After checking out my dorm, I found myself face to face with an administrative worker, their personality bright and bubbly, the absolute bane of my existence.
They offered me psychological counselling, a deal I immediately refused.
Giving one word answers to all of their questions, I could tell that they were getting a little disheartened at my glaring lack of dialogue.
It's not like I could help it either, I was simultaneously fighting back the unconscious urge to vomit while maintaining my poker face and tone.
I could see a bit of irritation building behind the administrative workers professional facade.
Keeping up their professionalism, they continued with the questions, now asking about my aspect.
"Would you be able to explain what category your aspect ability falls under? Those being combat, sorcery, or utility."
Without hesitation, I answered.
"Combat"
They shot back with another question.
"Great, would you be able to explain what exactly your aspect ability is capable of?"
Without a trace of emotion, I answered once more.
"I can use a sword well."
Silence filled the office for a brief moment as the Administrative worker considered my words.
They asked a few more questions before shooing me out of their office, their eyes barely concealing their exasperation.
After leaving the office, I took the time to walk around the campus before ending up outside of the main building.
Peace wasn't something that I was used to, centuries of fighting conditioning me to always be on guard.
Finding a park bench, I sat down, leaning on the hard wood as i turned my gaze upward.
My flaw eased up, the anxiety and unease leaving my body.
[One who Stood at the Peak] relaxed, my expression morphing into a rare, tired visage.
I basked in the serene atmosphere of the campus at night, staring at the moon in appreciation.
I wanted to stay like this forever, no fighting, no challenges, no life threatening situations, just peace and quiet.
But alas, fate has always had other plans.
Taking one last look at the night sky, at the glittering stars that dotted the celestial canvas, I got up from my seat and made my way back to my dorm to call it a night.
_____________________________________________________________________________
After finding the library, a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During this past month, my schedule fell into a steady rhythm.
Wake up.
Go to the library to study.
Eat breakfast
Go back to the library.
Eat lunch.
Go back to the library.
Eat dinner.
Go back to the library.
Sleep.
A pretty productive schedule, to say the least.
I had been skipping all the classes provided to me by the Academy, instead choosing to devote all my time to the study of the nightmares and the dream realm.
Clearing out entire bookshelves, I read practically anything I could get my hands on, the Star of Memory twinkling gently as it committed all the text i had consumed to its massive archive.
Honestly, I had learned more about this world than I had expected, perks of modern technology I guess.
After surviving their first nightmare, sleepers are brought to the dream realm by the spell, their only way of return being through gateways.
If the sleeper manages to leave, the spell judges their performance before issuing rewards based on their accomplishments before making them awakened.
Much of the dream realm is unexplored, but there were a few maps that had a general layout of the geography.
The thing that interested me the most, however, was something called essence.
In my previous life, we used an energy called mana, the energy either being used as the catalyst for sword aura or to fuel a mage's magic.
Here, they used soul essence, a mystical spirit energy that is contained within the soul cores of awakened.
Essence was a fundamental aspect of awakened combat, It could be used to reinforce the body, empowering it for use in combat.
Carriers of the nightmare spell grasped essence naturally, the spell gifting them an affinity for the essence of the soul.
Unfortunately, I was not afforded the same luxury.
I was different, the concept of soul essence evading me completely.
In my heart, a massive amount of mana rested, practically waiting to be transformed into sword aura, but despite my efforts, I couldn't feel any trace of the so-called soul essence in my body, only the distinct hum of mana present within my body.
It might have something to do with my glaring lack of a soul core.
Instead of a soul core, the spell counted the number of stars I possessed, a complete contradiction to everything I had read in the library.
There was also no mention of Divine aspects, the highest rank recorded in the books being Supreme, and even then it was considered a historic event.
I was clearly an anomaly of sorts, not exactly playing within the confines of this world's power structure.
The Awakened Academy's library, while vast, clearly didn't possess all the answers to the questions I had.
Finishing a large textbook, I had officially read through the entire selection that the library had to offer, all the consolidated knowledge safely nestled in my brain.
I had built a solid base of knowledge, and now all I could really do was prepare myself physically and practically for the dream realm.
And for that....
I'd have to start going to classes...
The quiet ambiance of the library had been a nice place to hide away from the others at the Awakened Academy while I studied away, my flaw remaining dormant while I isolated myself from the other sleepers, but ultimately, social interaction wasn't something I could avoid forever.
I sighed quietly, grumbling to myself as I started to clean up the massive piles of books around me.
Looking at the time, my eyes lit up,
It was dinnertime!
Licking my lips, my expression rapidly morphed into one of giddy excitement.
Walking briskly to my destination, I besiged the Academy's food stores once more.
At this point, the kitchen staff looked haggard and exhausted, thoroughly trounced by my appetite.
'Not my problem' I thought as I started to construct 1/100th scale model of ancient rome out of bread.
______________________________________________________________________________
(A/N: I'm probably gonna drop again later today, this chapter being a little bit shorter and focusing a bit more on exposition.
I'm gonna take my time integrating the IPOTE power system into Shadow Slave, probably using the next few chapters to explain how mana and starlight will relate to soul essence.
I've been reading through the source material of both series, both for information and to just fact check stuff before I write it, as well as running through the wiki for summaries of concepts I didn't fully understand.
Right now I have a couple ideas about how I'll handle the issue of soul essence and I just need to finalize the plan I have for Audun's power progression.
That's it for now,
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!)