Warden is an incredible man in most regards. His courage and leadership were what led the sleepers through the streets of Bastion. It was he who had rallied them together to conquer the central keep from the claws of the mighty dragon.
His physical prowess was far greater than that of nearly all others, to the point that he seemed superhuman in a world of the extraordinary. He was an outlier. His powers, granted by the spell, had built the foundation for his future kingdom, which he would pass on to his children when the time came.
His aspect was truly remarkable. In a world ravaged by horrible beasts, it was not those with only the mightiest who survived, but those with the skills to empower everybody else.
His Innate and Dormant abilities were the cornerstone of his influence, with the knowledge to craft anything at his fingertips that his mind could dream of and the ability to enhance the properties of any material. He had become a beacon of hope in a world of despair.
This influence only grew stronger after his ascension to a true Awakened. His first two abilities had gained greater depth and potential, whether this was due to the ascension or the divine properties of his divine lineage was unclear.
His awakened ability pushed him and his craft to even greater heights. His awakened ability granted his essence a lingering effect, meaning he could spend the same quantity of essence to empower his memories, an ability all awakened possessed. Yet, the effect would last over twice as long without continued effort.
This alone would have been a great boon, but he discovered a far greater purpose for his ability. After infusing a large quantity of essence into an object, the essence would solidify and compress into a core. This was his newest ability, the power to create new memories or improve existing ones.
With this ability, he had managed to create and improve weaponry for every soldier under his command to fit their needs. The only limitation, however, was that his own creations lacked any mystical enchantments. If he improved a preexisting memory, the enchantments would become more potent.
It was through the use of his Awakened Ability that he had managed to bring clothes from the waking world into the Dream Realm, a small comfort he allowed himself in the privacy of his own office. In truth, only his closest allies knew that he could turn items from their world into memories, which is why he never showcased these memories in the public eye, the chaos of requests would take up far too much of his time and energy.
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Damian stared at Warden with a disappointed stare as he watched the young man throw the evidence of his crime off the side of the railing. His eyes were sharper than all others after all, so there was no mistaking what he saw, folding his arms as Warden began to speak,
"A-ahh, Damian, Jasper! Thanks for coming by, please take to the sea…"
"What was that?"
Warden looked away from Damian's gaze as he sat at his desk and cleared some space,
"What do you mean, I wasn't doing anythi…"
"You were smoking, I saw you through it over the edge."
Jasper quietly sat down, clicking his tongue quietly as he shook his head side to side. As he gazed at Warden. The man was only a few years older than Jasper, yet at the moment he looked like a child being disciplined by his father.
Damian continued speaking, his voice radiating with authority,
"Listen, we're already aware that your wife banned you from smoking, Warden. Jest and Taisiya already told us the last time we saw them after their announcement.
I'm not going to tell them about it this time. I know you're under a lot of stress at the moment, especially after what happened in that damned mirror. So I'll let you off this once."
Warden's face calmed down after he had said that. The man may have lost his sense of fear, but even he was still wary of what his wife would do if she found out he was going to a whole separate dimension just to smoke.
Once the tension in the air cleared a little bit more and Damian settled into the seat next to Jasper, Warden spoke in a tone more serious than it had been a few moments ago,
"Gentlemen, I'm glad that you two could meet with me today. There is an urgent matter I need to discuss with you both. As you may or may not know, the waking world is not the same as when you left it."
"Warlords and corrupt individuals have taken over key infrastructure across the world. Numerous factions with strange and honestly barbaric views have taken hold, and frankly, I am sick of it. In the waking world, I, as well as Jest, Taisiya and many others, have been working tirelessly to create a faction of our own."
"We have managed to establish a compound in the heart of NQSC, as well as finding and bringing in all nearby Bastion residents under our fold, though there are some who are too far away as of right now. However we are not the only ones doing this, currently there are two other factions across the world who are establishing themselves under a united banner. Under those who were rewarded with a True name by the spell."
Damian looked briefly at Jasper after that last sentence. The younger man had a strangely guilty look on his face, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek at the mention of a True Name. Damian understood why. He looked back at Warden as their leader continued.
"As we currently understand, there are two others who, like myself, were rewarded a True Name for their actions during our time as sleepers. Our information is limited, but this is what we have learned.
"The first Awakened of interest is a younger man by the name of Nightwalker, who is described as an eccentric man with flawless ebony skin and nebulous silver eyes. We don't have any information about his Dormant or Awakened abilities.
In the waking World, he and his followers have no known compound and instead travel around coastal cities in a fleet of ships, raiding them like pirates, though very few injuries or fatalities have been recorded from their actions.
Meanwhile, in the Dream Realm, the exact nature of his Citadel is still unknown, but due to a local diviner we hired to help, we have discovered that it is located in an area far south of Bastion."
Jasper released a breath he had unknowingly held; the mention of boats in any form still made him feel immense fear. He was glad that they would not have to deal with that within the southern forests of Bastion.
Warden took a deep breath before he continued his brief.
"The second Awakened we have our eyes on is a man known as Immortal Flame. We know even less about him and his faction than Nightwalker, but this is what we know.
His aspect, as his name may imply, has something to do with flames, heat or fire. The reports are unclear, but it's safe to assume it's something of that nature.
The current whereabouts of his Citadel are completely unknown to anybody outside of its bounds, even the diviner we hired couldn't pierce its location with their sight.
However, his compound in the Waking world is located somewhere on the eastern coast of North America, despite its distance, a few smaller groups within Europe and Asia have decided to rally under his banner. He is known as a brave and noble man, even if his temper can be terrible at times."
Looking at the two across from him, his eyes hardened as he reached the end of his speech,
"I know this is a lot to ask of you two, but I have a mission for you both. I want you to make contact with these two within the Dream Realm. From what I've heard, they're reasonable people, and if we establish proper communications, we can do something great.
I know this is a selfish wish, but with their help, I believe that we could unite humanity under one banner.
A United Human Government."