Capítulo 66: Awakened
A familiar sight focused in Aldric's view.
An explosion of colour as far as the eye could see. A myriad of stars surrounded by countless others. Each with a string of light combining them to their neighbour. It was as if the entire observable universe was on display and concentrated within a single frame. The further in that you looked, the more that you saw.
And Aldric was floating in that endless expanse.
Between dream and reality.
It was just as beautiful as the first time that he had seen it. It garnered the feeling of appreciation. Appreciating the design of such a compelling sight.
A voice echoed in the empty expanse.
[The Second Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers...]
A feeling of freedom enveloped him.
Coursing through his veins was pure distilled energy. Unleashed from the unshackled dark cores.
Aldric could feel it in its entirety now.
Before, he could feel the weight of something in his soul. Increasing as he got stronger as well as when he received his second core. However, it had always felt hidden and elusive. In his soul sea, he could see it but not feel it.
But now, it was as if he had gained a new organ. An organ that was pumping out essence throughout his entire body. Enhancing his strength and physicality by orders of magnitude. It was exhilarating.
While a typical sleeper did have a physique that was much more durable than even the strongest of humans, this was just a secondary effect of having a soul core. Enhanced by the lingering presence of a core. However, Awakened ranked humans could actively manipulate the essence in their bodies. Limited only by their imagination or skill.
An analogy to represent this would be in heating a home. As a sleeper, imagine having a fireplace as your main heating source. Sure, it would heat the room; however, the rest of the house would be just as cold if not for a small change in the ambient temperature. Increasing by a small margin. The flame itself would be out of your control. You, as a bystander, hoping to catch some warmth from it.
This would be much better than sleeping outside in the cold.
Compare this to having a central heating system. With pipes carrying hot air to warm up each and every room. From the bathroom to even the hallways. With the ability to control the heating in every room through switches or valves. With this, you could control the temperature of your room to the error of a single degree or less. The difference would be unfathomable. This is the equivalent of an Awakened human's ability to manipulate soul essence.
Aldric entered his soul sea and could immediately see the effects. The once dim and spaced-out starry void was now bright and full. Lightening the dark clouds around him.
Looking down at the chamber of darkness hidden beneath the clouds, he could now compare it to the seal of the dark sea.
Hidden in that chamber was a familiar red orb, taking refuge in the deepest pits of his soul.
Looking back up, his dark cores themselves were now completely different.
Before they took the form of a black hole, with an even horizon around it. But that changed.
As if it were unleashed, the black hole had exploded into a supernova. Leaving behind a miniature galaxy in its place. Roughly taking the same amount of space as its previous form, the thing that separated it from the surrounding area and that stopped it from bleeding outwards was a boundary of darkness. Covering the supernova in a circle.
Looking in his peculiar soul core, he could see a set amount of stars shining brightly. All a vivid white colour.
'Can I use that to keep track of how much essence I would have left?'
The idea came to his mind. Of course, he would be able to feel it; however, a visual representation wouldn't work against him.
Moving on, he looked behind him and noticed a similar sight. His second core had changed forms. However, there was a slight difference. The stars that made it up were not white in colour but black. Not completely black in that they would not be noticeable but a more pale black light. Similar to how Sunny's core was described. Countless black suns came together.
Aldric had an idea of what the difference in his dark cores represented. However, there was something else on his mind.
This boon was amazing to have and feel; however, he was waiting to hear something else. Something that was unknown to him.
[Awakening Aspect Ability...]
His mind was entirely silent. Awaiting the direction that his abilities would take after this revelation.
[Aspect Ability acquired.]
[Aspect Ability Name: Dire Ordinance.]
The name did not make sense to Aldric. He knew what they meant, but together, they did not help him speculate on his new ability.
Focusing on his runes, he read its description.
Aspect Ability: [Dire Ordinance.]
Ability Description: [You can imbue your will onto the darkness inside of you.]
The extreme vagueness of his ability did not hamper his excitement. He was sure that whatever this ability did would be extremely powerful. After all, it was tied to his will, right?
A smile formed on his face.
It seemed that the spell would not stop giving today.
With all the memories he had received from the siege as well as the memory from the Dark Sea's Firstborn. Added to the change that Bael had undergone.
It was a good day.
With that thought in the forefront of his mind, the spell spoke out one last time.
[Wake up, First Class Singularity!]
And instantly, the expanse of stars had disappeared.
From dream to reality.
**********
Thank you for reading.
Chapter 1 of the new volume is now out.
Indra_: The gate required one person to stay behind. To act as a medium to fuel the spire.
Till the next one.
Capítulo 67: Awake
In a room far beneath the Academy City.
The panel of one of the sleeping pods that awakened and dormant humans used to facilitate their journey into the dream realm opened.
Immediately, a miasma of darkness spilled out of the sarcophagus. As if it were an overflowing basin, it covered the ground of the room with a shallow layer. However, there seemed to be something wrong with the pool of darkness.
Shifting and turning, it did not look to be inanimate. Like one would expect an element to be. It was alive.
As a single collective, they swayed and coalesced.
GRASP
A firm grip could be heard, grabbing the metal handle inside the pod.
With that, the darkness traversed back to its origin, finding refuge within the lone figure.
Coming out was a young man. Somewhere between the early stages of adulthood. His demeanour and aura spoke of maturity and experience; however, his elastic and nubile face spoke of youth.
Standing close to six feet in height, the full stature of the man came into view. Adorned with black and silky curly hair, with a few highlights of alabaster white streaks. His hair was glistening and healthy. Almost ethereal in its radiance and shine.
