Chapter 37: Friendly Monster?
[Hugo's pov]
Hugo shifted his wings slightly as he observed the four trembling sleepers nearby.
In his haste to encounter other humans, he had overlooked the fact that his current forms were far from ordinary among normal people which lead to this current situation...
He sighed inwardly considering how best to handle the situation at hand.
After a moment of silence, the only sound that emerged from his beak was a low, hesitant:
"Hello..."
This caused the group of sleepers to tremble even more as they gripped their memories harder.
"I am human..."
Hugo was on the verge of pressing his Omnitrix to return to his normal form when he abruptly recalled the fact that his human body no longer existed.
"This is my aspect ability... My flaw causes my appearance to be problematic.." this was a lie of course but revealing that he had lost his human form while returning from the dead was something no one would believe. Even in the bizzare world of the nightmare spell.
A flaw however could be anything which should be enough to believe.
The leader of the cohort, a young woman with dirty blond hair tightened her grip on her sword and spoke with uncertainty.
"How can we be sure you're not deceiving us?"
Hugo looked down at her, his expression remaining steady and focused.
"If I intended to harm you then all of you would be dead by now."
The sleeper tensed at his words but appeared to agree with that thought process.
He had a point—a terrifying creature of such magnitude would not have attempted conversation.
"Then... summon a memory!" one of the young men behind her exclaimed, his bow aimed directly at Hugo.
"Very well" Hugo replied before willing the [Proto-Tech armor] to materialize around him in a cascade of white sparks.
The armor appeared somewhat comical given his size yet it seemed to soothe the group slightly.
"Does this suffice as proof?" Hugo inquired.
"... What's your name?" the blond-haired girl countered.
"I'm Hugo. I arrived here during the winter solstice and I am currently searching for my friends."
"...I'm Sid. This is Shim, Gorn, and Gantry. We are hunters from the outer settlement" she explained, gesturing toward her frightened companions.
Hugo titled his head a little "Outer settlement?"
Sid nodded. "Since you're new, I will need to explain a lot of things to you But before that, could you... do something about your appearance?"
Hugo paused, uncertain which form to assume.
A Galvan was too small while his base form and a Piscciss Volann were out of the question.
That left his Pyronite, Kineceleran, and Tatermand forms.
But Before he could decide, his Omnitrix emitted a red glow and a series of beeping sounds.
'Oh no...'
In a flash of red light, his form reverted to the familiar, terrifying shape of a Chimera Sui Generis.
"It's complicated—please don't ask" he said, causing the shocked sleepers to exchange wary glances...
"Very well... We can manage this... if you hand over the awakened monster you killed."
Sid glanced at the broken body nearby.
Hugo shrugged . "As you wish," he replied, lifting the dead panther and tossing it toward them.
Truthfully, he wanted the soul shards but gaining the trust of other humans seemed more advantageous for the time being.
The cohort of sleepers began skinning the deceased nightmare creature, harvesting its soul shards and preparing its hide.
Meanwhile, Hugo decided to inspect his Omnitrix, which would require approximately five minutes to recharge.
He summoned the spell runes focusing on his innate ability:
First Imprint: [Inactive]
Where the Chimera Sui Generis should have been, [Inactive] indicated that the imprint was currently unavailable.
Losing an imprint slot was frustrating but there was little he could do about it now.
Second Imprint: [Galvan]
Third Imprint: [Piscciss Volann]
Fourth Imprint: [Pyronite]
Fifth Imprint: [Tatermand]
Sixth Imprint: [Kineceleran]
Seventh Imprint: [Blessed Herald]
Eighth Imprint: [Empty]
Ninth Imprint: [Empty]
Tenth Imprint: [Empty]
Hugo summoned the runes for the seventh imprint:
Imprint Race: [Blessed Herald]
Imprint Rank: Awakened
Imprint Class: Devil
Imprint Description: [Born on a forgotten shore, they knew no light, no divinity and no salvation. Among all the noble races, they are the most vile and cruel to ever walk the realms. Even Their spirit god was no better. For it was the vilest and most thieving of it's kind, hated by both the gods and [unknown].]
Imprint Attributes: [Flight], [Thick Skin], [Greedy Eyes], [Divinity]
Imprint Abilities: [Shadow], [Theft]
[Flight] Attribute Description: [The Blessed Herald were born in the skies.]
