Charms and Dreams

With an expressionless face, Winston arranged everything that he had pulled out of the inventory into a clean altar. The chalk had been used to draw a rough circle and cryptic symbols onto a paper parchment that had been spread about on the floor. A set of 3 candles was erected on the parchment on the right and the various trinkets were kept in the center.

It was an altar Winston had set up to pray to himself. Since he was praying only to himself, there was no need for any over the top preparations, like incense and essential oils. There was, however, a need to pinpoint his own place in the spirit world through the wall of spirituality.

As such, a three line description needed to be constructed for him to mimic as a creature from the spirit world. Winston had spent a good time thinking over and finalizing his own descriptive titles, just to make sure it would not pinpoint something else in the tower.

Taking his needle, he placed it at one side of the ritual altar and pulled out a blue coin, placing it on the other.

Then, with a clear mind, he extended his hand and rubbed the wick of the candle. His spirituality extended, lighting the candles with a fluttering orange flame.

He inhaled slightly, then spoke out.

"Traveller from the further beyond" He said. The air around him stirred with an unseen breeze as a thick chill suddenly enveloped the environment. Winston felt his spirituality jump around and extend outwards in rhythmic waves, like ripples on the surface of a lake.

"The thief of science." He said. And immediately, a sudden tremor travelled up his spine.

Without stop, he continued. "He who dreams to rule over History.

"The entity named Winston Heath."

Then, with the reciting of the honorific names done, he moved on.

"I beseech you. Bless upon these charms the power of your spells.

"I give you the Cerulean Tide, a weapon of ignition that belongs to you.

"I give you the suspendium coin, a trinket that belongs to you."

He closed his eyes as he felt his spirituality turn chaotic and seep off into the spirit world.

"Sanctify these charms in your name!" He exclaimed, and with it, the charms placed in the center of the altar glowed with an otherworldly light. Faint whispers echoed across his ears as the room's temperature began to return, no longer feeling cold.

Following that, he finished up the ritual and cleaned up the altar.

After everything was said and done, he picked up the charms and laid onto the bed, feeling a bit legarthic.

Sigh! Winston sighed, quietly musing over the ritual.

The first part of his honorific name was to solidify his position as an irregular, but still, it left some loopholes that could pinpoint at some other existences which weren't irregulars.

Then, the second part "The Thief of Science." It was to pinpoint himself as a man of science and an enthusiast of research. Even amongst the Irregulars and the anomalies that the first line may have highlighted, the probability of anyone being a scientist was close to none. However, even if that were the case, the last line was the nail in the coffin.

'He who dreams to rule over History.' It symbolized his future as a beyonder of the Fool Pathway.

And finally, he had manipulated the ritual, modifying it with a fourth line that directly corresponded to his name. It was only possible because shinsu was so malleable in nature and the surrounding spirit world could offer it's power with less rigid conditions.

In essence, each of the lines did not all have to prompt him. It was fine as long as they all came together to pinpoint him, which was the approach he was going for. If he could be pinpointed at his level with a single line, he would not feel too safe at any time.

The tower was full of danger, and for an irregular like him, it was especially fraught with traps and hidden enemies. In essence, the entire Tower stood against him.

And with how truly limitless shinsu was, he would not be too surprised if someone could focus on his existence by reciting his honorific name, at least not until he was at a high enough sequence; and comfortable enough to take on high rankers.

Speaking of which, he had also thought of the honorific name he would adopt at the higher sequence.

Shaking out of these thoughts, he focused on the charms he had created. As of right now, he could make charms in three specific categories.

First included his spells as a trickmaster. All of them could be imbued into a charms and activated at will. It was a good weapon to give to his teammates since he had no use for those.

The second included his flame controlling powers and illusion abilities.

It allowed for the charm to burn through the opponent or make illusions that trick the opponent. Again, something that was more useful for his teammates that himself.

However, it was the third kind that was somewhat useful... Well, kind of.

The third type of charms included concentration charms and shinsu charms.

They constituted the ones Winston had some use of. The former allowed for better concentration of spirituality and shinsu under stressful situations, making him able to generate more baangs that he would normally be able to.

