[Prepare for appraisal…]
Damian's mind couldn't quite understand what he was now seeing, just moments ago he was slowly bleeding out over the white sands of the endless desert, slowly waiting for the darkness to consume him. The process took so long, inhumanly long it felt like he was going to lay there forever. Now in front of him, he found himself in an endless black void filled with countless stars providing light to the lifeless abyss, between each star lay a silver light connecting them together like beautiful constellations, the sheer scale of what he was seeing couldn't ever be understood by the mind of a human yet he somehow knew what he was looking at.
This complex work was the inner working of the trial he had just completed…no it was more than that, it was every trial and every rune he read, everything that was is here, the thought made his head spin yet he found himself strangely absent, both present and not, it was like he was a disembodied force, yet he could feel his body, it was something so alien yet it felt right, like he had always been like this, soon the sky pulsed subtly as he heard the voice once again.
[You have received a memory: Ariadne's Warbow]
The feeling sitting in his chest was a strange one, on one hand he was happy to receive another memory, his last one, the Broken Chain, had served him well in the trial, being the only reason he survived as long as he did, but what use would they be if the trial already ended? A sinking feeling started to build up in his stomach but was interrupted as the voice was not finished speaking .
[You have received a new attribute: Mark of Divinity]
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
[A nameless soldier marched over the Desert of Truth.Inspiring his allies and bringing fear into the hearts of his enemies, scared from the horrors of war his desire to survive brought him to the blade of War, yet when War struck him down he smiled as she slit her own throat.]
[You have defeated one hundred and twenty six Dormant Humans: names unknown]
[You have defeated the Dormant Monster: Desert Scourge]
[You have defeated the Dormant Demon: Feasting Fiend]
[You have defeated an Awakened Vessel of War: War Maiden Ariadne]
[You have done something miraculous]
[Final appraisal: Magnificent! What are you, some kind of genius?!]
Hearing his achievements told back to him made Damian feel like some kind of ancient hero who had fought against some evil force, and whilst it did feel great it also felt hollow, as if the details of how he got there didn't matter, only the end results.
[Dreamer Damian, receive your boon]
Dreamer? This was something he had never heard before, the voice had consistently called him an aspirant up until now, and his runes had said the same thing, had they also now changed due to his.
[Your Aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve Aspect?]
The voice went silent for a few seconds then a few more as if waiting for something, Damian hesitated for a second before he spoke, "Sure.", as he said this the voice spoke once again,
[Dormant Aspect Soldier is evolving…]
[New Aspect aquired.]
[Aspect Rank: Sacred.]
[The first seal is broken.]
[Awakening Dormant powers.]
The voice went silent once again, the pulsating silver light hung above his head quietly diminished as the void went back to what it had been before, and something inside of him swelled, a strange sensation tore at his chest, neither unpleasant or desirable he fell to one knee clutching his chest over his heart tightly, the force of the power felt like like a rushing current that he had unknowingly been holding back his entire life.
The energy flowed through every fiber of his being, down to the finest strands of hair, his mind felt sharper and more capable, his muscles contracted under his skin as if they were steel cable holding up a mighty bridge, the heat of the power coalesced, feeling like a burning star beating where his heart should be, and with every beat of this new heart waves of heat were echoing all throughout his body, rebuilding it into something new, something better, as his bone creaked from the intense heat and were reshaped, his blood felt thick with vitality, the sensation was nothing short of euphoric.
He couldn't explain what had just happened, but he knew he was forever changed, stronger, smarter, better, as if this was his natural state, as if this was what he was always supposed to be. The burning sensation slowly faded away, replaced by a refreshing coolness , every ache every pain he had collected over his many years faded away, alleviating him of discomfort he never even realised he had, the feeling washed through him until it eventually reached his eyes.
Once it did his vision suddenly doubled, he was still standing in the endless void of the trial, but now he was also someplace else, standing in the middle of a boundless sea, he was almost blinded by the sight of the luminous sun which hung overhead, feeling the scene with a warmth that felt unnatural in a place such as this, looking at the burning star above he noticed something peculiar, smaller stars of light orbited around it, as if caught in an endless dance, feeling them he knew what they were, his memories.
He could recognise the presence of the Broken chain, the weaker of the stars, the pull it was having on his soul was less pronounced than before, but he would always know the feeling of connectedness it emanated, the other must have been the one he got for defeating the Vessel of War, focusing on it the small star it suddenly floated towards him before hovering just in front of his face, in the light he could see the radiant beauty of the Bow she used to use, the elegant Warbow was recurve in nature, its body composed of blackened wood, carved with intricate patterns which held little meaning, the string looked as if it had been forged from the purest of gold, glistening radiating a soft but pleasant glow.
Before he had a chance to look it over properly the voice spoke once more, pulling his mind away from this nebulous representation of his soul,
[Awakening Aspect Ability…]
A warm feeling pulsated over him as the voice continued,
[Aspect Ability acquired]
[Aspect ability name: Unremarkable]
After the feeling of euphoric strength pass through his body, Damian almost felt insulted by its words, what did it mean Unremarkable, also what was an Aspect, it had been talking about it for some time now and he still had no idea what it even meant, without knowing more he didn't know how to feel, finally finding the chance to summon his runes and read them outloud,
***
Name: Damian
True Name: -
Rank: Dreamer
Soul Core: Dormant
Soul Saturation: 0/1000
Memories: [Broken Chain], [Ariadne's Long Bow]
Echoes: -
Attributes:[Deadeye] [Incessant] [Undisturbed] [Mark of Divinity]
Aspect: [Ceaseless Wanderer]
Aspect Rank: Sacred
Aspect Abilities: [Unremarcable]
Aspect Ability Description:
[Unremarcable]:
[You can remove your presence from the world itself]
This was all very strange, what did it mean to remove your presence? He didn't quite know but focusing on it didn't provide any greater insight,the same went for focusing on his soul saturation so he shifted his attention to what he could dive deeper into,
The first thing he wanted to look at was the [Mark of Divinity], focusing on the runes its description read,
[You bear a faint scent of divinity. As though someone briefly touched by it once, a long time ago.]
The description didn't help all too much, but since he knew that his attributes represented parts of himself, did this mean he was now a divine being, or at least had the potential to become one, it more than likely came from getting his throat cut open and sharing the death with the Vessel, connecting him to the divine.
The next thing he focused on was his Aspect, and as the rune appeared they said,
Aspect Description:
[You are a wandering spirit, forever destined to wander from realm to realm searching for the place you once called home, denying the world itself in the search for your home, never once considering that your home, once prosperous and beautiful, has fallen to ruin in your absence.]
These words rang out to Damian, they reflected him in a way which he did not know was possible, it was like a dark mirror of himself, a part of him which had always been and yet was still yet to be, he understood what having an Aspect meant and what it representing, it was him, in his truest and purest form, his revelation was cut short however as the voice spoke once more.
[All power has a price.]
[You have received a Flaw]