[Thick Skin] Attribute Description: [Only death could pierce their skin.]
[Greedy Eyes] Attribute Description: [A Blessed Herald's eyes are drawn to shiny objects.]
[Divinity] attribute description : [You are the only one of your race following the path of ascension]
[Shadow] Ability Description: [A Blessed Herald can use their own shadow to conceal themselves.]
[Theft] Ability Description: [A Blessed Herald's ability to steal knows no bounds.]
Hugo found this particular imprint... peculiar, to say the least.
Firstly there was it's descriptions slandering the entire race and including a god of the imprints race which was unlike the usual imprints descriptions.
It also mentioned [unknown] which puzzled him greatly.
What could be so dreadful that the nightmare spell itself refused to translate ?
'On second thought, I'd rather not know ' he reflected studying the runes with a cautious expression.
He was uncertain how to feel about being able to transform into something despised by the gods and whatever the [unknown] represented.
Something told him it was a bad idea.
But then again, the gods were dead so there was no one to punish his heresy.
'Its abilities are useful, though...' he mused. [Shadow] was undoubtedly practical, especially considering his own shadow had unique properties.
[Theft], however, was more enigmatic. As an awakened ability, it ought to be powerful—but stealing? He couldn't think of anything worth stealing in the dream realm, or at least that's what he believed.
'maybe I could steal blood or souls?' he thought scratching his tentacles...
'No, that would be too overpowered for an awakened ability...'
Then again, he was already exceptionally strong for his rank so it wasn't entirely out of the question...
Lost in thought, Hugo failed to notice that the cohort had finished harvesting the soul shards and meat from the corpse.
Their leader, Sid, cleared her throat softly to capture his attention.
"Thank you for allowing us to keep the body. We are returning to the settlement now..." She hesitated before continuing "But... bringing you along would be risky due to your size. You would attract many of the stronger abominations..."
Hugo nodded, understanding her concern.
"That won't be an issue" he assured her.
Shim raised an eyebrow, frowning slightly
"It won't?"
Suddenly, his Omnitrix glowed blue once more.
Hugo allowed a slight smile, causing the cohort to shiver from the sight.
Then he pressed the two buttons on the side of the Omnitrix causing the dial to shoot up. Hugo cycled through his imprints eventually selecting the Galvan hologram and slapped it.
In a burst of blue light, his body morphed and shrank until he became a gray creature barely a foot tall.
The sleeper's eyes widened in disbelief. The once fifteen-foot tall monster was now only a foot tall.
"This should be acceptable!" Hugo declared, hopping onto the four-armed warrior's shoulders with a long jump.
"I'll ride here, thank you very much!."
The young man looked at him with confusion before nodding and accepting his fate.
Sid wore a bewildered expression before finally nodding and speaking in a low voice.
"Very well..."
———
The journey to the castle proved exceedingly dull for Hugo.
The cohort of four sleepers expertly navigated the dark city's streets, skillfully avoiding dangerous abominations.
They also spoke very little, as their voices could attract unwanted attention which frustrated Hugo since he had many questions for them.
He wanted to learn about this place, the whereabouts of his friends and numerous other details.
But for now, he had to wait.
And wait he did, occupying himself by examining his Galvan's new abilities.
Imprint Abilities: [Cognitive Parasitism], [Lost arts]
[Cognitive Blessing] Ability Description: [You may bestow knowledge upon other creatures.]
[Lost arts] Ability Description: [You have mastered the lost arts of the Galvans.]
Both abilities were support-oriented, which suited Hugo fine—he was a jack-of-all-trades, after all.
The first ability would facilitate information sharing among allies while the second remained a mystery.
When he activated it, foreign knowledge flooded his mind, filling it with words and teachings he had never encountered before yet suddenly comprehended perfectly.
'So that's how it works,' he realized, his lips curling upward as he grasped the essence of Galvanic teachings.
It was a fusion of technology and sorcery.
'No, not exactly... More like transforming sorcery into technology!'
Indeed, the Galvans, the most intelligent lifeforms in the ancient dream realm, had devised their own unique form of creating technology and sorcery.
A sorcery that converted objects into technology through an advanced runic language known only to the Galvans.
'This will be useful later...' he thought, deactivating the ability for the time being.
