Noah's eyes slowly opened to see his vision tinted with a blue hue. Looking around he seemed to be on the same street he was on when he entered the nightmare. The only difference was that this place was surrounded by caution tape, awakens, and a large crowd of people looking towards the center.
Noah looked at where everyone else was and saw many white tarps on the ground which looked to be covering dead bodies. The bodies from what Noah could see were mangeld and torn apart.
As he looked at the bodies he noticed one of them was not covered. He walked over and saw that his face was plastered on the corpse. Freaked out Noah jumped back and wondered why his face was on a mangled corpse. The body was missing an arm and had chunks bitten out of it. His inquiries were answered a few seconds later when the spell, announced.
[ you have died, the Umbral Lamp's Power festers ]
[ insufficient souls for full recovery, Reviving]
Noah watched as Blue tendrils filled his wounds and his missing arm that lay a little ways away was pierced and grafted back onto the stump where his arm had been previously. The awakened around instantly looked at the scene ready for whatever it was that was coming to life.
Noah Vision went dark again, when he opened his eye again his blue tinted vision changed back into this normal color. He collected himself and put both of his hand in the air he frantically shouting " I'm human, I'm human"
One of the awakens responded "what's your name, ID, and AGE
Noah shouted back " MY name is Noah Brooks, My ID is 440986972 I am 24 years old. I live on the 11 floor of an apartment complex on Lambast ST."
The awakened looked at a government agent with a table frantically typing in the information. The agent looked back at the awakened and nodded his head in confirmation. The awakened looked at his cohort and motioned for them to stand down; he then walked over to Noah and pulled him to his feet " sorry for the misunderstanding, so what happened?"
Noah groaned in pain feeling like he had been hit By a truck. Not all the damage was restored so Noah was still in a ton of pain " just got sucked into my first Nightmare and just completed it"
"Oh crap really then you're a sleeper, Welcome back to the waking world Man. Follow him, he needs to discuss some things in private." The awaken then pointed towards the government again, Noah followed the government agent without asking any question. At this point Noah just wanted to get home and sleep off this pain. He eventually arrived at the police station. Walking into a private room. He sat down and the government agent started to give him a debriefing.
" Again welcome back to the living world, we are glad to have you back. As you know you are on the track to ascension and we would like to provide you with the training to pass your winter solstice. The winter solstice will happen in about a month and a half so you have ample time to train for it. Now that I have told you this do you have any questions"
" yeah uhh how will you be helping me?"
The government agent answered smoothly" we will send you to the Awaken Academy in the NSQ. It's another large city located outside of your home country of antarctica"
Noah Nodded his head then asked "So how long is the trip? Do I have to pack or is it a quick to get there, complete the winter solstice,and come back? "
The government agent answered back" the trip is about a week and a half. you can pack but all items will be provided at the academy. But be aware that it is only the necessity. Cloths, food, water, and showers are included"
"Ah ok" was all Noah could say.
The government agent continued " the cargo ship you will be leaving on, leaves in a day so pack what you want your are leaving tomorrow in loading by 2"
Noah nodded and then just sat there in awkward silence till the agent told him that there was nothing more to discuss. Once Noah got out of the police station he pulled out his phone to find that it had been mangled by his Bodies experience while he was in the nightmare. In a hurry he searched his other pockets and found some spare change.
Looking around he found a phone booth a few steps to his right. Walking into he put in his spare change and dial a number. The phone booth rang three time Before the person on the other line picked up
" Hello Ashton speaking."
Noah respond with a friendly tone" Heeeyyy Ashton could you pick me up from the police station, I don't know where my house is from here"
"Can't you just use your phone it has a map" Ashton said with a questioning tone
Noah responded with a bit of embarrassment " Yeeaaah uh my phone is kind of… destroyed but it for a good reason I swear!"
Ashton paused for a second in disbelief then sighed" I be their in a bit"
Noah happy said " thank you "
Ashton ended it with a defeated " you welcome"
Noah stood there in front of the police station for a solid 30 min before his friend arrived. As Ashton pulled up in his car Noah walked over to it and signaled for him to roll down the window.
Ashton immediately opened up with " how in the hell did you break your phone!"
Noah took out his phone and showed Ashton the broken remnants of his phone" I swear it was for a good reason see look"
Noah stood there for a solid 5 seconds just waiting for his armor to appear. Confused, he looked around his body, seeing nothing appearing. Then as if by magic the armor appeared on his body in a flash of white.
Completely messing up his grand reveal with his confusion Noah tried to salvage it but by then it was too late. He ended up looking stupid in front of his friend. Ashton on the other hand couldn't care less at what Noah thought were stupid movements, he was more impressed with the fact that noah could summon what he thought were memory.
" holy he dude you passed your first nightmare, but how? Your 24, way past the age at which normal people go through awakening"
Noah responded with agreement" Yeah I don't know how but I got sucked into my first nightmare earlier today, but hey I'm not complaining now. I am going to be an awakened and when I am, I can join you guys."
Ashton responded with excitement at the prospect of adventuring with an old buddy. They celebrated at a bar then Ashton took Noah home. Noah, exhausted from the day, could not go to sleep yet. He begrudgingly packed his things like clothes and soap in a small bag he then set his alarm for tomorrow so as not to miss his ship. He then finally laid his face on the pillow and knocked out in the peace and comfort of his real home.
****
Noah woke up the next day in the comfort of his own home. He inhaled the familiar air of his apartment knowing that it would be a long time before he smelt this familiar air again.
Getting out of bed he grabbed his bag and set off to the docks so as not to be late for his ship. Noah not having a car or a phone now just walked towards the coast line till he found dock 2. Seeing a giant cargo ship being loaded he went up to the workers and asked if this was the ship he was looking for. The worker confirmed it and Noah headed towards the ramp so he could board the ship. As Noah entered the hull of the ship he found a few people there.
They were all talking to each other so Noah found a corner so he could isolate himself from the other. After a while the captain walked into the room and guided all occupants into their living quarters. Noah settling down in his bunk found that the other 3 beds in his room were unoccupied. Happy with this arrangement Noah got ready for the journey ahead.
During the journey Noah did not do much. He only refreshed his skill in combat in his small room but shadow boxing but other than that, all he did was eat and sleep. The journey was long and boring which was perfectly fine as Noah saw it. He would take a relatively boring tip over horrifying monsters in the sea any day.
And like that Noah spent 12 days. As Noah arrived in port Noah he felt a sense of a new beginning settling upon him. He was going to become an awakened, after this soulstice, even the thought of it made him jittery. Noah was still excited about his prospects . Noah got off the boat and onto a train, On the final leg of his trip to the NSQ.