Samael dreamt of a black expanse. Everything around him absorbed any and all light that dared enter into this unholy place, giant platforms covered in spikes and creatures emerged from the ground, the sight of it all made Samael's breath caught. The walls of everything were either covered in spikes or... bones.
There were also bones, a lot of them, littered on the ground, littered on the walls and littered atop each other. The air was also filled with black particles, no, that wasn't quite right. They weren't black, they just lacked color, as if someone picked the fabric of existence just beacuse they could.
Samael could see in the distance fountains and rivers of a black liquid, strangely still but also carrying a dreadful feeling whenever he looked at them. Then happened the thing he waited for, time moved, only it moved backwards.
Samael noticed that despite time moving back there were almost no significant changes. The platforms remained, the creatures on them remained too, the rivers and fountains of the black substance also didn't change. Time could've been moving back a second or a thousand years at a time, Samael would not have been able to know if there wasn't one major factor in it all.
The bones moved, they started to fly and then come back down in a cycle. Bodies were remade as cracks were erased. Countless creatures were climbing in reverse, trying to reach the top of this dark expanse, none of them succeeded, falling and rising became one and the same. The strange creatures that were stuck in this cycle were completely black in body and had big white heads with 2 lightless holes that seemed to be their eyes, they were mostly all the same if it wasn't for the fact that all of them had different horns sticking out of their heads, some had two, some had three, some where even and neat others were not matching in either size or height.
Time finally stopped and resumed at its usual pace.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell, prepare for your first trial...]
Samael found himself on the ground, bones still littered the floor even after all the creatures that were revived and brought back from the counter clockwise passage lf time. His feet didn't hurt though... actually, he didn't feel much of anything, he was also weirdly calm right now, as if this wasn't a challenge that demanded he survived or die trying.
Samael saw one of the creatures, its black eyes were locked onto his. He should've felt fear, his legs should've been shaking so...
'So why aren't they?'
Samael didn't have time to think as the creature moved towards him, it took small steps with its legs as it approached him, the hollow eyes of it were so wrong on so many levels to Samael. Step, step, another step, it got closer and closer, its three uneven horns were crowning it though it didn't feel like it was more so a crown than a burden.
Samael, despite feeling calm and collected, tensed up, his hands were immediately raised as he was about to punch the thing before it had a chance to rip him to shreds or possibly maul him alive, and then, he noticed something odd. His hands... were as black as the creatures, actually, his whole body was. His torso no longer had any semblance of muscle as it was just one big void with limbs attached to it. Samael completely forgot about his surroundings as he touched his face. He felt a smooth texture with no bumps or ridges, Samael never really had any acne but this felt different, there was no skin, there was no nose, there were no ears, only a smooth, and him having probably figured out by now, white head, adorned with one small horn that was twisted and another that was more straight and reaching up.
'The spell will give me a suitable body? Bullshit.'
The spell had put his soul and mind inside the body of a creature, one of the many that inhabited this place. One if the black beings that was approaching him just passed by, it's direction was the platforms that were right behind him. Turning around he saw even more of them go in that direction, many climbed and many more fell, it was just so... sad. Samael thought now would be a good idea to check his runes. And so with a single thought his status showed.
Name: Samael
True Name: –
Rank: Aspirant
Soul core: Dormant
Memories: –
Echoes: –
Attributes: [Hollow] [Child of the Pale] [Child of the -unknown-]
Aspect: [Shattered Vessel]
'Okay, three attributes right off is great, I might actually have a chance here. Though, what is it with this one? Isn't the spell supposed to translate everything in an understandable language to me?'
Samael was stumped, he had never seen or heard of an attribute with the name -unknown- in it, and the closer he tried to look at it the more inconhesive it got, it wasn't that the Nightmare Spell couldn't translate it, it was that it refused to, a headache was forming inside Samael's head as he sighed and decided to check out what his Attributes actually did. He then murmured to himself. Or at least tried to, no voice came out, only a horrific screech as he shut his 'mouth' and thought.
'Ahh great, so I don't have a voice... at least no one will hear my pleas for forgiveness now. Whatever, trying to understand something created by a god isn't gonna do me any favors, much less help me escape this nightmare.'
