He wanted to move his hands to cover his eyes, but he couldn't. Looking down, he saw restraints, thin, easily breakable, they weren't that strong. He was sure he could break them off if he wanted to. Then he heard her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you" he froze. To be honest he was still in too much of a shock and hadn't noticed the woman sitting beside him.
Sitting on a cheap plastic chair beside his bed was a beautiful woman with short, raven black hair and skin as white as snow. She looked pale but not unhealthily so. Seeing her Li stopped whatever he was doing and cleared his throat.
"Sorry, I was just startled, I won't break them"
Hearing that the woman chuckled and said in a flat tune' "You can't even if you try kid' But you get points for manners unlike the last kid" Li raised an eyebrow at her last words.
"Do you do this often?" Li asked while Jet got up and removed the restraints.
"Oh, you can't imagine. I dropped that one kid off just an hour ago, the awakened assigned to you had an emergency so I took over" Jet said, her tune seemed a little tired, which Li took note of.
"I see, I hope they're alright, and thanks for watching over me, the people at the orphanage must have freaked out when I suddenly got infected, I need to visit them after this" Li was a bit embarrassed, which wasn't logical cause the whole thing was out of his control.
"I'm sure they're fine, no need to worry, and you're welcome it's my job after all. I'm Ascended Jet. You can call me Master Jet." Jet was very pleased with this conversation, usually, they all would panic or act entitled. "And you can deactivate your aspect, don't worry I'm not going to eat you." Jet said with a dangerous grin on her face. But she was left dumbfounded by his next words.
"Well wish I could, but this is my flaw, my aspect allows me to transform you see, but my flaw makes it so when I've transformed, I can't turn back" Li was suddenly reminded of his flaw and rolled over as if he got punched in the stomach.
"Thanks for sharing it with me but I have to tell you, please don't share information about your aspect and flaw so openly. I have to say that's a serious flaw so your aspect must be powerful enough for it" Jet's words seemed more genuine this time, as if shared as Jet herself, not the government agent.
"Well, I can't do much about it. People are going to find out once they see me like this all the time. But I understand thanks for the advice'" Li shrugged with indifference.
"Well that is also true, in any case, welcome back to the Living World. Congratulations on surviving your first nightmare, Sleeper Li"
***
Li was currently enjoying a hot shower. Master Jet had told him to, cause he apparently, 'reeked of the Nightmare Spell' After a while, he hurried out and stood in front of a mirror. He was now in his second form.
'This one is definitely better in the waking world and I look quite good in this form not gonna lie' he thought as he began to look downwards, he was curious about how it looked like before but he soon found out that it was just normal but way bigger than before, 'It won't even fit no human, Damnation' he thought as he cursed under his breath'
"And this towel is useless, it would take me two hours just to dry myself" 'But I wonder…' With that, he moved one hand in the air as a row of heat began to form around his palm.
'Okay just slow and steady' Moving his hand across his body he began to dry himself. When he saw that it worked, he threw the towel away and started with his other too' Soon he was nothing but a ball of fur.
Searching the shower he found a bottle of conditioner and went to work. Grinning like a fool in the mirror he looked at his shining fur and patted himself on the shoulder, 'This was great but I should ask Master Jet for her hair routine'
***
Sitting at a table with a tray of food in front of him, Li sat down and offered some to master Jet before eating. He was wearing a police-issued track suit which was better than nothing. Soon he was finished and thanked the Master for the food. synthpaste or not manners were important. It surely wasn't because he got drilled for it most of the time at the orphanage, surely not.
Pushing his plate away he looked at Master Jet. Understanding the look, Jet nodded and began to speak. "Alright, as per protocol, I'm obligated to inform you of a few things. It is mostly a formality. First of all, concerning your Nightmare, you are entitled to receive free psychological counseling. No matter what traumatic experience you have encountered, there is no shame in asking for help. Your mind is as important as your body, it's only right to keep it healthy. Are you interested?" she looked at Li, her expression however said it all.
"No not really, not at all," Li said quite nonchalantly.
"As you wish. You can also talk to me. Was it hard?"
What could he say really? That he just had to commit genocide?
"It was way worse than I thought but I managed"
"That's good. I won't pry any further'"
"Is there someone you'd like to meet? I've read your file, if you have any friends at the orphanage we can go for you to talk."
