Jaune took an involuntary step backward.
For perhaps the tenth time since this conversation had begun, he found himself staring at his father as though the man had suddenly started speaking an entirely different language.
"Rank Four?" he repeated slowly. "Kill Salem? How... exactly am I supposed to do that? I didn't even know the concept of Rank Four was a thing until a second ago. Is that what the Sleeper is? A Rank 4?"
Nicholas raised two fingers.
"Yes. She is indeed a Rank 4. And not just any Rank 4 but... a damned powerful one as well. Hm... how do I explain this? Rank 3's... you are aware of what they're called correct?"
"City Crushers?"
"Yes that too, but what I was going for was what they are generally considered as."
Jaune understood immediately what his father was taking about. Among the awakened population of old, before LUCID really came about, Rank 3's were generally referred to as demigods. A step into godhood yet not quite the same as being at the level itself.
Jaune had come to understand that the reason they were generally considered as such was due to the existence of their domains. A space surrounding them, which was wholly their own, and where their own "authority" could manifest.
Seeing his son gain clarity, Nicholas's expression became serious once more. "First of all, you need to understand exactly what Salem requires in order to resurrect."
Jaune folded his arms.
"The Supreme Runes, right?"
Nicholas nodded immediately.
"Correct."
The older man's gaze drifted upward toward the broken crimson moon hanging eternally above the Dream Realm.
"The Supreme Runes are not simply powerful runes but are the founts of her infinite power. They are the very aspects of Salem's authority itself. Fragments of her power separated from the eternal whole. The resurrection ritual is designed around them. Once gathered together, they will become a key capable of unlocking her sleeping mind and transferring the entirety of the power sealed within her body into a suitable vessel."
Jaune frowned.
"So that's what Tyrian is for. The literal Vessel for her resurrection."
"Exactly."
Nicholas lowered his hand.
"However, gathering the Supreme Runes is only one part of the process. Salem still needs a way to bridge the gap between her future Vessel and her body, which means, she needs a path."
"A path?"
Nicholas nodded.
"A portal, if you will."
The answer only created more questions. Jaune rubbed the side of his head.
"Alright. Fine. Where exactly is this body of hers anyway? Somewhere in the Dream Realm? The secret Erebus continent that was apparently hidden away?"
"Hah. Erebus? Not even close."
Nicholas casually pointed upward and Jaune followed the gesture. His eyes settled upon the shattered blood-red moon looming above the horizon.
The realization struck him a moment later.
"...No."
Nicholas smiled.
"Yes."
Jaune looked back toward the sky and then back toward his father.
"The moon? Her body is on the moon?"
"On the moon? No my son. The moon is her body."
"..." Jaune could help but stare at the damned object in the sky.
"The entire moon?"
For several seconds Jaune simply stood there in silence, finally he managed to speak.
"That's... ridiculous right?"
Nicholas shrugged.
"Reality rarely cares about what sounds ridiculous."
Jaune stared upward again. The broken moon hung exactly where it always had. Vast, eternal and immovable. And now his father was casually informing him that it wasn't actually a moon at all but the actual Sleeper itself...
The whole damned thing.
Nicholas watched the realization settle into his son's expression before continuing.
"Think about it carefully. Why can the moon be seen from every location in the Dream Realm when our world is spherical in shape."
Jaune frowned.
"Right..."
Nicholas nodded.
"The Dream Realm reflects that geometry to a certain degree, yet regardless of where you stand and regardless of which continent or region you occupy, the moon is always visible."
His smile widened slightly.
"Curious, isn't it?"
Jaune slowly looked upward again.
"The answer is simple."
Nicholas pointed at the celestial body.
"Because it isn't just a moon. Rather, that's Salem."
Jaune pressed two fingers against his temple.
It was not quite a headache but every answer his father provided seemed to reveal three additional layers of insanity hidden beneath reality which might as well be a physical headache in an of itself.
The Dream Realm, the Time Dimension, the Supreme Runes, Tyrian, the Vessel Rune, Salem. Every revelation seemed determined to completely rewrite his understanding of existence.
Eventually he lowered his hand.
"Alright."
He exhaled slowly.
"I suppose... that technically, this isn't even the first time I've seen a celestial object that was actually a god hiding in plain sight."
What Jaune was referring to was the Shadow Realm's, Source of the Sun. Whatever that being was, the entire black sun had turned into its eye. The moon being the Sleepers body wasn't too surprising, all things considered.
His gaze returned to Nicholas.
"So what exactly is the plan here? We go to the moon, somehow destroy Salem's sleeping body, and kill her there? I don't know about you, but I don't think I'm strong enough to destroy an entire celestial body."
Nicholas smiled and raised a hand.
