For a full three seconds, there was nothing. Just the silent, swirling cosmos of the Spell's inner workings.
Then the dam broke.
"Holy shit," I whispered into the nothingness. The words were flat, stunned. Then, louder, a disbelieving crack of laughter. "HOLY SHIT! ILLUSTRIOUS?!"
A whirlwind of emotions tore through me. Elation, so sharp and bright it was painful. Vindication—all that terror, all that guilt, it meant something! It was fucking worth something! I hadn't just scraped by; I'd aced the test. I'd broken the curve.
But right on its heels came a darker, more complex current. A sickening sense of whiplash. Jeryl's sad smile. The priests dissolving into light. Me, provoking a grieving man into a fight. All of it, every brutal, ugly, necessary sacrifice, was now neatly packaged and labelled with a shiny, S-tier rating. The Spell had turned our tragedy into a high score.
I felt exhilarated and sick to my stomach. I wanted to cheer and scream at the same time.
"Illustrious," I said again, the word tasting strange. It was too grand, too epic for what it felt like. It felt like I'd just survived a car crash by accidentally launching myself through the sunroof and landing in a pile of money.
And then, the gamer brain kicked in. The part of me that had min-maxed RPG characters and hunted for achievements. Illustrious. What's above that? Mythical? Legendary? The glorious that Sunny got? What do you get for that? What's the loot? What did the Blessing of the Visionary actually do?
The fear was gone, burned away. What was left was a wild, hungry curiosity. A desperate need to see what was on the next page. Like a kid in a candy shop, I felt giddy and for the first time in weeks I couldn't wait to wake up in the Real World.
The Spell's beautiful, uncaring network pulsed around me. I was just a blip in its code. But I was a blip with one hell of a high score.
[The First Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers…]
[È̴͇͍̼̈́R̸̻͎̼͒͝R̵͓̟͒̐̿O̵͇̻͉͌̽͘R̸̙̘͚̾̔͘ [È̴͇͍̼̈́R̸̻͎̼͒͝R̵͓̟͒̐̿O̵͇̻͉͌̽͘R̸̙̘͚̾̔͘ [È̴͇͍̼̈́R̸̻͎̼͒͝R̵͓̟͒̐̿O̵͇̻͉͌̽͘R̸̙̘͚̾̔͘]
[Interference detecting, running external sourcing...quick fix complete]
Huh?
[You have received a True Name: The True Creator]
You fucking what mate?
[Arise, True Creator]
.....
I opened my eyes feeling like I had just been reborn. Firstly because my body felt lighter, fresher and more well-rested than it had been since my college days. And secondly because the sudden intensity of the bright lights nearly made me cry out like a baby. A shadow moved and stood over me, blocking out the lights, and I blinked away the last of the sun spots. Looking up, I saw the same man who had walked me in here-was it Bruno? Marco?-whose face remained just as flat as I remembered it. I opened my mouth, but took several seconds to gather my voice.
"Uh...Hi?"
"Congratulation son surviving your first baptism, Sleeper Adam. As per Government regulation , I am here to inform you of your new rights and responsibilities as a Dormant."
"Hey, uh, wait a second-!"
"Firstly, you are entitled to receive free psychological counselling from experienced psychiatrists. No matter what traumatic experience you have encountered, there is no shame in asking for help. Many bottle it up, only to explode and harm those around them later. Do have desire immediate therapy?"
"...no."
"Second: As a Sleeper, you are also entitled to enrol in the Awakened Academy. You'll be provided with food, lodging and a wide choice of preparatory classes. You will get acquainted with most of the people who will enter the Dream Realm with you. Whether they become companions or rivals all comes down to luck and your own personality. Do you want me to call someone to bring you to the Academy?"
"You won't do it yourself?"
"As an Awakened, I have better things to be doing."
I blinked at looked at the man (his name was Roberts, I remembered) but didn't see any special designation on his uniform. Seeing my scrutiny, he calmly explained, "I prefer an ordinary suit for work."
"Right. Um, well...yes, I would like to be brought to the Academy as soon a possible please. May I know the date?"
"May 13th, 21XX" he replied with the same tone, at this point making me question if he was a robot. Still, that was incredibly useful information to know. The Winter Solstice took place in mid to late December if I remember correctly, meaning I had six or seven months to prepare before being shuttled off into the Dream Realm for Round 2. Waaay better than Sunless and Nephis had it, so I guess the Curator was actually quite a kind guy-or cosmic God, rather,
"Right then. The third thing I have to tell you: at the Academy you will be asked about your experiences, your Flaw, Aspect and other such information. Whether or not you want to reveal this is up to you-I'm merely telling you this now so you can think on it. On that note, can you see your Flaw and Attributes now?"
I looked down and, with a mental urging, a string of glowing white runes appeared before my eyes. After a second or two, they shifted and morphed into plain English, enabling me to read them.
[All power has a price.]
[You have received a Flaw.]
[Your Flaw is: Justice]
[Flaw Description: Justice indicates that the fairest decision will be made. Justice is the sword that cuts through a situation and will not be swayed by outer beauty when deciding what is fair and just. Your decisions and methods will not be distracted by emotions, being driven by logic and necessity.]
Ah, shit.
...
Checkout more novel on P@teron : [email protected]/Innercircle03