6 Chapter VI: Hello Cruel World!
When my vision got restored, I was greeted by a truly wondrous scene. Millions upon millions of bright stars of different colors colored the dark tapestry before my eyes. If one looks closely, many of the stars were arranged in many different and unique constellations like a piece of art made by a artist.
"I remember reading about this place, but words don't really do it justice," I said in wonder as I observed my surroundings, "so this is the insides of the Nightmare Spell? Quite an ironic beauty for something so horrible."
Just then, the voice of the nightmare spell resounded. However, it was not in the unassuming and familiar tone as before but rather felt like the whole space around him was talking.
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
[A wretched lost soul stripped from his previous world climbed to the top of a frozen mountain filled with deadly threats. Against all odds, he was able to reach the castle of the Lich King only to find the glorious monarch a shell of his former self. By taking hold of the runic sword Frostmourne, the old generation makes way for the new so that the Scourge may reign eternal.]
[You have slain a dormant monster, Undead Scout.]
[You have slain a fallen devil, Bone Centipede.]
[You have slain a corrupted titan, Fragment of the Lich King.]
[Number of cycles repeated: 2,569.]
[Sanity Evaluation: Adequate.]
[Final Appraisal: Unprecedented. Your persistence is awe-inspiring; your state of mind, not so much.]
As far as I was concerned, the spell could shit on me as much as it wants, I am only glad to finally exit that thrice damned nightmare.
[Dreamer William, receive your boon!]
"Please be something good. Please be something good," I pleaded over and over to whatever higher entity is in this place.
[You have been bestowed a True Name: Malevolent Star.]
"That's not ominous. Nope, not at all," I muttered sarcastically.
[Your aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve aspect?]
With a stunned, shaky voice, I replied, "Yes."
[Dormant Aspect Lost Soul is evolving....]
[New aspect is conflicting with attribure Fateless.]
My heart sank to the ground, "This never happened in the novel, did it?"
[Resolving the conflict.]
[Aspect nature changed.]
[Aspect rank demoted.]
"Come on, man! Really?" I yelled in anger at the new runes.
[New aspect acquired.]
[Aspect Rank: Semi-Divine.]
So, before the conflict, I was going to get a Divine ranked aspect if not for the Fateless interjection. Dude, they said Fated was a bitch but this one takes it to a whole other level.
[Aspect Name: Living Lich King.]
I kept staring at the contradicting words for ten whole minutes before I got my mental faculties back. "Okay, I know what a Lich King is, I just met one a few minutes ago but what does living do here?"
In order to shed light onto my mysterious aspect name, I summoned the runes associated with it.
*********
Aspect Name: [Living Lich King]
Aspect Rank: Semi-Divine
Aspect Description: [You are an abomination that breaks all laws of nature and fate. No god will have ever allowed you to come into existence if they could help it. You are an undead who had not only retained his humanity but also his soul.]
Innate Ability: [Anomaly]
Ability Description: [You are a unknown variable in the weave, your abilities are empowered when altering fate. However, doing so puts you in the crosshairs of fate itself and antagonizing fate has never been good for one's health.]
**********
"Is...is that a threat?" I querried with uncertainty at the empty void. No replies came but I held a vague suspicion that the oppressive silence was a sign of assent. "Noted."
"At least I'm no slave...hah, hah...hah...," I tried to laugh it off but the atmosphere was so thick that I could have cut it with a knife. Thankfully, the appearance of new runes elevated the stifling pressure on me.
[The First Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers...]
That was when the pain came. Harsh, unbearable pain that coursed through every cell of my body like nothing I had felt before - and I have already died in more ways than your average Joe.
It felt like my mind, body, and soul were being riped apart then built back together piece by piece. An eerie coldness erupted from the center of my chest and began crawling its way to my arms and hands first, then to my legs and feet, and finally to my neck and head. I felt a tingling itch-like feeling coming from my scalp and eyes before they eventually subsided as did the pain.
After it was fully gone, my body felt different from before. I felt stronger, faster, healthier, and more resilent. Also, something deep within me changed during that transformation that I can't really put my finger on.
The clearest indication of my change must have been my vision. I always prided myself in having a 20/20 vision in an age where most teenagers had some sort of eye condition. Yet, now my vision seemed to have increased by twofold.
I could now see the tapestry of constellations clearer and something else beyond it too.
A frozen wasteland with a single, large sapphire-colored crystal floating in the middle above the ground. Around the crystal, I observed two white sprites floating around the crystal, almost as if protecting it.
(Image)
"So, this is my soul sea, huh? Soul tundra more like, there's nothing but snow and ice as far as the eye could see." Concentrating on the crystal, I saw two white globes floating inside the crystal.
