EPISODE 20: THE TENTH RULE: 'HE WILL ATTAIN THE STRENGTH NEEDED TO UNLOCK THE ANCIENT SEALS!' PART III: ENDREGEN; THE SEAL OF AWAKENING IS UNLOCKED! SIGILS; LEVELS AND CLASSES
I stood with my Gramps in the arena.
"You have completely mastered your physical ability. Both your physical strength and mental fortitude have improved greatly. At this point, we can attempt releasing the limiter of Endregen one more time" my Gramps said.
"Are you sure about this?" I said as though I were not looking forward to the moment.
"I'm sure. You'll notice that the strain exerted on you will be much less than before" my Gramps said.
I sighed.
"If you say so" I said and took in a deep breath.
"TO THOSE THAT MUST NOT DIE, I PROTECT THEIR LIVES! TO THOSE THAT MUST NOT BE SEPARATED, I PROTECT THEIR BONDS! TO THOSE THAT MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN, I PRESERVE THEIR DEEDS! IN MY HANDS, I HOLD EARTH AND ENDREGEN, MAN AND ENDREGINIAN, LIGHT AND DARKNESS! SEAL OF ENDREGEN…UNLOCK!" I roared as a sudden release of energy caused the entire area to tremble.
My eyes had turned crimson like my Gramps' and a mysterious shadow masked my face. My Gramps could clearly see my face though however I hadn't come any closer to seeing my Gramps' face. Armour made out of water materialized around me, shielding me, however my cape had become a torrential stream of fire! The insignia of the Lion appeared on the back of my cape, made out of pure golden light. I stared at myself in awe and surprise.
"My transformation is slightly different from my previous one" I noted.
"Of course. Previously, you barely had the strength to unlock the Seal Of Endregen so your body only channeled a portion of the Seal's strength. Now that your cells have grown stronger, your body has generally transformed and you've completely mastered your full strength, you are now able to channel the full strength of the Seal" my Gramps explained.
"But what's with this transformation? My armour is made out of Water, my cape out of Fire, the golden insignia of the Lion out of Light and my face is cloaked in Shadow. I'm like some Dream Being version of Jekyll and Hyde!" I screamed in alarm.
"In a sense, your transformation connotes the requirements needed to unlock the next limiter. That requirement is Balance which can only be achieved by one with a deep understanding of their identity and a strong will. The fact that you can sustain your transformation connotes that you are a balanced person with a strong will. Otherwise, your cape would have boiled and evaporated your armour or your armour would have quenched your cape" my Gramps said seriously.
"SCARY!" I exclaimed in alarm.
"It's precisely why you needed adequate preparation to release the Seal. And this is just the most basic level of strain you'll endure which is precisely why we spent so much time on ensuring that you built for yourself a strong foundation" my Gramps explained.
"So what are the properties of this limiter?" I asked.
"The Seal Of Endregen is also known as the Seal Of Awakening. Once released, your awareness is tremendously sharpened and you become able to perceive other realities" my Gramps explained.
"C'mon Gramps. I already have an awareness of the Dream and Real Worlds" I said with a laugh.
"Yes, but that's just two realities out of the countless other realities out there" my Gramps said.
"WHAT?! THERE ARE OTHER REALITIES OTHER THAN THE REAL AND DREAM WORLDS?!" I exclaimed in shock.
"Where did you think Endregen's Interdimensional Gate led to? Of course by manifesting it in our reality, we were able to use it to seal the passages of infiltration but the fact that there was another Gate other than the Eternal Mirror Gate should have told you that there were other worlds out there too" my Gramps explained.
"The scale suddenly became way too huge!" I screamed in alarm.
"Like I said, the requirement needed to unlock the next Seal is Balance" my Gramps said with a smirk. "At the very least, a literal comprehension of the ideal of Balance should suffice" my Gramps added.
"So how do we begin?" I asked my Gramps.
"First you need to understand sigils which is a concept referred to in Endregen as the 'Blade'" my Gramps said.
"Okay" I nodded and paid close attention.
"A sigil is the manifestation of its wielder's identity, however it also contains a fraction of its wielder's Guardian Force" my Gramps explained.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! This is the first I'm hearing of this. Guardian Force?" I asked.
