9 - Corpse Corner

Shirou, Sunless, an the silver-haired girl were led to a massive hall. Countless other Sleepers could be seen, socializing with each other.

They kept discussing their First Nightmares, Aspects, and their future journey to the Dream Realm. Shirou noticed that Sunless seemed to be a little nervous, and based on how he had scowled at him a few minutes ago, it probably had nothing to do with social anxiety.

Half an hour later, Sunless's reputation absolutely plummeted.

Most people in the academy now saw him as a foul-mouthed, obnoxious pervert. It got so bad that he even got punched at one point. Shirou wondered why he attempted to do such a thing, and came to the conclusion that Sunless simply wants people to avoid him. Although, he had no idea as to why.

Maybe I should ask him.

Shirou approached Sunless with a polite smile. After a few steps, he felt dazed as their was a sudden pain on his face. Shirou felt his face with his hand, and didn't feel any inconsistencies. He guessed that it was probably due to his flaw. Sunless looked up at him from where he was sitting with a bruise forming on his face. Although most people in the academy now disliked him, he didn't seem too disappointed about it. In fact, Shirou thinks that he looked quite satisfied with himself.

"Hello, you're Sunless right? Master Jet told me about you," he greeted, "I wanted to ask why you were acting like that with the other Sleepers. If what Master Jet told me is similar to what she told you, wouldn't it make more sense to get them to like you instead?"

Sunless seemed surprised by the question, and for some reason, started to grit his teeth. "…It's for my survival," Sunless let out before narrowing his eyes at Shirou.

Shirou noticed this and decided that he should probably not antagonize Sunless, even if he is confused by his behavior.

"Oh, well if you don't want to tell me then that's fine. I just didn't understand what your goal was." Shirou looked around and couldn't find any empty seats in the induction hall. The only empty ones are the ones that are near where Sunless is sitting. He took a seat across from him on the bench.

Sunless stared at him for a moment before scowling, "Why do you act like that?"

"Huh?"

"Like you're a decent person. I've seen plenty of guys like you where I come from," Sunless's face darkened, "You've killed a person, haven't you?"

Shirou didn't understand why he was asking such a question, "I have, but I'm sure most people here did."

Maybe he didn't kill anyone in his Nightmare?

"No, they aren't the same as you. They might have killed something in the Nightmare, but you've killed a real person, right?" Sunless chuckled, "Well it doesn't matter, I don't understand why someone from high society like you would have killed someone, but it's none of my business. Just stay away from me. I don't want to be associated with a killer."

Shirou genuinely did not know what Sunless was talking about, but he felt a burning sensation somewhere in his mind. As if something was burned out of his memories.

Shirou thought that Sunless might have been right, but if he was, then it was most likely before the fire. He couldn't remember anything from back then, so he decided to ignore it, as it wasn't relevant at this current moment.

After their exchange, Shirou noticed a group of Sleepers surrounding a tall young man with brown hair and green eyes. He caught a part of their conversation.

"Ascended? You have received an Ascended Aspect? Wait… what was your appraisal?!"

The young man smiled humbly.

"Oh. It was "excellent."

With a voice of utter bewilderment, Sunless said:

"Ascended, excellent? That's it? What's the big deal?"

Oh, he's doing it again.

Shirou watched silently as Sunless started to harm his own image again.

The group stared at Sunless in bewilderment. The young man that they were surrounding just smiled politely.

Shirou flinched slightly when he saw this, as it reminded him when he used to practice how to smile when he was a child.

Sunless might have been right.

Shirou could tell that this man was a killer, a skilled one too. He seemed to be calculating the best way to kill Sunless if necessary, although Shirou doubted that he truly saw Sunless as a threat.

One of the members of the group replied to Sunless.

"Uh… friend you must not know a lot about the spell. Caster's results are truly remarkable."

Then, with a furtive glance at the remarkable Caster, he added:

"He is a Legacy, after all."

Shirou looked towards the boy in question. Caster was a descendant of an Awakened clan, which meant that he was trained for the Nightmare Spell from the moment he could walk. Shirou heard from Kiritsugu that by bringing someone to the Dream Realm at least once in their lives, when they return to the Waking World, the chances of being infected by the Nightmare Spell rises to 100%.

Shirou noticed Sunless stiffen for a moment, before continuing where he left off.

"Are you trying to pull a prank on me? You call this remarkable?!"

The group started to get slightly hostile with Sunless.

