After Caspian had run had run into the ethereal light of the gateway, he appeared in the endless space between the Dream Realm and the real World. Everything was fully dark, except for the slight illumination of the stars that were randomly placed in here.
Those stars were also connected by what looked like to be strings, making it look like a spiderweb was in front of him.
'Those bastards, really tried to kill me. Thankfully I had the amulet to come back to life. You all better watch out every second of the day, because I will get my revenge.
Finally becoming an Awakened, huh ? I wonder what I'll get.'
"Common Spell, how long do you want me to wait ? Start already !"
And so it did, as the Nightmare Spell started to speak.
[The Second Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers...]
Caspian grinned. He was so close to awakening, to getting his next Ability.
It felt like something was coming from inside of him, something once sealed about to come back. The heat was coursing through his body and cores, getting more intense every second. He felt his body becoming stronger, faster and more resilient. It felt like was becoming a new person, as the awakening process strengthened his body to a whole different level.
His soul was changing too, like it had evolved into something higher, something better.
But there was one more thing he felt ... the thing that separated Awakened from Sleepers .. Essence. It flowed through his body and would give him way more uses later. He just needed to learn how to use it.
And finally, the Spell spoke once more.
[Awakening Aspect Ability...]
[...Aspect Ability acquired.]
[Aspect Ability Name: Water Mimicry.]
He gulped before hurriedly opening his Runes.
Name: Caspian (House of Night)
True Name: Poseidon's Trident
Rank: Dreamer
Seas: 2/7
Creatures drowned: [204/250]
Memories: [Bag of holding], [Oak Spear], [Chilled Trident], [Flying Chariot], [Scales of Water], [Heart of Ignis], [Northern Watch], [Heater Cup]
Echoes: [Aviquus], [Ducker]
Attributes: [Animal Commander], [Storm is Power], [Blessing of the Storm]
Aspect: [Underwater King]
He instantly went for the new runes that had appeared, really wanting to know what his new ability would make him able to do.
Aspect Ability: [Water Mimicry].
Ability Description: [Take on the physical properties of water, transforming your body into a pool of water and making you able to move around like that.]
'Oh, I got a mobility Aspect ability ? Will probably come in handy, especially because I can also probably use it to dodge attacks and for stealth.'
Before Caspian could think of any more ways to use his new ability, he suddenly started shining brightly, before the Spell spoke once more.
[Wake up, Caspian!]
***
The cohort was still in the highest floor, waiting in front of the Gateway. They had decided to use the gate after two hours, since they didn't want to get attacked the second they stepped out of their capsules.
In that time, they hadn't spoken much, everyone having their own share of thoughts.
Ragna was kinda angered right now. His mind was burning with plans to somehow fight Caspian or at least defend against him, since Caspian would surely want to get revenge. And the worst part was, that Caspian was from House of Night.
And as far as he knew, Caspians father was also a high figure, meaning that they would surely now want Ragnas head. But in that time, he had indeed formed a plan.
He had thought about it many times before, but now he was sure. He would make his achievements public and join a great clan, getting its protection, and maybe creating a clan of his own.
If for example, Valor took Ragna in, House of Night would think twice before attacking him. This would also give him new connections and resources.
He sighed before standing up.
"The two hours are over, lets go now."
And without wasting any more time, all three of them stepped inside the light.
***
All of them now stood in the space between Dreams and Reality, of course alone and not together. One was excited, one indifferent and the last one full of multiple thoughts.
But what they all had in common was the process of awakening.
All of them felt their cores burning with essence, their bodies strengthening themselves and their souls getting a new layer, growing deeper.
They had all done an exceptional job at surviving in those hell, in the Dream Realm. All of them were the highest quality of Sleepers, and soon, they would be Awakened and finally come back to the Real World after close to a year.
The only thing left, was their new ability, and soon, the spell spoke to all of them at the same time, even tho they were not close to eachother.
[The Second Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers...]
[Awakening Aspect Ability...]
[... Acquired Aspect Ability.]
And so, all of them had gotten their second Aspect Ability.
Celeste's powers weren't actually gravity related, but rather related to the cosmos. And that was the reason, she had gotten the Ability called Starlight Projection.
Aspect Ability: [Starlight Projection].
Ability Description: [Generate and control light derived from stars. Produce beams or burst of pure starlight to blind, disorientate, or damage opponents.]
With this Ability, she had gotten another very versatile one, one she could either use as a weapon or as support. Since the sun was also a star, this meant that she could use this ability in the day and Night, but there was also one big con. She couldn't use it if she was, for example, underground, which is a very big con. But overall, she was pretty happy with it.
Layla was very curious about what kind of power she would gain this time. Her Aspect .. was a rather special one. It said that it was from the supreme Rank, but it actually had the rank "unknown". She couldn't use pretty much gain anything as a second ability, and hopefully another very special one like her first.
So when she read what kind of Ability she got, she was rather happy.
Aspect Ability: [Illusions]
Ability Description: [Use Essence to make Illusions of anything.]
It was a rather short description, but it was everything she needed to know to come up with devious tactics. Since she could make illusions of ANYTHING. Did that also mean that she could for example make an illusion of pain ? Or emotions ? She would definitely test that out.
***
While Ragna waited in the nothingness to get his second ability, he had continued thinking about what to do against Caspian.
To join a clan, he had to definitely give his secrets away ... but how many ? The thing that he didn't really need ro keep away, was definitely his True Name. But should he tell them that he had gotten it in his First Nightmare or tell them that he had gotten it after awakening ?
And then, there was his Aspect Legacy. To create his own clan, he needed to make it public, at least to the members of the great clan. But he also needed to show them proof, which he didn't really want to do. People would definitely want Cera and the crimson steings for themselves, so what if they threatened Ragna, saying that he would die if he didn't give them to the person ?
The Great Clans were shady, even he understood that.
He sighed, not wanting to think about it anymore. And since he had just gotten his second Ability, he indeed had stopped.
Aspect Ability: [Crimson Link].
Ability Description: [By touching living beings, you can leave a mark of your Essence and Blood on them. Every marked being will be connected, so if one feels pain, the others will too.]
Ragna looked at his runes, not thinking of anything for a second before he couldn't contain his grin anymore.
'This is so fucking great. I can Link Creatures together ? And if i attack one, all will feel the pain ? This will be so great against hoards. And does this also work for others ? So if i mark 20 creatures, and Layla for example attacks one, will they all feel the pain ? Or does it only work if I do it. I just hope it won't eat too much of my Essence. But since I have two Cores, and can gain more, I should had way more at my disposal than normal people.'
All their lives were about to change tremendously. They would soon all go to a Citadel, meet new people and get stronger. And Ragna would do even more, since he was sure about joining a great clan.
And finally, the Spell spoke once more.
[Wake up, Ragna!]
——-Author's Notes——-
Words: 1460
So we are finally done with this Arc. I hope y'all think that the Abilities I picked from them are nice.
I probably need to catch up with Shadow Slave, since im only at the point right after the Winter Beast killed Sunnies Team.
I need to learn more about the Great Clans or I can't really continue the Story since I want Ragna to join one.
Hope i got the motivation and time to read like 700 chapters in 4 days.
✌️