When Loki woke up, he found himself in a place between reality and illusion. Countless stars hung at impossible distances and upon looking closely, between the stars ran threads of silver so fine they might have been spun from silk and these threads formed an incomprehensible net, which Loki knew instantly was the Spell.
Loki had read about the spell in the book, but now seeing it here in person was still a surreal experience. Though his mind was not focused on the spell, right now he was waiting for his appraisal. And as if hearing his thoughts, the spell's voice rang in his head.
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
[A frightened boy destined to die, arrived at a quiet town with only a half-stupid cat by his side. There he learned that nothing is ever truly as simple as it seems. In his quest to stay alive he survived horrors he could neither name nor understand, he fled from death more than once and relaying on his luck and the grace of an old hunter, he managed to avoid his fate. Upon the death of the hunter at his own hands the boys fear slowly turned into resolve, he confronted the Wicked Child of Heart that fed on the rot within the hearts of the living, offering himself as bait, he managed to slay The Seed of Evil. As an Ant you have managed to changed the Fate's of countless others. You have achieved the impossible.]
[You have slain 217 Dormant Beasts: Blighted Men.]
[You have slain 64 Awakened Beasts: Blighted Men.]
[You have slain an Awakened Demon: Demented Owlbear.]
[You have slain an Awakened Devil: Poisonous Wyvern.]
[You have received a Memory: Poisonous Edge.]
[You have slain an Awakened Human: Gehrman, the Hunter.]
[You have slain an Awakened Terror: Seed of Evil.]
[You have received a Memory: Thorns of the Heart.]
"hmm?" looking at the runes Loki was surprised he hadn't expected the Seed of Evil to be a creature Blessed by the Heart God, for a moment Loki was a little worried, but then he realized that the Seed was corrupted so it shouldn't matter even if he killed it. In fact he should even be rewarded for his commendable service.
Still this should be the end of the appraisal, Loki thought smugly, he should receive his final appraisal, a true name and hopefully a divine aspect now, but that is not what happened.
Suddenly the stars flickered and the void around him trembled for a few moments then silence fell again. Loki had an extremely terrible premonition, what could possibly make even the spell tremble and like always the spell's voice echoed in his head.
[You have slain a Corrupted Child of Heart.]
[You have spilled Divine Blood.]
[Heart God stirs in his eternal slumber.]
[Your soul bears the mark of divinity.]
[The Heart God sends you a gift from beyond his grave.]
[Your soul bears the stench of The Great Old Ones. You are a Child of Mysteries.]
[The Heart God curses you from beyond his grave.]
The moment Loki heard these words, something inside him ruptured.
A soundless detonation ripped through him, folding his consciousness in half. His vision shattered into static. And then the pain began. And this was pain beyond mortal comprehension it was not the pain of nerves tearing nor like the pain of broken bones or torn skin.
This was pain that rewrote him. It sank into his being like a cold, ancient flame that clawed through his soul with the slow and methodical cruelty of a surgeon peeling flesh from bone. Every heartbeat sent a fresh surge of agony through him until he no longer knew if he was screaming or not.
He felt something inside his chest twist, as though invisible hands were wringing his soul like a soaked cloth.
"Stop—" Loki tried to shout but no voice came out.
Then another wave hit but this time it was different. This time it effected his mind, bringing forth the parts of him he had hide even from himself. His memories flickered like torn film reels before his eyes, every sin he had ever committed lie before him along with all the his doubts.
"Someone… please…"in desperation Loki tried to shout again nut just like last time there was no voice.
Loki had never begged before in his entire life. But this was different, this was death masquerading as pain. Loki knew if something didn't change quickly he'd die. It was like an instinctive certainty.
But no matter how much Loki begged the pain continued, just as he was about to die something changed. Though Loki was already unconscious at this point, he did not know what happened.
[Your pleas have been heard.]
[The Gods and The Great Old Ones are dead.]
[You are a Child of Mysteries.]
[The Lord Of Mysteries stirs in his eternal slumber.]