He focused on the runes describing his attributes, they read:
[Hollow] Attribute Description: "You are not truly complete, there is something fundamental lacking within you."
[Child of the Pale] Attribute Description: "You are recognized as a Pale being."
[Child of the -unknown-] Attribute Description: "You are recognized as a being of the -unknown-."
'Well, this is... unhelpful.'
Usually people got Attributes that would somewhat give them a fighting chance in a nightmare, be it unusually sturdy bodies, nimble thinking or even being able to see in the dark, all of those would be helpful to Samael right about now. Ah, but no, all his attributes did were call him incomplete and a child. What did it even mean to be Pale? Was it an affinity to light? Was it just something that he was without any further benefits? Samael did not know. Not to mention the third and maybe most mysterious Attribute of them all, it gave him so little information that he was considering whether he should save himself the trouble and throw himself off a cliff... if he decided to climb up that was. Then, a thought surfaced in his mind.
'Wait, if I am a Pale being and a child of the whatever it is, does that mean every other creature here was as well?'
He looked all around him, beings of a black body and white head all still trying to climb up, as if there was salvation waiting for them at the top of this abyss. But they didn't seem inherently hostile towards Samael so he wasn't as worried about his life anymore, still, he wouldn't try and fight one just for the fun of it. Another thing crossed his mind, this one more crucial than the rest.
'I'm gonna have to escape to clear this nightmare, aren't I? I mean, what else am I supposed to do here?'
Samael shook his head, the alien calmness was still there, unnerving and yet not at the same time. If Samael really needed to escape this place to clear the nightmare then he might as well have already given up, looking at the ground and the distant walls covered in cracked skulls and falling bodies didn't give him any confidence either, if so many tried and failed what made him any different?
'Please, let this at least be useful.'
He hadn't seen what his Aspect did yet, maybe it was beacuse he didn't want to be disappointed when it inevitably showed one big 'fuck you' on the runes, maybe it was so that he could give himself hope, that not all is lost and that there was still a very minor and miniscule chance of victory here... Samael wanted to survive more than to win though. And with a final shake of 'his' head he read the runes that described his Aspect, they read as such:
Aspect: [Shattered Vessel]
Aspect Description: [You are one of many, valued less than dirth, your only worth is that you are of divine making.]
Samael laughed, in his mind at least, how could he not? He was trapped in a dark hell, his body was not his own, his attributes and Aspect made him appear as even more of a weakling then before. Everything was just so funny to Samael.
If he jad a voice right now he'd cry
If he had emotions right now he'd despair
If he had a chance at this place he wouldn't sit around doing nothing.
***
After what felt like hours of just not moving, Samael couldn't really tell time here, he decided to explore. Currently, he was headed west of his initial location, the vast expanse of dark was reduced to a tunnel. It wasn't all that big, Samael could barely outstretch his arms to their full length before the walls stopped. There was something else, small creatures, moving slowly and sluggishly on the ground. Their bodies were covered in protective shells that were ending in sharp spikes to prevent predators or whatever it was that hunted them from attacking. Not much else to say about them besides the fact that they had orange and glowing eyes. They were chubby little things that became a ball of spikes when Samael got near any of them. Again as was with the other creatures of this place "The Vessels", as Samael realized that if he was a vessel then so was every other being here, these ones didn't seem outright aggressive if not provoked first, and even if they were they'd probably just curl up into a ball again. Samael continued to move forward.
After a few minutes of walking the tunnel expanded into a room, it wasn't nearly as big as the black expanse behind him but it was certainly not small. In the middle of the room was a stone altar, big enough to fit his frame if he were to stand on it. There weren't any of the usual bones, instead what was on the ground was a white mist, barely bellow the level of Samael's foot, then came the weirdest part. Stone faces, lots of them too, they were big, round and sculpted, or naturally formed somehow, and they all had the same expression on their faces. All of them were screaming, their mouths were wide open, enough so that they could swallow Samael hole and then some, their eyes looked up for salvation that never came or had left long ago, there weren't a lot of details on the faces though, they were more like eggs made out of stone with a few lines going across their head and entire body. Samael for some reason had the sudden urge to step onto the alter that was in the middle of it all.
