Yaaaawn!
He shifted under the discomfort of his trash bag, its plastic crinkling softly beneath him.
"Hmm…"
For minutes on end, he had been internally debating on whether or not he should turn himself in to the police. Anyone who showed signs of infection—be it overwhelming fatigue or mental exhaustion—had the legal obligation to turn themselves in for the sake of public safety.
Unfortunately, he was embellished in filth, had no idea where the nearest police station might be, and he could barely keep his eyelids from collapsing shut. It seemed the odds were stacked against him.
'Yeah, no. Definitely not.'
He didn't know where he was, who's body he was in, or why he was here, so before worrying about the safety of others, he decided to prioritize his own survival.
Besides, he had never been much of a virtuous man to begin with.
Setting that subject aside, he had another worry. While he had certainly read the novel—up until the end of volume nine—his memory was clouded on subjects related to the first few arcs.
One of those subjects was whether or not the body reconstructed itself after the First Nightmare.
He knew that if he failed, an abomination would be released into the city, but that was all he knew. If somebody murdered him in cold blood while underwent his first trial, would he simply be done for? If the temperature dropped too low, would his physical body freeze to death without his knowledge?
With his restricted knowledge, there was only one option...
Slowly, and carefully, he climbed into a nearby garbage bin, wincing as he buried himself beneath layers of damp filth. Then, he pulled the lid down as far as he could, nearly vomiting his lunch that he didn't remember eating.
He tasted whatever the original owner of this body had eaten, something unsavory... Perhaps it was the commonly mentioned synthpaste that Sunny dreaded, or perhaps the trash juice had seeped between his lips.
'Okay, I need to stop thinking.'
He focused on the subject at hand and steadied his breathing, nodding and inwardly hyping himself up for what was about to happen and eventually, his exhaustion won. His eyes slipped shut, and his thoughts unraveled as his vision faded to black.
And then, in the darkness, he heard the faint whisper of a familiar voice.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]
—
—
—
He dreamed of an illusory city.
Each transparent building rested upon a cloud, and each cloud drifted above an endless void. Gusts of wind carried the structures through space like logs floating along a calm lake.
Between the clouds, there were rivers of an unfamiliar essence, sustaining a passage that individuals could travel between.
Upon a suspiciously large mass of vapor, a looming mansion rose above all else, casting a shadow so deep that even the void seemed to cower beneath it.
Or… perhaps it wasn't the building that the void cowered beneath.
This structure was actually no larger than the rest—but the person, the thing seated upon its throne possessed a presence so powerful that even the lack of a concept trembled.
Suddenly, time surged forward.
The clouds tore through the air, cooling into water before dissolving into the void. The buildings cracked, crumbled, and broke apart, their remnants fading to dust.
Everything was gone…
…all but a single figure, still seated upon her throne, as this was her will.
Then, she spoke.
Her voice carried a tone so absolute that even those who should not have heard were forced to listen in.
To hear her.
To observe her.
The glorious queen of—...what was that?
"..."
"They have fallen, hmm?" She asked, somehow staring directly up at the boy despite him not being there. "I suppose my last experiment shall be you, as there is no end for you more fitting than I!" Her body convulsed sporadically for a few moments before she calmed down.
"Observe me!"
Time reversed.
The scattered water gathered into mist, then condensed into clouds, then the clouds collided and reformed. The city rebuilt itself, and the throne was once more occupied by the only being fit to seat themselves there, as within the City of the End, there was no queen more fitting than the glorious Queen of the End, after all—
Wait… What was I thinking again?
Time slowed, then stopped, and then resumed its usual pace.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]
"AHHH!"
His lungs tore open with a deafening scream. Sweat streamed down his face and into his mouth as he roared, but he didn't notice.
His thoughts splintered apart. His body felt as though it were ripping apart from the inside, and his mind could hold nothing but the Queen—her presence, her glory—"Stop! Please!"