Now that I think about it, Sunless and Caster are both strange names.

"Listen, friend. If you don't think that an Ascended Aspect is remarkable, then please share with us your own amazing results! What, pray tell, was your appraisal?"

They were starting to grow restless due to Sunless's attitude.

Sunless simply smiled and said:

"I would let you know… my Appraisal was, uh, it was "glorious"! Yes, glorious. And the Aspect I aquired was of the Divine rank."

Everyone who heard those words gave Sunless a strange look. All except for Shirou of course, who was shocked by what he heard. His own Appraisal was glorious, and it resulted in him obtaining a Divine Aspect as well. If Sunless were to just say that he had a Divine Aspect, he may be a little skeptical. But by announcing his Appraisal as well, Shirou can confirm that Sunless has a Divine Aspect, and can guess that he was most likely trying to get the other Sleepers to deem him as a liar.

Shirou wondered why he went with such a roundabout way of trying to make himself seem as weak as possible.

"Mind you, I'm not some lofty Legacy. Pfft! I'm from the outskirts. I've never even received combat training. All that training and he only got an "excellent"? What did he do during the Nightmare, pick his nose the whole time?"

Caster then asked Sunless with the same polite smile on his face:

"Glorious? That is interesting. Would you mind telling us what we're your achievements in the Nightmare?"

When Shirou realized that Sunless was going to continue, he decided to listen and trust everything he says.

"Sure no problem! First of all, I killed an… uh… an awakened tyrant."

Shirou thought for a second and realized that it would be possible if Sunless had some outside help.

"Oh, really? How did you kill it?"

An arrogant look appeared on Sunless's face.

"How? Let me tell you, I didn't even have to lift a finger. I just spat, and it was torn to pieces!"

Someone openly laughed.

"This guy is either insane or purposefully messing with us. Listen here, shorty."

Shirou noticed Sunless's face twitch.

"Have some decency, okay? Who would believe such a lie?"

…Is he mad because he was called short?

"I can't answer that, because it's not a lie!"

"Are you really insisting that you killed an awakened tyrant with just some spit?"

"That's the truth!"

More laughter followed.

"Crazy bastard!"

"He actually believes in his own crap!"

"Insane, he's insane…"

"Guys…"

Caster was the one who spoke up.

"What else did you achieve?"

"Let me think… Oh! I also killed an awakened swordsman."

"Really? How did you do it?"

Sunless made a slightly embarrassed face.

"Actually, that time I had to lift a finger. I even had to shake it a couple times. That was enough to kill him, though."

They continued to comment on how they think that Sunless had lost it.

Caster gave his companions a long look before turning to Sunless.

"Anything else?"

"Something else? Uh… Well. Oh, right! I communicated with a bunch of gods, even though they were all dead. I made one of them wake up. He gave me a blessing! I was blessed by a god, do you understand?!"

After hearing those words, Shirou was sure that Sunless not only had a Divine Aspect, but one linked to a Divine lineage.

The Sleepers were shaking their heads and looking at him in pity. Caster sighed.

"Well, compared to you, I suppose I do seem quite average. Thank you for sharing with us. I hope you'll be successful when we enter the Dream Realm."

Sunless seemed pretty smug.

"You better believe it!"

As Caster and his group walked away, Sunless leaned back into his chair, just to find Shirou looking at him.

"What, you think I'm lying too?!"

Shirou smiled at him.

"Nope, I believe you."

He leaned over the table to whisper to Sunless.

"I've got a Divine Aspect too, you did a pretty good job at fooling them into thinking you weren't a threat."

As Shirou moved back to his previous position, he saw Sunless look at him with wide eyes.

"Uh… try to keep it a secret okay. Oh, and if we meet each other in the Dream Realm, I think we should team up."

Sunless just continued to silently stare at Shirou.

"Also, do you have a nickname or something? Your name is really awkward to say(and type)."

Sunless snapped out of it while still cautiously gazing at Shirou. He then spoke.

"Just call me Sunny."

People started to avoid this corner of the hall. The only people sitting there were Shirou, Sunny, and a nameless quiet girl.

The quiet girl was delicate, demure, and very pretty. Her clothes were tidy and neat. Like Sunny and Shirou, she was wearing the academy uniform. With her pale blond hair, big blue eyes and exquisite face, she looked like a porcelain doll.

She seemed to be staring emptily into space. Shirou felt that there was something wrong with her, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked back to Sunny.

