Kaelen's tears had dried up already, absorbed by his stone skin
He was rushing towards the giant and felt his body return, his real body that had been forged in the nightmare.
His eyes rose and he saw the Giant stretch out a hand and shimmering white tendrils flowered out, falling to the ground and charging towards him—but Kaelen didn't stress; he sucked in a breath and stated to dodge the tendrils as it dug into the ground behind him
The ones that appeared close, he swung a sword and cut through them.
Kaelen could feel slight weakness in his body and it didn't take long to realize why: this Titan was sucking the life force out of him while he was in the hallucination—feeding on it and all those skulls around
They are what would have happened if he didn't wake up
He managed to get close and as he did the Titan took a step forward, the titan's foot raising and crashing down on him—before it did Kaelen sucked in a breath and sped up, pushing himself to the side and falling down with a roll
Instantly he jumped up and threw the great sword with an insane amount of strength, digging into the creature's leg.
There was a loud sound and the creature roared, tendrils shooting out from the wound simultaneously healing it and moving towards him
He used the light sword and slashed at them, eventually reaching the sword. he jumped up and grabbed the handle pulling himself up and stabbing the other sword into the titan but before the tendrils shot out, he had already pulled the bottom one out and stabbed it above
He used the swords to start climbing up the life titan
He saw the mist tendrils in the periphery of his eyes and dismissed the swords, beginning to use his claws to climb
His claws were digging into the titan's leg as he crawled up, and the mist had sprayed onto his face—it was fortunate that the titan's 'blood' didn't seem to have any effects on him, so his climb was uninterrupted.
The Titan shuddered. From the porous craters in its skin, dozens of white tendrils erupted like a nest of disturbed vipers.
Kaelen parried the first, the impact nearly shattering his forearms. He sheared through a second, but the third caught him full in the chest. The blow sent him reeling, his claws tearing free from the Titan's thigh
He was about to fall. Would the impact disorient him? No, he couldnt let that happen—the titan would just instantly step on him
but then something happened
For a few seconds Kaelen was almost worried as it seemed to appear out of thin air. It was a monstrosity of a being that appeared in front of him, about the size of a lion
Kaelen looked into its eyes and felt an odd feeling he could not explain—was it fear? no...
As he plummeted, the horror lunged. It clamped a massive, clawed forelimb around his calf, the grip so tight it bruised through his armor slightly.
He was about to swing the summoned dark sword
But it didnt attack him; it started an ascent
It sprinted straight up the side of the giant, its six legs moving in a blur of terrifying efficiency.
Kaelen was pulled onto its back as if he were riding a horse, one of its two tails wrapped around his waist, keeping him from falling.
The creature bypassed the lashing tendrils with a sickening, predatory grace, hauling him back up into the climb he had started
They had managed to just reach above the titans' waist.
The white tendrils suddenly whistled, whistling through the air with a greater speed; the beast Kaelen was riding simply weaved through each tendril
Just as they had reached the midsection of the titan the air seemed to be displaced
Despite the white radiance, there was a large shadow that fell over him and the beast.
Kaelen had been thinking for a while now about why this particular titan seemed to be so weak but he had soon realized that, that was not the case—it was just that the titan was not a being that relied on its plain physical strength like most did
Its ability was to trap the mind in a replay of their ideal life and suck the life force out of them
That was why it could no longer affect him; the spell had told him, after all
'You have gained an absolute understanding of life.'
Of course he did
Kaelen had been forced to relive the worse parts of his life and come to terms that it would never be how he wanted—that all he could do was push forward and try for a better future
That was also the first step of his aspect legacy, which
'Which is what this creature is.'
This creature was the first relic he got from his aspect legacy
Well, he would have enough to think about for now; he needed to deal with the gargantuan hand that was about to swat them like a fly against the titan's stomach.
In that instant the creature stopped its climb and twisted its body in a swing—using its tail that was holding it, the beast swung Kaelen like a ragdoll out of the way of the titan's hand.