They had finally reached the outer settlement.
———
The outer settlement was a haphazard collection of structures situated just outside the magnificent castle. The man-made buildings appeared crude and poorly constructed yet strangely, the atmosphere was not one of despair—instead, it was filled with a strange sense of hope.
Hugo found this more than a little unusual considering the situation these sleepers were in.
Everyone was engaged in some form of work—repairing, training, or managing the area—to combat their circumstances.
When one of the sleepers spotted Sid and her cohort, a chorus of cheers erupted.
"Lady Sid has returned!"
"They've hunted another one!"
"Glory!"
Sid and her cohort distributed the loot they had acquired—excluding the soul shards—and promptly headed toward one of makeshift houses.
Hugo, still perched on Gantry's shoulder, cleared his throat.
"I believe it's time you answered my questions."
Sid sighed as she settled onto her bed.
"Where do I even start..."
Over the next several minutes, Sid shared everything she knew about the place.
The Forgotten Shore was an uncharted death zone of the dream realm—which he had already suspected—the bright castle was ruled by tyrant named Gunlaug then she went on to explain the geography of the labyrinth, the dark city, and the fallen abominations lurking within.
Lastly, she mentioned something that stunned Hugo: a gateway existed here.
It was the towering crimson structure far beyond the dark city, guarded by a fallen terror.
Hugo sighed, circling slightly with his tiny legs—a gesture that appeared cute to the cohort of sleepers— though no one dared to mention it.
"I appreciate the information but there's still something I need to know," he said, hesitating slightly. "By any chance, are you familiar with the names Sunless, Nephis, and Cassia?"
The four sleepers in the room widened their eyes in sheer astonishment.
"You know Lady Nephis?!" Shim, the group's healer, exclaimed.
"She's here?! Where?"
"She left" the four-armed man stated.
"What?!"
Sid coughed softly, urging everyone to calm down.
"Allow me to explain... Lady Nephis, Sunless and Cassia arrived here about two months ago. She appeared out of nowhere and quickly began hunting for the outer settlement providing us with food free of charge. Eventually, she cultivated the entire area allowing all the sleepers that could not pay the castle entrance fee to survive which is why everyone respects her a great deal."
She paused to catch her breath for a moment .
Hugo felt a heavy weight finally lift from his shoulders.
His friends had made it. He didn't know how, but they had crossed the treacherous dark sea, spanning an entire continent length and reached the dark city safely.
"Where are they now?" Hugo added
Sid's expression hardened slightly before she replied, "About two weeks ago, she and her cohort—including Sunless and Cassia—set out with Huntress Athena, Sir Kai, and Sir Caster. She said she was embarking on an expedition to bring us salvation but That was all she shared. She provided no further details..." Her tone seemed a little hesitant as if wanting to say that nephis had abandoned them.
Hugo frowned. He may not have known Nephis for long but she didn't seem the type to abandon people like this —or so he thought.
These days, Hugo was uncertain about many things.
"Well, this is certainly... a hassle."
Now now that he knew the fate of his friends, Hugo wasn't sure what to do next.
Should he traverse the Forgotten Shore in search of his friends? As an Awakened, and one of the strongest at that, given his array of abilities, the journey should be manageable.
But the dream realm was treacherous; even Saints could perish easily if they weren't cautious.
In theory, his best option was to remain here and wait for their return. He was confident the trio had a solid plan for escaping this hell or at least, remaining alive...
'Wait... Now that I think about it, I've been dead for over two months...'
Hugo frowned slightly, realizing he had spent a considerable amount of time deceased.
The time he had spent playing cat and mouse with the creature of nothingness might have been more then a few days and there was also the time he had spent as a corrupted creature or to be precise a creature existing in the middle of profanity and Divinity.
Even his resurrection by the Omnitrix might have taken sometime...
Eventually It was Sid who eventually pulled him from his thoughts.
"So, what do you plan to do now?"
Hugo smiled faintly, recognizing that the girl was attempting to recruit him. She had witnessed his power and knew he would be a valuable asset to whatever cause they have going on in here..
"II'll stay here for now, though you may need to do me another favor."
Sid sighed again and raised an eyebrow.
"And what might that be?"
"Nothing major, really. Just inform everyone here not to panic if they see a fifteen-foot monster wandering about. If someone attacks me, I will not hesitate to defend myself, you understand that right?"
