I open my eyes lifting my hand. It hits a lid
"The fuck?"
Wait it's a sleeping pod. I'm back to the waking world. I'm out I'm re- I hear a crack as the sleeping pod breaks raining glass all over me. I get up and I look down at my very not having clothes on self.
"Oh shi-"
I make a set of armor out of ice. It's not the best but it works. The armor I made looks almost identical to the armor of Ash. The door opens and a man walks in then gets a shocked look. I lift my hand
"May I get some clothes? Or maybe food? Oh, maybe a drink too?"
I walk into the interview room with a cup of hot chocolate, god I missed this. I had summoned my helmet back but it would look really really weird to wear a set of armor out and about so instead I'm in some warm clothes. No point in getting colder after all.
I sit down at the seat looking at the person who will be interviewing me. The person seems a bit... shaken, I'm not sure why, maybe they just interviewed was one of the hunters.
"Oh, good day. My name is Teddy I will be your interviewer today, awakened..-" "■■■■"
"awakened ■■■■"
They sigh. I lift my helmet and I take a long sip of the hot chocolate, goodness I missed this.
"I will ask you a see-"
"you'll be asking me stuff basically"
They nod with a dumbfounded look.
"Okay? How long have you spent in the dream realm?"
"5 years and 2 weeks."
They get a weird look
"I see.... now from what the other interviewed awakened the region you where sent to has only awakened and above nightmare creatures, can you confirm this information"
"yup, the strongest is corrupted but that was only in a black sea that only appeared at night"
I take another sip
"have you participate in battles with said nightmare creatures? If so how many?"
I summon my notebook looking at the tally
"says here about 272 awakened beasts, 112 awakened monsters, 18 awakened demons, 5 awakened devils, 2 awakened tyrants, 8 fallen beasts, 3 fallen monsters, and 1 fallen demon. Although that's just what I was able to jot down, there is more."
The interviewer looks completely flabbergasted.
"Not again.... I'm sorry but I am not qualified to interview you"
Heh? Well that's something I have to say.... wait what do they mean by not again?
After ever so long of annoying questions and stuff I'm finally released to do what I want. Frankly, I don't want to deal with this, it's just straight-up annoying. I already know I'm not able to lie about my capabilities.
So I told the truth this time, well not about the rank of my aspect. That I'm still almost 100% ill be hunted down for it. I walk into a hall with a bunch of people and all that.
I don't see almost anyone I know, then I see Sunny. I walk over to him looking at the screen. There's a ton of names on it
"Hey sunny"
"Hey ■■■■"
a few people walk over to me and sunny. A few say their happy I'm alive, a few thank me for saving them in the battle, and all that. Everyone is being quite friendly if a bit... too formal. Do I still scare them?
I flop down on the academy-given bed. So a new power cool cool. I also have another legacy relic to claim. Oh, and there's the whole crown of snow thing to consider. There are just a lot of things to do. First things first the new legacy relic. I check my runes
True Name: heat seeker
Rank:Awakened.
Soul Cores: 2/7
Class: [monster.]
Ice Fragments: [32/2000]
Memories: [Armor of Ash] [Snow and Ash Daggers] [priest's notebook] [silk thread] [silver cutlass] [feather boots] [blood drinker] [stained glass cloak] [vines of rain] [glass halberd] [chained shield]
Echoes: -
Ice shards: [flame of the divine]
Attributes: [Crown of Snow], [Mark of Divinity], [True Cold] [Being of Cold] [Cold film]
Aspect: [Child of Cold].
Aspect Rank: [divine.]
Aspect ability: [frozen over]
Aspect Ability Description: [All you touch is turned to ice it is capable of great destruction and great creation]
Aspect Description: [You are the child of a law of this world, of the cold left behind by the death of a god. You long for heat for warmth yet never will you find it. You take the heat from the world yet stay as cold as the grave.]
Aspect legacy: [Cold wind of Boreas. 2/7]
Aspect Legacy Description: [You have seen a death that has changed you. That changed it all and you have promised to take the empty seats of the gods and fill them with humans. You have made up your mind to save as many as possible]
"Claim"
I wonder what it will be hopefully something really good. I already got a pretty good attribute with cold film.
[You have received an ice shard, frozen singer]
"Oh fuck yes!"
