Aaron awoke to the sound of gurgling.
It was a disgusting, guttural, choking sound that resonated through his mind, eating away at his humanity.
The taste of copper stuck to his lips as he sat up slowly, with the feeling of pressure in his ears as if he were underwater.
He looked around the room in search of what was causing the noise, but the sound seemed to be vibrating across the entire space itself.
Thick gray walls surrounded him, where he lay sprawled out across a comfortable and fluffy bed that squished around with every movement.
From the outside, it appeared to be midnight, with the turquoise moonlight shining brilliantly onto the ritualistic rug on the floor.
Still dazed, he stared oddly at the light before turning his head away and back to the doorway in the center of the room.
Whispers echoed through the sapphire frame of the entrance way as the knob twisted ever so slightly.
Creeeeaaaak…
The screech of the wood against the sapphire threatened to burn Aaron's ears; however, not once did an ounce of feeling even seep into him.
Watching flat-faced, the boy saw droplets of crimson blood dripping out of the doorway, drenching the floors.
In a dizzying moment of confusion, he bent down, holding the bedsheet, attempting to wipe up the endless stream of warm, fresh liquid.
It was a thick substance that stuck to his hands, refusing to come off as he tried to scratch it away.
Scrub after scrub, there was no difference, and as it flowed, the level rose higher and higher, eventually pushing the blond boy to the ceiling.
The doorway floated alongside him, pressing against his torso gently, causing him to turn his attention towards it.
His eyes glazed over, and he processed the sight before him, nearly plunging his heart into his throat.
Layer after layer of cosmic cloth sprawled out in every direction, forming arrays of astronomical patterns that pooled into infinity.
Aaron felt his figure being drawn towards the gateway, tugged and pulled by an invisible force spurring him forward.
His bones groaned as if gravity willed his journey into the unknown, causing an inkling of curiosity to spread across his face.
An indescribable urge dug its way into the boy's mind, begging, yearning for him to enter the vortex at all costs.
And so he did.
Turning himself sideways, he climbed ever so gently into the entryway, making sure to close the door behind him.
Time itself felt broken as he soared through the endless arrays of constellations with a blank stare.
That was until he appeared in a solid black box.
It was similar to the voids he had been in before, yet in this one, he wasn't alone.
A tall man with icy blue scales coating his toned chest sat solemnly in the chamber, waiting for something.
Frost crawled up and down his pale, bluish skin with the air crystallizing around his mouth in a perpetual ice.
His hair was white, with tips of glacial ice frozen at various sections of his scalp, and painfully obtuse shapes surrounded his head.
In his entirety, he looked to be something human, yet not.
Something alive, but dead.
Just by being near such an entity, Aaron felt his breath hitch and his humanity dry out like clothing on a string.
Its beady white and blue eyes twitched for a moment before ever-so-slowly tilting upwards, staring straight through the blond boy.
A flash of cold enveloped Aaron's body, who felt every limb go numb and freeze in an instant, as his skin burned.
Every vein in his body froze instantly, turning to ice and leaving only a beautifully carved sculpture in its wake.
Then, with a single breath, he shattered into trillions of individual pieces, fragmenting the world into nothingness.
…
"Wake the hell up!"
Cam's annoyed voice stirred the boy whose body was drenched with sweat and trembling ever so slightly.
His lungs felt heavy with a slight chill running down his spine as the image of his eyes freezing over haunted him.
"W-What? Where the hell…?"
As his eyes adjusted to the bright room, he realized that everything he had just seen was, in fact, just a dream.
However, he also knew that within the Sea of Dreams, there was no such thing as a meaningless dream.
Prophets all around the world hailed from this one sea, with the most prominent of them all being the personal toy of the government.
So, as he stared into space aimlessly, thinking of his dream, a cold slab from the brown-haired woman brought him back to reality.
"What the actual hell did you eat down there!? I don't know what kind of core that man had, but your entire body froze solid the second you passed out."
