Chương 68: Interview
"Welcome back, awakened Aldric. I hope your return has been calm and enjoyable. I am Howser, Special Government Agent number 111."
A moderately handsome man in his late twenties introduced himself to Aldric, extending his hand for a handshake.
With short black hair and brown eyes, there were no standout features on the man. A clean-pressed black suit that was mostly likely issued to all governmental personnel, emanating a professional aura.
Returning the handshake with a firm grip, Aldric could tell that the man was an awakened human. With how comfortable he had gotten with his flaw in determining the rank of nightmare creatures, it would stand to reason that he could replicate the feelings and energy he received from the path of profanity and map that onto the path of ascension. This half-baked method was a lot more accurate due to how stark the changes between ranks were.
Aldric was sure that other awakened humans could tell the difference as well based on the power emanated; however, he could tell even if they tried to mask their power with an aspect or memory. Instead of the body receiving feedback from their energy signature, it was his very soul.
"I'll keep this as brief as possible. From the information we have received, over 141 sleepers have recently awoken within the same hour. Something that was unprecedented in the history of humanity. Just to confirm, were you sent to the Forgotten Shore last winter solstice?"
Howser spoke as he periodically looked at his handheld screen.
The data that he had received was perhaps the most shocking thing he has read in his career. From the completed interviews of the first returners, it painted a gruesome picture of what these young kids had gone through. Over 10 years in the far reaches of the dream realm. Howser subconsciously compared it to his own first journey in the dream realm.
Sent to a deep ravine north of Ravenheart, it took two days to climb out. Luckily, that area had been cleared by the Song clan years before.
Focusing on the matter at hand, this was not the time to think of the past.
In front of him, the dark-skinned young man responded with a head nod.
Howser did not have an impression on the man in front of him yet. However, what he could say was that the young man's eyes were captivating to look at but equally harrowing. A black orb littered with white specs, encapsulating a small universe within them. But the empty expanses between the specs grew the more he looked at it. Blotting it with darkness.
"From what I've read here, you guys formed an army to reach the gateway. Lead by Changing Star, what capacity did you act in?"
Howser asked.
It seemed that the agent had a lot more leeway in the types of questions he could ask based on the wording.
"I was on the front lines."
Aldric responded.
"And how many nightmare creatures would you say that you killed?"
The agent asked quickly.
"I honestly cannot remember."
Howser was getting tired of this interview already. Perhaps he was asking the wrong questions. This was only a preliminary interview to better gauge the capabilities of the awakened individually so that they can be assessed easily by those wanting to take them in, such as the three great clans. So he doubted that he would learn anything groundbreaking.
"We have had reports of four newly awakened receiving a True Name. Have you received one yourself?"
This was the final question to be asked. Howser himself was shocked at the amount. It seemed that this new cohort of awakened were truly in a class of their own.
"Yes."
With widened eyes and an open mouth, Howser asked.
"What is your True Name?"
The young man responded in a calm voice. Speaking his name as if it were the first time he had spoken it.
The word he uttered bore an ancient weight.
"Singularity."
----------
Aldric walked through a series of hallways.
It took a while to get through the psychological examinations and the briefing afterwards.
No matter how impressive and full of potential 152 newly awakened humans would be, it was worthless without knowing about their psychological profile. Who knew how these emotionally and mentally scarred adults would react to having to return to the source of all their anxiety and stress the moment they fall asleep once more?
It seemed that the mention of his True Name scrutinised him with more questions. However, there was no reason to hide it anymore.
Should he had revealed it when he completed his first nightmare, then many legacy clans would have been salivating to have a piece of him. Something that he definitely could not have handled with no backing or protection. All that attention would have been a distractor from his preparations anyway.
But now it was time to cement himself into the world of awakened humans. It was time to build connections and leverage his strength and capabilities.
Walking around, he could hear sounds of some families reuniting in love and affection or sorrow. Sorrow for those who did not make it out alive.
While Aldric was turning 18 years old in the coming spring, the matron at his old orphanage was still listed as his emergency contact. However, it seemed that she did not come to visit.
It made sense given the sheer distance between the orphanage and the Academy city. However, he could tell that a visit from her was not on the table. He was welcome to visit her whenever he wanted. That was their dynamic, and he liked it that way.
Walking to a large panel displaying a list of names, it was here that the names of all the surviving dreamer army members were listed.
With no one around him, he took his time to read each name. Many of the people that he expected to survive were listed above such as his cohort. It seemed that Gemma also survived the battle. However, many names that he knew were not listed. Jude seemingly perished.
The young man who he had hired as his pathfinder within the Dark City. Aiding him in navigating his hunts. That felt extremely heavy for Aldric.