"So my memories are stored here? Neat," I added then changed my attention back to the tundra around me. "I just have one gripe with this: Why is it all so cold and desolate? Am I a snowman or something?" The only reply I got was the nightmare spell's notification.
[Awakening Aspect Ability.....]
Finally, let's see what ability we will get although with my aspect, I have a educated guess about my ability set.
[Aspect Ability acquired.]
[Aspect Ability Name: Raise Undead]
Even though I was curious about the ability, the spell seemed eager to throw me out.
[All power has a price.]
[You have received a Flaw.]
[Your Flaw is: Hollowing]
As I was trying to figure out all the new information I had been given, darkness overcame my vision and the spell whispered in my ear.
[Wake up, Malevolent Star.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before I knew it, I was staring at a dull grey metallic surface, which I belatedly realized to be the roof of some room. I also realized something else, I was not in my house - or my world, if my gut is right. My body was lying on a bed and covered by a blanket.
I tried raising my hand but found it restricted by something and taking a look at it, it was wrapped in some kind of thick restraints. Scratch that, all my body was wrapped in thick iron changes and leather harnesses. The fuck?
"Looks like sleeping beauty is finally awake," a feminine voice said from beside the bed. Turning my head, I laid eyes on what seemed to be the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my whole 16 years of life. Her hair was short and raven-black while her eyes were a cold blue color. The woman seemed to be in her late twenties. She was wearing a dark blue uniform with silver epaulets and black leather boots. The jacket of her uniform was casually unbuttoned, revealing a black tank top beneath.
(Image)
The cheap plastic chair she was sitting on was a stark contrast to her charming appearance.
'Is she.....?'
"Welcome back to the waking world, I'm Ascended Jet and you are?" she said with a clear voice that exuded some kind of passive authority. However, I was shocked speechless and can you blame me? I've spent the better part of the year reading about this world, and now one of the characters in it is speaking to me. If I hadn't just escaped a nightmare, I would've believed that I was still in a dream.
"Heeeeellloooooooo," she waved her hands before my face, "anybody home?"
"Yes....uhhhhh...," I didn't realy know what to say in this situation.
"What? Stunned at my beauty," Jet said as she did a shoddy pose before pressing her breasts with her arms, accentuating them, "or these?"
It was then that I notice them to be honest, and after noticing them, it was as if something pulled my eyes to their gravitational field. Probably, their mass.
Then, I felt a stinging pain from my cheek as I got slapped.
"I swear, if I had a credit for every time I slapped a newly awakened due to them staring at my chest then I would have two credits. Which is not a lot but it is strange it happened twice - in a single day no less. Did your mother not teach not to look at a lady's chest?"
"Dead," was the only reply that came out of my mouth in response causing the atmosphere of the room to promptly turned awkward. The raven-haired woman scratched the back of her head before sighing.
"Okay, my bad. Let me get these things off you so that we can starts again."
After ten minutes of fiddling around with the chains and harnesses that bound me, Jet sat back down on her chair while I sat on the bed facing her.
"Let's start over, alright? I'm Ascended Jet, you can call me Master Jet. And you are?"
"William."
"William, no last name?"
"Nope," I denied since it was better to be recordless poor guy from the outskirts than tell her a name that may or may not exist.
"Do you know where you are?" Master Jet inquired while pointing to the room.
Looking around, it looked to be some sort of bunker like the one Sunny described in the first chapter.
"A bunker." I knew it was under the police station but it would look suspicious if I knew that outright.
"Close, you are in a secure bunker under the police station. Do you know how you got here?" I promptly shook my head.
"I happened to be on a rare patrol when I saw you lying out in the open sleeping like a baby. So, after recognizing the signs of the nightmare spell on you, I brought you to this bunker. That was two months ago."
"What?" Two months ago? I've been asleep for two fucking months?
"You have been on strict surveillance in this bunker for two whole months. Never seen a first nightmare take so long," she added with curious glint that flashed in her eyes.
"Anyways, your bunk mate already finished his nightmare a few minutes ago. Go take a shower since you reek of the Nightmare Spell. After that, meet me in the station cafeteria in an hour for your briefing," she ordered as she rose from her chair and walked towards the bunker's exit. Stopping at the door she turned around and her atmosphere - or aura - turned to a more authoritative one akin to a drill sergeant.
"And stop looking at girls' chests, understood?" she said with a voice drenched in authority.
"Yes ma'am!" I unsconsciously saluted which made me red in the face after I noticed.
Jet, for her part, seemed to be greatly amused, "In case you were too occupied to hear it the first time, welcome back to the world of the living, Sleeper William."
