Arthur woke up slowly.
The first things to reach him were an intense heat and a radiant light against his pupils. He tried to orient himself using his Aether sense, but the moment he attempted to expand it, a sharp pain shot through his head, making him jerk suddenly.
The movement made his muscles protest with pain of equal magnitude, and he ended up squeezing his eyes shut tightly against the agony that coursed through his entire body and head.
After a few seconds, the pain began to fade, and that was when he heard three voices in the background.
He went on alert because he didn't recognize any of them, but immediately, the memory of the pain stopped him. Besides, thinking about it—if these three voices were there and he was still alive, it was because they had no intention of harming him.
Arthur calmed himself and decided to open his runes to confirm his suspicions about his current state.
Class: Tyrant
Aether Core: [5/7]
Aether Fragments: [0/5000]
Indeed, he had no fragments left in his Tyrant Core.
During the battle against the Corrupted Tyrant, he had ended up spending the 1890 fragments he already had, but that wasn't all. Arthur, with his physical state, also recognized something worse.
He had been on the verge of breaking his Tyrant Core.
How he had reached that point, he didn't know, since the Attribute Former King had been active when it happened. But Arthur was someone who knew his body very well and recognized many types of pain.
And currently, he could feel that his core had small fractures. Fractures that were healing slowly, but were still present for the time being.
'I didn't know it was possible to voluntarily break my cores…'
"Of course it is."
Arthur went even stiller than he had been before.
'Did I say that out loud?' he questioned himself.
"No, you didn't, princess."
Arthur opened his eyes, and the ambient light left him nearly blind, but slowly his vision adjusted.
When it did, he found himself face to face with something resembling a black will-o-wisp the size of a large marble, with a set of sharp, pure-white eyes and two small horns jutting out from the sides of its head.
Arthur blinked.
"Who are you?"
The black will-o-wisp pretended to clear its throat and then replied:
"Behold, my pitiful master. I, Regis, the relic of your Aspect Legacy that has manifested in all my glory."
Arthur stared at it with an expressionless face. Then he sighed.
"You are my Aspect Legacy?"
"Wasn't that what I just said? You're not going deaf at such a young age, are you, princess?"
Arthur suppressed the urge to explode right there.
"You're the first Aspect Legacy relic I've ever known that can talk."
"I'm not surprised," it said, admiring itself. "Where else would you find someone as majestic and amazing as me?"
He took a deep breath and asked:
"Do you know where we are and how long I've been unconscious?"
"You've been lying unconscious for a week, and as for where we are…" Regis turned its body to observe the place, "No idea."
Arthur closed his eyes, internalizing the fact that he had been unconscious for an entire week. Not even the first time he had run out of fragments in his core had he been in that state for so long—or that's what he wanted to remember.
"It wasn't that you ran out of fragments—you almost broke your core."
He opened his mouth to speak but stopped before uttering a word.
"Exactly what you're thinking," Regis continued. "When you run out of Aether reserves, the next step is to destroy the formed core and use the fragments that composed it. That's why you were unconscious for so long, and why you're in pain."
"I understand… good to know for the future, but… do we have a mental connection or something?"
"I'd clap slowly, applauding you for your incredible deduction skills, but—y'know—no hands." And it began floating in the air in front of Arthur.
Arthur opened his eyes again.
"So I'll have you as a parasite in my head from now on. Wonderful…"
"Hey! This parasite kept your core from breaking, you ungrateful princess!"
"Stop calling me princess! You look more like a wasp than an Aspect Legacy relic!"
Regis didn't respond, and moments later, it floated off toward a tree—offended.
Arthur sighed and opened his runes, annoyed.
First, he went to his Attributes and found a new one:
Attribute:[Godstep]
Description: [Your consciousness opens to the branch of the aether of space (Spatium). You can move through incredible distances within an instant.]
'That's incredible!'
The anger he had felt evaporated upon realizing it was essentially teleportation. Although at the same time, a bit of frustration entered his body.
