When I woke up, it was already day. At some point, I had fallen asleep after getting bored of watching the Tyrants fight.
Rubbing my eyes, I looked at the victor. It was the worm. The venom it expelled from its body had weakened the spider, which was at death's door, but the worm was incredibly damaged.
Both armies were dead, and their rulers were one foot in the grave.
Climbing down from the roof, I covered my mouth with my forearm, summoned the spear, and threw it directly at the worm.
The spear lodged cleanly in its head, piercing its brain and killing it.
[You have slain a Fallen Tyrant, Plague King]
[Your core strengthens]
[You have obtained a memory]
Looking at the spider, I did the same. After dismissing and re-summoning the spear, I threw it into one of the spider's eyes, which couldn't do anything to dodge.
[You have slain a Fallen Tyrant, Long-Legs Queen]
[Your core strengthens]
[You have obtained a memory]
Stretching, I began the arduous process of extracting the cores, but not before waiting for the venom to dissipate.
---
In the end, a week passed before the venom finally dissipated. During that week, several nightmare creatures came to feast but died from the poison.
When I returned, I used the Shapeshifter to create a knife to extract the soul cores and stored them using the Greedy Pouch.
It took me a while, but I had succeeded. In total, I obtained about ten thousand cores, most of them from Fallen Beasts, Demons, and a few Devil subordinates of the Tyrants.
Returning to the church, I began crushing the cores, watching as the fragments continuously increased.
[Your core overflows with power]
I stopped at that point.
Entering my sea of souls, I watched as a sixth sun was forming.
[I am finally a Terror]
A smile spread across my face; even the pain I felt was nothing compared to the happiness.
I summoned the runes to look at my new status.
---
Name: Ariel.
True Name: Banished from Heaven.
Rank:Dormant.
Soul Core:Terror.
Soul Fragments:[102/6000]
Acquired Memories:[Crimson Mantle], [Crimson Spear], [Blood Collar], [Queen's Ring], [Demonic Bow], [Poison Arrow], [Brood Dagger], [Greedy Pouch], [War Cloak], [Hundred-Mile Spyglass], [Alluring Aroma], [Venomous Cloak], [Creeper Armor].
Echoes:[Terrible Wolf]
Attributes:[Son of the Sky], [Space], [Light], [Darkness], [Luck], [Spawn of Dreams].
Aspect:Spatial Control.
Aspect Rank:Divine.
Aspect Ability:[Expanded Spatial Sense].
Ability Description:[Your sense of space is astonishing. You can feel everything within a certain range, perceiving the very texture of reality.]
Flaw:[Mercy]
---
"Very, very good. Excellent. I'm one step away from becoming a Dormant Titan," I thought happily as I continued crushing fragment after fragment.
When I reached four thousand fragments, I stopped. Only about fifty were left, and I needed them to keep trying to awaken naturally.
Sitting in a meditative pose, I began to meditate deeply to feel my essence.
Now that I had become a Terror, I should theoretically be able to feel my essence more clearly, and I did, though it was just a thin thread, almost imperceptible.
I continued meditating, focusing on the ultra-fine thread. After a while, I felt another thin thread form, then another, and another.
I opened my eyes with excitement.
"I'm close. In a few weeks, I'll be able to awaken," I thought happily.
I quickly continued meditating for the rest of the morning, the afternoon, and the night. Little by little, the number of threads increased. At first it was slow, but as time passed, it became faster and faster.
---
After two weeks of only stopping meditation to eat and shower, I had achieved significant progress.
Sitting in the lotus position, I concentrated on feeling my essence. The threads continued to form and join together, strengthening continuously, allowing me to feel my essence with more clarity and sharpness than before.
Something strange happened. The speed at which the threads were created increased enormously. If before it was one per minute, now it was dozens per second, and the speed increased overwhelmingly.
Entering my sea of souls, I opened my eyes to what I saw. Everything was shining and trembling; a wave of strange energy, I could feel it clearly.
I felt a new power emerging from within my soul. It was intense and more defined than before. It was astonishing.
The six suns—my soul cores—shone with intensity. The enormous pattern of threads I had been weaving burned with a golden fire before transforming into something completely new and different.
Slowly, the sensation of omnipotence faded away like a gentle sigh.
Finally, I had done it. I had achieved what no one had before: natural awakening without the help of the Nightmare's Spell.
My body felt stronger, more agile, faster, and my senses were sharper than before. I could feel how my detection range had increased enormously.
I could feel the essence flooding my entire body, passing through my muscles, bones, internal organs, and my cores in a constant, calm flow.
[The second seal is broken]
[Awakened Aspect Ability...]
[...Aspect Ability acquired.]
[Aspect Ability Name: Spatial Leap]
[You have unlocked an Aspect Legacy]
'Huh... Huh... Wait, an Aspect Legacy right now?' I thought, overwhelmed.
Quickly, I summoned the runes.
Name: Ariel
True Name:Banished from Heaven.
Rank:Awakened.
Class:Terror.
Soul Cores:[6/7]
Soul Fragments:[4013/6000]
Aspect Ability:[Spatial Leap]
Ability Description:[You can leap freely between two points in space within your sensory range.]
'Teleportation... it's teleportation!' I thought excitedly. I could already imagine doing the Son Goku pose, teleporting from one place to another in rapid succession.
