A few hours later, the clinical haze of the academy had been replaced by the sharp, biting wind of the upper floors. Asteria had showered – scrubbing the metaphorical scent of old grief from her skin.
She was being led through a restricted corridor by a woman who radiated a very particular kind of lethargy.
Master Jet, known to the world and the headlines as Soul Reaper Jet, walked with a slouch that suggested she was perpetually bored, yet every step she took was perfectly silent. She had short, raven-black hair and blue eyes like ice. Her flawless skin was smooth and as white as snow. The woman was dressed in a dark blue uniform with black leather boots.
"Ascended Asteria, I don't believe I've told you but I will be conducting your interview – for the second time. Relax, take a breather and let's see where you belong, shall we?"
She nodded; it was all she could do, really.
Sitting in a new room, clean yet still a chaotic mess, Jet hurriedly apologized. "Yeah, it's a mess. I didn't have long to clean up. So what?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing," Asteria waved it off, not knowing where it was going.
"Do you know where I came from, Asteria?"
'Is this an interview question? Aren't you supposed to be asking about me, not... yourself?'
"I don't know, no."
"The outskirts, just like you. Looks like another one of us survived and even became a Master in one go!" Jet smiled, her icy-blue eyes losing their coldness for a moment. "Anywho, I'm gonna ask some really basic questions because that's all I can be bothered for. Hope that doesn't upset you."
The interview went smoothly, for the most part.
"Where were you in the dream realm?"
"What did you see?"
"What nightmare creatures did you face or kill?"
"Were you alone?"
"Did you discover anything?"
"What was your Second Nightmare like?" Jet asked curiously. "It's my own curiosity rather than a mandatory question – though I'm sure you'll get people asking."
Asteria clenched her fists slightly. 'Cat's out of the bag now, huh?'
"Nothing much. Became a slave, got adopted by a lunatic revolutionist, and conspired with six saints to overthrow a supreme queen and prevent a kingdom's destruction." Her words grew heavier as she continued, surfacing the memories she would rather not revisit. "Stole the object that kept the kingdom running, looted the queen's vault, slew the queen within her own soul sea – became the reason for a new supreme's birth and left the nightmare."
Asteria took a deep breath before finishing. "Pretty rudimentary stuff, right?"
Jet closed her eyes for a moment, steadying her breath before slowly saying, "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear any of that. Good work! Though I have a gift for you – I'm not sure if it'll compare to what you got in that nightmare, though..."
Sliding a box from next to her desk in front of Asteria, she motioned to the front of it. "Put your thumb on that little sensor there."
Asteria hesitated for a moment before obliging and putting her finger on the sensor of the metal box. It buzzed for a few seconds, then flashed with a green light, opening the lid. Jet took out several objects – a communicator made out of glass, a memory chip with the government seal etched on its surface, and a small iron badge with two stars engraved into it.
Pushing them towards Asteria, she said in a pleasant tone, "Congratulations, Ascended Asteria. You are now a citizen. Of the seventh rank, no less."
"I'm not illegal anymore?" She mused, a smile creeping onto her lips. "Isn't the seventh rank too high for someone like me?"
"You don't know what you did, do you?" Jet replied almost instantly, disbelief painting her beautiful face. "You challenged a Second Nightmare alone – as a sleeper – and survived. Nobody in history has done that. You're the first."
"I'm quite special, aren't I?" A beaming smile finally made its way onto Asteria's face and all she felt was pride, happiness, and utterly deserved joy.
Master Jet wasn't quite finished, though. "Because of this, you were marked as an SS citizen, too! Congratulations for outdoing me there, too!"
Asteria stared at the cold woman in front of her for a long moment. "Yeah, that's cool, but what does that mean?"
"You're aware that the government – likewise the Great Clans – keep track of every Awakened, yes?"
Asteria slowly nodded. "That makes sense...?"
"Awakened are monitored because everyone wants to recruit the best of them. Talents need to be nurtured, and for that, they need to be recognized first. So the most promising Awakened receives a designation. Usually, it's SA, or simply S. Do you know what that means?"
"I also don't know what that means, Master Jet." She shook her head in response.
"SA means strategic asset. There's not a lot of people who are considered to be important enough to be assigned that. Having one means that you are viewed as a person who can potentially be important to the very survival of humanity, or at least make an impact on a global scale. Simply, it's either someone whose Aspect can be extremely useful to society or someone who has a high chance of becoming a master – or a saint in your case."
She grinned. "Currently, I'm not sure if you're aware, but the government and Great Clans have been very desperate to recruit you. I mean, look at your track record: a sleeper with a true name, besting a legacy in a duel with minimal training, and challenging a second nightmare and surviving! You're nothing short of amazing." Jet shook her head in her own self-disappointment. "It's a bit sad to say I never got this attention. I envy you quite a bit."
"Uh, okay..." Asteria started with a slow tone. "You should know not all attention is good attention. But now to my next question: what does SS stand for then?"
She sighed, cupping her face in her hands. "Above those who are SA are SSA, or SS for short. They are special strategic assets. What it means is that you are very likely to become a saint."
"Not to burst your bubble, but I don't want to see another nightmare for a long time, if ever. Let alone the dream realm." Asteria chuckled at this, though she knew it was unavoidable. "If I'm so special, do I get any special perks?" she asked greedily.
"That depends. What do you want?" Jet nodded with approval, understanding where she was coming from.
"A nice house, a comfy bed, good food, and a lot of money," she answered instantly, shocking even herself.
Their conversation dragged out for a long time, almost forgetting it was an interview.
"Do you need a Citadel?" Jet cautiously asked.
'Right...' She forgot about the line in her runes after she cleared the nightmare.
[Dream Anchor: Theatre of Crystal.]
"I... should be fine. I'll just need to do a lot of housekeeping if I want to have a safe Citadel..." she lamented, her tone heavy. "There was practically an army of awakened, fallen, and corrupted nightmare creatures where the seed was – and where I assume my Citadel is now."
"Do you need help with it?" Jet asked, worry lacing her voice. "Even for you, dealing with that alone will be troublesome, if not very dangerous."
"Thanks for the offer, but I think it'll be fine – I could always think of it as extra experience dealing with it..." she lampooned, chuckling at the end of her sentence.
"If you say so," Jet sighed, resigned to let her keep her stubbornness. "I have one last piece of advice for you, given what I know from talking with you today. I don't think you should get involved with the Great Clans."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Don't you ever wonder why there are too few saints?"
"Not really. Why? I assumed it was hard to succeed in the third nightmare."
She shook her head with a solemn look. "To become a master, you need the right people to help; to become a saint, you need the right people to not be in your way."
"They're stopping people from getting stronger?" Asteria was shocked, nearly shouting at the woman in front of her.
"Yes. It's cruel, isn't it?" Jet cast her gaze to the window to peer outside. "All of these people are suffering, yet the strong can't get stronger due to those leading from the shadows. It's a horrible fate."
'No kidding.'