He clawed at his head, fingers tangling in his hair as he ripped it from the back of his scalp. Desperate to tear her out of his mind, he nearly drove his fingers straight into the occipital lobe of his brain.
But before he could, he felt relief.
A strange sensation flooded through his blood, his nerves, and his flesh. It felt as if some otherworldly chemical coursed through his veins, forcibly calming him, washing over his thoughts. The woman's revolting presence was scrubbed cleanly from his mind, erased as if it had never been there.
"Haah!"
He panted, crashing into the ground and rolling as though he were on fire.
"Haaaah…"
Eventually, the "chemical" had taken full effect, and all that remained was a silent boy soaked and shivering in a salty puddle of his own sweat.
"..."
—
—
—
Later, after God knows how long, he sat with his back resting gently against a soft, cloud-like substance. His dull, crimson eyes focused sharply on the runes that shimmered before him:
Name: Eclipse.
True Name: —
Rank: Aspirant.
Soul Core: Dormant.
Memories: —
Echoes: —
Attributes: [–Undefined–], [Mark of Divinity], [Sagacity], [Root of Temperament].
Aspect: [Vessel of the End].
Aspect Description: [You are perversely cared for, you are the subject of an experiment, you are bound to the Glorious Queen of—]
'Shut up.' His body twitched at the sight, but he quickly unfocused his eyes and the description vanished from his view. From then on, he vowed to never read this Aspect Description again.
He brought his eyes back to his Attributes before locking in on the strangest one.
[–Undefined–] Attribute Description: "–Undefinable, Unidentifiable, Unable–"
'...Uhm, okay…?' His heart shook at how useless it was, but he continued with his hopes higher than ever; after all, there were still three remaining, and he recognized one of them. Regarding the Attribute [–Undefined–], he assumed that it was related to being a transmigrant, so he mentally considered ignored it.
[Mark of Divinity] Attribute Description: "You bear a faint scent of divinity, as though someone briefly touched by it once, a long time ago."
'Alright, the same Attribute as the main characters, not a bad sign. Same description too. But not inherently useful for a Nightmare.'
[Sagacity] Attribute Description: "You possess a rare insight on the future, and a strong talent for inference."
'Interesting, this could be useful depending on my goal here.' He nodded and continued.
[Root of Temperament] Attribute Description: "You are unmatched in the line of the heart, and sometimes, emotions will abide by the will of their kin."
'Hmmm… This sounds a little like Sunny's [Child of Shadow's] Attribute, but it doesn't feel or appear to be a lineage.' He mused, 'It also a personal strength that I already had before I came here, so perhaps it's something I've possessed since before being transmigrated?'
He shook his head, "Maybe, maybe not. For now, I guess it's safe to assume that this is the Attribute that calmed my mind earlier."
'As for that lady... she was too powerful to be present within a First Nightmare. I doubt the Spell would allow her to get involved, and if she were to, it would only be in the context of her mental attacks—or whatever the hell that was before.' He shivered at the thought.
—
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**Chapter Notes**
– Word Count: [1565]
– As I said in the first chapter, I already have a perfect idea for his Aspect, and for a few other things. But one thing I'd like to ask is if you'd all like me to follow the original story's timeline or for me to make my own. My original motivation for this story was to take the mechanics of Shadow Slave, but entirely change things like history, the areas in the Dream Realm, Etc. Initially, I'd feel guilty because that would basically be taking G3s story and attempting to make it my own, but I think if I list it as fanfiction and have "Shadow Slave" in the title, that it'd be fine. Of course, I could always just follow the original story, but I'd feel much more restricted and I'd be more inclined to give up because it's an unfinished WebNovel.
– If you see any grammatical errors or spelling problems please comment on the paragraph where it is so I can fix it—this goes for any errors regarding the Spell as well, as if I am tired, I might make mistakes.
– Please comment a bunch, I don't mind if this doesn't get popular, but I'd like to know if people are really reading this!
– I hope you enjoyed reading.