He didn't know how to use it.
As paradoxical as it sounded, he had gained knowledge about this Attribute under the effects of Former King, and without its influence, he wouldn't have achieved it. Therefore, in his normal state, Arthur didn't know how to use the Attribute.
'Even so, it's much easier to learn to use the Attribute than to gain the knowledge to unlock it.'
The only thing he would have to do was simply train—but there came the bad news. It was an Attribute related to Aether, and currently, he had no fragments.
He sighed again and continued with his runes, now looking at his Aspect Legacy.
Aspect Legacy: [Weave of Existence]
Description: [A silent weave, where every thread of life and reality is bound.]
Legacy of Life: Unearned.
He still hadn't unlocked the Legacy of Life branch, and he had no clues as to how he might do so.
Arthur had developed multiple theories regarding this to date, but none had worked, nor had he been able to experiment. Being related to War God, he thought that the way to unlock it might be related to one of her titles.
It was said that War God was the goddess of life, warfare, progress, technology, craft, and intellect. Hence, she was the patron goddess of humanity.
But none of those titles gave him enough clues to discover how to do it, though there was also the possibility that he didn't have to.
Arthur meant that perhaps that branch of his Aspect Legacy wasn't connected to him. Perhaps one had to look more deeply into the titles and understand their meaning.
The branch was called Legacy of Life, and his Attribute related to War God was called precisely [Life]. So the question was…
What is life?
Arthur didn't know how to answer that question.
Perhaps the question was also wrong. Perhaps the real question should be…
What is war?
That, he could answer. War is synonymous with struggle. Therefore, turning life into a constant struggle for survival.
But even with that realization, it wasn't enough.
The branch of his Aspect Legacy simply wouldn't unlock—he wasn't worthy of gaining it.
Arthur continued looking at the runes.
Legacy of Aether:
Description: [Before the world had form, before time had meaning and space had distance, there was Aether.
Once upon a time, a long-forgotten race dared to study its flow and carve their knowledge into reality itself.
To walk this path is to glimpse the hidden laws that bind the world together… and risk unraveling them.]
[Knowledge of Vivum — 2/?]
[Realmheart]: Completed: It allows you to increase the power of the attribute and reduce its cost.
[Destruction]: [1/4]: Fracture. Completed
[2/4]: Collapse. Completed
[Knowledge of Aevum — 1/?]
[Static Void]: Completed: It allows you to increase the power of the attribute and reduce its cost.
[Knowledge of Spatium — 1/?]
[Godstep]: Completed: It allows you to increase the power of the attribute and reduce its cost.
He had thought that he had obtained Regis as a relic due to having an Attribute in all three branches of Aether, but it seemed he was mistaken.
Regis was the reward for advancing his knowledge in the Destruction rune. Therefore, he should focus on that aspect.
One strange thing was that Regis didn't have any kind of runes to show its abilities. Slightly below where his Aspect Legacy ended was a section called:
Relic: [Regis]: Claimed
But when he focused on it, nothing appeared.
After that, Arthur decided to continue resting while listening to Regis's voice and two others in the background.
He closed his eyes and let himself be embraced by a sweet, deep sleep.
***
Arthur woke up again, and now he felt much, much better.
Sleep had helped him immensely to clear his head, and his body no longer hurt. Moreover, after checking, he realized that his core had completely recovered.
He smiled and sat up on the sand. Then he began to analyze where he was and, after seeing vast black mountains in the distance—
Arthur swallowed and began cursing his luck.
He was in the Nightmare Desert, and in the distance stood the Hollow Mountains.
After spending a few seconds doing absolutely nothing, he felt through his Aether sense a small figure approaching.
It was Regis, and upon reaching in front of him, it said: "Welcome back, sleeping beauty."
Arthur narrowed his eyes and tilted his head.
"Thank you… Regis, are you made of Aether?"
"I suppose I am? When I entered your core to keep it from breaking, I was absorbing Aether from the environment to sustain it. Even now, I'm still absorbing," it replied.
