I stood in a corner of the dojo. Watching, or rather listening to, the training of Sunless' student.
Sunless himself had left a bit ago. Stating that "no need for me to stay here if you can watch over her." Or something like that. Which was a strange thing to say to a blind man.
But I didn't mind, it was the least I could do for the man.
It was also a training exercise.
Hearing the training blade's speed, the timing in between slashes.
Essentially, I'm now a clock.
I told her when to rest, when to speed up, or slow down. How much she swung if she lost count.
Simple things like that.
I helped her, and the actions of helping her helped me in turn.
A win-win situation.
"Too slow."
There was an annoyed grunt, but I heard the swings become faster nonetheless.
And of course, the best part. I was getting satisfaction from her annoyance. Knowing that she couldn't do anything to me.
I sipped some water, Rain sitting beside me doing the same.
We didn't talk, neither of us really had anything to talk about. And I'm pretty sure my face scared her.
Which I didn't blame her for. I was scared to ever find out.
Now that I can somewhat function in society. I sometimes walked outside, for the air if nothing else.
And I heard footsteps stop. Gasps and whispers follow my every step.
It was annoying, but understandable.
Not like I cared for the thoughts of mundane. They weren't threats, nor possible allies.
I brushed away the thoughts, turning attention to more important matters.
Namely, my fast-approaching visit to the dream realm.
Sunless explained what would happen when I entered it.
Since I was with the dream pod for the first time then. I would appear at the same place I was before waking up. And it would remain as such until I "anchored" myself in a citadel.
Sadly, Sunless didn't have any time to traverse with me. Or I would already be sitting in a citadel.
Not that it was the goal. The goal was to get stronger. To kill, harvest, and pay off the debt. And to of course, search for the second nightmare seed.
The nightmare wouldn't be an easy task, especially alone. But I would manage, I just needed to grow stronger.
For Fenrir. For my new acquaintance.
I would not go out of this world with depts on my name.
Speaking of which, the Spell had altered my runes. So now, I indeed was named "Apex."
Name: Apex.
True name: Apex Of Nightmares.
Rank: Awakened.
Nightmare core: Monster. [2/7].
Nightmare fragments: [0/2000].
Memories: [Assassin's wear], [Vampiric dagger], [Twilight bow], [Hunter's backpack].
Echoes: —.
Attributes: [Heir Of Oblivion], [Mark Of the -Unknown-], ["Perfect"], [Recovery], [Creature], [Spectral].
Aspect name: [Nightmare's Heir.]
Aspect rank: [Unholy].
Aspect description: [Chosen by the -Unknown- to wield a fraction of "his" power, you bring not only chaos, but balance. You shift the space, the world itself. Into your own image.]
Innate ability: [One of their own].
Ability description: [As the Heir of Nightmares, no creature shall dare challenge you, unless you challenge them].
Dormant ability: [Warp].
Aspect ability description: [Warp the very space of the world. You are the Heir of Nightmares. You do not destroy space. You do not tear out the things occupying it.
You fill it. You add to its magnificence, you let it occupy you.
Awakened ability: [Fear].
Ability description: [All things fear Nightmare and "his" creations. You, as one of them, and the Heir of Nightmare "himself" are no different. Wield the very fear that grips your enemies hearts. The very fear that claws into their minds. Make their fears reality.
Flaw name: [The "perfect" being].
Flaw description: [You are "perfect," and so a perfect being does not have a flaw.
I "looked" at my nightmare fragments count, my face forming a frown.
Over two weeks. And not a single fragment. Disappointing, a big setback.
Yet a necessary sacrifice. I couldn't fight fully blind. Couldn't just hope to dodge attacks without seeing them.
I would burn through my own reserves with warp.
Perhaps the [Vampiric dagger] would have been enough. But there was no need for such risks.
And now? It would pay off. I wouldn't warp needlessly, wouldn't need [Blood sense] to find my enemies.
I could do that now myself.
Not a memory, not an attribute, not an aspect ability. But me, Apex. This would be my reward for training, and future training.
Perhaps [Spectral] did lessen the value of my training. But it did not make it useless.
After all, the ground or buildings didn't have souls, didn't have soul cores. I couldn't see them, couldn't see the very ground I stood upon. I could somewhat "see" with blood sense.
After feeding it enough soul essence to form a map inside my head. But that is as close as I can get to actual vision right now. And it was nowhere close to the actual thing.
My line of thinking forcefully halted when Sunless made his presence known.
I raised a brow at where the man stood.
It was still annoyingly impossible for me to take notice of him unless he spoke.
He was a shadow, in every way.
"Tomorrow you enter the dream realm."
Sunless stated, his voice not revealing anything.
I nodded, hopefully he wasn't turned away. That would be awkward.
"I will try to stay for a week if possible," I added.
There was a long pause. Then a sigh that revealed how tired the man truly was.
"I will be leaving for a while.."
I was about to nod, then I stopped. Something in that sentence sounded... resigned. As if it wouldn't just be "a while".
My brows knitted together, if I even had eyebrows anymore.
"How long...?" I finally asked, my voice forcefully empty of all feelings.
A pause again, a longer one.
"I don't know. It could be months, perhaps over a year."
After that, both of us stayed quiet.
Rain still sat, silently next to me. I could almost hear her heart pounding in her chest.
She was worried, why?
The question was answered as soon as the girl opened her mouth.
"You're going to Antarctica?!"
She shouted out, her voice full of emotions I couldn't pinpoint.
My empty eyes narrowed, why did she say that as a bad thing? And what was Antarctica to begin with? Perhaps a death zone in the dream realm?
If so, this would indeed take a while.
"What is Antarctica, and what is happening there?"
I asked slowly, my voice filled with curiosity.
I heard a gasp from Rain. And a silent groan from Sunless.
I could almost hear Rain's neck snap at how fast she turned towards me.
"How do you not know Antarctica?!"
She shouted again, and this time. I think I temporarily went deaf. I cursed my now improved sense of sound and the fact that I couldn't turn it off.
I ignored the ringing in my ear.
Slowly answering her question.
"I'm from the outskirts..? Is it a death zone?"
Rain recoiled from me as if she had been physically struck.
"Death zone? It's in the waking world! What, you haven't seen the posters everywhere?!"
She finished her short rant with a shout at the end. Her arms raised in indignation.
My own head turned fully towards her. Disbelief written all over my face.
There was a long pause, the awkwardness almost suffocating.
Then there was a fake cough.
"O-oh.. right, sorry."
She turned away, back to Sunless. I did as well, this was quite interesting.
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