Zevar dreamt of a sea.
Not your typical kind of sea though.
Green torrents of a water-like substance filled his view and spanned to the horizon.
And there, where the sun would normally rise or dawn, depending on where the cardinal directions were, not one—but seven… seven different suns floated, as if stopped in time.
'What the actual…'
Suddenly, the suns moved, each in a different direction.
The waters grew frantic, as if something that they didn't quite like was happening.
In an instant, countless years flew by and a jagged terrain, filled with small hills, appeared out of nowhere.
Zevar thought he noticed some movement behind a particularly tall hill, but in the next moment, time seemed to slow down, and then stop.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your first trial…]
'What the actual fuck is this?'
Zevar looked around him, noting that he was surrounded by small hills.
'I'm probably somewhere in the middle.'
It wasn't a baseless thought, he could still see the tallest hill and it was about twenty meters from his spot.
Guessing that the floating island was about fifty meters in length, that put him somewhere in the middle.
'Right. I should probably steer clear from that place.'
If he was right, and he usually was, the movement he noticed wasn't done by a dormant creature.
Zevar, however, was not panicked.
While his circumstances were not like what the First Nightmares were supposed to be. Usually, freshly chosen aspirants would find themselves in a scenario that presented them with a fair amount of agency: they would become members of privileged or warrior casts, with plenty of access to necessary weapons to at least try to tackle any conflict.
Starting out in the middle of a green ocean with nowhere to go was not exactly common, but Zevar didn't lose hope.
The Spell, after all, was as much about challenge as it was about balance.
'At least, that's what they all say.'
Trying to quench his hope, Zevar quickly composed himself and summoned his runes.
Name: Zevar.
True Name: —
Rank: Aspirant.
Soul Core: Dormant.
Memories: —
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Ember of Divinity], [Grand Machinery], [Timeless].
Aspect: [Off Time].
Aspect Description: [This doesn't make sense, but you exist outside time.]
Speechless, Zevar stared at his runes, trying to understand what he was missing.
"This doesn't make sense, but you exist outside time."
"This doesn't make sense, but you exist outside time."
After murmuring his aspect description twice, he slowly looked up.
'What do you mean this doesn't make sense? If the Spell doesn't understand my ability, then how the hell am I supposed to know what it does?'
Zevar wanted to shout and cool his anger, but instead he closed his eyes and breathed.
'Right. For all I know, I'm surrounded by countless Nightmare Creatures from all sides. I can't gather unwanted attention.'
Taking a few more breaths, Zevar slowly calmed himself.
'Fine. If the damned spell doesn't want to help me, I will do everything by myself. It's not like something's changed…'
Suddenly, Zevar heard a muted growl and realised that he was hungry, which led to him remembering that he wasn't in his own body and looked down.
He was wearing a simple dark grey tunic and pants, both made of some rough material that didn't feel particularly comfortable against his skin.
His feet were bare, which explained why he could feel the coarse ground beneath them. Despite his hunger and discomfort, Zevar's mind remained sharp as he assessed his situation.
'At least, I got a good body match.'
In fact, as Zevar looked himself over more, he had trouble finding any differences.
'This is creepy.'
Shaking his head, Zevar pushed the odd similarity to the back of his mind and looked up.
'Ok. Let's do this.'
With a decision made, Zevar slowly made his way up to the tallest hill that surrounded him, which wasn't that tall, really.
As he climbed, his bare feet gripping the rough terrain, he kept his movements slow and deliberate to minimise any noise.
'Kill some Nightmare Creatures, get a good appraisal from the spell, and return back.'
Zevar considered how things might go perfectly, though past experience had taught him that even the simplest plans could fail. Still, if there was one thing he excelled at, it was adapting.
'Man, getting bounced around from family to family every seven months was like my aspect ability. Pretty wild how I never managed to shake that pattern though, huh?'
Suddenly, Zevar stumbled and almost fell back.
'Wait. Isn't this my seventh month at the Valor family? Fuck.'
Even though the Valors were almost entirely absent during those seven months, Saint Jest, which Zevar quickly grew to like, was always there.
'Come to think of it, it's thanks to him that I managed to really master swordsmanship. None of my instructors could even compare to the old man…'
Despite being able to count the times he had contact with his latest family on one hand, and still have three fingers to spare, Zevar found himself feeling sad and nostalgic.
'Ah. I guess it is what it is.'
When he finally reached the crest, Zevar dropped low to the ground, careful not to silhouette himself against the bizarre suns.
As he peered over the crest, his eyes widened at what lay before him.
'Fuck me with a hippogriff and call me satiated…'
There, in front of him, four Nightmare Creatures stood… still?
They were humanlike figures—genderless, ageless, featureless—except for their mouths, which were tightly sewn shut with a black, glinting thread.
'Creepy.'
It was as if they were frozen in time.
Zevar couldn't believe his luck.
This would be the easiest First Nightmare—he'd just clear it and leave this place.
'I can probably walk in and kill them, right?'
But as he slowly made his way towards the abominable creatures, he finally saw movement.
'Crap!'
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Here's a discord link for those who want to join and talk. [https://discord.com/invite/NJ3WV9RVgR]
I'll probably upload some chapters ahead on Patreon, but that's for later.