Bleeding Money

Nero felt something in his chest grow hot, making him grip it as he fell to his knees. It wasn't a searing pain like your insides were being burned by a hot iron, but more like the feeling of being touched in a place that shouldn't've been possible. It was odd, a little comfortable even, but the sensation continued to grow.

 A dormant energy that was sleeping inside Nero was waking up, and spreading to every nook and cranny that it could find. It spread from his chest, to his head, to all of his finger tips, to every organ, nerve, and fibre of his being.

Then, that energy started to modify it. His once brittle bones from years of hunger, were reconstructed and revitalized to their near physical peak, his muscles grew a little fuller, giving him the strength that he should've had as an ordinary human, and even his blood was ridding itself of any impurities that could threaten his life.

His vision grew sharp, his body was now more powerful, he felt amazing!

He felt euphoric.

He was no longer the weakling boy, who needed two others to survive the streets of Endroll.

He was now, Sleeper Noble Demise.

'Oh heck no, that name sounds too cringy.'

The heat that was spreading through his body, finally started to cooldown, letting him relax a little.

The sea of nexuses gradually began to disappear and fade away, leaving just one blinding sun glowing in the distance. There was nothing else here, except for the darkness which stretched on infinitely.

'?'

He was confused at first, but eventually came to the stark realization that this was his soul sea. We'll, it lacked a sea, so it was more of a soul space really. Soul sea's were unique, but they shouldn't have looked like this? There was nothing here apart from his shining Soul core in the sky, if that really was the sky.

'Hm.'

Nero himself wasn't even standing on anything. He was just floating aimlessly in the void now. But he had to admit, this place was rather peaceful.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed a small spark spinning around his Soul Core. He figured it was that mystery memory he earned from killing that Griffin. He was already getting excited to check it out.

'My first memory is of the Ascendent Rank! What luck~'

He couldn't wait to show off to Epsilon.

The voice of the Nightmare Spell suddenly pulled him out of his sea though, and dragged him back to the string like reality.

[Awakening Aspect Ability.]

'Cmon cmon! Hurry up!'

The Dormant ability of his Aspect was the one that would ultimately decide his role in the dream realm. Of course, Nero hoped he could get a combat oriented one. Once you were sent to the dream realm, you'd be dropped off at a random location, to which you would have to find a gateway to return back to reality.

In the early stages of being sent there, combat Aspects had the highest chances of survival, but Nero wouldn't mind receiving a utility one. Being able to make memories was an incredibly rare skill that could easily generate tons of money, so if he were to be a utility Aspect user, he would like that. Especially since he had a Divine Aspect. Think of the memories he could make?

[Aspect Ability acquired.]

[Aspect Ability Name: Darkness Surge.]

Nero quickly summoned the runes to check his new ability. He decided to stave off his curiosity from the Ascendent memory, and focused on his Aspect. However, while looking down the page, his eyes drifted towards it for just a moment.

'Just a little peek...'

Name: Nero

True Name: Noble Demise

Rank: Dreamer

Soul Core: Dormant

Soul Fragments: [0/1000]

Seeing his true name put a little smile on his face, before it devolved into disgust. It was far too cringy for him to say it outloud, or even think about.

Memories: —

'Huh?'

Where the memory he should've earned from killing the Griffin should've been was empty. Out of panic, he quickly scrolled down through his whole list of Runes, to which his heart froze.

Echoes: [Erlkings Agent]

Attributes: [Bond], [Yin], [Remember], [Mark of Divinity]

Aspect: [Apostle Of Darkness]

Aspect Rank: Divine

Aspect Abilities: [Darkness Surge]

Aspect Ability Description: [In you is an infinite well of Darkness. Release it as a tangible force, becoming a calamity wherever you find yourself.]

He had received an Echo of the Griffin... not even his first memory.. but his first Echo was that of the Ascendent rank.. earning memories in your first nightmare was difficult as is, but an Echo??

Nero almost cried. Today was really a joyous day.

He was about to check out his new attribute which seemed rather interesting, but then the voice of the Nightmare spell continued.

[All power has a price.]

[You have received a Flaw.]

[Your Flaw is: Voracity.]

Nero's english was good for an Endroll citizen with no education, but Voracity was a bit of a posh word outside his dictionary. He understood that Flaws were severe, so he wasted no time in looking for its description.

Flaw: [Voracity]

Flaw Description: [As darkness is boundless, your hunger is boundless. Satiate it well, or it will devour everything close to you.]

Requirements: [1 Dormant]

Duration: 47:58:42

Nero looked at it with a stern expression, but then scratched his chin in confusion.

'So if I'm looking at this right... if I don't fulfil this requirement in 2 days, something bad will happen?'

Soul shards were strength. The more you could collect, the faster you could saturate your soul core and become stronger, so having them constantly bleeding from you wasn't going to be very comfortable.

It looked to be asking for the soul shard of a dormant creature. The thing is though, is that those were rare in the waking world. Even if they were the weakest rank of Nightmare creatures, they quickly grew and most matured at the Awakened Rank. Most, if not all Nightmare creatures in the waking world came from gates, which typically only had Awakened creatures and above.

'Do I have to precisely get a Dormant shard? Or will anything above suffice?'

The latter was likely the case, no way his Flaw was that much of a picky eater. But the thing that did worry Nero though...

'No way that's all it is... it has to be growing, I'm certain of it.'

Flaws were meant to be horrible, and that naturally reflects in its strength. If Nero was right, then after the timer ends, it may start asking him for 2 Dormant Fragments, then 3, and eventually Awakened and Ascended Fragments.

At some point, if he even does survive that long, it would start asking for transcendent, then supreme, then sacred..

'And even Holy...'

The number of recorded great nightmare creatures that have been killed by humanity, could be counted on the fingers of just one hand. And even then, that was only through the combined efforts of the most powerful Masters with the backings of legacy clans.

There weren't even any Transcendents amongst humanity, so how the hell would he survive?

'A powerful aspect comes at a powerful cost..'

This Flaw would most certainly be the cause of his death sometime in the future. That much was undeniable. But it wasn't like killing Nightmare creatures was the only way to earn Fragments...

'I could kill humans too... No, I shouldn't stoop that far.'

Maybe if the situation called for it.

Nero was about to finish checking up his Runes, but it seems like the Nightmare spell, thought he had spent enough time.

[Wake up, Noble Demise!]