Evolution.

Damien drifted through space.

Literally.

He drifted through the cold silence of the universe, weightless and untethered. Stars burned all around him, scattered like glowing embers across a dark ocean. Vast nebulae swirled in the distance, their colors bleeding into the void like spilled paint.

Damien remembered a conversation with his older sister from a while ago. She talked to him about the overall process of the first nightmare, which in Damien's case now felt very useless, but she also had never actually gone over what happens at the end of it.

It felt chaotic,

But it also felt peaceful.

For the first time, in however long the first nightmare took, Damien felt a sense of serenity that he could never truly experience at all during the nightmare. There was always so much vigilance needed, death, and fighting.

Damien exhaled in relief.

So now I just wait till the spell is done appraising... right?

Damien waited for a long time.

So long, in fact, that he started counting the seconds.

Eventually, around the ten-minute mark, he got visibly upset.

Why the hell is it taking so long?! Is the spell broken or something?

Is this normal?

Damien was just about to open his runes and check all of his new loot when he heard the whisper of the spell.

Only it wasn't a whisper anymore.

It sounded like it was directly talking to him.

Damien flinched at the sudden volume change.

[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]

This was it, Damien's reward for all of the pain and suffering he had to go through. The ultimate boon one could receive.

He prayed.

Please, fated attribute. You've done enough.

Don't screw me over like you have been doing this entire time.

After spending so much time in the first nightmare, Damien had grown to be pretty pessimistic.

[A forsaken vessel climbed where even gods would not tread. The Hollow Mountains devoured all who entered, yet he pressed on. In the shadow of dead peaks, he found a sanctum lost to time, and there, bled one of the last faiths of the other world.

When the stars did not answer, the void did. It came not to test him, but to end him. His kin fell, their bodies shattered. Alone and hunted, he fled deeper into the mountain's broken veins, sealing himself in silence.

But silence did not save him. Desperate, he bared his soul to the Luneborne Sigil, and the mark took root. In fire and ruin, the world burned away. From ash, he stood, bound to the blood he would spill.

Ten thousand times he killed. A hundred thousand times he died. In the end, he faced flame and wings. He did not kneel.

When the cage finally opened and all the blood spilled out, the vessel remained empty once more.]

Everything makes a decent amount of sense, but what does "bled one of the last faiths of the other world" mean?

Damien's thought process was quickly interrupted by the spell once again.

[You have slain eight thousand seven hundred and thirty-three fallen demons: Winged Carrion.]

[You have slain nine hundred and five fallen devils: Ancient Gargoyle]

[You have slain three hundred and sixty fallen tyrants: Hollow Phoenix]

[You have slain a fallen terror: Vorthar.]

[You have slain a corrupted devil: Void Servant.]

[You have received the mark of the Luneborne Sigil]

[You are an anomaly.]

[Final appraisal: impossible. You should not exist.]

Damien felt a subtle tone shift towards the final two remarks the spell had to say.

An anomaly? The spell isn't going to kill me... is it?

[Dreamer Damien, receive your boon!]

All of a sudden, the tone of the spell felt cheery once more.

Strange...

[You have been bestowed a True Name: Lost in Time.]

Damien finally couldn't contain his excitement anymore.

For the first time in a while, he felt true joy.

Getting a true name, as far as he was concerned, was practically impossible.

He only knew really of one person who had a true name, and that was his father.

Even his sister, who was a master, didn't manage to get one on her second nightmare, much less her first.

Damien had no more reason to feel pessimistic; his hardships had paid off.

If he got a true name, that practically guaranteed him a transcendent aspect evolution or above!

As if the spell was reading his mind, the spell boomed its voice once again.

[Your aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve aspect?]

It would be really funny if I just said no.

Damien said yes.

[Dormant Aspect Forsaken Vessel is evolving...]

[New Aspect acquired.]

[Aspect Rank: Divine]

Damien wasn't even surprised.

Well, that might've been a lie.

He was very surprised, but it was only because he had never once known or heard of anyone with a Divine aspect, other than the gods, of course.

He still knew what he did was very deserving of a powerful aspect.

Wait, does that mean I'm automatically a god now? Cool!

He was not, in fact, a god.

[Aspect Name: Temporal Conduit.]

Damien closed his eyes.

After all, he had a lot to process.

Damien could practically feel the dopamine and other chemicals all rushing in his brain, filling him with power fantasies like the stuff he read on various webtoons and webnovels.

Temporal Conduit. I'm assuming temporal has something to do with time, and conduit means that I contain something? So, kind of like I control time, or maybe even can stop it?

Damien, all of a sudden, started thinking of a very different kind of fantasy...

Gah! What the fuck! Get your mind out of the gutter.

Grumbling, Damien decided that he would check out all of his new runes back home, and when he was finally out of this deranged nightmare.

All of a sudden, a singular thought plagued Damien's mind.

Wait, doesn't time in the first nightmare remain the same across realms?

No, don't even think about it.

Damien shut himself up.

He heaved a great sigh and patiently waited for the spell to initiate his transportation.

He didn't have to wait long.

Filled with anticipation but also a sense of anxiety, Damien heard the voice of the spell once more.

[The First Seal is broken.]

[Awakening dormant powers...]