"She's blind," Sunny stated in a low tone.

Shirou's eyes widened.

How did she even survive her First Nightmare?

As Shirou thought about it, he realized that it was probably her flaw.

I have a Divine Aspect, yet my flaw isn't remotely as bad as hers.

Shirou had been feeling a numbness in his eyes ever since he started sitting here, yet he didn't think that it was due to someone else's pain.

Well, it wasn't really pain, but he guessed that his flaw could feel anything negative when it comes to another individual.

A moment later, a tall man in a blue uniform appeared on stage. He was huge compared to someone like Sunny, who seemed to be as tall as a middle schooler.

The man gazed at the the Sleepers before laying his eyes on the deserted corner where Shirou, Sunny, and the blind girl were seated. He stared at them for a second before he started to speak.

"I am Awakened Rock. Sleepers, welcome to the academy."

He proceeded to give a speech detailing how they should not underestimate the Nightmare Spell, and how even Saints are not guaranteed to survive.

The next four weeks were going to be spent preparing for their journey into the Dream Realm. The differences between the Nightmares and the Dream Realm, were that losing your life in the First Nightmare would cause a Nightmare Creature to take your place, dying in the Dream Realm does not. Starting from the Second Nightmare however, if they fail to find the Nightmare Seed which is used to enter the Nightmare, or all participants die within the Nightmare, a gate would open up in the real world, releasing hordes of Nightmare Creatures.

Unlike the First Nightmare, the Dream Realm is a literal world, and not just something that takes place in your mind. While the Nightmares contain the records of people who used to exist within the Dream Realm, the Dream Realm of the present has no life except for the Nightmare Creatures that roam it.

Although nobody knows if the Dream Realm is just an illusion, or if it is real, it does not simply take place in one's own mind.

The Dream Realm does not have a predetermined conflict that the Nightmares have. The only goal in the Dream Realm, is to find a gateway, which is usually within the human citadels. If they cannot locate a human citadel, then their best bet is to look for an unclaimed gateway, which were usually positioned near a prominent landmark.

While the Nightmare usually pits the Aspirant against enemies that are around their level, the Dream Realm may throw the Sleepers in an area that contains an unholy titan. The Nightmare Spell is not fair to Sleepers during the Winter Solstice.

Of course, Shirou did end up having to face an Ascended human, while Sunny stated that he faced an awakened tyrant, so maybe the Nightmare Spell really was unfair during the Nightmares.

Shirou sighed as they were dismissed. He got instructions sent to his communicator detailing the location of his room. He got up before saying farewell to Sunny, who simply glared at him.

As he was walking towards his dorm, he thought to himself.

Man, I'm bored. I wish that there was something else I could look at in my runes to pass the time.

Shirou displayed his status, not expecting to find anything new, before palming his face.

Name: Shirou

True Name: Forged In Hell

Rank: Dreamer

Forge Core: Dormant

Sword Fragments: [12/1000].

Attributes: [Mark Of Divinity], [Child Of Swords], [Mind Of Steel], [Anomaly].

Memories: [Washing Pole], [Rebellion], [War Medallion], [Shroud of Justice].

Echoes: [Ingvild of the Storm].

Aspect: [Sword Incarnation]

Aspect Rank: [Divine]

Aspect Description: [You are a sword who was forged in the depths of hell and quenched with the divine blood of the War Goddess. You were the greatest creation greatest blacksmith of them all, which makes you a sword above all the rest. All types of weapons recognize you as their master. The blacksmith created you in his own image, and left behind one simple, yet daunting task. Destroy Fate.]

Innate Ability: [Bloodstained]

Ability Description: [The blood of the War Goddess does not flow through you, as swords are not alive. When stained with the blood of the War Goddess, you are able to perform at your fullest potential.]

Aspect Abilities: [Living Sword]

Aspect Legacy: [Fleshforge]

Fleshforge Description: [The War Goddess accepted an offering of humanity from the heroic Forged In Hell. In respect of his sense of Justice, and value of life, she bestowed upon him the ability to truly become the sword itself. This was only possible due to his ability to abandon his humanity for the sake of others.]

Legacy Relics:

First Relic: [Claimed]

Second Relic: [Locked]

Third Relic: [Locked]

Fourth Relic: [Locked]

Fifth Relic: [Locked]

Sixth Relic: [Locked]

Seventh Relic: [Locked]

Blades: —

What the hell is a Blade?!