is another "Pit" attribute, although I might find a use for it later down the line*
*Sigh, why did I have to get 2 nonsense attributes. Even Sunny didn't have such dumb luck. Well, he did get screwed over with his aspect, though, so at least mine is decent with a good ability. Now, what is my nightmare about?*
Chiron spent an unusual amount of time just thinking and looking at his aspect. Considering the fact, that he had no idea of his identity or how to proceed, it was a wise decision, but his identity wasn't so simple as to allow him such luxury.
"Recruit Chiron, when was your last guard duty?"
The angry yelling voice sounded out, as Chiron concentrated on his environment. *Shit! I wasted too long on reading that "pit" attributes description and didn't have enough time to orient myself.*
The middle aged man quickly stood up and said "I apologize sir, I must have fallen asleep! I spent yesterday training a bit too hard."
The muscular man with a sword looked at the middle aged teenager weirdly. The man was taller than him, so he had to look up, but the fat the teenager was sporting didn't leave the impression of a hard worker "You don't look any newer than when I last saw you. Hell, you old f"ck, I can barely understand how someone your age can be on PATROL, as a RECRUIT much less, and still be unreliable! Last chance, old timer! Get to your post! NOW!"
The middle aged man smiled. "*Am I an elder in this nightmare? Is it adding up my soul's and my body's ages? Weird spell. Guess I'll play along.* Sir yes sir!"
Not wanting to provoke the muscular man, he quickly left and walked up the stairs and oriented himself. Without much wait, he looked back down and said "Sir, which way, sir!"
The muscular man looked up, his rage reignited as he yelled up "FIND CHARLIE BEFORE I WRING YOUR NECK!" With understanding, Chiron nodded his head and ran away before the man made good on his promise. *He is most certainly an awakened, so if I kill him, I should get something resembling a reward. Or not! I will ignore him for now and find this Charlie.*
Without much wait, Chiron stepped outside the barracks and saw a couple of guards training, clashing blunt edge metal swords. Chiron walked towards them and waved them down. "Fellas, any idea of where Charlie is?"
The left one looks at him and says with a smirk "Old man, why don't you go on a walk and find him." He chuckles as the other one sighs and says "He is at the archery range. Try not to get US in trouble, Chiron."
Chiron nodded his head and turned left and right, not seeing any archery range, so he looked at the sword wielder with confusion. The swordsman understood what Chiron was hinting at and looked down before answering "That way!" And pointed to his left.
Not wanting to waste any more time, he turned left and ran to find said archery range and his source of information, Charlie.