"No I have no friends there, but I would like to talk to my caretaker if that's alright." Li was pretty sure she was still worried about him and he wanted to free her of that burden. And also thank her for taking care of him this whole time.
"I see. We can go there now and I almost forgot. You can do whatever you want to prepare for your first journey to the dream realm. However, you're also entitled to enroll in the Awakened Academy. You will be provided with food, lodging, and a wide choice of preparatory classes. This late into the year, you won't be able to learn a lot. But that's better than nothing." She wanted to continue on to persuade him to join but she was cut off by Li a moment later.
"I would like to go to the academy," Li said with a bit of excitement in his voice.
Jet smiled and said finally. "That's a good choice. We can go there after your visit then" Master Jet said as she stood up and motioned for him to follow her but she was interrupted when Li froze mid-air and cleared his throat as he said with an awkward smile.
"Master Jet if I'm not intruding, may I ask about the products you use for your hair?"
***
"Whoa…" Li was currently standing in front of the massive red gates of the academy. He was straining his neck but still couldn't see the top of it. The ground was covered with a blanket of snow and the air was brushing past his ears with a pleasant chill, it would have been colder for mundane people but for him, it was very comfortable. The towering gate had covered the nearby building with its oppressing shadow which added a layer of mystery as to how they had created this behemoth of structure.
The whole academy was a city in and of itself. It's like a small city inside a bigger one. 'I wonder how much time it would take me to run a full lap around it'' He thought to himself, already calculating his speed' The gates groaned as a massive section of it split open and began to descend, becoming a narrow bridge for the new sleeper to cross over. Saying his goodbyes to Master Jet, he steeled himself and With a deep breath, stepped inside.
.
.
.
Far down the street, a shadowy figure was standing in front of an ally, seemingly observing Li out in the open, nobody seemed to notice his presence as they brushed past him. He left When he saw Li go inside the academy gates.
***
'So many people… are all of these kids sleepers?' He was admittedly nervous. It didn't help that most of them were throwing glances or outright staring at him. Some with awe and fascination, while others mocked him with their gazes.
'They think I'm showing off, yep definitely' Of course his thoughts weren't a guess, he could hear them after all. One aspect of this body is his enhanced senses, which is why he could hear them mocking him under their breath.
'Fuck that who cares, these are just a bunch of kids' he wasn't exactly the social type and didn't want to talk to anyone either. 'They are just weak, so weak' he wasn't sure why he was measuring their strength, he wasn't the strongest one here either but he was sure he could beat most of them if it came down to it.
Noticing his gaze some of the sleepers shivered and hurriedly looked away as they changed the subject of their mockery. 'That's better' he didn't think it was this easy, 'Well my looks certainly help' With that, he went to a corner of the hall and leaned against it while crossing his arms. He couldn't help but hear bits and pieces of their conversations.
Some were arguing with each other, some were sharing their experiences of the first nightmare, while others were showing off the cool memories they'd gotten. None managed to catch his attention. Having nothing better to do, He summoned his runes.
Name: Li.
True name: Almight.
Rank: Dreamer.
Soul core: Dormant.
Echoes of the dead: [5225/125000]
Memories: [Fires Might], [Eternal Night], [Nights Comfort].
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Worlds Favor], [Vast Soul], [Echoes of the dead], [Wondrous Mind], [Resilience].
Aspect: [Beasts Fury]
Aspect Rank: divine
Aspect description: [You are a daring existence, You bow to no Will and are not bound by others. You bear with yourself a long-forgotten concept of an absolute will, unyielding, unbroken. A majestic Wolf, a King, a warrior. One worthy of wielding the essence of the world on his back.]
Innate Ability: [Omniscient]
Ability Description: [You can see and feel the world through essence both yours and the world]
[Aspect Ability Name: Teacher]
[Aspect Ability Description: You can pass down a portion of your Power to others]
Aspect Legacy: —
Flaw: [Beastly Body]
Flaw Description: [Once you transform you cannot turn back']
The number of echoes had increased after he had mistakenly nuked the whole city. Since then he has been dreaming constantly about the life of the fallen people. He was sure now that the culprit for this was the [Echoes of the dead] attribute.