"No. You're getting ahead of yourself. Ugh... truthfully, this is harder than I expected."
"What is?"
"Explaining things."
Nicholas rubbed the back of his neck.
"For a while now I relied on Foresight and Insight to guide conversations. Usually I already know which questions a person's going to ask and how conversations will go."
He sighed dramatically.
"This whole speaking-like-a-normal-human-being thing is surprisingly inconvenient."
Despite everything, Jaune felt the corner of his eye twitch however his father ignored his reaction and simply continued as he were.
"In any case, the current Sleepless plan is relatively straightforward. The Supreme Runes will be used to drag the Dream Realm into reality."
Jaune froze.
"...What?"
"When that happens, due to the nature of the seal," Nicholas continued calmly, "the location of the moon will be dragged along with it. And Salem's body, or rather—the moon, will physically manifest in the location that the Dream realm was previously at."
A cold feeling settled in Jaune's stomach.
"The awakened population of the planet will then be sucked towards her body like a vacuum and will end up inside Salem's body itself."
Nicholas paused.
"Then, the final ritual occurs."
Jaune's eyes narrowed.
"Tyrian?"
Nicholas nodded.
"He'll absorb the four Supreme Runes which will propel him into the teritory Rank Four."
The statement sounded absurd, but it was anything but. Silence followed and the wind drifted lazily across the black sands. Jaune eventually spoke.
"Wait... that's all it takes to become a rank 4? A person just needs to absorb a Supreme Rune? That seems... kind of easy. Why hasn't anyone already breached that realm?"
Nicholas shook his head.
"Because that method... merely provides a person the possibility of reaching Rank 4."
He looked directly into Jaune's eyes.
"The reason Rank Four has never been achieved by awakened is simply because the human soul cannot withstand the power of a Supreme Rune."
Nicholas continued.
"There have been Rank Threes throughout history who attempted it, theorizing it to be the next step in Rank upgrades, but..."
"What happened to them?"
"They exploded."
The answer arrived so casually that it took Jaune a second to process it.
"...Exploded?"
Nicholas nodded.
"Their conceptual bodies disintegrated under the strain of the Supreme Runes. The Supreme Runes are fragments of a god. Human vessels were never designed to contain them, which was why that theory has long been discarded by the awakened populations. Except they really were on the right track. Little did they know that they were merely missing certain key information."
Slowly the pieces began falling together inside Jaune's mind.
"So... Tyrian will survive because of the Vessel rune."
"Correct."
Nicholas looked genuinely pleased.
"The Vessel Rune strengthened his soul far beyond what should be possible, which is exactly why Salem attached herself to it in the first place."
Jaune released a long breath. Everything was starting to fit together and the pieces connected into a horrifyingly coherent picture.
Nicholas continued speaking.
"Once Tyrian reaches Rank Four, Salem can use him as a proper vessel. To a degree. But more than likely, Tyrian will be an imperfect one. Salem existed at the absolute peak of Rank Four and Tyrian would merely only be entering the realm."
His expression darkened.
"But it would still be enough."
Jaune remained silent.
Nicholas looked away.
"And... afterwards, the awakened population will all die."
The statement was delivered with such certainty that it sounded less like a prediction and more like an established fact.
"Their runes and strength will be harvested back by Salem and every ounce of power will be returned. Then, the Sleeper will sleep no longer."
Eventually Jaune managed to speak.
"...Right."
It was the only response he could think of. Nicholas waited patiently and several seconds later Jaune looked at him.
"So let me get this straight. Tyrian becomes Rank Four by absorbing the Supreme Runes."
"Correct."
"Salem uses him as a vessel."
"Correct."
"The awakened get sacrificed."
"Correct."
"And then Salem comes back?"
"Correct."
Jaune rubbed his face.
"Wonderful."
Nicholas ignored the sarcasm.
Instead he smiled.
"Now we're finally arriving at the important part."
Jaune immediately disliked where this was going.
"The important part?"
Nicholas nodded.
"The part involving you."
Of course it involved him. Everything somehow involved him. Nicholas folded his arms.
"You asked earlier how you're supposed to kill Salem."
Jaune did not like the excitement suddenly appearing in his father's eyes.
"Yes?"
Nicholas grinned.
"A Rank Four has the capability to kill a Rank Four so all we need to do..."
Jaune stared at him and his father stared back.
"Your solution to stopping a god is turning me into another god?"
"More or less."
Jaune opened his mouth.
Closed it and opened it again. Then finally managed to say the only thing his exhausted brain could produce.
"So how exactly am I supposed to become Rank Four? First of all, I'm not even a Rank 3 yet. And the Supreme Runes are with Tyrian aren't they? How am I supposed to absorb them?"