I stand up raising my arms into the air, I quickly summon my new ice shard. I'm not sure what it will be but I'm hyped all the same.
A human-looking figure in a white dress that's frayed and torn at the end like it had been dragged on the ground appears. She has a veil over her face and she gives off a feeling of sadness.
"Whoa okay okay"
I get up and circle her. How hype, I'm even stronger now. I desummon her, well that's really quite amazing I truly am the luckiest of the unlucky. Now for snow storm, I look around before going to the little training area.
I lift my hand looking at the punching bag thingy a burst of snow appears around my hand, I send it forward and it rips it apart like it was nothing.
"Hehehe, that's so cool"
So I can make a snow storm, yeah so shocking, that each snowflake is incredibly sharp. How cool, oh my goodness this is the coolest thing ever. Now.... I don't think it wants to play around with the crown of snow, it just feels.... wrong.
I speed walk through the halls. I quickly find the room I'm looking for. I knock on the door then I open it even without getting an answer.
"Hey sun'"
I look at Sunny who's giving me a deadpan expression, There's also a person there with him? A woman who looks like she's about to pass out dead from tiredness is also shes in a military uniform.
"I didn't know yoIu wanted to join the government.... I'm disappointed, I was hoping to go independent with someone I know"
I close the door behind me. Sunny sighs like he's relieved
"No, no, this is master jet, not that you'll remember her name-"
"Rude"
"-But she's here to give me the whole join the government speech and all that"
I nod
"But you won't?"
"Yeah"
The woman, master something- fuck I've already forgotten her name, speaks
"Well I didn't quite expect you to appear. You didn't even wait to open the door. And you have a helmet on but not a set of armor"
I tilt my head
"Yeah? I know Sun quite well. We were part of the same cohort."
She looks at them and nods
"Your awakened ■■■■ right? Hm, I've heard a lot about you. Although you don't seem much like what the other newly awakened said you act like"
I look at sunny who shrugs
"Is it that I'm sinister?"
She nods grinning
"You don't seem so sinister."
"I'm not but they can have their rumors."
She turns to Sunny
"Wanna eat?"
I'm sitting with the two with my helmet lifted as I eat
"For someone who's dressed in the warmest clothes ever and eating hot food you seem really cold"
I offer my free hand she stares at it before going to shake it
"Well I guess w- good god."
She pulls her hand back at the feeling of how cold it is
"I think I get it now"
Sunny laughs
"You get used to it, or I did at least. Although their not too talkative most of the time, sometimes they talk a lot"
I keep eating listening in on their conversation. Damn, the food here is good puts even healers' cooking to shame, and she has a cooking memory.
I look up from eating at one point and, god damn I thought I ate like an animal, sunny's eating like he's never once eaten before. I'm done last and they're already talking
"What did I tell you, this is where they hide the good stuff."
I side the pudding cup forward, I'm not too fond of sweet foods, drinks are okay though. Master J takes it first but that's not out of a lack of effort on Sunny's part
"Yeah although after a year of eating nothing except monster meat, I would have been satisfied even by synth paste"
Master j gets a weird look. I think their from the same place master j sighs and takes out a box, a box?
"You must be wondering why I visited you right?"
Sunny tilts his head looking at the box
"Yes to be honest I'm very curious"
She smiles
"Don't be nervous it's just a formality and a very beneficial one at that put your finger on the sensor"
Sunny does the thing, it buzzes and unlocks. It has a few items in it.
"Congratulations awakened sunless. You are now officially a citizen. Of the seventh rank no less"
I look up, oh shit man
"Moving up in the world sun, good job"
Sunny has a dumbfounded expression
"I get it that I would be made a citizen after awakening but.... seventh rank? Isn't that a little too much?"
Master J laughs, it's one of those laughs you do when someone has no clue what they just did.
"Sunless... you don't really know what you did, do you?"
"I'm pretty sure that I do, but please enlighten me"
She shakes her head and sighs like she's teaching a toddler
"listen.... all of the sleepers that have returned from the dream realm in the last few years there are only 7 whose files were marked as SS. And you are one of them along with ■■■■ here"
I walk next to Sunny going to the library
"So why have you been staying in my room most of the time?"
"Oh my parents have been trying to visit and all that that"
He gives me a weird look
"No they aren't quite abusive or even bad, they were just not good parents"
"What does that even mean?"
