Surprisingly, Effie didn't do anything drastic... Apart from beating him up.
'I got beat up. And I got hugged to sleep too. I really don't know what to feel right now. And I really don't know what she felt either, to do what she did.'
She just beat him up for, "no reason" and then... hugged him tightly, and went to sleep after dismissing her armor. It was erratic behaviour, even for someone like Effie.
In the morning, when Caster just woke up, Effie was still wrapped around him.
'What the hell?'
He left her grasps and left the hut hurriedly, his tunic dishevelled. Some people saw that and they instantly misunderstood. After all, misunderstandings like those are fun, even if they are untrue.
'Oh crap... the rumours are going to go crazy.'
Caster rushed to his own tent. Not very happy with how he had to spend the night. Sleeping next to Effie was hell, getting kicked by Effie as you are asleep is not fun at all!
'Was she pissed off about not being able to resist the puppeteering spell? I really don't understand her. What if she hates me now? Oh my god!'
Caster was distressed. In the near 3 months of coming to this world, almost all of his actions have had calculated meaning. Hence, the connections he made with others, like Sunny and Cassie felt really... weak and unreal.
It felt like he was just using them. Talking to them because they have a use. Use for his survival. The same went with Effie, however in her case, Caster bonded with her deeply in the two months he spent with her.
She felt like the first and only friend Caster had made since coming to this world.
And because of that, he was distressed. He overthought. He couldn't bear the thought of things getting awkward between them, because he quite literally couldn't even imagine that.
It was hilarious, really. A guy who used to be an average kid suddenly adapted to near death experiences with ease, granted it was because of his aspect, but now, the same guy can't bear the thought of loosing his friend.
Nothing serious even happened, its just the nature of this god forsaken shore to make you more volatile.
[Dormant ability, 'The Fourth Wall' is calming you down.]
'Thanks bro. You always have my back.'
Suddenly, sounds of sparks ignited in his mind before an image of a screen popped up in his mind. Behind the screen were an uncountable number of pages. And the mental screen had something written on it.
⸢The Fourth Wall says "No...Pro...bl...em."⸥
He was baffled. The wall replied back?
He both heard and saw the message at once.
'Hold on, what the fuck? You can speak?'
⸢The fourth wall chose to plead the fifth.⸥
"So you can speak!"
Suddenly, the sound of sparks disappeared and the fourth wall was fully silent again.
'That's interesting.'
Thinking back, Caster had way too many things for just a dormant, even for divines.
For one, he has two dormant abilities. It almost feels like the fourth wall is a forceful addition to his aspect, like it doesn't belong there.
In any case, his dormant abilities include "Acquired Haste" that give him immense speeds, "The fourth wall" that provides him mental clarity, fortitude, pain tolerance, mind and soul attack resistance to an almost complete degree. Really broken.
His innate ability "Character list" allows him to look at the aspect names, abilities, ranks, true names and attributes initially. But after coming to the dream realm, he could start looking at details about memories, that was similar to blood weave's effect on sunny. He could see the tiers and the enchantments of memories through it.
Then there's his memory, book of books. It allows him to get any information as long as Caster paid it enough essence, it can store abilities of others but Caster wasn't sure about how he could store more. The stored abilities include Lightning strike, Puppeteering, Telepathy. The memory can also store essence inside it.
Then came his memories, his armor was pretty unique, allowing to transfer more protection on one place by foresaking it at another. His sword on the other hand was pretty standard.
Memory: [Green Jade Jian]
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Tier: VI.
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [A green jade jian rests in silence, yet its presence hums with ancient power. Its blade gleams like living stone, translucent with veins of emerald mist. The hilt carries the patience of ages, polished by forgotten hands, whispering of emperors and sages who once dreamt of immortality.]
Memory Enchantments: [Serrated], [Pliable], [Unbroken]
[Serrated]
Description: The blade is unfathomably sharp for its rank.
[Pliable]
Description: The blade is immensely flexible yet sturdy.
[Unbroken]
Description: When showed an unbreakable spirit, the blade shinies with strength.
