The woman shook her head.
"As your soul core develops, the body gets rid of all its imperfections. So it's hard to find an unattractive Awakened, especially among the stronger ones. Live long enough, and you might just beco a flower boy yourself."
Then she gave him a thorough look and added:
"Well… maybe. In any case, since you're awake — welco back to the land of the living. Congratulations on surviving your First Nightmare, Sleeper Sunless."
Sleeper Sunless.
That was how people would address him now, at least in the short span of days until the winter solstice — after that, he would either return from the Dream Realm as an Awakened or not return at all.
It felt strange to have a title put before his na. In the past, Sunny was rarely even addressed by na. People mostly called him things like "boy", "punk", "brat" or "hey, you!". But now he even had a title.
Sleeper Sunless…
Actually, the correct term was "Drear". But humans had their own set of words for those infected by the Nightmare Spell. Carriers who had just finished their First Nightmare were called Sleepers because of how they interacted with the Spell.
Basically, once his spirit enters the Spell, his body was going to fall into slumber. That slumber would continue for days, weeks, or even months — however long it takes him to escape the Dream Realm. Hence the term "Sleeper".
Once he escapes and becos an Awakened, he would live his life normally during the day and return to the Dream Realm every ti he falls asleep. The Awakened were called the sa by the Spell and the humans. That word was also sotis used as a general term for all carriers.
Then, if he were to decide to enter a Second Nightmare and managed to survive, he would beco an Ascended — people called them Masters. Masters could enter and exit the Dream Realm as they wished. So even chose to never co back there at all. More than that, they traveled between the worlds physically, not just in spirit.
And then, above the Masters, there were Saints — those who had conquered the Third Nightmare and earned the right to call themselves Transcendent. They were as powerful as demi-gods, and even more rare. Not only could they travel between the real world and the Dream Realm, but they could also take others with them.
But coming back to Masters…
The beautiful woman stood up and approached the reinforced dical bed. With practiced moves, she began to undo the restraint holding Sunny in place.
"I am Ascended Jet. You can call Master Jet. These past three days, I was on watch duty due to your Nightmare."
'Right… before I fell asleep, the policeman told that an Awakened would arrive in a few hours to monitor my condition. To kill the Nightmare Creature if… if I die and let it through.'
Sunny was unwilling to open his mouth, terrified that all sorts of truths would co spilling out. But there were things he simply had to know.
"Master Jet? I have a question."
"Go on."
"Why would a Master be put on watch duty? Isn't it… below your pay grade?"
Jet gave him a dark look.
"You're smarter than you seem. Recently, there was a lot of Gates opening in this sector. Most of the local Awakened are either wounded or occupied with the clean-up. Or dead. It's always like that close to the winter solstice."
She opened the final restraint and took a step back.
"Plus, there's not a lot of Awakened who, like , directly work for the governnt. It's by far the least lucrative or glorious carrier one of us can choose. Would you abandon wealth and fa to work abysmal hours and risk your life, fuelled only by altruism and sense of duty?"
Sunny wanted to say sothing flattering. Instead, he looked Master Jet right in the eyes and smirked.
"Of course not. I'm not an idiot!"
'Damn this damn Flaw! Damn!'
She stared at him with a humorless expression. Sunny thought that he was going to get slapped again.
But instead, Jet smiled.
"See, I was right. You really are smart."
-----
Sunny was enjoying a hot shower. After their short conversation, Master Jet had sent him to clean himself, saying that he "reeked of Nightmare".
The unnatural slumber of the Spell would slow down the body's tabolism, and the dical apparatus he had been strapped into was supposed to take care of the rest, but he was still asleep for three whole days.
Even if only psychological, the scent of bloodshed and despair lingered around him.
'Ah, I'm in heaven,' Sunny thought, willing himself to temporarily forget about the looming disaster of the Flaw.
He was alone in the police station's showers, relaxing under the streams of hot water. After a bit of ti had passed, Sunny reluctantly turned the tap off and walked over to the towel rack. Coincidentally, he saw himself reflecting in the mirror.
The changes in his physique were subtle, but noticeable. His pale skin seed a little healthier, his muscles a bit more pronounced. He looked slender and lean instead of emaciated and frail, as he did before. There was a slight luster to his dark hair and a shine to his eyes.
However, he was still rather diminutive. Not exactly a picture of masculine handsoness, to say the least.
'Flower boy, huh?' Sunny thought, full of bitterness.
Then he suddenly froze, noticing sothing strange. As he was looking at himself in the mirror, the reflection of his shadow seed to move. It was as though the shadow lowered its head and quietly facepald.
Sunny quickly turned around, piercing his shadow with a nervous look. However, everything seed normal. The shadow was doing exactly what it was supposed to do, repeating his every motion.
"I clearly saw you move," he said, feeling a bit strange. "You have just moved on your own, right?!"
Sunny glared at the shadow, which obediently glared back.
"Did you move or not?"
The shadow enthusiastically shook its head.
'What the?!'
"What do you an, "no"?! You've just moved your head! Do you think I'm a fool?"
The shadow seed to think for a bit and then shrugged.
Sunny was left with his mouth agape.
"Your shadow is more independent than most. It is an invaluable helper," he muttered finally.
Right. This was how the Spell had described his Aspect Ability.
But what exactly could his shadow do?
He decided to experint a little.
"Hey, you. Tell what you can do."
The shadow was silent and motionless.
'Right. It doesn't have vocal cords.'
As though that made any sense! Shadows were not supposed to have muscles either, and yet it knew how to move.
"Uh… show ?"
No reaction. It seems the shadow was content pretending to be an ordinary, lifeless blob of darkness.
Sunny sighed.
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