When Kallen awoke, he was lying on a boat, arms spread out and looking up at the sky. He felt like hell. Like someone had taken every bone in his body, smashed them with a hammer, stepped on them, burned them for good measure, and then pieced back into his skeleton with the rage of a thousand…
He took a deep, steadying breath, measured through the exhale. Then again. And a few more times. Kallen sat up, groaning as if he were fifty years old with chronic back pain and arthritis everywhere.
At the onset of his movement, a sailor on the deck called something to another man, who jumped into the water. A few moments later, Saint Bloodwave appeared, a strange hint of worry on his impersonal face.
"Kallen?"
That's the first time he's said my name.
"Steady there kid."
Kallen watched as the man got closer, and when he was just within a few yards, something strange happened. A whisper flourished through his mind, spoken, but as though he had thought the thing himself.
"He is afraid failure."
"Pardon?" Kallen said, and the voice in his mind whispered again. "He is worried you are not all there. He is afraid that your mind has fractured from your battle. He is…"
Kallen did his best to tune out the dreadful voice, meeting Bloodwaves eyes. "I, uh… I used a weird part of my aspect and blacked out… I guess."
The Saint kneeled down, pressing the back of his hand to Kallen's forehead. He cocked his head and searched all over, like something might spring out from the shadows or something. Then he visibly relaxed, his expression shifting to something unreadable.
"You were supposed to outthink the creature," the Saint finally said. "Not obliterate it."
Kallen swallowed, but allowed himself a shy, hesitant grin. "It worked though.
Saint Bloodwave sighed. But there was kin of approval in his eyes.
"You've been out for about a day now. Rest quick so that you can join me down there a few times before you go back to that academy."
With that, the aloof Saint jumped off the ship, crashing into the waves as a dreadful killer whale.
Kallen sat still for a minute or two, contemplating the strange, sinister voice he'd heard whispering in his head. It had spoken of Bloodwave's fears, oddly enough.
What was that about?
Barely a minute or two of contemplation had passed before Kallen grew impatient dove into his soul sea to inspect his runes.
Aspect Legacy: [Titan Slayer].
Titan Slayer Mastery Level: [1/7]
First Relic: [Claim].
Second Relic: unclaimed…
"Claim!" He immediately said.
Nothing happened for a note, and then the spell spoke.
[You have claimed an Aspect Legacy Relic.]
[You have received a Memory.]
In the ethereal glow of his soul sea, Kallen read the name of his relic.
Memory: [Olympus's Boon].
He held his breath, drinking in the information.
Memory Rank: Divine.
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: [The slayer of titans, Blessed of the Sea, has proved his reign and been granted the right to possess this divine boon, but only against that which is worthy enough to feel its power.]
He checked its enchantments.
Memory Enchantments: [Unworthy], [Gluttonous], [Skybringer], [Stormcaller], [Tideweaver], [Earthshaker], [Leviathan Hunter].
Kallen floated in the open sea with his mouth agape. As he often found himself doing.
But then something nagged at him. The end of its description… as well as that first enchantment.
… but only against that which is worthy enough to feel its power.
Unworthy.
He frowned. It seemed as though the spell was telling him that this mighty… tool wasn't something he could smite lowly dormant creatures with. But maybe [Leviathan Hunter] made special exceptions for the seven Leviathans of his Aspect Legacy. He wasn't quite sure. And he probably wouldn't find out for a while.
Did unworthy refer to somethings worthiness in comparison to him? Like, since he was a Dormant human, would a Saint be worthy because they were that much more powerful than him? Or would a Saint not fit the requirements no matter what level he was at?
His intuition told him the latter.
Sighing, he dismissed the runes, and was startled to see a small creature floating in front of him where the ever-changing silhouette of the first Leviathan had been. In its place, was a small cat sized creature, flitting around his head, swimming with ease because of its manta-ray fins.
There was a new silhouette, next to where the first one had been—presumably the second Leviathan he'd have to fight, but for now, he focused the Veilray.
Kallen reached a hand out, and the creature swam straight into it, a small squeak escaping as it collided with him. Of its own volition no less.
Gently, he clamped his hand around the thing, twisting its small body around, inspecting it. He corrected his earlier thought about it being the size of a cat… it was smaller than that.
Kallen leaned close, admitting to himself that the Veilray was kind of cute. Its two whirlpool eyes of indescribable colors stared back at him, twinkling curiosity bubbling beneath the surface. It looked so… innocent.
This thing is a Leviathan?
Its skin was made of miniature interlocking scales, like a lizard. It felt like a squishy rubber ball in his grip. He twisted his wrist, looking at the underside. It's stomach and four pawed feet were the color of midnight, a few shades darker than its top which seemed to blend in with the color of whatever body of water it was in.
