Learning runes was a boring and exhausting process.
At first, he thought that simply learning what the symbols meant would be enough, as his flaw would help him to never forget them. Basically a dictionary inside his head. But upon beginning reading, he realised things weren't so easy. Not that it couldn't be.
However, learning the language was far better than walking around with a dictionary, even if it were in his head.
He starts with the basics: scanning the table of contents for chapters on rune origins, basic symbols, and grammar.
In the Shadow Slave universe, runes are an ancient scrpit—esotetic and symbolic, often representing concepts like power, fate, corruption, or divinity rather than phonetic sounds. In fact, in some cases one rune could be significant to more than one thing at the same time, often changing depending on the region or the intention.
Memorizing some of them, Otto called his own runes.
"Ok, so this first one…"
Name: Sylas.
This one was easy enough.
Knowing from the novel, that Sunny's name always came first. He knew right away that this was his name. Even so, he was a bit disappointed.
"Damn, why did it have to be Sylas and not Otto? Otto is way cooler." He shook his head, and kept reading.
True Name: Fate Eater.
Rank: Dreamer.
The second one was also a breeze. As it was something every Sleeper had, it was simple to find it in the book.
But his True Name… that had been a challenge.
Of course, he already knew his True Name. And although Fate never changed, the Eater had many interpretations.
For what the book said, that rune alone could mean; Stealer, Killer, Breaker, Eraser, and Binder.
Knowing that True Names meant more than it looked. He pondered what it could actually mean.
Should he eat fate? Kill it? Break it? Erase it? Bind it?
'That's too complicated. Perhaps I should just eat it, I am hungry anyways…'
Giggling at his own bad joke, Otto shook his head, dispelling the intrusive thoughts and continued.
Weaver's Lineage:[1/7]
Fate Collected:[324/2000]
As he suspected, he had indeed inherited Weaver Lineage. This was strange, shouldn't only one of his lineages exist? Also, does that mean he doesn't have a core? That would explain why he never saw one when his vision splitted.
However, what was even stranger was the fact that he had already got one, not only that, he somehow accumulated three hundred Fates.
But, how? Was it for killing the Mad Prince? That was the only thing it made sense, still, somehow he felt that it wasn't all.
'If I got [Weaver's Blood] as my first piece, then, what will be the next? Will it follow the novel progression or will it be random?'
There was no way to know.
"Guess I will have to discover for myself." He murmured.
Memories:[Weaver's Mask]
Followers:[Silk]
There was no [Echos] section. Replaced by this [Followers] one. That confirmed, Silk really wasn't an Echo. She was a complete being, one that truly traveled in time. Probably the first one of her species.
'She should win a prize for that.'
Focusing in the [Weaver's Mask] a new set of runes appeared. This one, a little harder to translate.
[Weaver's Mask]
Memory Rank:Transcend.
Memory Tier: III.
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: [Weaver had many adorers. They saw him as a mystery to be solved. Many tried to find him, to drink from his knowledge. But to no avail. As Fate, Weaver remained uncaring and inevitable,regardless of one's virtuous efforts.]
Memory Enchantments: [Mantle of Lies.]
'An transcend memory!?'
He was shocked. That was probably the strongest memory someone had ever got from in their First Nightmare.
Although it pale in comparison to Sunny's Mask, this one wasn't bad. [Mantle of Lies] was no different from the original, which already made it good and its description was totally different. It didn't matter much, but as a reader, new lore was always welcome.
'Finally we are getting in the good things.'
Attributes: [Fateless], [Mark of Profanity], [Child of Spiders], [-------]
Just for a glance Otto could see which attribute was his, and which was Sylas's.
[Child of Spiders] Attribute Description: "You carry a faint stench of our past life. Spiders recognize you as their own."
Raising an eyebrow, Otto raised his good arm and sniffed himself.
"It isn't that bad."
He had taken a shower before coming here. Sure, he was rolling in the ground a few hours ago, but that wouldn't be enough to have a stench, right?