His father then shook his head.
"As for you reaching Rank 3, I already have a plan. But that's for later."
The smile that followed sent an uncomfortable feeling crawling down Jaune's spine.
"What you're going to do, doesn't have anything to do with absorbing a Supreme Rune. Or rather... well, you might have a chance at absorbing Choice now, but that not really the point."
Then Nicholas pointed directly at him.
"The point is... you're going to create a Supreme rune."
For several seconds Jaune wasn't entirely certain he had heard correctly.
"...Create one?"
Jaune stared at his father for several seconds before rubbing the bridge of his nose. At this point, he was beginning to suspect that Nicholas genuinely enjoyed turning every conversation into a lecture.
"Tell me, Jaune," Nicholas said, "what do you know about a Master Rune?"
Jaune sighed.
Despite everything, there was something strangely familiar about this. For the first time in two years, he was sitting down and talking with his father again. As irritating as it was, a small part of him found the experience oddly nostalgic.
"A Master Rune can only be created when three runes reach Mastery and are merged into a single rune," Jaune answered. "Once the Master Rune is formed, a Rank Two immediately undergoes apotheosis and advances to Rank Three, manifesting a Domain whose nature is determined by the name of the Master Rune."
Nicholas nodded approvingly.
"Practically a textbook answer."
Then his expression shifted.
"But what if I told you that every Master Rune ever created by a Rank Three throughout history is actually an inferior and lackluster version of what it was supposed to become?"
Jaune frowned.
"What does that even mean?"
Instead of answering directly, Nicholas asked another question.
"Why does every rune possess a single name? Fire. Ice. Nature. Wood. Even your Plunder and Null runes."
He paused.
"And why are Master Runes the only exception?"
Jaune blinked.
"What?"
"Take Ozpin's rune as an example. Kinetic Energy Empyrean."
Jaune's eyes widened.
"You know Ozpin's Master Rune?"
"Yes."
Nicholas waved the point away dismissively.
"But that isn't important. Think about it carefully. Every ordinary rune possesses a single name. Even Supreme Runes possess a single name. Yet Master Runes almost always possess three."
His gaze sharpened.
"Why?"
Jaune opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Truthfully, he had never questioned it. The answer had always seemed obvious. Three runes merged together, therefore the resulting rune had three names.
Now, however, Nicholas was implying that wasn't the real reason at all.
"I don't know."
Nicholas leaned back slightly.
"The reason is because of the materials used during the merge. Throughout history, almost every Rank Three created their Master Rune using ordinary runes. The only exceptions that I know of are Velik and Tyrian."
Jaune tilted his head.
"They merged Meta Runes?"
Nicholas nodded.
"Correct."
A thoughtful expression crossed his face.
"The truth is that an awakened's development begins at Rank Zero. The stronger the foundation, the greater the result. Someone who builds themselves upon Meta Runes will inevitably surpass those who build themselves upon ordinary runes. And those who don't effectively cripple their futures."
He shrugged.
"Velik probably understood that to a certain degree. Though even he failed to reach perfection."
Jaune frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know the exact name of Velik's Master Rune," Nicholas admitted, "but if my theory is correct, it likely possesses two words."
The implication struck Jaune immediately.
"A perfect Master Rune only has one word?"
Nicholas pointed at him.
"Now you're understanding."
His expression grew serious.
"A truly perfect Master Rune doesn't remain a Master Rune at all. It undergoes a transformation and it condenses. Refines itself and evolves into something greater."
Jaune felt his stomach tighten.
"A Supreme Rune."
"Exactly."
Silence settled between them.
The wind drifted lazily across the black sands as Jaune considered the implications. Eventually he spoke.
"So you're saying the key is Meta Runes."
"The key," Nicholas corrected, "is three Meta Runes."
His grin widened.
"Which, incidentally, places you in a rather unique position."
Jaune immediately understood what he meant.
Weakness.
Plunder.
Null.
Three Meta Runes. Three runes that had already demonstrated absurd levels of potential. Jaune slowly nodded. Then another thought occurred to him.
"What about Tyrian?"
Nicholas visibly winced. The reaction alone was enough to make Jaune nervous.
"What?"
Nicholas rubbed his forehead.
"Tyrian is... an exception."
Jaune waited.
Several seconds passed again before his father finally answered.
"Most awakened merge three runes and even Velik merged a Meta Rune alongside two ordinary ones. But remember how I said Tyrian has the Vessel rune? Well, the vessel rune, gives him the ability to condense an additional rune at the same Rank. Meaning... Tyrian merged six."
Jaune froze.
"...Six?"
Nicholas nodded.
"And... all six of them were Meta Runes."