I nod i guess he wouldnt quite know what i mean
"I had the basics but one i love you was just too much, one hug was just too much, any and all actual love was too much. So I was surviving but you can guess I didnt like them too much"
He shrugs
"I guess that makes sense.... oh yeah I've been meaning to ask what was your first nightmare like?"
I look over
"It was.... quite unfair but I survived. Well if it wasn't for my aspect I wouldn't have. There was this awakened tyrant and extreme temperatures. If it wasn't for my aspect giving me elemental resistance I'd have gone into heat stroke or died from cold"
he gives me a really really weird look
"Wait you told the truth with the whole awakened tyrant thing?"
I stop looking right at him
"Are you saying you thought I was a liar?"
"Well I'm not saying I thought you told the truth"
I walk over to a table after getting a ton of books on nightmare creatures, i refuse to talk to Sunny right now, he pissed me off. A liar? How dare he?
I summon my notebook looking over all of my notes on each nightmare creature I've killed or helped fight. I start fixing some of the drawing or the notes that comes along with it.
I haven't forgotten to give teacher a report with Sunny. I come to the drawing of the battle between the massive statue and the corrupted nightmare creature, I wonder what class it was.
Maybe a demon or a devil. It takes quite some time for me to finish. After quite some time just about when I'm finished sunny comes up to me with a sheepish expression
"Hey so I'm sorry for calling you a liar.... so about the exploration report?"
I nod slowly
"I've been working on my part. I'm almost done, then I'll have it scanned"
I hold up the notebook.
I walk next to Sunny thinking
"So, Sun, how long were you in wilderness survival anyway?"
"About a month how about you?"
I think it's been 5 years after all
"A few months. Honestly if I hadn't taken it I'd be dead"
Sunny grins
"Same, although I i doubt id be as boned as you"
I elbow him.
"I doubt that"
I say it with a scoff. We get to the wilderness survival classroom. Im not sure how i feel about it, is it.... bittersweet?whatever it doesnt matter. Sunny opens the door i look around the room the feeling i have in my chest only gets stronger at that.
Not that it matters teacher isnt at his desk, hes studying a skull behind some glass
"Teacher hey been a while!"
Teacher looks at us with confused look then he gets very happy looking smile.... was he hoping we'd survive?
"Sunny, ■■■■ my students!"
He promptly hugs both of us, not even reacting to my flaw. He pushes us to a set of chairs
"Finally your both back i never doubted that you would return, not even for a moment. No students of mine would allow themselves to die easily you know wait what am I talking about, of course you know your both my students yourselves"
I take off my helmet putting it next to me.
"But a whole year and 5 whole years? Did you like it in the dream realm so much that you didnt wanna return, did you not think your old teacher would be worried sick? In the name of the gods what happened?"
"Well teacher Julius we ended up in a unexplored region of the dream realm and the only gateway there was guarded by a fallen terror"
Teacher gets a look
"Heavens how horrible, so what you do?"
Sunny shrugs
"in short I met two beautiful girls, escorted them to an ancient castle, spent a few months exploring a cursed city, went on a long-"
I tune him out for a bit, i already know all of this after all.
"Great you did great just as expected from one of my students, and you?"
I clear my throat
"I almost drowned, killed some spiders, got to the city, joined a cohort, hunted for a while, they died after 2 years, I hunted on my own, hired a healer, thats about all... wait I also killed a fallen demon, then I joined sunnys cohort and all that. In short I didnt die. Also I still cant cook"
He laughs
"you have a talent for making food that could kill even a saint.... but what was that about a unexplored region of the dream realm?"
We both grin
"I did in fact we have compiled a lengthy report about the things we have seen, fought and discovered there. Would you like to take a look? I can send it to you"
Teacher gets a embarrassed look
"A report? Oh you shouldnt have you both must be so busy right now"
He says that but hes already pulling it up. He quickly gets a very very happy smile reading it
"Oh yes and my part is at the back, it documents all of the monsters I could and every trait I could gleam. As well as a few things I found important"
Teacher quickly takes a quick glance at the back
"Oh detailed depictions as well!"
He seems quite happy, I knew it was worth it!
It takes him a while, he sometimes rambles to himself while reading through it, when hes satisfied he looks at us.