'Now that I thinks about it, they were showing the number 2 at the start of the nightmare. Where I had gotten them from, I've no idea. If I had to guess, I would say that one was from Aian himself.'
if one assumes that once someone gets transported to a body in the nightmare, the person dies and your soul replaces the missing soul of the person. But the other one he has no idea.
'Well, I'm sure I'll find out once I get to sort through my memories' he was admittedly, still dazed from the nightmare.
The thousands of memories of the dead had overwhelmed him even after the nightmare, he needed time to get used to it. But the function of them is another thing, he had figured it out recently that when he kills something or someone, he would get a portion of their memories or maybe all of it. 'Maybe the reason I can only see a portion of their memories is because my soul or my Will isn't simply strong enough yet'
Once getting them, he will start to dream about the person's life when he sleeps. He can also do so willingly when he's awake. Which he does when he has the time.
'I got the [Wondrous Mind] and [Resilience] after the first nightmare, presumably for defeating the defiled King Night'
[Worlds Favor] Attribute description: You are recognized by the World.
[Vast Soul] Attribute description: you have a vast and unfathomable soul, You have medium resistance to soul attacks.
[Wondrous Mind] Attribute Description: Your mind is sharper than most, you have medium resistance to mind attacks.
[resilience] Attribute description: you have low resistance to corruption.
[Echoes of the dead] Attribute Description:
[dead and forgotten, they wander away,
Pleading and longing, in shadows they stay.
Yet mourn not, lost souls, nor dwell in regret,
For all shall live on; your soul won't forget.
Encompassing all, it gathers their light,
A beacon that burns through sorrow and night]
'In short some major mind and soul damage resistances' Although I still don't know what [Worlds Favor] does. And what is corruption? Is it related to that blob? If so what does corruption do to a person? If I had to guess, it's what makes you a nightmare creature. It makes sense for me to assume so, cause the blob had come out of the body of EverNight. Which I think was the reason for his death'
'Moving on, I've gotten both the [Fires Might] and [Eternal Night] from the nightmare' he then focused on the first memory.
Memory: [Fires Might]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Tier: VI
Memory Type: Weapon
Memory Description:
[Fire is light,
Fire is Warmth,
The spark that brings Life,
The harbinger of Death.
Chaos, in its warm embrace,
A deadly dance,
A dance of Life and Death,
Such is fire,
May all be held in its glowing embrace.]
Memory Enchantments: [Conveyor], [O, Flame], [Fire Spirit], [Soul Message]
[Conveyor] Enchantment Description: [This sword can store and channel elemental energy twofold.]
[O, Flame] Enchantment Description: [This Sword can create fire.]
[Fire Spirit] Enchantment Description: [The Fire Damage of this Sword is especially potent.]
[Soul Message] Enchantment Description: [The sharpness of this Sword is dependent on the wielder's Will.]
'What a beautiful description' This Memory is a Sword a claymore to be specific. Its long, iron blade shimmers with a cold, iron hue and is nearly as tall as the one who wields it. The body of the sword is engraved with rune words of sorcery to channel elemental energy more effectively.
A wide crossguard in the shape of a wolf's maw swept outward as if wanting to devour the blade of the sword. The grip is wrapped in leather, worn smooth by battles long past, and the heavy pommel balances the sheer weight of the blade. It's a weapon meant to break lines, to cleave through armor and bone with one devastating swing.
'I've studied the runes extensively and it boggles my mind every time' he had learned some runic sorcery and the sorcery of names in his first nightmare but still couldn't fully grasp them. 'The next one is my favorite, sorry [Nights Comfort] but I still love yo—'
Suddenly Li was distracted from his thoughts by the deep voice of an instructor calling for everyone's attention.
"I am Awakened Rock' Sleepers, Welcome to the Academy."
***
Li yawned as the speech of the instructor was coming to an end. He was tired, he hadn't done much readings on the memories but they still had tired him out.
"That is all for today. Next, follow the instructions sent to your communicators to find your assigned dormitory. Once settled, you may proceed to the cafeteria for some late supper. There will be a round of interviews after that, to prepare your suggested curriculums. Get a good night's rest, Your training starts tomorrow"
With that, he gave them a short nod and left.
'Well, at least there is food. I'm starving'