Henry found himself in a space between dream and reality. It was an endless black void illuminated by a myriad of stars. Between those stars, countless strings of silver light were woven into a beautiful and inconceivably complex net, forming various nexuses and constellations.
Henry understood that he was seeing the inner workings of the Nightmare Spell.
The Spell was still appraising his performance. However, the first reward had nothing to do with it.
[You have received a Memory: Scarlet Robe]
'Ah. My first Memory. Sure could have helped me when I was dealing with the soldiers.'
Without waiting, the Spell started speaking again.
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
[A lone footsoldier conquered the arena of black sand. Many soldiers fell by his hand. Unbroken, he tricked the servant of the Thief, and vanquished him into the realm of Shadow.]
[You have defeated seventy eight dormant beasts: Thralls of Zor]
[You have defeated an Awekened Beast, Essence Stealer Zor]
[You have received the Thief's blessing]
[You have achieved something incredible!]
[Final appraisal: marvellous.]
'Hmm, this seems very nice. But who is this so called "Thief"?'
Without letting him think about the mysterious 'Thief', the Spell continued:
[Dreamer Henry, receive your boon!]
[Your Aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve Aspect?]
Henry crossed his fingers and said "yes"
[Dormant Aspect Footsoldier is evolving…]
[New Aspect acquired.]
[Aspect Rank: Divine.]
[Aspect Name: Divine Thief's Gift.]
'...'
'What?'
'A Divine Aspect? Divine Aspect?'
"Holy sh*t..."
Henry couldn't believe it. He had never heard of another person having a Divine Aspect. His was the first to ever exist.
But there was something fishy going on. First he received the Thief's Blessing, now his Divine Aspect was named "Divine Thief's Gift". That didn't sound like the name of an Aspect.
'Only one way to find out.'
Henry silently summoned the runes and found the lines describing his aspect.
Aspect: [Divine Thief's Gift].
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Description: [You have received the gift of the Thief.]
Innate Ability: [Aspect Theft].
Ability Description: [You are able to steal another person's Aspect. One time use only.]
That was… a lot to digest.
'Well I'll be damned.'
Henry had no words to say.
Any Aspect that he desired...could be his.
Without letting him think about the implications of him having such an Aspect, the Spell's voice whispered into his ear.
[The First Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers…]
Henry felt something waking up inside of him. With a startled cry, he clutched his chest and stared into the darkness, trying to understand what was happening. The feeling was not painful or unpleasant, yet it was like nothing he had ever experienced. It was as though his soul was being shaken awake, infused with strange new energy.
However, that energy did not come from some outside source. Rather, it was coming from within, as though it had always been there, sleeping.
The energy filled every fiber of his being. Henry felt his emotions becoming clearer and sharper. Then, his body began to change, too. He felt as though a miniature star was burning in the center of his chest: waves of heat were radiating from it, slowly reaching his stomach and shoulders, then his arms and legs, then his hands and feet.
Under that heat, his bones, muscles, organs and blood vessels were being rebuilt and revitalized. Henry felt like he was being reborn. He was becoming stronger, faster, healthier.
It was euphoric.
With each second, his transformation was becoming more profound.
After some time had passed, the star burning in his chest finally cooled down. The heat was replaced with a soothing coldness. That coldness washed over Henry's body, taking away all the aches and discomforts that had been accumulated there over the years. Then it moved up, reaching his brain and, finally, his eyes.
His vision strangely doubled.
He could still see the void populated by an endless pattern of stars. But he could also see something different.
A calm, bright sea illuminated by a bright sun.
Henry knew that this was his Soul Sea. He had been prepared thoroughly.
While he was analyzing his Soul Sea, the voice of the Spell rang through the void:
[All power has a price.]
[You have received a Flaw.]
[Your Flaw is: Silent Tongue]
[Flaw Description: You cannot speak]
'...'
'F*ck..'
***
Henry was standing in front of the entrance of the infamous Awakened Academy.
He was entirely alone.
After a while, an Awakened Instructor came out of the entrance.
"Good evening, Sir. I take it that you are Sleeper Henry, am I right?"
'Ah. This is going to be problematic. I already had enough problems at the station'
Henry nodded.
***
Since there wasn't much left before the winter solctice, Henry didn't choose any classes. He was already good enough to become an Awakened.
If nothing drastic occured when would get transported to the Dream Real of course.
But nothing that he would learn from the courses would help him with that. Henry was ready.
With having nothing to do, he listened to other people's conversations while he was at the cafeteria, learning information about them.
He found out that the daughter of Broken Sword, the legacy of the Immortal Flame Clan, Changing Star, was at the Academy with him.
This person, Nephis, had received a True Name after her first nightmare.
There weren't many people like that on this planet.
While Henry didn't learn anything about her Aspect, Changing Star Nephis still automatically became his target.
Sadly, he hadn't had the chance to meet her.
Other than that, many Sleepers at the Academy had potential to become powerful Awakened. He analyzed their Aspect Abilities.
While he was sitting at the cafeteria, Henry also noticed a blind girl sitting alone.
'That's a pretty looking corpse'
Days flew by fast, and the winter solstice arrived.
Henry was standing in an empty room with a sleeping pod in it.
'No reason to delay this'
With that, he stepped forward and climbed into the pod.
***
In the vast echoing darkness, he heard:
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Henry!]
When Henry opened his eyes, he was laying on the ground.
He got up and analyzed his surroundings.
'This does not look like anything I've seen before.'
Henry had found himself in an abandoned tent.
But the thing that Henry was looking at was not the tent itself. It was a giant castle that he could see through the gaps of the tent.
The castle was enormous. Something like that would surely be famous in the waking world. But it wasn't.
That made Henry worry about where he ended up.
He could here humans talking, so at least he was in a safe place.
Still, Henry summoned the Crimson Robe before getting out of the abandoned tent.
As he got out, a young man greeted him.
"I havent seen you around here. And no one else should be living here. Are you new here?"
Henry nodded.
"Ah, you must have just come to the dream realm then. Well, let me tell you something, you are both very lucky and very unlucky."
Henry stared at the guy without answering. Not that he could.
"Eh, come with me, I'll explain everything to you."
***
The young man left to tend to some matters after he explained everything about the Forgotten Shore to Henry. He even gave him some tips.
Currently, Henry was thinking about his current situation.
After analyzing every bit of information, Henry still didn't know how to move.
'I have a feeling that this is going to be a longer journey than I thought...'
'