The latter was something akin to a shinsu bomb, a weapon utilized on the upper floors by Scouts and Light bearers which have lower combat capabilities.

The charms he could make as of right now were not too great, but they were at least operable. Him even being able to make charms of operational ability at his current level was solely due to him being far stronger than an average sequence 7.

Winston yawned, feeling a bit sleepy.

And so, he covered the windows with the curtains and headed off into the domain of dreams.

~~~

Winston dreamt of an insurmountable mist, standing before him, above him, below him and behind him.

The white - slightly gray- mist covered everything in it's way, to the point that he couldn't see anything even a meter ahead of him.

His thoughts muddled by the dream, he walked ahead through the mist, walking and walking and walking and more walking.

Endless walking.

At the point where his legs seemed to scream out in pain and his ankles wanted to leap off his body for a moment of respite, he saw a thin illusory figure appearing in the misty void.

The figure, humanoid in shape turned it's head towards him.

Winston felt a strange pull from the figure, and then slowly felt his thoughts coming to a standstill and melting down into a bulbous soup. His head caved in slightly and his eyes turned crimson.

His spirituality he felt draining away and disappearing into the mist, as did his consciousness and rationality.

Then, another figure appeared amid the void and extended it's hand as well.

Huff!

Winston got up from the bed, his head and body all covered with sweat.

He huffed, taking in large mouthfuls of air with his eyes wide open.

"Huff! What the hell? Huff!" He spoke to himself, trying to make sense of the dream.

In the empty and dark room, with the only source of illumination being the faint light of the artificial moon that filtered through the curtains, Winston sat in silence, pondering over the revelation.

~~~

"C'mon you twats! We must get the goods loaded up 'til sunrise!"

A loud yell rang through the air, shaking through the ears of everyone present. It was a giant with 4 arms, skin red as blood alongside eyes that were a clear white. His body donned great colourized attire, most of which seemed suited for battle.

His head was bald, devoid of any hair as was his face with no eyelashes or eyebrows to speak of.

He looked on towards the labyrinthine ship inside which giant containers were being loaded. The entire ship was composed entirely of metal alloyed with suspendium, allowing it to take bizzare or even eerie shapes. The walkways extended up into the air and curved in irregular patterns. The cabins glued to the side of the ship seemed to stacked atop each other with such little space between them that it seemed to paint a dystopian feeling. The walls were all but covered with steam pipes that blew vapour into the air, as were the cabins.

There was little light in the entire structure, with the only source of light being the orange glow of a tubelight high up at the ceiling. The man's eyes traced the containers trailing towards the workers of bizzare shapes.

The workers shrank their heads in surprise at his booming voice, which, to them, seemed to act as a danger signal.

The red man's expression turned slightly happier as he watched the workers shrink back in fear. His dagger like teeth showed through his mouth as a hallow chuckle escaped his lips.

He shook his head, turning to head back into his cabin. However, just as he did someone stopped him.

It was a large blue blob with a darkened dot at its center. It climbed up the walkway and softly called out to the man.

"U- um!"

The man turned.

"Spit it out 'lready!" He yelled.

The blue blobs colour drained somewhat, not that it was even able to be discerned due to the low lighting.

"I-It was a reporter! A reporter from the 27th floor! We snuck onto the ship and was able to escape!"

Suddenly, the red man's body erupted into a brilliant red flame that enveloped the entire walkway they were on.

Aaarghh!

A scream rang out in the air as the blob tried to jump off of the walkway. However, just as he did, a large hand slammed into him, holding him in place.

Aaaarrrrghhhh!

The blob's agonizing screams continued for just another 3 seconds before they came to a standstill. The workers shrank further behind the containers, fearful of somehow catching the man's ire.

The flames around the red man danced around for a bit before they disappeared back into his body. The blob which was at his grip just now was nowhere to be seen, already having been burnt to a crisp.

The red man harrumphed and turned back.

"Ye ought to find that reporter! I want 'em dead! Ye hear me!? Dead!" He yelled and disappeared into his cabin.

As the man left, the temperature in the ship began to return to normal, a change that no one noticed had even happened.

The workers quickly scrambled about, their destination could not be guessed.

~~~

A/N: A shorter chapter than normal. Gimme dem stonez