Arthur brought his hand to the back of his neck and said, "You know… thank you for keeping my core from breaking, and—" He paused. "I apologize for calling you a wasp."
"Don't mention it." Then it turned around. "Follow me. There are two very lively, chatty old skeletons who can help us get out of this horrible spa."
He didn't know what a spa was, and he decided to ignore the fact that combining the words "skeletons," "chatty," and "lively" in the same sentence didn't make much sense.
But to his surprise, hanging from the only tree in the entire Nightmare Desert, there were indeed two skeletons—chatty, and from the way they were insulting each other, they also seemed very much alive.
As he approached, he managed to catch part of the conversation.
The second skeleton said: "I'm telling you, Eurys, the joke was: A Djinn walks into a bar and sits in silence, staring at the empty glass.
The bartender asks: What will you have?
The Djinn replies: I didn't come to drink. I came to understand the rune of thirst."
"You're stupid, Azarax?" asked the first skeleton. "Obviously the joke is: A Djinn walks into a bar and orders the oldest drink available.
The bartender serves him water."
The other grated its teeth and let out a creaky growl, then strained, trying to wrestle free of the large silver nails impaling it to the tree. However, no matter how furiously it struggled, the nails held true.
At that moment, Regis spoke to Arthur telepathically:
'I said they were talkative and alive, but I didn't say they weren't crazy and senile.'
'Fair enough.'
Arthur approached close enough, and both skeletons stared fixedly at him.
After a few painful seconds, the first skeleton said: "Oh my… what a surprise! I really thought you Djinns had gone extinct years ago."
The second skeleton spoke suddenly, with a deep, rage-filled voice:
"Can't you smell the stench of a Daemon on this Djinn? He's one of Weaver's, you fool!"
The first skeleton turned its skull slightly and then asked:
"Is that so? He also smells of that disgusting War God. I don't even want to ask what terrible sins you've committed, boy, to be thrown alive into this hell!"
Arthur remained silent and was about to speak, but the first skeleton said:
"But this is strange—I could swear I know you, boy… What is your name?"
"Arthur," he replied quickly. Then he added, "But you might know me as Grey?"
The first skeleton turned slightly, repeating the name under its breath. Meanwhile, the second skeleton went completely still.
"You said 'Grey,' boy?"
Arthur nodded.
The second skeleton promptly exploded with laughter. "Oh my! This is the best thing that's happened to me in thousands of years!"
While the second laughed, the first turned back to look at him.
"You look like him. You have the same presence as him. You even smell similar. But… what happened to you? Weren't you a Supreme?"
'Wait, Supreme? The Spell called Grey a Sacred.'
Fortunately, the second skeleton stopped laughing and said:
"Supreme? That guy was a Spirit."
"Was he? The last I heard of him, he was Supreme," replied the first skeleton.
"Wait five seconds!" Arthur interrupted. "What the hell is going on here? Who are you, and how do you know Grey?"
The second skeleton strained to free himself again and then roared:
"I am Azarax the Mighty, the Plague of Steel, King of Kings, conqueror of a hundred thrones!"
'King of kings, huh?'
Arthur directed a look at him and then said to the other:
"…And you?"
The first skeleton replied in a distant tone:
"Me? Oh, I'm no one. Just a humble slave."
Regis chimed in, "A humble slave, and you're nailed to this tree? Maybe you're senile and don't remember correctly."
"Senile?" replied the humble slave quickly. "For your information, I'm nailed to this tree because I made the gods angry."
Regis moved closer to the skeleton and said:
"You made the gods angry? Sure you did! And I have a harem of busty demons!"
"What's a harem?"
Regis moved back a bit and was about to enlighten him on the subject, but Arthur interrupted.
"Regis, stop. I really need to know what I asked. This is no time for jokes."
"Whatever you say, princess."
Arthur took a deep breath. "I suppose you both enraged the gods, and that's why you're nailed to this tree?"
