Chapter 8: A Fight Part (3)
Amon quickly unsummoned the garment memory and slipped into the police issue tracksuit. He then bolted out of the door and looked at the map that was sent to his communicator. He quickly found the location on the map and bolted, following the map. Amon noticed how fast he was able to run and how light he felt.
Mid-run, he remembered the memory he was promised. He looked at his communicator and reviewed the map again, then weighed his decision and decided to retrieve the weapon memory first. He veered off course and went towards the administration office.
Amon had sprinted all the way, but he did not break a sweat. He stood in front of the office and saw instructor Rock doing some paperwork. Before he could call to get his attention, instructor Rock looked up from the papers and called him in.
"Amon, right? Are you here to collect your compensation for the True Name?"
Amon gave a nod to the instructor, Rock's words. Instructor Rock gestured for him to come in. Amon obeyed and went into the office and stood in front of the desk. Amon felt nervous and excited at the same time, receiving a weapon memory. Instructor Rock stood up and walked around the table in front of Amon.
Amon looked at the behemoth of a man who stood tall in front of him. Amon's height only reached his chest. He had to crank up his neck to meet Instructor Rock's gaze. Instructor Rock then held his hands out and asked Amon to do the same. Amon followed the instructions and held out his hands. Instructor Rock placed his larger hand on top of Amon's smaller one.
[You have received a Memory]. The spell rang into Amon's mind.
Amon summoned his runes and looked at the memory he was given.
Memory: Oath Dusk
Memory Description: A broad, vicious blade of black steel etched with faint, curling wave-like patterns. Its edge is keen and cold, as though honed not by whetstone but by time itself. Though heavy in hand, the weapon flows with surprising ease in battle, answering its wielder's intent like a sworn companion.
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Type: Weapon
Memory Enchantments: Edge of Dusk, Loyalty
Amon was inspecting the memory he had got, and had a satisfied look on his face.
Then Instructor Rock spoke, "What classes have you signed up for?" It was a well-intended question. Amon looked at instructor Rock and answered, "This month, I will be spending most of my time taking the Wilderness Survival class, sir." His tone was respectful but not forced. Instructor Rock just nodded, and before he dismissed him, advised him to cut his hair short. Amon just nodded in return.
Amon was very satisfied with the memory he got. Without any detour, Amon directly bolted towards the Wilderness Survival class. Not long after Amon reached the class. Amon stood in front of the door as he looked inside.
The classroom was spacious and tastefully decorated… but it had only two people in it, which made it seem empty. The professor was writing something on the board, and Sunny was looking at his figure standing in front of the door. Amon looked at Sunny and gave a bashful grin. Amon then spoke up, " Excuse me, sir, may I come in?" This drew the professor's attention. Amon stood there in front of the door, standing with a sheepish expression.
Professor Julius looked at a boy standing in front of his class, then looked at the time 12:34 PM. He was annoyed at the short boy with waist-long, unusual, coloured hair who came so late, but since it was the first day, he did not want to get angry. He just sighed and told the sheepish young boy standing in front of the class to get in and take a seat.
Amon nodded and walked towards Sunny and sat beside him. Professor Julius introduces himself to Amon. "I am Professor Julius, and you, young man," Amon, answering to the bushy-brow professor, said, " My name is Amon, sir." Hearing this, Professor Julius' grumpy expression changed, and he walked towards Amon with great gusto.
Standing in front of Amon, Professor Julius asked, "You are the one with the True Name, right?" Amon was taken aback by this sudden enthusiasm and answered, "Yes". Professor Julius' eyes gleam with excitement and ask, What classes have you signed up for. " Only the Wilderness Survival classes for now, sir." This reply seems to make Professor Julius beam with joy, but he did not pursue the matter and said, "Ok, let's continue the class".
He wanted to continue to pry about how this young man had gotten his True Name, but he noticed the hesitation and reluctance to continue in Amon's expression and decided to drop it. He knew that what people had to do or suffer in the first nightmare just to survive, and asking too much about it might bring up trauma.
