Reality

2 months have passed since Aldric had entered his first nightmare. Whether this was a record he did not know. It has been a crazy 60 days for our resident cave dweller. But they were a productive 60 days.

Aldric had honed the art of hunting. The behaviors and patterns of creatures, no matter which kind, were etched into his brain. Fear was no longer an obstacle. With practice, his hunts became shorter and more efficient. He had lost count of the number of creatures who fell at his hand. All he remembered was the highest-ranked creature his group had killed was an awakened monster. Through careful planning and teamwork, they defeated the beast. Aldric happened to deal the final blow. Whether that was deliberate or chance, the group did not know. And of course, his efforts were rewarded. 

Aldric had gained a large amount of memories. Some that he used religiously and others he had never brought out twice.

For those that were not suitable to his battle style or were subpar, he had planned to trade it to the government or others. There were plenty of third party awakened that oversaw trades between two awakened.

He always wore a garment memory that he gained from defeating another Burrow Fiend. The memory had a similar design to the clothes he and the tribe wore. He did not have to worry about cleaning his garms.

His two most valuable memories were:

[Unwavering Spark: A torch crafted from ancient wood, imbued with a flame that never extinguishes. The flame burns with a strange, cold warmth, offering solace to those who need it.]

This utility memory was perfect for any nightmare spell carrier. It had many uses and offered many conveniences. Saving a lot of time for Aldric. This memory held a lot of sentimental value to him because it was the first useful memory that he received. With how often he used it, it meant a lot to him.

The other memory that he gained was from the awakened monster his team had hunted. It was a colossal troll the size of a house. Through meticulous planning and scouting the beast, they learned its habits and predicted its weaknesses. They had set it aflame as it slept. While it thrashed in pain, the archer blinded one of its eyes. With heavy attacks from the rest, the beast fell. Due to the fire damage coming from the Unwavering Spark, the nightmare spell accredited it to him and rewarded him with a memory.

[ Cragborne Armor: Forged from the hide and bones of a mountain troll, this armor was the crowning legacy of a warrior clan in the snow. Knowing of only battle and blood, It has done its job well.] 

He couldn't see anything else regarding his memories. Aldric knew this was because of him being an aspirant. 

As fun and rewarding as receiving memories was it would not get Aldric closer to ending this nightmare. 

Aldric decided to take some time to learn as much as he could from this nightmare. He gave himself the deadline until the 60th day to conclude this nightmare. It might seem unwise however there was no immediate danger like the Mountain King was to Sunless or a timer like Nephis being absorbed in the terrors cocoon. It was a move to make the most of this opportunity. Experience fighting nightmare creatures. Gain memories that would help him as a dreamer. He did not have the resources of a legacy clan at his disposal. 

Which was why Aldric was very observant of the things around him. He noticed many incongruities within the sanctum. The first glaring thing that he noticed was that there were no awakened humans in the tribe. None of the hunters were on the path of ascension. It was odd because Aldric knew awakened humans existed before the nightmare spell. Sunless had the soldier who was an Awakened in his nightmare.

Aldric got comfortable with the hunting group and the tribe. He had learned about the insect colony that the leader threatened him with just before his initiation. 

It was a mixture of poisonous insects all forced together in a clay urn. It seemed that the idea was the strongest and most poisonous insect would survive. The poison was harvested and used as a death penalty for those who did not abide by the rules of the sanctum. One of the founding members was an insect enthusiast and had started the tradition.

Another thing that he learned was that there was a strict curfew in place for the entire tribe at night. No one could leave the confines of their living spaces and the joint living areas. It was an odd rule that surely had a duplicitous reason behind it. 

One thing that he religiously did was keep an eye on the Elder. He had often sat at the high table meant for those of status during meals. Yarnm was a man with a routine. He ate at the same time. Spoke to the tribe by sharing his wisdom at similar times. However, after the end of every dinner, he would leave early with a helper present. 

Aldric connected the dots when he learned what happened to the soul shards of the creatures they hunted. It turned out that the Elder held a monopoly on them because no one found value in them. One of his responsibilities was to store the unknown shards. His instincts were telling him that something was wrong with that arrangement.

As for the worm, he learned about it one night he had followed the Elder Yarnm.

----------

Flashback

It was the 50th day of being in the nightmare. Aldric had counted the days meticulously. However, this was a special night. 

He had planned to follow the Elder after dinner. Acting as if he left early to rest, Aldric had waited for everyone to go to sleep. 

Sometime later, he could be seen walking through the dark hallways of the sanctum. With his vision, it was manageable to him. Time passed as he wondered cautiously.

 He heard a soft voice say. 

"Good night Elder".

It was the helper assigned to the Elder who always followed him around.

After the helper left, the Elder took an unknown path away from his quarters. Aldric followed slowly with no intention of being caught. 

Inhale 

Exhale 

Aldric was hidden from the world.

He succeeded because of something he learned about his aspect. It allowed him to hide his presence through steady breathing. It was not a physical change but It almost muted him to the outside world. He practiced this technique often in his spare time. 

Even after staying at the sanctum for 50 days, he did not recognise where the Elder was heading. 

Finally, the Elder stopped in front of a massive boulder that was covering the wall. With inhumane strength, the older man easily pushed the boulder to the side to reveal an entrance to a large room.

'How the hell is he so strong' He thought in shock.

Aldric followed some time after he did to not be noticed.

Watching his step, he made his way inside the room. It was a massive dome-like cavern. It had a large cavity both above and below. A pathway wrapped around the cavern in a ring. The only thing leading into the room was a singular catwalk that ended before a large abyss. There was a line of torches that lit up the whole cavern.

He placed himself away from the catwalk where the Elder stood above the abyss and hid on the outer pathway along the walls.

Aldric looked up and saw nothing. 

A sharp feeling spiked in his gut. He was now an expert at using his insight attribute to avoid danger and see what was not visible to him. It was practically shouting at him about the danger below. This was the most he had ever felt the attribute. Exponentially stronger than before. 

He looked down. 

'WHAT THE HELL IS THAT'