The skeleton that called himself Azarax growled:
"Don't you know where you are? I am here because I led my armies in the great war, massacred countless souls, and was punished for my strength and my pride!"
He looked at the other.
The skeleton sighed regretfully.
"Well, if you're so interested in knowing… I slit a god's throat. My, oh my! One could say it was a misunderstanding. Was there really a need to be so petty?"
"Did you kill a god? Which god?" Arthur asked curiously.
"Who said anything about killing? And why should I tell you? Shouldn't you already know?"
Arthur shook his head.
"No, I don't… but it's fine. Don't answer me." A pause. "At least tell me your name."
The skeleton remained silent for a bit. "A name? I used to have one of those, before. What was it? Oh!" He moved his jaw a little and then said:
"Eurys. Eurys of the Nine…"
'Eurys of the Nine… that name doesn't ring any bells.'
Arthur had read many books about the history of the Dream Realm and the many groups that had inhabited it, but he had never read anything about a group called that.
Internally, he was dying of curiosity—not only to learn more about this group but also because of the fact that Eurys had said he should know which god he supposedly killed.
These skeletons definitely knew who Grey was. Not only because of that last piece of information but also because Azarax had corrected Eurys about Grey's rank, saying he was a Spirit—which was the other terminology for someone of the Sacred rank.
Now the question was, how could he extract information about Grey from these skeletons? What would he be willing to give in exchange for them to answer his questions…
'Art,' Regis spoke to him internally. 'The best way is obviously to offer to take them off the tree, don't you think?'
'Yes, but…' Arthur looked again at both skeletons. 'Do you really think the best thing we can do is let two skeletons thousands of years old roam freely around the Dream Realm?'
'When you put it that way…'
'Even so, it's the only option,' Arthur continued. 'But still, I'm not going to let that Azarax go free. I have a bad feeling about it.'
Regis sent a signal of approval and flew directly toward his chest.
Arthur took a step back in surprise. 'What are you doing?'
Regis replied: 'I'm going to take a nap. Good luck with the skeletons!'
Arthur sighed.
"Can I ask how you knew Grey?"
Both skeletons were silent for a few seconds and slowly turned their skulls to look at each other. Arthur didn't understand what was happening, and eventually, both skeletons turned back to look at him.
"What will you do for us in exchange for that information?" asked Azarax.
Arthur sighed and replied.
"If you give me that information and then help me find a Nightmare seed, I can take you down from the tree."
Both skeletons fell silent again, eventually accepting the offer. Then Eurys said:
"First, so that we old fossils have more context, tell us, little Djinn." A pause. "What is your relationship with Grey?"
Arthur thought about how much he could say… He believed that the first rule for someone who had reincarnated was precisely never to say that they reincarnated.
But at the same time, what could Eurys and Azarax do with that information? Absolutely nothing. If it were someone closer to him, Arthur would never tell them that he had already lived a past life—even if he didn't remember it.
At the end of the day, he could gain more than he would lose by doing so.
Arthur decided to sit down in front of both skeletons and then, after shrugging, replied:
"The truth is, Grey and I are the same person." A pause. "I don't know the details, but somehow, he was able to reincarnate, and here I am. The thing is, I have no memories of my past life."
Both skeletons went still, and that was strange considering that since the conversation had started, Azarax hadn't stopped trying to pull himself off the tree—except for that one time.
Eventually, Eurys broke the silence.
"Oh my! That was certainly unexpected… to think that reincarnation is possible." Then he lowered his skull and looked at Arthur. "For my part, I don't know much about Grey, but I do know of his actions."
"His actions?"
"Exactly, little Djinn." He continued, "First, tell me something. What do you know about the gods?"
Arthur leaned back slightly, supporting himself with his palms, and looked at the perfectly blue sky.
"In my current era, there's not much information about them, to be honest… mainly, and most shockingly, they are dead." Arthur noticed how Eurys's skeleton reacted differently to the information. "Then, I suppose I don't need to talk about their titles, so there's not much information."