The sword was really good, but it had nothing special to it. However it performed amazingly well.
He now also had a cloak for winters and a bundle to store things as miscellanious memories.
The most important memories though, apart from the book of books, are by far Caster's charm.
[Hourless Charm] and [Spark of Light]. One he got from his clan, and the other, he got from killing an awakened devil. The batlle was really harsh, he hadn't gotten that close to dying ever since then.
Memory: [Hourless Charm]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Tier: VI
Memory Type: Charm
Memory Description: [A crystal amulet in the form of an hourglass. It comes from an awakened who in search of his dream, lost all his life. The crystal amulet can store time, releasing it at a crucial moment to momentarily give the user more time.]
Memory Enchantments: [Psuedo-Time], [Graceful]
[Psuedo-Time]
Description: Provides target with fake time temporarily. Mostly useful in medical emergencies.
[Graceful]
Description: Target ages slowly.
In the end, this still didn't seem enough for everything that's waiting for him.
'This is just the start.'
Just then, Caster falls asleep and immediately wakes up into a dream.
'Trippy...'
He was surrounded to the brim with a circular wall made of millions of millions of ethereal paper stacked together. He was trapped between it. Each piece of paper had something written on it that was constantly changing. Hundreds of thousands of papers were flowing in random directions erratically. The wall seemed to represent something, it seemd to represent the wall between reality and fiction.
He felt disoriented in this space.
It was as if he had complete omniscience for a milli-nano-second.
Just then, the wall shattered into six different parts, and revealed the space beyond the fragmented walls.
Beyond the first fragment...
It was a library.
A library that never ends.
It felt like he was looking at something familiar.
However he didn't know what.
Beyond the second fragment...
He couldn't see.
And as such for the third, and the fourth and the fifth and the sixth.
Eventually, the fragments formed again. Becoming a wall again.
Almost as if the combination was the seventh wall.
And then... a man appeared behind him, startling him.
It was a man with a long, white trench coat with a blurry face. He seemed to give Caster a soft, knowing smile before he disappeared.
"Who are you? Are you a god? Are you who brought me to this damned world?!"
Caster lost his cool. In this dream, he didn't seem to have the effects of the fourth wall.
All the questions, frustrations, and stress let itself out the first chance it got.
"Damn it! Why me? Why am I to suffer? I want to go back! Back! I hate this place!"
Tears welled up in Caster's eyes.
"Answer me damn it! Who the hell are you?"
Eventually, the voice responded.
"If I was really a god... then I would be the most incompetent god in the whole world. The most helpless god in the world, who knew everything but couldn't explain anything."
The voice sent chills down his spine. The voice was simultaneously the most soothing, the most distant, and the most terrifying voice he had ever heard.
"I will leave you with one thing, the story changes every time you read it. The story can be over but it won't be over. The story wouldn't end unless the reader gave up on the story."
After a light pause, the mysterious figure who seemed to be everywhere but simultaneously no where, continued.
"Fate itself will conspire against you. It is only you who can attempt to resist it. The existence of the fourth wall alone has broken fate. You can only attempt to resist its restoration effects."
"Wait! What restoration effects? Fate is broken? What do you mean?"
The figure formed itself in front of him again and then he smiled, not giving him the answer.
"We'll meet again."
"No! I have so many questions! At least give me your name!"
"I am... The Demon King of Salvation, Kim Dokja."
'A... human name? A Korean name? Wait Korea doesn't exist anymore, does that mean he's from the pre nightmare spell era?'
"That's right."
'He... He read my mind!'
"You'll find out more about me soon enough. Unlock more of your aspect legacy, you'll meet me. I'll give you a hint, Communication."
That left Caster in deep thought.
Just then, the walls around him fragmented again, and this time, only one fragment, the fragment with the library remained.
The figure had turned into a collection of sparks and disappeared.
'We'll meet again.'
Those words rang in his head for a while.
"Sure we will."
Just like that, the dream crumbled and Caster woke up.
[You have obtained your Aspect Legacy...]