Sleep

"RING"

"RING"

The receptionist looked at the young teenager who had a slightly sleep deprived face. She thought nothing much of his lack of sleep chalking it up to a late night until she saw his resolved face. As if he was prepared to go to war. Her instincts told her something was amiss but in a practiced fashion responded to him ringing the bell.

"Good morning, how can I help you today?"

"As demanded by the Third Special Directive, I am here to surrender myself as a carrier of the Nightmare Spell"

The receptionist's heart jumped and quickly questioned the young teenager.

"How..." "How long have you been infected"

"Roughly 10 hours Miss"

The receptionist exclaimed a short breath of relief but was still vigilant. She quickly pressed a button and communicated to the small mic resting above it.

"Code Red. Attention!. I repeat Code Red."

Aldric could not hear this over the announcement system in the building. He concluded it must be to reduce panic as civilians were dotted around the ground floor. 

"Follow me" a deep masculine voice spoke behind me. 

A middle aged man in a standard police uniform guided me towards the lower levels of the building. As we walked, he spoke in a clear voice.

"You might be wondering why you are not in handcuffs like the movies or webtoons "

"Yeah " responded Aldric.

" Well, you arrived here not too long after your initial symptoms. Following a visual assessment, you don't seem to be lying either." the man responded. He continued.

"It was responsible of you to come straight away son. People often overestimate how long they can go without sleep and try to complete last minute decisions. Causes a lot of panic seeing an unresponsive body on an insurance firm lobby floor."

"Makes sense." responded Aldric.

As they reached the last level of the building by using the elevator, they walked through a hallway of similar plated steel doors. Aldric had never seen a door so thick and robust in real life. After scanning his ID card, the policeman led him inside the last one. Inside that vaulted room, a cold feeling entered Aldric's body. Cameras were situated along the ceiling. A small bench along the wall. Finally, the main attraction of the room. A weird human length contraption. Similar to an operation chair but tilted at a 45 degree angle. The most noticeable thing about it was the thick black restraints that were ready to be used. The reality of what was about to happen was slowly creeping back into Aldric's mind. His thoughts were interrupted when the Officer spoke.

"Take a seat on the chair."

Aldric complied.

"I am going to go through some standard procedure since we have the time. What is your name?"

"Aldric."

"Any last names?"

"Vesper."

"Okay. Do you have any family that I can contact?"

"I am an orphan. I live at the Willow Oak orphanage on Kingston Road. I informed my caretaker."

"With that out of the way, are you educated about the nightmare spell?"

"Yes sir. I attend one of the government academies."

"Perfect" exclaimed the officer.

In the corner of his eye, Aldric noticed soldiers armed in combat gear and holding assault rifles surrounding the vault door. 

"Since I don't have to brief you about the spell, I can give you some personal advice. I have worked at this station for 15 years. I have been the last person that hundreds of people have seen. I know some stuff."

Aldric stayed silent. Expressing his intent to listen.

"The spell is a neutral entity. It gives and takes in equal measure. You will not have a trial beyond human capabilities. You might be unlucky. You might also be lucky. Who knows. What I will say is that you should never hesitate. You might not die facing a behemoth of a creature but because you hesitated to kill. A humanoid creature or even a fellow human."

"Do not hesitate" repeated the man with an intense look in his eye.

"I understand" responded Aldric.

"I hope so. For your sake".

As he is strapped into the contraption, Aldric has some final moments to plan. He concluded that there was no way he could predict the scenario he would be placed in. Neither could he predict his aspect due to how closely related it is to the scenario. He would have to go in blind and adapt to the situation. But not completely blind. What he knew about the ratings of the first nightmare was at the front of his mind. Knowing that you are rated based on surviving the nightmare as well as your achievements. What people didn't know was that the spell reward was based on how far you went to defy the fate of the body you were inhabiting and if you succeeded. He was resolved to fight against the fate that he would see at the beginning of the nightmare. After all, this theory of his can be supported by the spell showing every aspirant a time lapse starting at the end of the scenario to the beginning. Showing the future that fate intended for the body they inhabited. 

Aldric aimed to try his best to defy fate. After all, isn't that what he represents? An unaccounted for change in this world's future.

"Good luck young man" said the policeman as he left. Closing the vault door behind him. Leaving Aldric alone with his thoughts in the cold room.

"Lock in."

"You got this." Aldric repeated.

Inhale. He closed his eyes.

Exhale. Darkness washed over him.

[Aprirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial...]