"Not much information, indeed." A pause. "I'll have to be careful about what I tell you, then."
Arthur immediately understood why he said that. He was a mere Sleeper, and he knew that there were things one simply shouldn't know—things better left aside.
Eurys began to speak. "The gods… the gods were young at one time. But they also grew old, and when they did, they had already consumed too much of themselves, becoming too vast and grand to resemble living beings. They barely retained any personality, slowly transforming into elemental forces. Thus, they could only preserve their capacity for action by confining themselves to the limits of a mortal body: an avatar."
Arthur listened intently, but slowly, an idea began to take shape in his mind. Even so, he asked an important question, "How is it decided about these Avatars? Like, which mortal body will each god use?"
Azarax replied now, "Who knows? The gods were, at the same time, very mysterious, and it's impossible to know how a god thinks. So each god must have had different ways of deciding which avatar they would inhabit."
Arthur clenched his teeth.
"So… having the lineage of a god could be one of those ways?"
Both skeletons shrugged, and Arthur suppressed a shiver.
"Oh my, we've strayed from the main topic." He continued, "Well, now that you know about the gods' avatars, I can tell you what little I know about Grey. He killed one."
Arthur blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"You should really get your ears checked. Going deaf at such a young age could be a problem for your future!"
Arthur closed his eyes—already tired of that joke. Besides, how the hell had he heard it?
"Are you telling me that Grey killed a god's avatar? How do you expect me to react?!"
Eurys sighed regretfully. "Is it so special to kill a god's avatar? My, oh my!" He continued after letting out a laugh: "After that, I don't know much more. I know that his kingdom was completely destroyed by the Empire of War, eliminating all the inhabitants as well." A pause. "That's all."
He accepted the information with a smile. "Thank you, Eurys." Then he turned to look at Azarax.
The latter chuckled.
"I only know that during the Doom War, he appeared out of nowhere and faced another avatar of War God—and killed him too. That bastard sure knew how to hold a grudge!"
Arthur short-circuited.
Now they were telling him that killing just one god's avatar hadn't been enough for him—he had killed two!
How powerful had Grey been?
"And that's not all!" Azarax the Conqueror of Kingdoms continued between laughs. "That bastard also personally eliminated all the remaining members of the War Empire!"
'Well, the Empire was responsible for eliminating all the Djinns. It makes sense that he did it. Besides, the avatar he killed was precisely War God's.'
Everything was starting to click in Arthur's head: the fact that he had the lineage of War God, that Grey had killed one of her avatars, that they had destroyed his entire kingdom and exterminated the Djinns.
But Arthur also understood why Grey had been so hunted by the entire Empire and even by War God.
He was going to be her avatar.
He had the lineage of War God, perhaps making him susceptible to being used by the goddess as an avatar to descend into the mortal world.
And obviously, he opposed it. Grey didn't want to be an avatar of a god.
And perhaps, for this very reason, that was why the Empire had destroyed Grey's kingdom and then exterminated the Djinns.
One could say that because of him, millions of lives were lost and an entire kingdom was destroyed. If he had given in, perhaps they would have spared his kingdom… Or perhaps not.
Either way, the figure of Grey in his mind continued to grow and grow with each passing moment.
He was already surprised to learn in his First Nightmare that Grey was a being of the Sacred rank—that already sounded impossible.
But killing two avatars of gods?
Obviously, there was the possibility that these avatars weren't of the Divine or Sacred rank like him, but… killing two avatars?
'How strong was Grey?' he asked himself for the second time that night.
Eventually, Arthur came out of his state of astonishment and asked, "Is that all?"
"Is that too little for you?"
Arthur shook his head. "No, in fact, it's quite a lot." Then he let himself fall onto the sand, noticing that night was already falling.
Moments later, the sun was setting behind the horizon, and a penetrating cold spread across the white desert.