Of course, he had no intention of harming anyone who mistook him for a nightmare creature, nor had he claimed he would.
It was a play on words he had learned from a certain treacherous shadow.
Sid swallowed before regarding him with a serious expression. "Very well," she said, her tone firm. "If you're interested in joining a cohort, we'll always welcome you. You may also establish a dwelling near the hill."
The girl stood up gesturing to her cohort to follow
"We'll inform the others of your... unique situation."
With that, she and her cohort swiftly exited the hut.
Hugo sighed. 'That went better than expected...'
After a couple of minutes of doing nothing, Hugo retreated into his soul sea.
There was much he still needed to know..
———
Back in his soul sea, Hugo resumed his human form—his true self—which brought him a sense of comfort.
Gazing at his newly streamlined Omnitrix, he spoke calmly.
"Hello, Omnitrix. I have a few questions..."
He said activating the Omnitrix ai.
[Affirmative...]
"Firstly how do DNA chambers function? And how many of them are there?"
[There are seven DNA chambers scattered across the Omnitrix's inner realm which is integrated with your soul sea. Each chamber contains a different number of Imprints of Nobel creatures of varying ranks.]
The last two words caused Hugo to frown in surprise.
"Wait, different ranks? You mean the imprints won't all be at my rank?"
Previously, he had assumed that noble creatures could not be dormant due to their inherent nature, which was why the Omnitrix transformed him from dormant to Awakened whenever he shifted forms. This theory might still be true but there was clearly mmore details involved.
[Yes. The Omnitrix DNA chambers are split into seven tiers each corresponding to a certain rank. The Awakened chamber has already been unlocked and is currently being cleansed by the host. The remaining chambers contain Ascended, Transcendent, Supreme, Sacred, and Divine DNA samples.]
Hugo staggered back struggling to catch his breath.
"What?! You mean there are multiple divine and sacred creatures within my soul sea?!"
The mere idea of housing one was already terrifying but the thought of hosting multiple beings within him was...
[Correction: The Omnitrix contains DNA samples, not the actual Nobel creatures]
He sighed pinching the bridge of his nose as he surveyed the blue maze of his soul with apprehension.
There was a reason he was dreading the Omnitrix words so much
He should have been overjoyed at having such a powerful arsenal of creature , but he wasn't.
Because of one alarming fact.
"How many of the samples are corrupted?" he asked, fearing the response.
The Omnitrix took longer to answer this time.
[As of now, there is 1,000,903 corrupted samples with only nine being uncorrupted samples within the Omnitrix.]
He frowned before speaking again.
The thought of having over a million pseudo trial to clear was not promising at all but that wasn't what caught his attention
"But I only have seven imprints... What are the other two?"
[Human DNA and Celestialsapien]
He swallowed hard.
"Which rank is the second one?"
[Divine.]
"So there is one uncorrupted god..." The thought offered a glimmer of hope but he still needed more information.
"Why are the Omnitrix samples corrupted?"
The Omnitrix's voice heightened as it responded:
[Information locked...]
Hugo sighed. "Of course it is..."
He paused for a moment, observing the endless blue maze before retracing his steps to the DNA room.
His final question was one he already suspected the answer to but he needed to ask nonetheless.
"Is there any way to regain my human body? The human DNA sample is still within you, correct?"
[Human DNA is available, but the host's original body has been damaged beyond the Omnitrix's current repair capabilities.]
He sighed, his eyes growing heavy with fatigue. "Is there any way for me to regain my body?"
[Ascension.]
The Omnitrix instantly responded this time , its tone sharp and strangely... Excited?
It seemed the omnitrix ai was eager to ascend in ranks for some reason..
"That makes two of us..."
He offered a faint smile.
Realizing that if he wished to reclaim his body, he would need to conquer the second nightmare.
So Even if the sleepers of the forgotten shore managed to defeat the terror of the crimson spire and access the gateway, he would not be able to return home.
His body there was dead.
His shoulder slummed slightly as he asked
"Suppose I conquer the second nightmare and ascend. Would you be able to restore my human form?"
[Yes. The Omnitrix, upon unlocking its ascended potential can repair the genetic function of the human DNA sample.]
That was it.
He had obtained the answers he sought.
Though these answers were... disquieting, to say the least.