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Sunny Pov
Professor Julius was explaining about some runes on the board, then suddenly his shadow sense noticed someone approaching the class. Guessing who it was, Sunny turned towards the door, and his guess was right; it was Amon. Sunny watched as Amon stood in front of the door, looking inside the classroom. When he noticed Sunny was looking at him, he gave Sunny a bashful smile. This took Sunny by surprise.
Sunny had thought that he and Amon would be on bad terms since he had stormed off the conversation the day before. Then, after he was let in, Amon sat beside him.
'This guy does not look like someone who could have gotten a True Name.'
'Wait…does he have a divine aspect too? No, that's not possible.'
'I should be cautious of him, although he acts friendly, there is a distance in his eyes.'
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After some time had passed, mid-lecture, Amon asked, "Sunny, are we the only two people who opted for this class?" Sunny nodded in confirmation. The class was long and filled with new information, but it wasn't much of a challenge for Amon because of his Celestial Concept attribute. But Sunny seems to struggle a bit. But it did not dampen Professor Julius' enthusiasm to teach.
Professor Julius was so enthusiastic that he even missed lunchtime.
The class was over much later than sunset. When the class was over, they had even missed dinner. Sunny had to remind Professor Julius of the importance of proper nutrition.
But the class was only over for Sunny, Amon had to stay back so that he could learned what he had missed. Amon was not tired, but really annoyed by it.
Amon had even tried to persuade Sunny to stay with him, but the bastard just grinned at his face and walked away. Amon had to stay an extra two hours. His Celestial Concept ability helped him a lot since he was able to remember what Professor Julius taught him almost instantly. After the class was really over, Professor Julius treated him to dinner, which Amon was very thankful for since he had not eaten since the morning.
After Amon said goodbye to Professor Julius, he decided to explore the section he was allowed to. Amon walked aimlessly. Maybe it was because it was late into the night that he did not meet anyone.
After walking for a while, Amon decided to visit the gym, do a late-night run, and test his strength. He had wanted to improve his endurance anyway. Amon quickly found the gym following the map. He entered it and saw no one beside him. Amon wanted to do a strength test first, so he approached a wall and jumped up with all his might. His explosiveness shocked him; his feet had almost reached where his head was. Then he did a handstand, then shifted all his weight into an arm. He could do it with ease, then he decided to go a step further and used only two fingers to balance himself, which he was able to accomplish with ease. Amon was very happy with the result; he felt like he had a chance of surviving the dream realm, but he quickly grounded himself and decided to start running.
Amon stepped on the treadmill and started running. He did not find it very effective, so he decided to do an incline sprint on the treadmill. After five minutes or so, his legs started to burn and his breath started to become heavy. The burning pain he felt in his legs made him smile; the burning fatigue was new to this body, but was not new to Amon. Amon, before transmigration, was an MMA fighter. He remembered how he used to train: a ten-kilometre run, followed by explosive movement training, followed by actual sparing. Though those days were hellish, when he remembered them now, Amon could not help but smile.
Pushing through the fatigue, Amon did not stop running. He had been running for twenty minutes, but he decided not to stop. He wanted to push this body to its very limit.
After the half-hour mark, Amon noticed someone walking in. Through his three-sixty-degree vision, he saw the girl with silver hair walk in. The girl seems to notice him. And looked at him for a few seconds and then approached him.
Amon was drenched in sweat, and his cheeks were burning red because of the heat. Amon noticed the girl walk in his direction, then the girl stood beside him, waiting for him to finish his run.
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Nephis pov
Nephis could not sleep thinking about the second True Name holder. Nephis had searched for him in the cafeteria, but he was nowhere to be found. Not able to sleep, she decided to visit the gym for a late-night workout.
When Nephis entered, she saw the person she had been searching for. She found Amon weird, since Amon was running with a monocle on.
'Should I go and introduce myself? Will I come off as weird to her? Is she one of the assassins sent to kill me? This type of question pops up in Nephi's mind.
Nephis did not pay attention when someone was explaining about Amon, and she was sitting far from where that conversation had taken place, so she did not know that Amon was a boy.
