As Noah came to his senses he looked around to see an endless black void illuminated with thousands of twinkling stars. He figured that this was the place between reality and the nightmare.
Noah was hoping to get a good aspect, something at least at the level of awaken so he could survive the winter solstice after his return to the waking world.
Noah waited for a few second unsure of what was to come then the spell spoke
[ Aspirant! Your trials is over}
[ A single believer of no renown questioned the words of his cult. With the help of others the believer was able to cultivate his strength. When a cataclysmic battle unfolded, that believer was left for death. Forgotten he clawed his way out and stumbled upon the remains of a forgotten knight and his forgotten artifact. Returning to the great cathedral he slew the fallen being controlling everything ending the cult once and for all. ]
(You have slain dormant human gail)
(you have slain awakened human Tiberius)
(You have slain fallen demon Adyr's Heart)
(You have received the umbral lamps blessing)
[You have achieved a ni-impossible outcome]
[Final appraisal : glorious! May this triumph never be forgotten]
Noah was ecstatic at his achievement. A glorious appraisal, that had to be good right and what it said afterwards. Never forget your triumph just made Noah happy. He will truly cherish this message.
Plus if he got this good of an appraisal he would have to get a good aspect rank. Right?
[ Dreamer Noah, receive your boon ]
[ Your Aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve aspect?}
Noah looked at the words as if they were stupid." Evolve my aspect, why would it want an unevolved aspect?"
[ awaken aspect blasphemies worshiper is evolving]
[ a problem has occurred attribute (Umbral Lamp) has interfered with your evolution]
Noah, with disbelief written on his face, looked at his lamp. Why would this stupid thing be blocking his aspects evolution
Then the spell rang out again.
[ the umbral lamp sturs, it would like to cleanse you of imperfections. Accept?]
Noah looked at the message wondering what cleanse would mean. But seeing as the umbral lamp would probably make him stronger, he accepted. The umbral lamp disappeared from his hip and reappeared in front of him. The blue string-like tendrils reach out once more but this time towards Noah's skin. They slid up his arm and stopped near his biceps. Noah, not expecting much, was immediately caught off guard when the tendrils pierced through his skin and seeped into his veins.
Noah screamed in agony as the Umbral Lamp cleansed his body. As the pain racked his nerves he felt a compulsion to throw up. As the bile came out of his mouth Noah noticed that it did not resemble the yellowish green of stomach acid but instead was a bright glowing red. Once this left his body the pain stopped and Noah stood back up. The lamp disappeared and had again found itself on his hip.
The spell spoke
[ you body has been cleansed of the imperfection ( Adyr's blood )]
[ you have lost an attribute]
[ you have gained an attribute]
Noah quickly opened his runes to see that the ( Adyr's blood ) attribute had been replaced by another called (umbral Blood) he read the description
description : (Umbral Blood)
(Once tainted blood, now cleansed. when calm or empty you power grow( emptiness is your true peace) )
Noah was ecstatic to have a new attribute but he would miss the rush he would get when (Adyr's blood ) would activate and hopefully the New (Umbral blood) attribute would give him the same rush.
[ your aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve aspect?]
For the second time Noah accepted the aspect evolution full of anticipation at what level his aspect would be.
[ awakened aspect blasphemous worshipers is evolving]
[new aspect acquired]
[Aspect rank : sacred ]
[ Aspect Name : Umbral crusader ]
Noah could have screamed he was so happy. In Fact that's exactly what he did. He jumped for joy and giggled like a child. He, An unknown worker who lived in Antarctica, was just granted a sacred level aspect. How in the hell did this happen. After a few more seconds of celebrating Noah looked into these runes to see what his Aspect was all about.
Aspect: [ Umbral crusader]
Aspect Rank : [ sacred ]
Aspect description:
[ You have been chosen by the Umbral lamp. The Umbral lamp has been replaced by its creator and has now been bonded to you. You serve no one and the Lamp serves you. May your battles be glorious and your crusaders be everlasting. (Meus voluntas).]
Noah was overjoyed that he was given a fighting aspect. Not utility, not healing, a pure fighting aspect. On Top of that his aspect is of the sacred level so he would not have to worry about his future prospects. During the nightmare he just wanted to go back to his normal life but now with this high level aspect Noah was thinking of a future as an awakened warrior.
The only part of the description Noah was confused about was the last part where it said (meus Voluntas) what the hell does that even mean. It definitely uses English characters but it might be in a different language that Noah had no idea how to translate.
Noah then looked at the runes for the umbral lamp it read
Attribute description :
(The Umbral Lamp has finally found its new owner. Now complete this forgotten artifact can now collect the souls of fallen enemies. Using the souls of the ones you have slain you can reinforce your weapons. Once a certain soul threshold is met the owner of this Lamp can cheat death once.)
Souls : 10250
Holy crap I can cheat death once that's amazing but what is the soul threshold it's talking about? I wonder how many souls I would need to revive myself. Ehh questions for later.
The real question is how did I get 10,250 souls. Noah thought back to the nightmare but could not think of how he got so many souls. Then it clicked he must have gotten them when the lantern killed Adyr's heart. That just goes to show how many people they had sacrificed to that damned artifact.
[ The first Seal is broken]
[awakening dormant power]
Noah felt a smoothing stur inside of him. As if a raging sea of power was unleashed . It flowed through him as a warmth washed over him. Then it stopped and all Noah felt was the dead calm of the abyss around him.
Then his surroundings changed and the area around him went dark as if all the stars around him had burnt out. Then his vision was tinted blue and he could see a giant version of his lantern. In the middle of the flame, an orb was floating. The orb was irritating the same blue light that his lantern did. Then the orb seemed to dim as if going dormant. The flames in the lamp also dimed.
It was his soul sea and that light blue orb floating inside that giant lamp was his soul core. The two little twinkling lights that orbited his soul core were the two memories that he had acquired.
[Aspect Ability acquired]
[aspect ability name : crusaders arsenal ]
Noah excited to see what his aspect ability was rushed to open his runes
Aspect abilities: (crusaders arsenal)
Aspect abilities description :
( a lonely crusader needs a weapon for every situation. can turn memories and weapons of historical value to the dream realm into equipment to you arsenal, but be mindful every arsenal has a limit )
Noah looked at the rune closer and another screen opened up. It showed 4 boxes next to the word weapon, one box next to armor and then one last box next to weapons that was simply labeled AUX.
Noah was less than impressed by his aspect ability. His mind set was why would I need to summon weapons with my aspect ability when I would just summon weapons though memories. He also found it stupid that his weapons for his aspect were also limited to such a small amount. But then Noah's line of thinking was cut off by the spell.
[ all power has a price]
[you have received a flaw]
Noah eyed zipped towards his runes. He looked at his flaw and his jaw dropped." what kind of sadist would give this to me"
Flaw: (Adyr's curse)
Flaw description:
(You have been cursed by Adyr. you can't summon combat memories and the regeneration of essence by natural causes is not possible.)
" NO COMBAT MEMORIES, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!? How in the hell am I going to fight if I can't summon weapons, armors, or amulets." he then sighed " Do I really have to rely on my aspect to survive any fight whatsoever. Great."
Noah, not too happy about his flaw quickled added his armor and his weapon to his aspect ability, kind of disappointed when the two twinkling lights around his soul core disappeared and the spell announced their destruction.
Then the spell was announced once more.
[Wake up , Noah]
The blue soul seas spun and disappeared and Noah was sent back to the waking world.