Now that I think about though, it is strangely catlike. Besides the fifth and sixth limbs that stick out of its body like wings… or maybe dorsal fins now that I think of it. Is that what the wings on a manta ray are?
He poked at its slightly rounded stomach.
"You're a pathetic little whelp."
Is this the equivalent of defeating a boss in a video game, and then unlocking them as a playable character, only for them to be substantially weaker than they were when you fought them?
What a load of shit!
With that, the whelp half barked, half meowed, at him, and nipped at his hand, struggling free of his grip so it could dart around to its hearts content.
Why is it smaller than when I fought it?
He brought up his runes, and found something just below his Elder Gargoyle Echo.
Oh yeah… I probably should have summoned him in the fight, huh?
Echoes: [Awakened Terror: Elder Gargoyle].
Leviathans: [Veilray].
Leviathan Rank: Dormant.
Leviathan Class: Beast.
Dormant Beast!What the hell is this?
Kallen scoffed. A useless—for now—Legacy Relic, and an even more useless runt? Is the spell playing a trick on me?
But as he thought about it… he realized something that should have been obvious. Maybe it grew alongside him?
He hoped so.
How strange.
Kallen shifted his attention to the new attribute that could be found under the folder of [Inheritance.]
Attribute: [Illusionist].
[Illusionist] Attribute Description: [An illusionist passes off the false with the true. However, a good trick takes time to weave.]
That's probably why the Veilray only had one true illusion. Kallen had since figured out that what had hidden the temple and the mind attacks that followed were separate abilities entirely. The initial illusion—while not deadly at all—had fooled even Bloodwave. At least a little.
The Veilray had probably used the short time that Kallen spent searching for the temple to plant its mind attack, which took time to actually root into him, and then unfold. If the initial illusion hadn't been in place, he'd probably have killed the Veilray within seconds of finding it, since the thing had no other defensive measures.
The Elder Gargoyle he'd fought in his first nightmare had been a much mightier foe. Hell, even the awakened beast king had been more powerful than the dormant titan. But neither of them could hold a candle to the sheer survivability that the Veilray possessed Though it had been done in by Kallen, that was only because he was driven to the creature and knew where to find it.
It probably possessed zero killing intent when it had been hiding. That makes extra sense why Bloodwave hadn't seen it. The second it showed even a hint of hostility, the saint would have noticed, and probably turned the creature into minced meat. Well, he probably wouldn't have actually.
In reality, Bloodwave would have probably let it thrash Kallen around unless he deemed the fight lost, and swoop in last second.
That illusion of its had probably taken hours to build, but only seconds to knock down—like an intricate card sculpture.
Kallen moved to the other new attribute in his runes. The one he'd gained after the fight with the Veilray—inside the crumbled temple.
Attributes: [Revenge], [Voice of the Sea], [Amplifier], [Mark of Divinity], [Inheritance [Illusionist]], [Ariel's Whisper], [Thread of Connection].
Ariel's whisper?
[Ariel's Whisper] Attribute Description: [The gods feared him for what he knew, and so he was silenced—but not erased. Only time will come to know whether Ariel is truly dead… or merely waiting to be heard again.]
That explains the voice whispering in my mind.
With a groan, Kallen left his soul sea and sat on the hull of the scouting boat. He ignored the being that whispered the fears of those that got too close to him in his ear. It was getting a little annoying.
He leaned back against the trunk of a towering mast, lamenting that he would be spending the next few weeks at sea. At least there would be times when Saint Bloodwave would let him go down and hunt with him.
Speaking of the aloof Saint.
The man was back on the ship, conversing with a Nightwalker on board. His indigo eyes caught Kallen's, and he excused himself, making his way over.
"He's afraid of an impending war," Ariel said as the Saint neared.
What?
Unaffected by the horrors being spoken into Kallen's mind, Bloodwave stopped "I almost forgot." He placed a hand on Kallen's shoulder. His voice lowered to a whisper. "I'm giving you a Memory. Do not speak of it. Do not tell anyone you have it. It was not my desire to burden you with this, but that was not my call to make, either. Write down any questions, and simply give it back to me after you've read it, whether you've made your choice or not."
Kallen nodded, giving the Saint a confused look. Then he checked his memories.
"Do it in your soul sea."
But I just left that place.
Without outward complaint, Kallen dove into his soul sea once more.
There, he found a new memory in his arsenal. He read its strange runes a few times over, frowning as he did so.
Memory: [Tome]
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Type: Tool
Memory Description: [Knowledge is power and thus must be kept secret from your enemies]
It only had one attribute.