His physique was proportionate and athletic. Not enough weight to hamper his agility but more than enough muscle to exert considerable strength. Wire broad shoulders and a thin waist. Looking like an inverted pyramid. This was the very physique that many men aspired for.
Developed and defined muscles, holding such little fat that his veins were visible under his skin. They looked like a taut cable. Ready to snap and exert force.
His face was symmetrical, almost more so than a model. With chiseled and defined features. He emanated masculinity and handsomeness. With a slight dent in his cheeks, hollowing his face further.
Caramel dark skin glistened in the lightened room. With no imperfections or flaws.
The young man opened his eyes to the artificial, mundane lights.
A galaxy.
An entire galaxy was encapsulated within his iris. A darker than black iris, with a myriad of white specks scattered around it like stars. It was majestic but unnatural as well. Alien almost.
INHALE
EXHALE
"So this is what it feels like to be an awakened."
A voice with a steady vocal tone spoke out. Having a deep weight with hints of youth scattered within.
Moving around and feeling his muscles tense and contract, it was as if he had been reborn. Burned in the depths of the dream realm and forged anew.
Meeting his reflection in the glass door of the pod, Aldric took his new appearance in.
Running a hand back through his hair, he noticed all his minor imperfections and asymmetry disappear.
"Damn, I look good."
A cheeky smile spread on his face.
Before he had been infected by the spell, he was swimming in mediocrity. Slightly boosted by his passing of the first nightmare, he gained some standout features. Enough to put him within the top mundane humans.
But his awakening was completely different. It seemed that now, compared to legacies like Nephis or Caster or anomalies like Kai, he was not lacking at all.
But something was amiss. Something was there that should not have been.
The white streaks. The faint vertical crease between his eyebrows. The exotic eyes.
"DAMMIT!"
He shouted.
Aldric punched the reflection, staring back at him in pure vitriol. Shattering the reinforced glass into broken shards.
Panic rushed through his system. His failsafe was completely gone.
'That was my only way to fight against that damn flaw!.'
Feeling bouts of anger and resentment in equal amounts, his mind was in chaos.
With the scars and injuries one gained during their first journey to the dream realm not reflecting onto their body, Aldric hoped that the physical representation of his flaw would not persist onto his newly awakened body.
'I can't even rely on this for my second nightmare.'
Gaining an entirely new body after ascending was no longer on the table. One that was missing his obvious flaws and future ones.
Wiping the shards of glass that failed to puncture his hands away, he looked for anything to take his mind off of his current situation.
And that was a sudden knock on his door.
He looked down at his body, noticing his lack of suitable clothing. Quickly summoning his [Silk Robes], he opened the door.
"Awakened Aldric!, It's lovely to see that you've awoken."
An elderly doctor spoke in a voice of kindness and relief.
It seemed that not everyone had the luxury of waking up from their dream.
"Thank you for the warm welcome."
Aldric responded. His body language was subconsciously emanating his lingering anger.
Luckily, it had gone unnoticed.
He was glad that the first human he met in the waking world in such a long time was calm and amicable. It was nice to arrive to such warm words. Especially for someone like him, with no one to return to.
"You look different from your file here."
The old man scrutinised his appearance while staring back at his hand-held screen periodically.
"You know... Spell stuff."
Aldric muttered in response.
Accepting the answer as it was, the doctor spoke.
"We'll run some tests on you, and then you're free to go. I know that they have begun interviews for some of the recently awakened, so be prepared for that."
The old man advised him.
"I appreciate the heads up, sir."
He responded with gratefulness.
Aldric was surprised at how calm the old man was. Over 150 newly awakened suddenly returning to the waking world would shock any system. Especially one that expected the majority of its newly awakened to arrive in the first week after the solstice. Not afterwards. And especially in such numbers.
'I guess he just has the experience to stay calm.'
His calmness could not make up for the lack of resources, though. All hospital rooms were taken, so all medical personnel were doing mobile tests.
Once the doctor had completed the basic health assessment with a nurse aiding him, Aldric was given a clean bill of health. His obvious change in appearance raised some eyebrows; however, while it was rare, it was not unprecedented. To have changed appearance after interacting with the spell.
Given the small time he had to kill while they ran their tests, Aldric entered his soul sea. It was time to see if something he had felt was true.
Avoiding the familiar sight, he looked down.
He was right.
The potency and size of his soul increased. The deep well that he concluded represented his soul was now much deeper and wider. Beneath the clouds, it was good to see. Observing the amount of dark figures lingering within his soul, it was a lot more than before the siege.
Aldric was close to restoring his soul to its previous state. Before he had turned Bael into an apostle.
What he had done still did not make sense to him. For someone like Sunny to create Shadow Saint could be explained through his link to Shadow God, with his domain of death. However, Aldric did not have any divine lineage to speak of.
Just himself and his divine aspect.
It raised many questions. Ones that would remain unanswered for now.
Just as they completed the final test, which concerned his soul essence.
Supposedly, not all awakened have uniform soul essence pathways. There are always asymmetries; however, some cases can result in a negative effect on awakened. So there are rare conditions surrounding it. It is understood that it relates to a person's condition before they became a sleeper. The only known method to fix such cases was to challenge the second nightmare and ascend. Which was more easily said than done.
Thankfully, Aldric was all fine.
A knock rang out inside the room.
It was time for his interview.
********
Thanks for reading.
Hope y'all are doing well.
Not much else to say so enjoy y'all weekends. Till the next one.
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