It was with Jude that he had spent the most time with in those months before the expedition. Getting to know each other and talking about their life experiences. It was tough.
Many others were dead. From a large number of the hunters to members of Nephis' militia. It was a sombre moment.
The young man slowly returned to his assigned room. Many things were on his mind.
Which faction to join, which gateway to anchor, and what his next steps were.
There were decisions to be made.
********
Thanks for reading.
Dao_of_bonks: He has long black curly hair to his chin. With streaks of white intermixed. His eyes are regularly black but just with specs of white. Like how some people have green eyes with mixes of yellow.
You guys seen the nagi U20's goal? Nagi the Goat.
Till the next one.
Chương 69: Ordinance
The first plan of action was to familiarise himself with his newly awakened body.
Spending an hour running through a training routine allowed him to ascertain exactly what changed in his body.
It was a lot.
From his reflexes to his muscle imbalances and straight down to the conditioning of his joints. It was a complete overhaul. Akin to upgrading the model of car one would drive.
It would take a very long time before he mastered his body. Many years to achieve the level of bodily control that experience awakened and ascended have. The ability to control the flow of essence to each nerve ending allows for much higher efficiency and conservation of energy when applied correctly.
He practiced saturating his body and limbs with essence to strengthen himself. It would take a very long time before he mastered it; however, the increase in strength was hard to put into words. It was as if he was using his darkness to enhance himself, but in a more natural way.
Being new to using essence, he was not efficient. Having leaks of soul essence leave his body when strengthening himself. It made him realise the properties that his essence had.
Small black particles leaked from his newly developed pathways.
A black mist lingering around his body. He was unsure of its effects, if there were any to begin with.
Moving onto what was on the forefront of his mind during his training, it was time to try out his newly awakened ability.
'Dire Ordinance. What a name.'
Aldric thought to himself.
Releasing a pool of darkness from his foot, blotting out a section of the ground. Not even the bright light of the room could pierce through it. Making it look boundless and without end.
He immediately noticed how much easier the darkness flowed from the inside of his body. Gliding through him without any resistance or struggle. It now felt like his body was truly changed to better suit his dormant ability. Before, it felt much slower, as if the darkness was trudging through mud.
It felt stronger as well. It was difficult to describe.
Focusing on the matter at hand, Aldric remembered what the descriptions of his new ability said.
"Imbue my will, huh?"
He spoke in a curious tone.
Utilising his [Tenebrous Control], he fashioned his darkness into a snake. With a long black body and a small head. Two protruding fangs rested out of its mouth. It was a perfect replica; however, it was dead.
Not an ounce of life to his creation
That was the real bottleneck of his aspect ability during his time in the dream realm. Before he had [Tenebrous Control] to aid him in controlling and shaping his darkness, he could only attack with momentum-driven slashes of his coated blade. As well as the rudimentary black sun technique that he had no control over. The new attribute allowed him to shape his darkness into thin, sharp blades and slashes. Compared to just forming around his blade. This strengthened his previous techniques manyfold.
However, even after gaining this amazing attribute, Aldric still struggled. Because darkness inherently was not destructive. Being covered in a wave of darkness would not kill you. It may have many untold effects, but it could not even begin to compare to a wave of fire. Hence why Aldric always fashioned his darkness with an edge. To take advantage of the heaviness and the effects of darkness. Even with [Tenebrous Control], the only useful thing that he could fashion his darkness into were weapons and objects like chains and shackles. He had not explored the former, but he did use the latter in his battle against Tessai.
However, his recent battle with the [Dark Sea's Firstborn] had given him many ideas for fashioning his darkness. Controlling tendrils of darkness extending from his body was not a bad idea.
So what use would this snake be to anyone as it was?
Placing a finger onto the body of the snake, Aldric echoed thought and feeling through his mind and towards the snake.
'Attack.'
With his eyes looking at the bottle of water in front of him, he pushed his will forward.
From a completely inanimate rendition of what a snake was, there was a small shift in movement.
SLITHER
Opening its mouth, the snake mimicked a hiss, but no sound was released. Launching like a spring, it leaped across the room and sank its fangs deep into the water bottle. Puncturing it and causing it to leak.
Without stopping, the snake exerted all its strength into completing the task. Thrashing around with the bottle as if it were a dog playing with a toy.
Once it had finished or run out of energy, Aldric did not know, the snake began to disfigure. Turning back into a puddle of darkness. Like a splatter of ink on the ground.
"YES!"
Aldric shouted in glee.
This was exactly what he needed.
Before receiving this major boon, he could control and release darkness. However, after leaving his body and control, it was only a projectile.
But now he was rewarded with borderline telekinesis. While he was unsure on how much he could direct his darkness and the range of actions it could take, it was akin to giving sentience to his dormant ability.