He stopped to think for a second,
"That must be where the spider powers came from."
At least one mysterium solved. Now he knew that he wasn't a freak. Still, he couldn't help but notice that it was pretty similar to Sunny's [Child of Shadows]. Would he grow into becoming a [Lord of Spiders]?
He shivered from the thought. Only imagining him walking around with an army of Spider makes his skin crawl. Not that he disliked them, but, well, Spiders were gone, and the ones there were left were completely corrupted, not a share of sanity in their mind.
"Silk is more than enough for me. Imagine having two of them… God, I don't even want to imagine." Shaking his head, he continued.
[Mark of Profanity] Attribute Description: "You bear a faint scent of the profane, as though someone briefly touched by it once, a long time ago."
'Another similar one…'
This one was a straight up copy, but at the same time, utterly different. In the novel, [Mark of Divinity] was something that gave Sunny access to some places that, normally, people wouldn't be able to. Like the Nameless Temple. Otto remembered that, to Jester, the temple seemed impenetrable. With its invisible guardian always watching. But to Sunny, this invisible guardian, never bared his fangs. All thanks to his Attribute.
So, if his is the complete opposite, it meant that it would give him access to some places as well. Ones that even the novel never showed before. A bright smile bloomed on his face.
"That's great, simply the best news until now."
He was happy to be able to see the world beyond the novel. With a new found optimism, he read the next one.
[Fateless] Attribute Description: "The strings of fate rejected you, leaving you as a being without direction. Bound to live in solitude."
He frowned.
"Wait… What? How can that even be possible?"
The Spell was created by Weaver. Because of that, it used one's Fate as an anchor to attach itself to someone.
That's why, when Sunny lost his Fate, he also lost the Nightmare Spell. Then, how was he, a Fateless being, able to not only be infected with the Spell, but also, be bestowed a True Name? No, better than that, how was he even Fateless?
"That doesn't make any sense."
Otto broke his head thinking about that, so much so, that his stomach began to growl. Making him realize just how tired and hungry he was. Being pumped with adrenaline until now, Otto didn't feel a thing.
He looked around, spotting a vending machine close to the main door. He stared at all of those treats as if they were his prey.
Getting up, he wasted no time and rushed towards it. Unfortunately, he didn't have any credit. So… well, let's just say that he "borrowed" them. Surely he would pay for them later, surely…
In no time, the chips and candy bars together with soda were completely gone. He burped.
"That was great. I was feeling a little weak."
Now with some food in his stomach, Otto once again pondered about [Fateless].
It was really an odd thing, but remembering what he saw in that Golden World, a theory formed inside his mind.
After getting his memory back, it wasn't hard to guess that the Golden world was actually the tapestry of Fate itself. To why the Spell had taken him there, instead of the endless void between Dreams and Reality?
In any case, he remembered when his vision split, showing what he could guess it was his Soul Sea and how similar they both were.
"So, is it because of my Soul Sea? Is my Soul Sea some sort of Anchor for the Spell? Something akin to Fate?" He thought about that for a long time. "Or do I have a personal Spell? Something similar but not yet complete?"
That thought made him shiver. That would explain why his Spell didn't translate properly for him. But it would also mean an even more terrible thing.
"Can I even earn memories?" He sighed, laying on his chair. "Fuck, why does this have to be so complicated?"
Straightening his posture, eyes once again focused on the runes.
"Whatever, I have time to think about that later. Now, let's see the last one."
This one was the hardest to decipher. Its meaning wasn't in any of the books. Neither was something he could recognize. So, to make some sense of it, he read the Description and decided on a cool name for it.
[Inexistent] Attribute Description: "You shouldn't exist in this world."
Even after reading and re-reading, he couldn't even begin to think about what it meant.
Sure, it stated the obvious. He was an alien in this world, well, his mind was at least.
So it was only natural that he shouldn't exist. But, so what? He existed and this world would have to deal with it.
"The description is too vague though… I just hope it isn't something bad."
Of all the attributes, he could tell, this one was the only one, who truly belonged to him.