I had started fixing the.... what's it called, the hair thingy on the top of my hemet i realize hes been speaking to us only after a bit
"-f an explorer my students! Very few people do, and out of those even less have a keen mind such as yours. Not to mention the ability to venture into the deadly expanse of the dream realm and not only come back alive but also remember to look at more then what's in front of them. But it is thanks to such people that we can deepen our knowledge of the spell"
He seems very very happy at this report, im glad I did it. He sighs with a vibe like hes lamenting
"most of the awakened only know how to hack and slash. They tend to look at us with very little regard but it is only because of us that they know how to hack and slash. Luckily there are bright minds here and there."
Sunny gets this weird look
"Uh.... im sorry? published? What do you mean by that exactly?"
Wait teacher wants to publish our work, now im not the worst at art but still that makes me nervous.
"Oh dont worry this-"
I tune him out for a moment, wait wait wait this could get published, he wants this published? My art isn't nearly good enough.... then again its likely the only art there is for a lot of the stuff there.
"Excuse me teacher Julius but did you say something about money?"
I get thrown out of my internal panic slowly looking at teacher, I could get paid? All doubts are now gone full speed ahead get me my money.
"Yes I did, isnt it why you have compiled this marvelous report? To receive contribution points from the government?"
Me and sunny look at each other and we both shake our heads
"No?.... i just thought you would like to read it? I dont even know what these contribution points you mentioned are"
"I did it for you and to have something to do in my off time"
Teacher stares at us with a look thats pretty damn dumbfounded then he laughs
"Oh, oh my, what good students i have! Ah, you have really delighted me today you two. Such pure dedication to the noble calling of a explorer! I wish more people where as selfless as you two..."
I stare at teacher
"Well im not that selfless, now that i know I could get money off of this, I want it"
He laughs
"How very you of you ■■■■"
He then starts explaining things to us such as what a contribution point is and oh ho ho does it sound real nice.
"How sizeable are we talking, like if I wanted to rent an apartment.... no a house! If I wanted to rent a house in a area of the city with clean air, how many weeks would this reward buy?"
Good question, id love to have my very own place and not have my family know about it. Teacher seems to disagree as he gives sunng a weird look
"Rent a house? What a strange example, sunny, with how unique the data you've contributed is you dont need to rent a house wouldn't it be easier to just buy one? Uh students?"
Sunny falls backwards out of the seat, i drop my helmet and I go scrambling to go get it.
After a while me and him leave the sleeper compound, im still a bit shell shocked. I had already put my helmet back on after that shock to the system. I was starting to get quite tired but I persist.
I look up at the sun with a jolt then I calm down, its the waking world sun not the forgotten shore sun, not the human made sun. I notice sunny had done the same thing but had actually almost summoned his weapon. I giggle at him, he shoots me quite the look.
We start walking to a memorial service for the fallen of the forgotten shore. I keep my hands in my pockets. We get to the room, i notice a screen that says the names of everyone who survived.... and Effie's, Kai and Cassie's true names.
So Caster didnt get one, HA, thats quite funny. I feel sunny grab my shoulders
"So you got a true name i see...."
"I've had it this whole time, but telling would get questioned asked and I pushed someone off a cliff on my first nightmare so I really didnt want to deal with that. Oh and getting all those questions seemed really annoying. Oh yeah dont tell anyone by the way"
He stares at me then with almost a laugh he speaks
"You're really weird."
We then walk into the room. I look around seeing healer survived and is now out, im so glad she lived! she's talking with a rather large group. Sunny gives this resentful sigh and we start walking over to Kai. When Kai sees us he smiles
"Sunny, ■■■■! You're finally here!"
Next to him is someone in a wheelchair.... whos heat signature is very familiar.
"What's the matter doofus and dork? Dumb struck by my beauty? Also why are you only wearing a helmet... wait no thats very like you to do."
I really did not expect this but it makes some sense why effie wanted to become a master so much now. Well other then for power. Caster walks over and clears his throat.
"Awakened Heat Seeker-"
It feels weird to have people be saying my true name after 5 years
"-I would like to formally invite you to the Han Li clan"
He has that look again. Like hes trying very hard to hide any and all emotions he has but hes failing as he looks pretty sheepish in my opinion
"Na. Im going independent"
His mask breaks and he stares at me with a completely dumbfounded expression, mixed with a little heartbreak
"What?"