This would explode the potential of attack and defences that he could complete with his darkness. No longer would he be limited to coating his blade and releasing dark slashes.
Aldric was salivating at the sheer potential of this ability. All the techniques that he could finally accomplish.
However, there was a clear distinction to be made. This did not give his darkness sentience. While it might sound like there were parallels with Sunny's dormant ability, Aldric could already think of five things that set them apart.
Looking at the darkness that lingered around, a strange feeling ran through him.
With a jolt of his hand, the remaining darkness returned to his arm. Seeping into his skin.
"I guess that was the evolution of my dormant ability after awakening."
If Aldric remembered correctly, this was something that happened after ranking up. Cassie was able to view aspect names and rank after becoming awakened, which she couldn't do before.
It made sense. To be able to return the darkness back into the well that it originated from.
This was something that he could not do previously. Before, the darkness remaining on his blade after a battle was flicked off like blood. Wasting it.
While this meant that he would conserve more of his reserves, it did not mean that he would never run out of darkness again.
It was comparable to water.
Take a water bottle. Now he would be able to return any spilled water back into the bottle. However, if the water was splattered on the ground or the wall, this would make it impossible to return. So any darkness that he used as an attack would be used up. But any that remained could now be repurposed.
Having now completed exploring his new ability, it was time to take a look at his runes.
Name: Aldric.
True Name: First-Class Singularity.
Rank: Awakened.
Dark Core: [2/7]
Class: Monster.
Dark Sprites:[1805/2000]
Memories:[Unwavering Spark][Cragborne Armor][Malice Of The Deep][Cavedweller Garms][Water Basin][Charm Of Balance][Silk Robes][Silk Pouch][Warding Eye][Stone Coffer][Tesseract][All-Seeing Eye][Mantle Of The Underworld][Cursed Mirror][Dark Wing][Red Spider Lily][Sundered Sorrow].......[Dark Sea's Covenant]
Attributes: [Insight][Tranquil Core][Destined][Tenebrous Rule]
Aspect:[Made In Abyss]
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Innate Ability: [Chalice Of Requiem]
Aspect Abilities:[Dark Well, Dire Ordinance]
Aspect Legacy:[Path Of The Unbound]
Flaw:[Tarnished Soul]
It seemed that the siege had rewarded him with a large amount of Dark Sprites. It was good to see.
Aldric looked past all the new memories that he had gained from the battle. He would find the time to analyse them individually.
Looking at his true name, it was a very smart idea to only give part of his true name to the interviewer.
While not having one would always reduce his importance and influence to the world compared to the others that received one, revealing it in its entirety was not on the table.
It came to him as he pondered about the true names of the sovereigns. Given their celebrity-like status, it was not hard to find the true names of publicised awakened humans. However, he could not find the true names of Anvil and Ki Song.
The third sovereign being a complete ghost.
It was strange that Smile of Heaven, Broken Sword, as well as the first generation of awakened, such as Immortal Flame, Nightwalker, and Warden, were all easily found. It gave credence to his thoughts of paranoia as he remembered what Nephis could do with the true names of objects and elements.
There was merit to his thought process, with the sovereigns themselves each withholding their true name.
There was nothing to gain from telling the complete truth, and so it was done.
To the world, his true name was Singularity.
Throwing away any lingering doubts, he looked at the last memory that was received after defeating the fallen terror.
Memory: [Dark Sea's Covenant]
Memory Rank: [Ascended]
Memory Type: [Tool]
Memory Description: [After being sealed for so long. That very concept had been sealed within the curse.]
Memory Enchantment:[Seal]
Summoning the memory, a small ring formed out of the shimmer of light.
A pure white marble ring with a black shard embedded on top. The shard itself bore a strange resemblance to the shape of the [Tesseract] but it was still distinct.
The shard was in the shape of a tetrahedron, with one of its corners jetting out of the ring.
Aldric focused on the description of the single enchantment.
Enchantment Description: [Allows the user to seal and release true darkness.]
With no thought, Aldric coalesced an ample amount of darkness towards his ring finger.
The small gem began to devour the darkness. Absorbing it like soil to water.
"This will definitely be useful."
Aldric spoke out.
With that, he was happy and adjusted to the changes that his body had undergone.
Leaving his room, Aldric walked in the direction of Nephis' room. Asking for directions along the way.
It was time to meet with the rest of his cohort.
**********
Thanks for reading.
Hit the big 400k milestone. Clap it up.
Made a small edit to the last chapter. He told the interviewer his true name was Singularity.
Dao_of_bonks: Love the effort. My first fan art. Much love.
Angel_of_Damnation: I like it. Very close to what I imagined.
I appreciate all the corrections BallistaballGaming.
Till the next one.
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