"Woahooo!" Asher hastily pocketed some of the soul shards, grinning like an idiot.
Hou laughed. "Boss, You can go easy! The soul shards won't run away!"
Aiko felt a vein pop on her temple as she glared at Hou, "Hey! I'm the boss here!"
Hou chuckled, putting his feet on the table. "Of course, of course!"
Asher exhaled, satisfied, and stood up. With a subtle motion, his leather armor faded away, revealing a sleek black bodysuit beneath. "This armor makes me feel so stuffy..."
Aiko shrugged, "You have no choice. Zerei is supposed to be this big intimidating guy!" She sized with her fingers. "Not some..." She clicked her tongue, looking at him.
Their was no need to give an explanation.
Asher groaned, cradling his head in melodramatic despair. "What a cruel fate…"
His eyes drifted toward Hou. "If only I could swap faces with you…"
"Eh? Where'd that come from?" Hou frowned, glancing between them.
Aiko started patting his head with pity, pretending to wipe away a tear. "It's okay, Hou…"
"What?! No, seriously, what's happening?" Hou grimaced.
Asher placed a solemn hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. Once you awaken, you'll glow up. It's inevitable."
Hou tilted his head, puzzled. "Of course I will. That's a given!"
Asher just sighed and gave him a couple of sympathetic pats on the back.
"I'm heading home."
A gust of black wind spiraled around him as a long windbreaker materialized, fluttering behind him like raven feathers in the breeze.
"Wait—Asher!" Aiko called out, grabbing the hem of his coat before he could open the door. "We need a new helmet for Hou. So go to Stev's place later."
Asher nodded. "Sure. Tomorrow."
He turned the doorknob.
"And don't forget, okay?" Aiko insisted.
Hou raised a hand. "And get me an apple from Kido's!"
Asher waved over his shoulder with a tired grin. "Yeah, yeah. I got it!"
He walked out the door, finally sighing.
He was tired.
Putting his hands in his windbreaker, he sighed. He looked around. He was in the bright Castle. He didn't know where he was exactly in the canon timeline, but four months had passed since 'that' day.
He came to the dark city about one month back. He had grown a lot. He gazed down, sumoning his runes.
Name: Asher.
True Name: Echo of the Abyss.
Rank: Dreamer.
Dream Core: Dormant.
Soul Fragments: [637/1000]
Memories: [Second Skin], [Azure Blade], [Spirewind Mantle], [Cicada's Cry]
Echoes: [Boomlet].
Attributes: [Spectral Sight], [Flame of Divinity], [Nimble Intellect], [Soul Veil], [Dreamspawn], [Within the Unseen].
Aspect: [The Eighth Exile]
Aspect Rank: ???
Aspect Description: [Seven were born of -Unknown-. Fate, Destiny, Imagination, Repose, Oblivion, Dread, Desire. But the eighth was never written. There is no title for what you are. You were an avatar that couldn't be possessed. Yet, the -Unknown- tried. Exile is not your punishment, but your freedom.]
Innate Ability: [Event Horizon]
Ability Description: [The weight of the world hums, and you listen. Where mass gathers, where space trembles, where silence bends beneath unseen force—you feel it. Nothing heavy moves unnoticed. Nothing immense hides from your gaze.]
[Aspect Ability Name: Unbound]
[Aspect Ability Description: The force around you seems more malleable.]
Aspect Legacy: —
Flaw: [Emotional Amplification.]
Flaw Description: [Every feeling, from joy to sorrow, is amplified twofold.]
Asher sighed.
Most of his runes changed after 'that' day.
That 'thing' explain him a bit but what Asher's conclusion was simple. half his core had been fundamentally altered by its interference., changing his very soul and giving him a weird core called the Dream core.
The most noticeable change to his runes was his true name.
It changed.
Asher wasn't sure why, or how it's possible. But his True name always gave him unease.
One word in particular made his stomach knot: Abyss.
The implications were obvious. The name clearly referenced that void.
The void.
He frowned.
And that wasn't even the most shocking part.
[Within the Unseen]: "You have inherited the forbidden lineage of -unknown-."
When Asher first saw this, his expression twisted, glancing at it again, his expression twisted even more. Since it was hard to believe that the -unknown- the spell spoke of was...
"Dahlia," he muttered under his breath.
People turned to stare.
He ignored them, instead glaring down at his fluttering coat.
'Could you stop fluttering my windbreaker?'
The windbreaker didn't listen, continuing to flap dramatically.
'We're inside the Bright Castle. There's no wind. People are going to think I'm weird.'
The coat stilled.
Asher sighed in relief. Since -unknown- or Asher called 'it' Dahlia was stuck in his soul sea. Due to having an independent consciousness, she could just place her consciousness in memories!
That Basically meant all his Memories were echoes of sorts. Though only one memory could be an echo at a time since Dahlia had a single mind.
'Anyway.'
Of course, he got the [Flame of Divinity] attribute but, the [Spark of Anomaly] disappeared.
Then there was his Aspect. It was… strange.
He had retained all his old abilities, but the name, rank, and description were entirely different now.
At first, the new name and description just made him tilt his head in confusion. But then—
Asher blinked.
He wasn't stupid.
Crap.
Asher wasn't THAT stupid.
He understood what it meant. He was like the 8th daemon of sorts. But the description was very contradicting. Like it mention that there was no title for him. But he had a true name. Wasn't a true name a sort of title?
His rank was weird as well. It simply showed [???] for some reason.
Asher hoped it meant he was beyond divine—but he wasn't sure. That uncertainty gnawed at him. Which is why—
He reached into the sack of soul shards.
And crushed them.
One after another.
[Your soul grows stronger.][Your soul grows stronger.][Your soul grows stronger.][Your soul grows stronger.][Your soul grows stronger.]…
He was trying to fully saturate his core.