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Amon noticed the girl standing beside him and decided to pause his run. Amon pressed the emergency stop button situated in the middle of the treadmill control panel. The treadmill slowed down and started to level itself. Amon stopped running.
Amon breathed heavily; his body felt like it was filled with lead. He remained standing on top of the treadmill, his breath still ragged, and he waited for the tall silver-haired girl beside him to speak first. But passed, and she did not say anything; she just looked at him.
Amon removed the jacket he was wearing, which caused the silver-haired girl to react a bit. Before he could say anything, the silver-haired girl spoke up, " I thought you were a girl." This statement seemed to freeze the atmosphere a bit more.
Caught off-guard, Amon said,
"Good evening to you, too, miss," Amon replied after the awkward smile. Amon then continued, "Is there something you need from me, miss…?" Nephis was taken aback by Amon's question. She had thought that he would have already known her.
'Is he pretending not to know me?' thought Nephis, but nevertheless she answered, "Nephis".
Amon repeated his question, "Is there something you need from me, Nephis?" Nephis, hearing this question, seemed to ponder for a while and answered, " Fight me."
Amon thought, " Yes, it's confirmed, this girl is autistic, and I am NOT fighting a girl at night with no one around as a witness, I don't wanna to go this jail.' Trying to refuse her, Amon said, "Ahh.. look at he time, it's late now, goodnight, miss." If Amon really wanted to, he could have fought her even while tired; he was used to it. After saying that, Amon did not waste time and walked out of the gym and headed straight to his room.
Amon felt relieved that Nephis did not follow him. Amon quickly reached his room. His body had somewhat recovered from the fatigue, which was because of his Apprentice attribute. This attribute made him physically tougher. This toughness was different from Divine Protection; Divine Protection toughness was akin to having a shield, but the toughness brought by this Apprentice attribute is like enhancing the very base of it. It also granted him a higher level of control over his body; it was because of this attribute that he was able to achieve a two-finger handstand. This attribute also gave him the ability to sense movement in a two-meter radius and also made him recover faster.
Before taking a shower, he decided to test out his abilities again. Last time, he did not even get to test out his aspect ability. First, he tried to test out his new attribute.
He tried to open a locked door. He locked the bathroom door, then he tried to open it without unlocking the lock, which worked. Amon seemed happy to gain a new ability. And when he closed the door again, Amon noticed that the door remained locked.
Amon then summoned his runes again and read his aspect ability in his mind.
Aspect Ability: Hinges between Worlds
[Hinges between Worlds]: This Aspect ability allows the user to fold physical matter through an unseen threshold, storing it directly within the depths of their Soul Sea. Each stored item becomes a fragment suspended in the silent currents of the soul, weightless and preserved in stasis.
To the outside world, these items vanish with a flash of golden ripple light, as if passing through an invisible portal. In truth, they are locked inside a dimensional fold nestled within the user's very essence.
Then, out of instinct, he tried to use it. A portal with a golden rippling effect appeared on top of his palm. Seeing this confirmed one of Amon's hunches.
'So it works like that, huh'
'My innate ability allows me to become intangible through my aspect ability, so it's like having two abilities.'
Amon then looked at his runes again and checked the memory he had gotten this morning, then summoned it. The sword shimmered into existence in Amon's hand. It was a double-edged blade with a violet wave-like pattern in the middle. The blade looks exceedingly sharp. Even with his new strength, the blade was a bit heavy.
[Image]
Amon gave it a few practice swings, headed to the bathroom. He looked at his figure in the bathroom mirror, holding the sword. Amon felt butterflies in his stomach as he looked at himself. He was so happy he almost squealed. The sword looked so cool.
Amon then looked at his long hair, then remembered what the silvered girl had said. Amon searched for scissors in the bathroom cabinet and found them. He then looked at himself with resolve and cut his long hair short.
'Why should I care about the original owner's sentiment? This long hair is so troublesome. Even Instructor Rock said that it would be a liability', Amon thought, but as this thought formed, Amon felt a pang of guilt.
Then he took a bath and collapsed into bed as a single thought came into his mind.
'This world might be survivable after all'
[A/N: plz comment and review]