He felt the gravitational force scream through his spine as he was launched upwards and was forced to soar like a human projectile—below him, the titan's hand slammed into its stomach and Kaelen could tell instantly that, that attack would have hurt like hell
Maybe not have crushed him but it would have stunned him
As he reached the apex of his arc, he looked down, trying to find the beast, but saw nothing, not even a stain of blood on the creature's hand, as if it did not even exist.
Kaelen collided with the Titan's upper chest, his hands clawing for purchase and he forced his claw in like a knife, and he saw the titan's head growing closer and immediately began his again
'This thing is surprisingly weak... well, it doesnt have a source of power anymore.'
He was that power source a few moments ago
Again he was forced to dodge all of the tendrils, but just as he was reaching closer to where he wanted to be, the mist tendrils coalesced into a fluid-like form that looked like it had far too much durability.
But it wasnt a problem again
The beast materialized in front of him again, lunging at the mist; its claws and jaws shredded the solid fog—its black saliva seeming to melt the mist as well, rendering it to nothing more than wet paper
With the path cleared, Kaelen surged upward. He leaped over a pulsing vein the size of an oak tree and hauled himself over a final, jagged ridge of bone plate.
He finally reached the shoulder.
For a few seconds Kaelen was silent; the creature didn't even turn its head to look at him while the beast kept the tendrils from rising towards him.
"...How long have all of you been stuck here rotting away?"
He had come to a realization about this nightmare.
How long had the guardians been here in this trial, waiting for someone to kill them...?
How many had failed before him...?
Tens, Hundreds, thousands of people
Kaelen had puzzled all the pieces together based on all the information he had been given.
"I'll give you your ending; rest now and again."
He summoned both the swords now and jumped—his swords digging into the creatures featureless face and started to slide down cleaving the titan
He let out a soft smile—"Thanks for letting me see her again."
The gravity brought him down, and he began a lethal, high-speed descent. He leaned back, his feet skidding against the giant's skin as his blades acted as bloody skates, carving twin, jagged furrows down the Titan's face and neck.
The mist screamed. The ethereal tendrils surged forward in a frantic swarm to intercept him, but the six-legged horror was already there.
It was a chaotic blur, leaping across Kaelen's path and snapping its jaws at the air. It tore the mist into ribbons, its black saliva dissolving the ghostly filaments before they could touch Kaelen's skin.
When he had reached the chest, he was intercepted by a stray tendril that was thicker than the rest; it coiled around the swords and held them in place, causing a sudden stop of momentum and causing the sudden jerk that nearly tore his shoulder off.
He groaned and let got of one sword, preparing to summon the claws of flame but before he pulled it out of his soul the beast started to charge forward but instead of ripping the tendril apart it leaped and grabbed his leg and the violent tug hauled him downwards tearing the tendril and aiding in the vertical plummet
They flowed with the blades causing violent lines that caused the life force from the creature to escape before it could heal
The creature's back legs, all 4 of them, gripped into the titan's stomach, and they had stopped right where the creature's navel would be. There was an explosion of mist as the creature exploded
It seemed he had caused enough damage to kill the dying titan
[You have slain an awakened titan: Lost Life.]
[You have received a memory...]
He was flung back and the beast aiding him had disappeared back to wherever it had been and Kaelen rolled on the ground but when he opened his eyes
He was not in the cracked room.
He was in another white space
He woke up with a groan
'This place is...'
The place he was standing in was the same as the place he had been at the start of his journey into the nightmare—the endless white space that had once had the door in front of him but now there was another thing in its place
"You're that being, aren't you—The Nameless King?"
The impossibly handsome man looked up from the ball of shifting colors he was holding. Kaelen was expecting some blank, emotionless tone—some serious reason he was called here—but there was nothing but a soft smile on his face
"That is a title of mine, yes."
Kaelen's eyes narrowed—"Not your true name?"
The man chuckled—"No... I never had one of those, actually."
"What...?"
"The True names are tied to oneself—I was never my own self, just a manifestation of the good in the void that managed to crawl out."
Kaelen looked at him with a piercing gaze—'He isn't attacking; is he not an enemy?'