'It feels as though something is supposed to happen, something really important. I must be forgetting something.'
After a few minutes of awkwardly standing on the altar he decided to jump down from it and leave the room, there was nothing else there that could pique his interest. As he left the room an idea struck him, he looked at the little creatures with greed in his eyes. That was another thing he found about his newly acquired body, sometimes he felt nothing and sometimes he felt his feelings to an extent, he wasn't sure if it was beacuse of the nature of his vessel, or if it was the work of his [Hollow] Attribute, either way, he had his work cut out for him.
***
[You have slain a dormant beast, Shadow Creeper]
The voice of the spell spoke, still as mocking and infuriating as ever. Samael was a little disgusted by the sight before him, a rock lay on top of a Shadow Creeper as yellow guts and substances poured from its body, it wasn't pretty but it worked.
[You have received a memory]
'About damn time.'
The ground was littered with the bodies of shadow creepers, all of them crushed under rock that Samael could lift and drop on their heads, they'd struggle, curling up into a ball to protect their soft spots but that was all they could do, gravity was something else entirely. He had done this beacuse the creatures looked weak, even by Samael's standards, and of course it was all for this, a Memory, it wouldn't be very powerful, hell, it might even be useless but he'd have something. Samael opened the runes, hoping that he'd either get a weapon or armor, a charm would be nice too but usually those needed time to accumulate their effect so he could wait for one of those.
Name: Samael
True Name: –
Rank: Aspirant
Soul core: Dormant
Memories: [Old Nail]
Echoes: –
Attributes: [Hollow] [Child of the Pale] [Child of the -unknown-]
Aspect: [Shattered Vessel]
'A nail? What am I supposed to do with a nail?'
That was his initial reaction but then he remembered that anything was better than nothing at all, he concentrated on the runes of his newly acquired memory as they read:
Memory: [Old Nail]
Memory rank: Dormant
Memory tier: I
Memory type: Weapon
Memory Description: [A sword made by a master craftsman who has eroded over time. A faint white glimmer can be seen from it every once in a while.]
Memory Enchantments: [Durable], [Hidden Brilliance]
[Durable] Enchantment Description: [This blade is unwilling to surrender to the passage of time fully.]
[Hidden Brilliance] Enchantment Description: [This blade can be restored to its former glory with the right metals.]
This was... usable actually. A sword would make for a fine weapon, one that was excellent for beginners such as Samael. The [Durable] Enchantment was a little underwhelming though, all Memories naturally repaired themselves when inside their owner's soul, what good did this do? What actually got his attention was the other Enchantment.
'So it's a growing type of weapon. This is good, only problem is finding the right metals for it. Maybe it requires iron? Silver? I'll have to test and see, granted I don't croak first.'
With another though he summoned the blade in his hands. A single shimmer brushed his palm, then another and then a hundred more, the process of summoning a memory was quite a spectacle, creating something from nothing felt just as fantastical as one would expect, though the current Samael had a subdued reaction at the moment beacuse of the body he was inhabiting. As the blade materialized Samael almost instantly stumbled over.
'This thing... it's heavier than me!'
Not only that but it was also almost the size of his body, what that size was he did not know beacuse there wasn't anything familiar to compare himself to. The blade itself was covered in cracks and imperfections, the handle was short and simple with no guard, connected directly to the blade that wasn't just straight but triangular in shape, the tip was dull and the sides were barely able to be called sharp. This was more akin to a blunt force weapon than one made to slash and pierce. Samael tried to pick it up a few more times but it only ended in him falling down with the blade, with a single hand gesture the memory disappeared. Samael wasn't expecting much from a dormant weapon of the first tier but this was less than nothing, it would actively make him worse in combat, if he ever engaged in one.
'Ah, this, this is truly a nightmare.'
Nothing had worked in his favor and perhaps nothing will till he ended it, but with a shake of his head and a silent step from his black and short legs he headed east.
Towards the only kind of light that illuminated this place... this abyss.