[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]
He couldn't see anything. Did he go blind when entering the spell? That was his first thought until he realized his eyes were just closed. Opening them, it was like he was staring through red curtains.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]
They said that he would be put into a body similar to his… so why does he feel so tall, and built, and why is his hair red? He wasn't that oblivious after all. Pushing the hair out of his face, he looked around only to see men, young men, and practically those who may even be younger than he was, in chains walking. It's obvious what they were. They were slaves.
Did that mean he was a slave owner? No, slave owners are typically old rich men, and he seemed to be some sort of knight. He never stopped walking, deciding he didn't want to instantly draw suspicion. Luckily, the police officers gave him a little briefing before he came in, preparing him for this, even if it was only a bit. That's when he remembered they told him to check his aspect first. The thing is, he didn't even know how to do that.
Appear!
Well, that didn't work.
Staying still for a second, he put all his concentration into summoning it. Luckily, that worked.
Name: Sunless.
True Name: —
Rank: Aspirant.
Soul Core: Dormant.
Memories: —
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Fated], [Mark of Divinity], [Poacher].
Aspect: [Pearl Diver].
Aspect Description: [Pearl Divers were the rawest form of human greed and ego.]
And what the hell did that mean? Not only did his aspect give him no clues, his Attributes also gave him nothing. Also, Poacher? What even is that?
Luckily, that thought brought up what he was looking for.
[Fated] Attribute Description: "The strings of fate wrap tightly around you. Unlikely events, both good and bad, are drawn by your presence. There are those who are blessed, and there are those who are cursed… but rarely both."
[Mark of Divinity] Attribute Description: "You bear a faint scent of divinity, as though someone briefly touched by it once, a long time ago."
[Poacher] Attribute Description: "The victims of your theft will have no tales to tell."
The first two left him shaken. After all, weren't those pretty… well, important? He had no clue what the last one meant, but before he could even freak out from his attributes, a yell rang from the crowd.
"EVERYONE RUN!"
He shot his head to the side, seeing what the commotion was, only to see a creature he may never be able to put into words.
The creature had two stumpy legs, an emaciated, hunched torso, and disproportionately long, multi-jointed hands—two of them, each ending with a set of horrifying bone claws, and another two, these ones shorter, ending with almost human-like fingers. The thing that at first glance looked like dirty snow turned out to be its fur, yellowish-grey and ragged, thick enough to stop arrows and swords.
On its head, five milky white eyes regarded the slaves with insect-like indifference. Beneath them, a terrible maw crowding with razor-sharp teeth was half-open, as though in anticipation. Viscous drool was running down the creature's chin and dripping into the snow.
What unnerved him the most, though, were the strange shapes endlessly moving, worm-like, under the creature's skin. He could see them clearly because, unfortunately, he was one of those unlucky souls closest to the monstrosity, getting a nauseating first-row view.
What the fuck! What the fuck! Is that a…
Seeing the creatures next to it sharing similar features, he had no choice but to realize what it was.
It was a tyrant!
---
Sunny was in an unfamiliar body, still only barely being able to put one foot in front of the other. With that said, his very nature was able to overcome this obstacle… so with every ounce of his strength,
He ran.
The people in this weren't even real! He wasn't a knight; he was honestly in a similar situation to these slaves in the real world! In all honesty, even if he were to fight, he would just end up being killed instantly!
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE—"
The man couldn't finish his sentence as one of the tyrant's minions lunged at him, instantly clawing his head off. Though it wasn't a clean cut—rather, his face was torn into shreds and blood gushed out from his neck. His eye socket was gaping as one eye fell out, and his jaw was no longer on his head. He felt bile rising up to his stomach, only for this momentary loss of concentration to result in him tripping. By the time he was able to get up, one of the tyrant's minions was already upon him.
"Damnation…"
That was the first time he spoke. His voice wasn't deep in this body, nor was it high. It was the voice suiting a hero, if he were to describe it—but Sunny was no hero. He was the furthest thing from it, in all honesty. This was only proven when he once again ran, but this time in the direction where the slaves were. After all, the knights could have a chance to defeat them; the slaves would just end up being dead weight, right? Plus, they were going to have a fate worse than death anyway, and they're not even real! They might as well be human shields for him! But no matter how much he tried to rationalize it in his head, he couldn't help but feel the pit in his stomach. Still, he ignored it, rushing past them, leading that thrall to jump on one of the slaves. He had already made his decision, so he had no clue why he decided to turn his head around to check on him. That's when he saw it… saw him.
A slave with black hair used the chains that were binding him to choke out the tyrant's minion until its neck eventually did snap. That's not what caught his attention, though. No, it was the fact that the slave had similar eyes to him—the eyes that showed that they wanted to live no matter what.
Maybe that's why he found his body turning around, rushing and drawing the sword from his holster, thrusting it past the boy. The sword drilled into the thrall that was about to pounce on him, only injuring it but pushing it back.
He must have gone crazy—that's what he thought. Gripping the sword with both his hands, a nervous smirk spread across his face.
"Come at me… ugly."