"Ahh…"
A mundane man sighed, not quite ancient, but his gray hair was, without a doubt, thinning. His lips were dry and his skin was wrinkly, reflecting how long he had been alive.
He quietly lowered himself onto a chair, making sure he didn't pull any muscles. Once the man settled, he kicked his legs back, crossing his arms with a stern expression.
After a quick sip of expensive coffee, he lowered his gaze onto the Sleeper before him.
This Sleeper had long, delicate, pale-blue hair warping gently around her — or… "his" — doll-like skin. His eyes were multi-colored — hypnotizing, but incredibly eerie.
The man sighed, talking in a low tone.
"You are Sleeper Lunar, correct?"
It was phrased like a question, but this it was merely tradition. He'd already finished background checks for every Sleeper in the Academy, so he knew more than just the boy's name.
However, he hadn't expected Lunar to look prettier than the woman he was wedded to. He was beautiful, absolutely stunning!
It was… a little disturbing.
"Yeah."
Lunar answered, his voice no less charming than his appearance. He really wanted to skip this miserable interview, but by law, every Sleeper in the Academy was forced to. So, like everybody else, he endured
The mundane man stared for a moment before taking a deep breath.
"I'm Gale, but you'll forget my name soon. As you already know, I'm here to question you. You are allowed to withhold any information as you please, but don't lie. We have a machine that detects lies, and lying to the government is… not a great idea."
He leaned closer, resting the blunt of his chin on the palm of his right hand.
"Since I have a lot of interviews, and not a lot of time, I'll keep this short. First, would you mind telling me about the type of Aspect Ability you received? As in combat, sorcery, or utility?"
Lunar did mind. In fact, he preferred to keep most of his abilities private.
"Honestly, I'm not familiar with my Aspect. But I think it has multiple uses."
"That's fine, a lot of Sleepers aren't aware of their own abilities. Are you able to deal direct damage with it?"
"Uhh…"
Lunar thought for a moment.
"I guess? Though, I'm not sure if my Aspect deals the damage, or if it just helps me deal damage."
"I see…"
The old man jotted something down into a notebook — probably something along the lines of: [Sleeper Lunar might have an Aspect that allows him to enhance himself.]
…he did not, but it sounded like he did.
After a second, Gale glanced back up from the page.
"What about your Aspect's rank?"
"Uh… I have an Ascended Aspect."
Beep!
The lie detector went off.
The man raised an eyebrow, leaning even closer than he already was. His gaze became sharper than before — a little more threatening — as though offended by the boy's actions.
"Lie."
Before he could say anything else, Lunar took a defensive tone, explaining his actions.
"I lied because I don't feel like revealing the full extent of my Aspect. It's higher than Ascended, but I don't want to say how much. All I'll tell you is that it's impressive."
He chuckled, gesturing to the lying machine.
"See? I didn't lie."
Gale's expression returned to normal, snapping him from drowsy and frustrated to awake and lively. Higher than Ascended? Was he a Legacy? No, he had done research… This boy was, by no definition, a Legacy.
Though, an Aspect above the Ascended rank was invaluable, so he might as well have been one!
He wrote it down with a pleased expression.
…
"How many Attributes did you acquire?"
"More than one."
"Cryptic, but alright."
…
"Can you give me a short summary of what your Attributes can do?"
"Of course. I'm a very pretty boy, I'm strange, and I have cool eyes."
"That makes sense… I was wondering why your eyes were so colorful."
…
"What about your First Nightmare?"
Lunar readied himself, taking a breather before dropping an incomprehensible bomb.
"I almost died once. Should have died again. Lost my fingers. Almost died once more. Dropped from a height that should have killed me. Got my entire body crushed and probably should have died there, too. Thankfully, I was properly rewarded for my troubles…"
He smirked.
"...with a beautiful True Name."
The Mundane man narrowed his eyes, waiting for the lie detector to ring. There was only one person who had ever received a True Name after their First Nightmare — and it was hard to believe that he was interviewing the second coming of that man.
…
Any minute now.
…
The lie detector stayed silent.
"Ah… Ah!"
He froze, unsure of what to say. He was telling the truth! This boy received a True Name after the First Nightmare! How was this possible!?
This was… incredible!
From what Lunar said, his First Nightmare must have been a treacherous trial. After almost dying six times, maybe the Spell felt pitiful, rewarding him with a True Name.
Regardless, this was amazing! Not only was his Aspect above Ascended, but he had a True Name!
"Ah… gods. Please, just for the sake of my sanity, can you repeat that?"
Lunar nodded.
"Blessing of an Endless Night, that's my True Name. After a series of unfortunate events, I was rewarded with one."
Gale gasped.
"Bah! That's amazing, young man! I order you to be proud of yourself! Is there anything else you'd like to share?"
Lunar shook his head.
The man hurriedly wrote everything down, his pen strokes magnificent, reflecting how wonderful he felt! He hadn't felt this happy in years! To be the one who relayed this information… he felt honored.
In the end, Lunar shared just enough information to create an impression that he was important — but didn't reveal the true extent of his abilities.
Judging by how the man reacted, his plan was greatly successful. Without a doubt, he'd receive attention from the Academy, the public, and probably the Great Clans.
Lunar just hoped that it wasn't the bad kind of attention.
After that, he quietly returned to his room, undressing himself before falling asleep.
—
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Author's Note:
– Did you enjoy the chapter?
– Feel free to point out things you don't like.
– Since the setting for this fanfiction will be unique, what kind of location do you think Lunar will be sent to?
– Would you like any official illustrations for the characters? I can draw digital art for them, I'm not terrible. I've already, for the fun of it, made a sketch and lineart for a character I'm introducing later on. The person I've already drawn may or may not be the black-haired girl.
– Please… please read the disclaimer. From here onward, it's incredibly important. If you don't read it, you'll probably have a lot of questions about lore, timeline, and characters.
– Word Count: [1148]