It was a natural reaction that Kaelen could not hide
"I'm not an enemy."
Kaelen took a few steps back—"You can read my mind?"
"I actually used to be able to read everyone's mind—everything's mind too, but never mind that little one—why don't we use our limited time together to answer your real questions?"
"Why is it limited time?"
"Well, this is just a remnant will that you're talking to—I've been dead for eons and what little bit of myself remaining is dissipating."
"...Then how?"
"How did I bring you to this world?"
"I was a being beyond the power of every being in the world—this little task was not difficult to do."
"So that nightmare you made, what was it for?"
The being seemed to pause for a while and responded with something odd
"You know, when i crawled out of the void, I created everything, even the flames of desire."
"...So are you the gods' father or...?"
"Well, I'm glad your humor has returned. wait... am I?" The being paused with a confused expression
"I think you are."
"I suppose so... anyway!"
He clapped his hand
"After i created everything, I got a bit lonely so i created life."
Kaelen paused, trying to comprehend what the being was saying.
"...So those guardians in my nightmare were your creations."
"Yes..." He said with a wistful smile. "It was nice for a while; everyone was happy—life was thriving as my own creations made their own... but not everything lasts forever."
"..."
"The void called me back. No, thats not right—it took me back."
"What do you mean?"
"The void needed to be ever-changing—that was an absolute law before any of the other absolute laws. I escaped from that cycle, and it took what it lost back."
Kaelen remained silent allowing the Being to talk, to reveal this story he had not even read as a reader
"When I was pulled back, everything I created was taken back too—all of it was lost again. But i managed to rebel a little."
"What did you do?"
"I preserved the flames of desire."
That single sentence had immense implications—it means the gods were born because he had kept the flames alive—because of his action, everything that happened, happened
"So why the hell am I here?"
"...I called those who had decided to kill themselves here for eons; i placed them in the trials so they could succeed and inherit my power."
'...!'
"Yes, you have the same powers that I did—well, you will have to grow your strength."
"So those guys in the nightmare aren't actually real, right?"
"No, the six you had killed were my first lot of creations after my little pet."
"Pet?"
Just as he said that, the beast that had been with him materialized again and sat besides Kaelen before its eyes landed on the voidborn
It seemed to pause for a second as if it could not understand what was happening, but when the realization hit, it ran over to him and started to rub itself against the being's legs.
'So he made it...'
"Yes, your aspect legacy will give you rewards each time you increase your mastery—and each reward is a creation of mine and it comes with knowledge as well—you will learn its use in the future."
"Wait, wait, wait, so those guardians were real?"
"Yes, when i was absorbed they were too but i managed to keep some of their essence and put it into creating the trials for my challengers."
"...Then what's my purpose? What did he call me here to do?"
"There is no reason really—just so I wont be forgotten eternally like i had been."
"That's all?!"
He had to go through all of those trials for what, so this old thing would be remembered...?
"Well, it's not a bad thing, no? You were set to die in your world, but I gave you the chance to gain power, and all I asked for was an inheritor of my power, and you get a new life. Speaking of which, my remaining will is dissipating. Why don't you tell me where you want to start your new life?"
Kaelen looked at this being like he was mad
So because he had committed suicide, he was thrust into a nightmare, was given the chance to become a god and was getting the inheritance of the first existence as a Aspect Legacy
"Yeah, that's pretty much it."
Kaelen let out a sigh
"You have a very weird way of wanting to be remembered..."
It was so odd. All of these things—all of those trials—were made just so he wouldn't be forgotten. Well, in a way, it made sense
Being dead was better than being forgotten, after all—a man dies when when he is forgotten
"3 days before Sunny woke up in the police station—I was an outskirts rat that a policeman saw. I was asleep and dragged me there also plese ensure i end up in the forgotten shore with Sunny."
"Hoh, thats a good choice~"
He began to dissipate into the air, or was it back into the void? well... it didn't matter
"Thanks for the second chance by the way."
"You're welcome."
And then... it was over
[Wake up, Kaelen; Your Nightmare is over.]
[Prepare for appraisal...]