“How do I actually summon them?” Aiden muttered aloud, staring into the empty air of his subterranean dormitory room.
During his intake at the police precinct, the psychologist had explained the fundamental mechanics of the Nightmare Spell, including the mental trigger required to manifest Memories in the physical world.
It still felt bizarre, defying every natural law he had operated under for forty years, but he was quickly adapting to the surreal realities of this new world.
Taking a slow breath, Aiden focused his awareness inward and called upon the runes for his first Memory.
Memory:[Wailing Mask]
Memory Type:[ Tool]
Memory Rank:[ Sacred]
Memory Tier:[ VII]
‘Right.
Let’s see how this works.’
Fine, shimmering threads of white light materialized before his hand, rapidly weaving together until a solid shape formed in his grip.
It was a bone-white mask carved into the visage of a screaming human, the exact mask worn by the High Priest in his First Nightmare.
As he held it, Aiden noticed something unsettling.
The mask wasn’t merely an inert piece of stone; a faint, haunting chorus of whispers and muted shrieks echoed around him.
Though barely audible, the voices seemed to come from every corner of the room.
“So that’s what the description meant…” he murmured.
“A soul trapped in eternal anguish.”
From his conversation with the doctor, he knew that a Sacred-rank Memory was among the highest tiers of power.
Yet a pressing question remained: what made a simple mask worthy of such an extraordinary classification?
Aiden willed the status runes to expand, displaying its traits:
Memory Abilities:[Wail], [?????]
He had witnessed the destructive power of [Wail] firsthand during his trial, but the second ability remained obscured behind question marks.
Was it locked behind a Soul Core requirement?
Had the Spell failed to identify it, or was there another condition he had yet to meet?
“Guess I’ll find out another day,” Aiden muttered.
“Time to get rid of this creepy thing.”
With a single thought, he dismissed the mask.
The lingering screams vanished instantly as the white light dissolved back into his soul.
“Alright.
Let’s inspect the [Immortal Shell] next.”
He summoned the Memory, watching as thin, dark threads wove themselves directly around his torso and limbs.
The armor manifested not as a heavy suit of plate, but as a sleek, refined steel harness designed to protect his vital organs, reinforced with rough, dark-brown leather.
Aiden raised his arms, surprised by its automatic deployment.
He took a few test steps across the room.
The armor was astonishingly light, moving naturally with his body without making a single sound an ideal asset for stealth operations.
Even better, according to its runes, the armor could repair itself whenever it sustained damage.
“A useful prize for the coming Solstice,”
With lethal Nightmare Creatures awaiting him in the Dream Realm, self-repairing armor would be a major strategic advantage.
‘I wonder what those Nightmare Creatures actually look like.
Are they beast-like, or something far worse?’
He set the thought aside for now.
He had plenty to prepare before the Solstice arrived, and he would face those monsters soon enough anyway.
Dismissing [Immortal Shell], he focused on the next item.
[Memory: Bottomless Pouch]
Light gathered before him, forming a simple leather Bag.
It looked entirely unremarkable, resembling a basic coin Bag from his past life.
Aiden scratched his head, studying it skeptically.
“Isn’t this supposed to have massive spatial storage?”
He unbuckled the strap and peered inside.
He stopped instantly.
Despite the bright artificial lighting in his room, the interior of the pouch was pitch black an unnatural, swallowing void that absorbed all light.
“What in the world…?”
Intrigued, he considered reaching inside to feel for the bottom, but quickly checked his impulse.
‘What if the spatial distortion damages organic matter?’
Scanning the room, he spotted a broom leaning in the corner.
It was obviously Two times longer than the Bag itself, making it an ideal testing tool.
Approaching the bag, Aiden carefully aligned the end of the broom handle with the opening and pushed.
Slowly, the wooden pole slid into the darkness.
To his amazement, the broom kept going, disappearing inch by inch into a space that logically shouldn’t have held a fraction of its length.
“Unbelievable.”
He released the broom completely.
The bag swallowed the remaining length whole, leaving no trace behind.
Aiden leaned over, trying to peer into the abyss, but the absolute darkness revealed nothing.
“Looks like I have to use my hand after all.”
