Before a vast plane of bone stood two figures.
One was bloodied and bruised, his body marred by deep, weeping wounds. The other remained untouched, his stance calm amidst a swirling storm of mirror shards that hovered like an honor guard around him.
Above them, a blinding brilliance poured across the desolate plain, devouring every trace of shadow. It was not the light of salvation, but a merciless radiance that scoured everything beneath it.
They stood in silence, locked in a grim standoff, gathering their essence, waiting—for clouds to eclipse the sun and give them cover.
Eventually, they came.
The sky darkened, if only slightly. And in that moment, the man surrounded by glass surged forward—so fast, he seemed to vanish between one breath and the next.
The wounded man dropped to one knee, strength drained from his limbs. Blood pooled beneath him, steaming against the white-hot ground. As he looked up, he saw the figure approach, death drawing closer with every step. So too did his final breaths.
The sprinting man spoke, breathless with exertion and triumph.
"Ha! Apollo, it looks like I've finally beaten you. I'm going to enjoy killing you, you stubborn pest. Do you even realize how long it took me to gather those puppets?" His voice trembled with rage.
Apollo didn't answer. Instead, he laughed—a low, wheezing sound that rose into something wild and unhinged, a laugh that spoke of madness and victory in defeat.
"Mordret... the Prince of Nothing," Apollo rasped. "I may be dying... but in the end... I still win."
Mordret reached him, pressing the edge of his sword against Apollo's throat, the blade gleaming with reflected starlight.
"Delusions. From a dead man." His voice dropped, almost mournful. "You know, Apollo... I had high hopes for you. I really thought you could've become something. It's a shame. You should've never sided with the bastard who killed my father."
Apollo opened his mouth, a devilish grin twisting his face—but he never got the chance to speak.
Mordret's blade flashed.
Apollo's head fell to the ground.
"This won't be the last time... bastard," Apollo whispered with his final breath, even as life fled his eyes. "I know your flaw now."
Mordret's face froze, struck for a heartbeat by something sharp—fear.
Then darkness claimed everything.
After what felt like both an eternity but also only a brief moment, there was finally something other than the nothingness.
A faint voice resounded from all around him, it was the Nightmare Spell.
[Conditions have been met. Awakening Aspect Legacy.]
It was the same quote he had heard probably over a thousand times by now and yet he still couldn't help but feel relief. It was never a guarentee whether it would continue to work.
[Aspect Legacy Aquired! Would you like to activate your legacy?]
Yes, he thought.
The world exploded into a riot of color and sound, a kaleidoscope of sensation moving too quickly to grasp. It all blurred together in a storm of feeling—
—and then it vanished.
Silence returned.
Then, slowly, he opened his eyes. What met his gaze was a beautiful woman with jet black hair.
He remembered this moment, how could he not? This was not the first time he had regressed.
Each and every time he died he would regress to this point, the point right after surviving his first nightmare.
Currently he was situated within the police station, sat in front of him was Ascended Jet an awakened working for the government. He knew her very well, they had been friends during many lifetimes.
Looking around he took in the familiar surroundings. He still remembered the first time he had awoken from death. The fear, the shock. He remembered it all.
He focused his gaze back to the woman sat in front of him.
"Congratulations Apollo you survived. Good job."
"Thank you Ascended Jet."
A flicker of surprise passed over her face. Clearly, she hadn't expected him to know her. But the expression vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"I would love to stay and chat about your experience but you should really get going. Today is the day of the solstice, you will be sent to the dream realm once you fall asleep."
She waited for a response or any kind of reaction. However, the boy in front of her simply nodded. As if the news was not something new or something to be afraid of.
"I have arranged an escort to take you directly to the academy where you will be brought to a sleeping pod to keep you safe until you return."
"Yes, thank you." He had been through this so many times that he just could care less for conversation at the moment. He was currently planning out how he would survive upon entering the dream realm.