[The Lord Of Mysteries casts his gaze upon you.]
[The Lord Of Mysteries removes the Curse Of Heart from your being.]
[You have received The Lord Of Mysteries blessing. "Go forth my child."]
[The Lord of Mysteries returns to the embrace of Lady Death.]
----
When Loki regained his consciousness he found himself once again in the void. He had a weird feeling like something was wrong but he couldn't put his finger on it, he could tell that something had happened to him, he clearly remembered already waking up in the void and looking at the grand sorcery of the Nightmare spell but he couldn't remember losing consciousness and as soon as he tried to recall what had happened he was hit with a splitting headache.
So Loki moved on from what had happened to him, he would eventually figure it out.
Loki thought about his appraisal and as soon as he did a string of runes appeared before him:
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
[A frightened boy destined to die, arrived at a quiet town with only a half-stupid cat by his side. There he learned that nothing is ever truly as simple as it seems. In his quest to stay alive he survived horrors he could neither name nor understand, he fled from death more than once and relaying on his luck and the grace of an old hunter, he managed to avoid his fate. Upon the death of the hunter at his own hands the boys fear slowly turned into resolve, he confronted the Wicked Child of Heart that fed on the rot within the hearts of the living, offering himself as bait, he managed to slay The Seed of Evil. As an Ant you have managed to changed the Fate's of countless others. You have achieved the impossible.]
[You have slain 217 Dormant Beasts: Blighted Men.]
[You have slain 64 Awakened Beasts: Blighted Men.]
[You have slain an Awakened Demon: Demented Owlbear.]
[You have slain an Awakened Devil: Poisonous Wyvern.]
[You have received a Memory: Poisonous Edge.]
[You have slain an Awakened Human: Gehrman, the Hunter.]
[You have slain an Awakened Terror: Seed of Evil.]
[You have received a Memory: Thorns of the Heart.]
[You have received The Lord Of Mysteries blessing.]
[Final appraisal: Glorious. You defied fate.]
[Dreamer Loki, receive your boon!]
[You have been bestowed a True Name: The King in Yellow and Black.]
Reading this Loki let out a sigh of relief, then he looked at the blessing he had received shouldn't Shadow God be the God of Mysteries as well, who the hell was this Lord of Mysteries guy anyway. Still Loki didn't linger on the thought for long because he was now sure that his aspect would evolve into a Divine one. And in a world ruled by strength that would be his biggest reliance.
Then looking at his true name, Loki was left scratching his head, he didn't know what the name symbolized but he sure as hell knew that it sounded cool. And not to forget a true name would help him in a lot of situations.
[Your Aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve aspect?]
"Yes" Loki thought internally.
[Dormant Aspect Circus Performer is evolving....]
[New Aspect acquired.]
[Aspect Name: Lord of Mysteries.]
[Aspect Rank: Divine.]
All his struggles and pain had been worth it.
Loki knew that his aspect rank would dictate the rest of his life.
And with a divine rank aspect his potential was limitless. Just the ability to form additional soul cores would make him stranger then most people. And this was the only way he could stand against other divine aspect users.
"Now for the aspect" Loki thought.
Aspect Name: [Lord of Mysteries.]
Aspect Rank: [Divine.]
Aspect Description: [Before anything existed there was only the boundless, eternal Void. Then from the dark, ever changing Void was born "The Flame of Desire". With a purpose in mind, The Flame of Desire used the Void as an endless source of fuel to give birth to the Gods. But the Flame did not stop there. After the Gods came other beings, born not from purpose but from the leftover hunger of creation.They were neither creatures of the void nor complete children of order. Most perished along the annals of time, some at the hands of the Gods, some to the Children of Chaos and some at the hands of the Daemons. Only 7 endured, The 7 Great Old Ones.
You have received the legacy of the first Great Old One.
The Lord of all Mysteries.
The Embodiment of Errors.
The Beginning of All Changes.
The Keeper of All Keys.
The Master of All Doors.
The King who Fooled Death.]