Bracing himself, he reached into the opening.
The moment his fingers crossed the threshold, a cold, weightless sensation spread across his skin.
He swept his hand through the void, searching for the broom handle, but found only empty space.
A thought suddenly struck him.
‘Is the retrieval mechanism intent-based, like summoning a Memory?’
Keeping his hand inside the void, he pictured the broom in his mind.
The moment the thought crystallized, his fingers brushed against the smooth wooden handle as if it had manifested directly into his grip.
Aiden pulled his arm back, easily drawing the full-length broom out of the tiny leather sack.
He stared between the broom and the pouch in disbelief.
“Never mind.
This is officially the best thing I’ve gotten so far!”
His mind immediately began calculating logistics.
The volume of supplies, rations, and clean water he could carry without adding a single pound of physical weight made this tool invaluable for long-term field deployment.
“Now then…
time to inspect [Kurohana].”
Dismissing the pouch back into his soul, he summoned his weapon.
Faint violet sparks ignited in his palm, coalescing into a solid form.
Aiden’s eyes widened slightly as the light faded.
It was a slender, jet-black sword, its long blade gracefully curved like a crescent forged from midnight itself.
A faint, deep-violet glow traced its razor-sharp edge, casting an ominous, cold sheen across the dark metal.
What surprised him most, however, was its weight; the weapon felt practically weightless in his grip.
He executed a quick sequence of experimental strikes through the empty air.
The balance, length, and center of gravity felt as though the weapon had been made specifically for him.
“Who—or what—crafted this?” Aiden muttered, his brow furrowing.
“And why design a weapon that fits my personal combat style so perfectly?”
He had no answers, nor did he know if other Awakened received tailored equipment from the Higher entinity.
While he was curious to compare notes with other Sleepers, revealing details about his tier equipment was a risk he wasn’t willing to take.
“What about its abilities?”
Memory Rank: [Dormant]
Memory Ability: [Devour]
Ability Description: [The Memory can consume other Memories and convert their residual energy into Emotion Energy.]
Emotion Energy:[ 0/100]
‘A growth-type weapon…
Whoever, or whatever gave me this clearly intended it to become stronger.’
Though deeply suspicious of the underlying motives behind his rewards, Aiden had no room to be picky.
To the rest of the world, he was an amnesiac orphan whose parents were gone and whose sister was unreachable.
This weapon was his most reliable asset for the trials ahead.
Aiden sighed softly.
“Looks like I’m stuck with you for the foreseeable future.”
He dismissed [Kurohana] back into his core and walked toward the small bed, intending to call it a night.
Then he paused.
There was one final thing he hadn’t inspected, the single manifestation he feared more than anything else in this world.
[Life Stone]
Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he extended his hands carefully, taking a slow breath.
He had no idea how durable the object was, nor what might trigger its destruction.
He willed the Life Stone to manifest.
Swirling sparks of violet and deep rose light gathered above his open palms.
With every passing second, Aiden felt his pulse quicken as a cold bead of sweat trickled down his neck.
The light condensed into a solid crystal.
Aiden stared at it in dead silence.
It was a breathtaking, translucent violet stone that pulsed with a gentle, rhythmic glow, easily the most beautiful object he had ever laid eyes on.
Yet behind that beauty lay his ultimate vulnerability.
His entire existence now hinged on this object.
Worst of all, its destruction wouldn’t even grant him the mercy of death.
It would leave him a helpless prisoner within his own body, forced to watch a stranger take control and live his life.
He sat frozen for a long time, his analytical mind testing every possible scenario.
‘What would happen if he destroyed it himself?
Would it break the Flaw, or trigger the worst-case scenario immediately?’
He quickly abandoned the thought.
A cosmic system capable of granting supernatural abilities to millions wouldn’t leave such an obvious oversight.
The only viable path forward was to adapt, survive, and protect the stone at all costs while searching for a permanent solution.
With extreme care, Aiden willed the Life Stone back into the safety of his soul.
Laying back onto the mattress, he closed his eyes, letting the fatigue of the day wash over him.
After everything he had experienced since waking up, he wouldn’t been surprised to open his eyes tomorrow and find himself in yet another world.
Comment it and let me know.