Memory Enchantments: [Bookmark]
Kallen summoned the memory. It appeared in a whirl of white sparks, forming into a simple book. His frown deepened, and then he opened it.
Written inside the wretched tome, were a few lines of text written in flowing pen.
"If you are sent to the same area of the dream realm, find and kill Lady Nephis of the Immortal Flame Clan."
"For your sister's sake, I pray you are successful."
- Ki Song.
~~~
Sunny
It was early December. Sunny had been in a considerably good mood until he found that the only open spot in the cafeteria was beside the blind girl he had met yesterday. He'd been near her when Awakened Rock had given their introduction ceremony into the Awakened Academy.
Sunny was part of the unfortunate—and most numerous—group that had been infected close to the solstice. Since he would be sucked into the dream realm in a little less than a month, he had less time to prepare than those who had already set up shop here in the academy.
He grimaced as he sat down next to the girl. She would no doubt die soon, thanks to her flaw. It was unfortunate, but he tried to ignore it.
However, before he could finish his food, a sudden commotion drew his attention.
What's going on?
He looked up and noticed that a group of Sleepers were gathered around the large screen hanging on the wall of the cafeteria, their faces filled with excitement. On the screen, a list of names was displayed, ranking the new batches from weakest to strongest. They were compared to the previous batches with Sleepers, with the names of the new ones highlighted yellow. The rankings were most likely deduced from the interviews.
Not particularly interested, he quickly found his own name near the bottom of the list. The only Sleeper who the Academy judged to be less likely to succeed than him was the blind girl. Turns out, her name was Cassia.
But the commotion was a bit too loud to be just the result of the ranking. Curious, he moved his gaze up. The Sleepers were restless.
"Another one?"
"How is that even possible?
"Two in one year?"
Caster was in third place. Above him was the portrait of a boy with peculiar purple eyes, and above that kid was the silver-haired girl. To the right of the portraits, were their names.
"First Place"
"Name: Nephis"
"True Name: Changing Star"
"Second Place"
"Name: Kallenir"
"True Name: Blessed of the Sea"
So, the silver-haired girl, Nephis, also received a True Name in her First Nightmare. To get his own, Sunny had to deal with Hero and the Mountain King while possessing a completely useless Aspect—an impossible feat that seemed to have pleased the Spell very much.
And the guy, Kallenir, who had already been there at the academy for at least a month also had. Blessed of the Sea… I can't even swim.
Sleepers in the cafeteria were struck dumb by the revelation of this achievement. They were staring at the screen with astonishment, fear, and admiration. Listening to their excited whispers, Sunny felt a childish compulsion to scream, "Me too! I have one too!"
But of course, he kept quiet.
Looking around, he noticed Caster's gaze fixed on the screen. There was a strange, somber expression on the humorous young man's face. There was also a glint of surprise. But the weird thing about it all, as far as Sunny could tell, Caster was looking only at Nephis.
As if Kallenir—the other Sleeper with a true name—didn't exist, he fixated on the line of text that read Nephis, as though the girl's actual name was more important than her true name.
Do the two of them know each other?
Why would a lofty Legacy know someone who came to the Academy in a police-issued tracksuit? And speaking of Nephis… where was she?
Sunny glanced around the cafeteria and quickly noticed the silver-haired girl, who was sitting quietly in a corner with a cup of coffee in her hands. She wasn't paying a lot of attention to the commotion, seemingly immersed in her thoughts. Her grey eyes were serious and distant.
"I don't believe it," someone said.
"Well… Smile of Heaven received her True Name in the First Nightmare, I think. And besides, that Kallenir kid did as well…"
"And no one has heard from him in months."
"What?"
Another Sleeper cut in, "I heard that the Nightwalkers took him away the day after his interview back in March."
Sunny frowned.
"I bet he's off cowering behind with family."
"Yeah, I heard he's from the Blackwater clan, their patriarch, Saint Daelan is just about the only one worth noting!"
Suddenly, a silence fell upon the cafeteria. Caster, the lofty legacy was brazenly approaching Nephis.
"Lady Nephis. I am Caster from the Han Li clan. I see that your trial went well?"
Lady? Why is he addressing her that way? And since he introduced himself… they don't know each other?
Nephis seemed to be a little perplexed by his approach. After thinking for a while, she smiled brightly and shrugged. "It is what it is."
Unaffected by her indifference, he pivoted. "I see. I am very glad that you returned unharmed. Uh… not that I doubted your abilities.
Nephis nodded. "Thank you."
"Are you acquainted with this… uh, Kallenir?" He asked.
She shook her head, as if signaling that their conversation was over.