As Kaelen stepped through the white door he felt that weird feeling of falling in ones sleep which caused a small gasp to escape his lips. Then however the shock was slowly replaced by confusion. The beautiful sight of the Nightmare Spells inner works were replaced by...
Dirt.
In front of Kaelen's eyes was a large expanse of brown, grey and yellow. Sand, Stone and Soil.
"I heard the spell say Earth Trial so I should have expected this..."
Kaelen naturally was quite stunned from the strange events that just occurred, having killed himself, pulled into another world, and was currently in a trial that would grant him superpowers, superpowers that seemed would revolve around the earth element.
Then however a thought bloomed in his mind and he began to look around frantically.
'Nightmare Creatures...!'
He recalled the dangers of the horrendous corrupted creatures and began to look around. He span in a circle and tried to see if anything was there looking at him.
Then he let out a deep sigh.
'Oh thank god...'
He thought, not daring to speak just in the case that the being in this trial was one that operated on hearing for the hunt. Kaelen had no experience in fighting and so he was going to try to be extra careful.
He may not have thrown many punches but he could still make a fist...
'Wait...'
He stared at his fist with a baffled expression. It was his own fist. Sure it may not have seemed odd but Kaelen remembered that the Nightmares were trials that were based on conflicts in the past. The Aspirant, in this case, himself, was supposed to be transported into the body of a Dream Realm inhabitant from the past.
'But I'm still in my own body... is this why the spell seemed confused when announcing the Trials start?'
Perhaps the Spell had created its own Nightmare based on the nature of what his Aspect was going to be. It was something that allowed people to now just walk the path of ascension, but run on it. Progressing extremely quickly
'Well... It wouldn't be the weirdest thing.'
He nodded to himself out in the open and then sat down on the ground.
'Okay... first step.'
He thought as he focused on the word 'Runes' just as he had read. Then in front of him the string of magical alphabet appeared. The language was indeed confusing and something he did not understand but the Spell acted as a personal translator allowing him to understand
---
Name: Kaelen Celeste
True Name: —
Rank: Aspirant
Soul Core: Dormant
Memories: —
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Unmoving] [Unbound]
Aspect: [Unaffiliated Sprite]
Aspect Description: A Sprite is a mystical creature born of the power of the elements. However an Unaffiliated Sprite does not belong to an element and longs to fill the void for power.
---
He stared at the runes for a moment and took in what they meant including the specific words.
For example something that he found pleasant was that the Spell seemed kind enough to keep his surname, the one he wanted, in there despite the beings of the world of Shadow Slave just having their name.
Nephis was just called Nephis by the Spell, not Nephis of Immortal Flame.
Then he looked at the description of his Aspect and was quickly able to grasp what his powers and what this trial would be like. Kaelen was a Sprite hungry for power and he was going to gain domain over the element of earth by the end of his First Nightmare.
However as he stared at the Attributes a bit of confusion crept in.
He focused on them specifically and began to analyze what they said, scrutinizing every bit and every word to understand while making references to his knowledge.
First thing he noticed was that [Unmoving] was his [Fated]. What that meant that his innate attribute that he carried from before the Nightmare was the [Unmoving] Attribute.
[Unmoving]: Nothing that you do not allow can change you, yourself, your resolve, your goals. How can one change something that refuses to move?
From what he gleamed that Attribute seemed to be the manifestation of his refusal to listen to, or hear out the people he believed were a threat. The exact function of the attribute was still a mystery but it seemed that it would allow him to have a stronger mental resilience?
Sure it wasn't as grand as [Fated] or [Dreamspawn] but it seemed nice. Resilience to mind attacks was definitely something he wouldn't be mad about especially here were the most horrifying beings were the ones that attacked the mind.
Something that definitely made him curious though was the second Attribute, [Unbound]
[Unbound]: You do not belong to the strings of fate within this world and yet you walk among it, you are connected to it in a way that is unnatural and wrong but it seems nothing can do anything to change that.
He paused and took in what that meant.
It seemed that his attribute was almost antithetical to Sunny's [Fated]. He did not belong to the strings of this world and yet it seemed that he was able to move amongst and affect it.
Even though he only had two attributes they seemed very nice and he was happy.
Sure there was a bit of disappointment that he did not have an attribute linking him to Divinity like the [Mark of Divinity] or [Flame of Divinity] and also clearly he did not have a lineage attribute.
"Speaking of which, the Spell said that this is a challenge for the inheritance of Weavers lineage..."
He said and as excitement shown in his eyes. Unfortunately his eyes were not the only one that shone.
Kaelen's voice seemed to have awakened a creature that was slumbering right besides him in the mud pool next to the stone platform he was standing on. The three yellow eyes were placed in a triangular shape on the creature. From inside the mud a shape slowly floated up and its shape was like that of a cone, just with a head.
The sound itself was disgusting like a mix of growl and mixing sludge
Kaelen stared at the creature and then once the realization hit he immediately shifted getting ready to move. However he was not fast enough. The Nightmare Creature leaped up somehow and pushed him back and the two of them fell into the mud behind where he had been facing.
Kaelen felt his skin crawl with disgust as the creature fell on him. He felt its numerous little legs scratch onto him.
The creature was not very large but that was in comparison to what he had read other creatures were like. This damn thing was so large that it resembled a large, buff man that fell on him. Only covered in muck.
Then to his horror the creatures head bent down and Kaelen became aware of the two pincers that were currently planning to latch onto his head.
Quickly he raised his hands and grabbed the pincers trying to push it back. It was heavy as hell and with the power it was putting in he began to be dragged backwards.
Then a silver lining appeared.
He felt something hit his shoulder as he was being pushed back and the structure moved with him. It was a stone.
Gritting his teeth, Kaelen used the strength he had in his body which now was being fueled by the adrenaline pulsing in his blood. With a roar he managed to push the bastard of himself. Despite wanting to just lay there he forced himself to stand being dragged down by the mud.
The creature was flipped on its back and was trying to turn itself around, the numerous legs making him uncomfortable on a level he could not quit put into words.
While it struggled he reached into the mud where he had been a moment around and fished for the stone. The creature had turned around and was clearly preparing for another attack. It leaped into the air again just as it had did when this tussle first began.
However before it got close Kaelen swung his hand whilst holding the stone. It moved with power and slapped into the creatures head, hard, Kaelen felt the bone in his arm rattle but thankfully he managed to knock the creature to the side.
He almost slipped but maintained his balance.
Holding the stone above his head, Kaelen leaped and landed on the creatures back, riding it like an oversized horseshoe crab while at the same time brining down the stone.
It cracked into the creatures head and a loud cracking sound entered his ears.
However he did not stop after the first one and repeated the action, again, and again, and again.
The beast had stopped moving slowly, shock taking control, and now all that was left was a few twitches of the legs and then it stopped. With a final, guttural yell, he dropped the rock with all his remaining strength and it cracked the chitin armor digging into the creatures brain
[You have slain a Dormant Beast, Mud Cralwer]
He slid of the corpse, falling into the mud at the side of the creature.
'Why... was killing a dormant beast so damn hard...'