You see, Apollo happens to be one of the very unfortunate few who were infected by the spell just days before the solstice, he had no time to learn at the academy. He was thrown straight into the dream realm. He had died many times because of his lack of experience, however now he couldn't help but he thankful for this fact. He had lived hundreds of lives, fought hundreds of thousands of battles, and survived in the harshest of environments the dream realm had to offer. There was nothing he could gain by wasting time within the academy.
The ride to the academy wasn't too long, he took this time to regroup his thoughts and plan out his future, a habit he had gained through his countless regressions.
First things first was to look at his runes. Focusing, he promptly entered his soul sea.
The moment he stepped in, a feeling of home washed over him. It was the one constant. No matter how many times he died, his soul sea remained the same—endless waves beneath a vast, sky-lit dome.
After a brief pause, he moved to inspect his runes.
Name: Apollo
True Name: Prince of Light
Rank: Dreamer
Light Core: Dormant
Soul Fragments: 6/1000
As expected nothing here changed. He had done particularly well within his first nightmare. Overcoming a difficult challenge which had him fighting within his own soul. He had defeated the harrowing being which was dormant monster. And was gifted with a true name and an aspect evolution.
Looking to his aspect he read through the runes.
Aspect Name: Light Bearer
Aspect Rank: Supreme
Aspect Innate Ability: Self Presence
Aspect Ability Name: Light Control
Flaw: Hyperthymesia
The aspect granted him dominion over light, but it was the innate ability that fascinated him.
It hadn't always been Self Presence. Once, it had merely enhanced his musical talent—a laughably useless gift in battle. But hundreds of deaths had changed it.
Innate Ability Description: Life is cruel however Fate is crueler. As just a dormant beast a boy was sentenced to death. He died and was reborn once again, this process repeated hundreds of times. Where others would break, he endured. His resilience became his armor.
While it sounds somewhat underwhelming, within the hundreds of cycles he had learned the true greatness to the ability.
The ability gave him protection from instant death basically. For example when fighting Prince Mordret, the opponent could easily just enter his soul sea, defeat him and take control of his body, ultimately killing him. However with this ability Mordret became unable to do so. The best part of the ability though, was the fact that it made Apollo immune to corruption. Now how exactly did he gain such a powerful ability?
If you pay attention to his flaw you may realize, hyperthymesia is a term that refers to an advanced memory. As it suggest, Apollo remembers everything, every death, every loss, everything. Now what would happen if someone who cannot forget anything were to learn of a secret that the world holds very dear?
To answer the question we can look back at his 658th regression. During this life he learned of the Forgotten God for the first time, a piece of knowledge that instantly killed him.
As soon as he woke up he remembered it and died once again. This process repeated so many times that he had lost count until one day he woke up and didn't die. That was the day he had gained the new ability.
He still shuddered thinking of all of the deaths he had experienced during that time. Even to him, someone with such high experience with death they were particularly bad.
Moving on from the aspect he focused on the last remaining areas.
Memories: ——
Spirits: [Soul Serpent]
Attributes: [Child of Light], [Light Soul]
Same as before, he had his two core attributes and his main companion, the soul serpent.
Looking at the runes he couldn't help but reminisce on the brawl he had with the serpent. It was the enemy he had to fight within his first nightmare, taking in the form of a fierce beast it had been ferocious and cunning, yet Apollo was even more so, ferocious and cunning. The spell seemed very impressed with his victory as it gave him an echo of the fiend.
As for the two attributes they were pretty simple.
Child of Light granted him enhanced strength in the presence of light—as a sleeper it went up to a three times increase from his normal power. It also gave him Light Perception, a sixth sense that allowed him to feel and see light itself. That alone had saved his life countless times.
Light Soul was a bit more complex. It allowed him to absorb essence directly from enemies, bypassing the need to consume soul shards. It also made his soul unique—capable of evolving and turning echoes into spirits which could grow stronger.
By the time he had finished his review, the PTV arrived at the academy.
He exited his soul sea just as the driver announced their arrival.
Now, it was time.
He would enter deep sleep.
And once again, his soul would be cast into the dream realm.