Soon, night descended upon the world, revealing a myriad of bright stars. As it did, the sand moved, and slowly, countless figures rose from beneath it. All of them were corpses with no flesh remaining on their perfectly black bones—some of creatures that resembled humans, some of towering giants, and some of beings who were too strange and terrifying to describe.
In a clamor of rusted armor and a litany of howls, the hordes of abominations clashed against each other, continuing their terrible battle even in death.
Arthur approached the tree, which somehow remained an oasis of calm in the sea of terror, and looked at both skeletons.
"Come morning, I will take both of you off the tree. To guide me through the desert."
He closed his eyes as he leaned against the tree trunk and let sleep embrace him once more.
***
The next day, there was a great sun in the sky of the Nightmare Desert.
Arthur woke up slowly and cooked something to eat. Then, after breakfast, he stood up and approached the edge of the island.
Although he hadn't asked many questions about the skeletons, he had been able to discern many important things regarding their personalities and what they would do in the future.
Behind Eurys's carefree, somewhat friendly personality—tinged with sarcasm and dark humor—hid something Arthur noticed immediately. He wanted to die.
He wouldn't be a problem for the future.
But the same couldn't be said for Azarax the Mighty, King of Kings, the Plague of Steel, Conqueror of a Hundred Thrones.
He wanted to keep fighting, and Arthur was certain that if given the chance, that madman would try to conquer the entire Dream Realm if set free.
So Arthur devised a plan.
He stood at the edge of the island and then took a step forward, leaving Eurys and Azarax behind.
He could notice how the latter began to move forcefully from where he was nailed, trying to break free, but still, he couldn't do anything.
On the other hand, Regis had stayed on the island, and it was he who released Eurys from where he had been nailed for thousands and thousands of years.
After walking through the desert dunes for a few minutes, Arthur smiled slightly and stopped. Seconds later, the skeleton that was Eurys stopped beside him.
"That was very risky, what you did there," he said. Then he shrugged. "I would have done the same. Now tell me, little Djinn… what the hell is a Nightmare seed?"
Arthur let out a laugh as Regis entered his core.
Then, both continued walking for the rest of the day, while Arthur caught the fossil Eurys up to speed. Surprisingly to him, the member of the Nine had impressive senses, and just a few days after reaching the depths of the Hollow Mountains, they found themselves in front of a Second Nightmare seed.
Arthur stood still, admiring the rift in the fabric of reality. Hypnotized by the face of the Seed, Arthur felt it deep within his soul.
The magnetic, insidious call of the Nightmare.
He was going to answer it. He was going to become the first Sleeper to challenge and overcome a Second Nightmare. Not a single gram of doubt in his mind.
Arthur sighed and then looked at Eurys.
"Thank you for helping me find the seed. I hope you find your end wherever you go."
Eurys let out a laugh.
"My, oh my—am I so predictable? I suppose I should thank you, little Djinn, and…" He paused and turned to look at him. "You know, I didn't say this because Azarax was there, but Grey was a very mysterious and elusive figure in his time. Even so… I know something more about him."
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"I know this thanks to a member of my group. Grey and Weaver made a deal of some sort. I don't know what it was about nor what happened after. But perhaps it could be related to your reincarnation."
He nodded. "Thank you for that information, Eurys."
The skeleton of Eurys moved his skull in acknowledgment and turned around, walking toward the depths of the Underworld. As he did, he began humming a song:
One day the gods will fall
And reveal their lie
The one who sleeps will awaken
To devour his children
Oh, and we all
That which was forgotten
Will be remembered
And consume the world
Oh, all of us will dream
The nightmare
Of the Forgotten God…
Arthur stood watching as his figure faded into the distance. Eventually, he shrugged and took a set of steps forward.
The rift in the fabric of reality finally swallowed him, and soon he found himself alone in complete darkness, surrounded by absolute nothingness.
In this nothingness, he heard the voice of the Spell:
[Sleeper! Prepare for your Second Trial…]
[A singular brave one… welcome to the Nightmare!]