Her expression was a mix of fury and worry as the frightening thoughts of losing her only student had left her more concerned than she wished for anyone to know.
Aaron widened his eyes as his mouth fell agape, thinking of the only logical conclusion.
"I-I might've drank some beer laced with Apex blood…"
His quiet words echoed out through the room with a silence louder than any speech being left in its wake.
Cam just blinked twice, scratched her ears, and stared in confusion before speaking.
"Y-You what?"
It was at that moment that Aaron realized that it wouldn't be the terror that lurked inside his mind that would be the death of him that day.
But rather the furious woman beside him.
…
After nearly an hour of verbal attacks on the injured boy, the Marshal of the Hunters' Guild finally had her fill, deciding to resign herself.
"We will discuss this later. For now, you should look at this…"
Talking in a stern voice, she reached across to a short table near the end of the hospital bed, picking up a thick stack of newspapers.
"What are those?"
Aaron's confused speech made the woman scoff as she threw the piles of paper at him, obviously annoyed at his stupidity.
"You've been asleep for almost 4 days. Reading the newspaper is a good idea, especially with… Never mind that. If you still wish to take the Hunters' Exam, then you must be able to walk by this afternoon. I expect to see you at the test, or we will be having a serious conversation later."
With that semi-threat that sent a shiver down the boy's spine, the woman turned away, raising her hand and waving at him as she left.
T-Today? I can barely feel my legs…
A frown arched across his face as he turned his attention towards the half a dozen papers before him.
"Hero or Villain? The Shrouded Angel Appears!"
"God's Descent! Church's everywhere ring bells in ceremony!"
"Where are the Sea Kings? Closer than you think!"
"Kidnapping Victims Saved By Masked Vigilante!"
Each headline was more blasphemous than the last, with the expression across Aaron's face growing more surprised by the second.
T-This is really, really, really bad…
『Aaron! You're awake!』
The sudden outburst of Penelope's voice startled the boy, causing him to rip off one of the pages of the paper, revealing another tabloid underneath claiming he was a door-to-door salesman.
With a groan, the blond boy responded to the currently unformed blade that dwelled within his subconscious.
"I'm awake… And somehow very famous…"
His words were layered with grogginess and embarrassment at the artist renditions of what he had looked like at the scene.
『You were nearly swallowed by that creature you devoured! And worse than that, you trapped me in here with that geezer!』
At the same time as her words, another serenade of voices slammed straight into his heart, making him bend over in pain.
"Drown. Them. All."
Unlike before, its words were quieter and more unnoticeable, allowing him to tune out its constant murmurs.
"What do you mean by swallowed? And also what geezer?"
With immense confusion, he spoke to the girl inside his sword, awaiting a hasty response.
『I mean, he almost took full control over your body! You need to reinforce your mind as well as your body against sea terrors, or they will corrupt you. And to make matters worse, you devoured an Apex who specializes in life magic!』
Her loud shouts into his mind made him wince; however, as he bore the noise, a question came to him suddenly.
"Specializes in life magic?"
There was a pause, with Penelope's sigh not going unnoticed by the boy.
『The strongest of the sea terrors specialize in various magics, with this specific type being masters of life. They can stretch their lifespans to eons and manipulate the lifeblood of all living things. If you had faced this old man when he was alive, he could steal eighty years from your life in the blink of an eye!』
As she spoke, the creature inside his head seemed to freeze as if knowing he was being discussed behind his back.
After that, the murmurs exploded in a force strong enough to send Aaron's eyes spiraling backwards into his head before returning outward.
"A-Alright… A-Alright… Jeez…"
His loopy speech caused Penelope to scoff as she believed he was messing with her after she had helped him.
"W-Wait n-not you…"
Another throbbing moment of pain tore through his temples as the terror wrought havoc on his nerves, leaving Penelope to just notice the slight changes in his mood and body.
『How are you moving your brain muscles right now… Oh… That explains that…』