On a hot summer day, the morning rays pierced through Aldric's window. The room itself looked rather bland. No sense of personality. No posters. No figurines. No colours. The room felt like it had a string of temporary visitors. None staying longer than the other.
This was fine to Aldric. He recognised that this was not his. He owned none of the furniture or the room itself. So why would he be emotionally attached to it? Sure there would be nostalgia from staying here for so long but that was about it. The room followed a simple pattern like all the others in the orphanage.
A tiny rectangular room with one window at the end. Enough room to fit a single sized bed along the wall, a cupboard, and a small desk. Given that the building was previously used as a prison, the cell like bedroom made some modicum of sense. Maybe that's why Aldric could never feel at home here. That was a thought for another day.
These past four months since his birthday were stressful. He knew that the clock was ticking. He had completely focussed on his fitness and studies. He dabbled in pain resistance training. Nothing crazy like torture. Just training while fasting. Training while sleep deprived. Training while even wearing a shock collar. All to induce similar conditions to the cruel reality that awaited him. After all, he can't refuse to fight because he hasn't eaten. He can't refuse to fight because he is in pain. He can't refuse to fight because he is sleep deprived. The downside to this was that he could feel his stress increasing. His cortisol spiking constantly.
This was rough for Aldric.
Especially with his relatively soft upbringing in the 21st century where every living standard was met and there were no threats of violence day to day. He was soft. He didn't have the ruthless upbringing one might gain from surviving in the outskirts. He didn't even have the training a legacy might have.
Most importantly, he didn't have the mindset needed to accomplish his goals. The merciless and unforgiving mindset that characters like Sunless or Nephis expressed. All he can do is hope that he adopts a similar mindset quickly enough through experience.
After all, it's sink or swim.
----------------------------
"Clack"
A spoon bounced off the surface of the synthetic wooden table in the dining hall.
Aldric felt a sudden wave of pain in his brain. Like the starting formation of a headache. Weirdly, the pain spread like a pulse throughout his whole body for a brief moment but subsided. Focussing back, Aldric shook off the stares from the kids at his table and returned to eating his breakfast. He didn't think much of it.
Later that day, Aldric prepared to go to bed. With his teeth brushed and his face washed, He tucked himself in and started counting backward from 100 in steps of 3. A common sleeping exercise.
97
94
91
Alric noticed a problem. His body was tired and ready to sleep. His mind was heavy. But his intuition told him. It told him to stay awake.
Immediately, He jumped out of bed and gasped for air. Trying to quickly catch his breath and calm down. "Finally" Aldric exclaimed in excitement as he recognised the symptoms. His initial excitement grew to fear rather quickly. It was one thing to theorise and strategise but the real deal was here.
"Damn".
His heart sank to the tip of his toes. Flashes of violent and gory scenes flickered through his mind. His breath shortened and sped up. He panicked.
"SLAP"
Aldric roughly slapped his face with both hands. He controlled his breath with his experience in meditation. Now was not the time to panic. Even so, rationally acknowledging it did not change the reality of his situation. He thought back to something he learned back home. Anxiety and excitement utilise the same parts of the brain. All it takes is a mental adjustment to rewire how you feel about something. Adventure, exploration , and power. He imagined all that he would gain from succeeding. His mood shifted slowly. However, immediately the voice inside his head recognised how temporary this feeling would be.
Without dwelling on it much further, Aldric spent the rest of the night consolidating what he knew about the first nightmare. He watched videos posted on public forums of people talking about their first nightmare. After all, hundreds of thousands of people have attempted it or more. People were bound to connect through shared experiences.
Before he knew it, the sun had risen. He wrote a note to the head caretaker in the orphanage and placed the note on her desk before she got there. Nothing depressing. Just a note to tell her he left as per the mandate. He had seen what happened to those who broadcasted their infection to the whole orphanage and how their failure affected everyone there. Enjoying his last meal in peace, he made his way to the police station.
You might think that he should go to his school. He couldn't because of the lack of facilities built for harboring the aspirants in their nightmares. The only places prepared for them are police stations. All are reconstructed with deep basement containment areas designed to withhold the nightmare creature that spawns from a failed attempted first nightmare. All in time for an Awakened to come finish them off.
He took the morning sunlight as it came and breathed in the filtered air through his lungs. Taking in the view of the bustling city one last time, he arrived at the police station.
"RING"
"RING"