And the best part is that it's within my sensory range. I would have to test the range of my spatial sense to get an idea of how to do it.
Calming my excitement, I continued reviewing what I had obtained.
Aspect Legacy: [Divine Grace]
Legacy Description: [Divine Graces were gifts bestowed upon creations before they were corrupted. The Graces were parts of divine creationism, endowing them with great power and mystery.]
You have unlocked the first Divine Grace: [1/7]
First Grace: [Eyes of Truth]
Second Grace:Not unlocked.
Third Grace:Not unlocked...
There were a total of seven Divine Graces, of which I had only obtained the first.
"I wonder what it's really for."
After receiving nothing more from the Spell, I returned and left my sea of souls.
Standing up, I felt incredibly better. Closing my eyes, I could feel the area covered by my Spatial Sense, which had truly expanded. Before, it could cover a range of about 100 meters, but now it extended to a range of 1000 meters, a 90% increase.
Using my awakened ability, I took a step, and the world changed. In less than a blink, I was outside the church ruins, on a ruined building about three hundred meters away.
I could feel my essence being consumed a little and already beginning to recover.
"Good, let's see what these new eyes are for," I murmured, looking around before focusing my gaze.
My eyes widened at what I saw.
Above my head in the sky, there was a huge, transparent dome that stood over the entire city. Taking another Spatial Leap, I reached a higher point in the ruins where I could see the city wall.
Just as I suspected, the barrier was a spatial type that prevented anything from leaving. From the outside, things could enter, but not leave. If I tried, I would simply be returned to the city.
My eyes scanned the enormous magical dome made of corrupted essence. My gaze settled on the castle, from where the greatest amount of essence feeding the barrier emanated.
Shifting my gaze from the castle, I looked at a nightmare creature.
It possessed two dark spots of darkness.
"An Awakened monster," I murmured. I looked at another, seeing a vast, corrupt darkness.
"A Tyrant," I said quietly.
"My eyes can see the truth behind things, souls, and cores. I wonder if..."
Summoning the runes, I read the description of the "Shapeshifter."
Memory: [Shapeshifter]
Memory Rank:Ascendant.
Memory Level:IV.
Type:Weapon.
Memory Description:[...Liliel observed her young friend with a slightly amused look, despite being blind. Mockingly, she said: "Don't be afraid of them; it's just Bety, a cool guardian that changes shape. He won't kill anyone. Well, who knows? Maybe he will."]
Enchantments:[Shapeshift] [Phantom Blade] [Instantaneous] [Charge]
[Shapeshift] Enchantment Description: [This weapon can change its shape to whatever its wielder desires.]
[Phantom Blade]Enchantment Description: [This weapon can attack incorporeal targets.]
[Instantaneous]Enchantment Description: [The transformation time is nonexistent.]
[Charge]Enchantment Description: [Each attack can charge the weapon with elemental damage from its attribute and use it in a devastating attack.]
---
A huge smile spread across my face. Finally, I had obtained what I needed most: I could see the enchantments of my memories and use my essence to activate them.
This will be invaluable help in future battles.
"Hell, I'm so happy," I said, letting out little amused chuckles.
Calming down, I summoned the runes for my Crimson Mantle.
Memory: [Crimson Mantle]
Memory Rank:Transcendent.
Memory Level:VI
Type:Garment.
Memory Description:[Used by an ancient monarch who loved her people as her own children. She wove a Crimson Mantle to cover and protect them.]
Enchantments:[Protection] [Healing Boost] [Featherweight]
[Protection] Enchantment Description: [When wearing this garment, you receive powerful protection against mental, physical, and soul attacks.]
[Healing Boost]Enchantment Description: [When you make your enemies bleed, the mantle uses the blood as energy to heal your wounds and increase your power.]
[Featherweight]Enchantment Description: [This enchantment reduces your body's weight, granting you greater speed and agility.]
"Now let's see the spear."
Memory: [Blood Spear]
Memory Rank:Transcendent.
Memory Level:II
Memory Type:Weapon.
Memory Description:[Used as a simple common spear, it was wielded by a daredevil of great luck and served to kill a cursed being.]
Enchantments:[Venomous Edge] [Blood Absorption]
[Venomous Edge] Enchantment Description: [When cutting a target with this spear, a lethal poison spreads, infecting and killing within minutes.]
[Blood Absorption]Enchantment Description: [The spear feeds on the enemy's blood, becoming more lethal.]
"What's with this vampire theme?" I said, puzzled. Most of my memories were related to blood.
"Well, anyway."
Memory: [Greedy Pouch]
Memory Rank:Ascendant.
Memory Level:IV.
Description:[A greedy demon wanted a place to store all his treasures, so he took a pouch and enchanted it, creating a large space inside.]
Enchantment:[Large Space]
[Large Space] Enchantment Description: [This pouch possesses a large internal space to store any object.]
"Alright, that's enough for today. I'll read the enchantments of my other memories later."
Sighing, I dismissed the runes.
Taking several consecutive leaps, I arrived at the huge sinkhole. Inside, I could feel a few spiders, but they were weak without a Tyrant to rule them.
Leaping into the hole, I activated the Featherweight enchantment of the mantle, making myself light.
Landing on the rocky ground, I summoned the Brood Dagger and advanced to finish off a few annoying spiders.