"I believe that's what most humans refer to as a Guardian Angel and that is precisely why a sigil has the potential to transform into a 'Living Sigil' once upgraded to Level Zero. At that point the Dream Knight achieves a certain status referred to as an 'Awakening!'" my Gramps explained.
"Seriously?! 'Cause I thought stuff like that only happened in games and anime" I said with a laugh. "Explain the Awakening" I asked.
"The 'Awakening' is a special status achieved when a Dream Knight reaches a deep level of self-comprehension. A level so deep that their psyche begins to fuse with the psyche of the Guardian Force. When evil beings try to force their will upon humans and force them into accomplishing their schemes against their will, then the human achieves a status called a 'Possession'. This is the stat Zanfar attempted to inflict upon your Dad in his youth. Unlike the 'Possession', the main characteristic of the 'Awakening' is willing mutual cooperation between the Dream Knight and his Guardian Force" my Gramps explained.
It was the afternoon of Monday and my siblings resumed their training sessions with Mitsuki and Concordia on the Ground Floor of the Old Library. On the Second Floor, Arlene continued to tutor Ciella.
"We're resuming our lesson on sigils" Arlene said.
Ciella had a notebook with her. Arlene smiled.
"To avoid any inconvenience in your daily life, why don't you use this" Arlene said and handed her a mini-representation of Christopher.
"I've customized that representation to be visible only to humans who have an awareness of the Dream World and all the necessary notes are within it. Just focus on the lesson" Arlene said.
"Thanks" Ciella said.
"Regardless of sigil type, sigils predominantly have three forms. The first form is the 'Dormant State' which Dream Knights predominantly use in situations that don't carry the risk of fatalities. The second is the 'Active State' where the sigil takes on a form usually determined by the Dream Knight's elemental affinity and the final form is the 'Living Sigil State' where the sigil takes on an awareness of its own and possesses the ability to defend the Dream Knight autonomously. At this point the sigil becomes more of a partner in battle than a weapon" Arlene explained.
"Is that even possible?" Ciella asked.
Arlene nodded.
"That's it for sigil forms and levels. What you need to know is that the closer a sigil gets to achieving a Living Sigil State, the more powerful its characteristics become. Next, we'll be looking at sigil classes" Arlene said.
Ciella nodded.
"There are seven predominant sigil classes. They are categorized under Individual, Family, Tribal, Organizational, National, World and Universal" Arlene explained.
"Sounds interesting" Ciella said.
"I've listed them from the lowest to the highest class. Each class is determined by the number of people involved in summoning and maintaining the sigil. The strength of the sigil increases dramatically with the involvement of more people. Individual Class Sigils refer to the unique sigils that each Dream Knight possesses. There are never any two that are exactly alike even if they do resemble. Family Class Sigils are usually bloodline limits inherited only by members of a particular family. An example of this is a certain sigil called the Pyrostellis Luminares which can only be utilized by Dreamweavers, in other words, members of San's Family. Family Class Sigils usually have their special traits and properties determined by Blood and Family Values" Arlene explained.
"I see" Ciella nodded.
"Next in line are Tribal Class Sigils that can only be utilized by members of a particular Tribe. Usually, sigils of this nature can only be utilized by people who have the same cultural heritage. So it's a mixture of blood bonds (relations) and ideology and can be considered an advanced typology of the Family Class Sigil or bloodline limit" Arlene explained.
"I think I kinda get it" Ciella said.
"Then we have Organization Class Sigils. They can be utilized by people who may not necessarily share blood ties or cultural values but have some goals in common as well as common values" Arlene explained.
"This Class sounds a bit more practical but I think I'm beginning to understand the general concept" Ciella said.
"Then we have National Class Sigils that can only be utilized by citizens of a particular Nation. It's an aggregation of all the lower classes of sigils but can only be utilized by those who align with the ideologies and values of a particular Nation" Arlene explained.
Ciella nodded.
"Go a little higher and we have World Class Sigils that can only be utilized by various Nations sharing common goals through international treaties" Arlene explained.
"It's becoming more and more political in nature" Ciella said with a bored look on her face.
Arlene laughed.
"That's true…" she said and then she smirked. "…however go just a little higher than that and we have Universal Class Sigils which can only be utilized by those who share a Common Reality. For instance, you now possess the ability to recognize the Dream World and anything associated with the Dream World. This has granted you the potential to utilize any of the skills and tools associated with the Dream World" Arlene explained.
Ciella smiled.