Chapter 18: Memory Vessel
Aspect: [Memory Vessel]
Rank: Divine
Description: [You have no power of your own and as such you wear the skin of the creatures you have slain. Who else but you could use the power of Corrupted so carelessly.]
Innate Ability: [Vesselmare]
Ability Description: [You are able to choose whether to wield the rank and tier of your memory or your own, you are also able to change the vessels of your memories but they must be of the same type and be simple objects with no enchantments]
I still had no clue what this did exactly, but the implications were starting to form in my mind.
Aspect Ability: [Nightmare Equip]
Description: [Your soul dominates all else, bending it to your will. You are able to use the abilities of those you have killed through their memories.]
I looked to the two swirling orbs around my soul core, like planets circling a star. Thinking back to one of the strings of runes I had seen before, everything began to make more sense.
[Unite memory [Baal's Blade] with Soul core] [Yes] [No]
Baal's blade had been the memory I had gained from an awakened terror—the Lightning King. Every fiber of my being told me it felt right to unite the memory, but caution held me back. Before I made such a momentous decision, I decided to inspect the other memory first. Dragon's Garment deserved my attention too.
A string of runes materialized as I focused on it.
Memory: [Dragon's Garment]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Type: Garment
Memory Description: Woven from love, a soldier never took it off not even in his dying moments.
The description was poetic but frustratingly vague. It told me nothing about its enchantments -the abilities memories were supposed to have- as Knossos had called them. What I did know was that this was Tier II, since it had come from a monster, something else that Knossos had patiently explained during our earlier conversation. The fact that it was woven from love intrigued me. What kind of soldier inspired such devotion? What kind of love could survive death itself?
I decided to finally examine Baal's Blade, very likely the memory I was going to unite with my core. The anticipation built as new runes appeared.
Memory: Baal's Blade
Rank: Awakened
Memory Type: Weapon
Memory Description: [A king was once tasked with guarding an unknowable deed, he brought along his followers to complete this task but as time passed the followers began to question their king, why did they have to suffer in silence as they watched the world pass. Their questions grew until they turned against their king, yet he all his followers fell to his blade, leaving the king alone to finish his oath.]
The description sent a chill through my soul.
It didn't give me specific details about the blade's enchantments, but thinking about the raw strength that the Lightning King had wielded, I still felt drawn to it. If I could harness even a fraction of that power as a Sleeper, I would probably be among the strongest in this world. After all, who else could claim to have killed an awakened terror while unawakened themselves?
The decision crystallized in my mind. The string of runes from before appeared again, waiting for my choice.
[Unite memory [Baal's Blade] with Soul core] [Yes] [No]
"Yes," I said aloud, my voice carrying a mixture of excitement and trepidation.
The memory began its slow journey toward my core, seemingly drawn by an invisible force. I watched, fascinated, as it moved closer and closer until it made contact and began to merge. The sensation was unlike anything I had ever experienced—not painful or uncomfortable, but absolutely intoxicating. Pure power flowed through every fiber of my being.
The soul core responded immediately, beginning to glow with brilliant intensity. Waves appeared in my soul sea, rolling and crashing exactly like they had when I sailed the real oceans in my nightmare. They were waves of prelude, a prelude to an incoming storm.
At that exact moment, a bolt of lightning struck my soul sea with a deafening boom that resonated through my entire being. What followed was absolute chaos. More and more lightning bolts surged forth, striking whatever they could reach, turning my peaceful soul sea into a tempest of raw elemental fury. The light was blinding, the sound overwhelming, and through it all I felt something else stirring.
The corruption. It began to grow again, feeding off the chaos, trying to spread its dark tendrils further into my core.
I immediately concentrated, drawing upon every ounce of will I possessed to push back against the encroaching darkness. Sweat gathered at my brow as I fought against it. The corruption pressed harder, sensing opportunity in the storm, but I refused to yield. I was the captain of my soul, the master of my fate.
Thankfully, it wasn't long before the storm began to recede back into the soul core. When the chaos finally settled, I stared in wonder at what my core had become. No longer was it a sun-like orb of gentle light. Instead, it had transformed into a crackling ball of lightning, alive with constant motion. I could see bolts surge inside it from one corner to another, turning black when they passed through the center where the corruption lurked, then returning to brilliant blue as they completed their circuit.
While the sight of the black-touched lightning was worrying, a new string of runes appeared to distract me from my concerns.
[Memory unified]
[Soul Core ---> Vessel (Storm) Core]
The transformation was complete. The string of runes for Baal's Blade appeared once more, but now it contained additional information that made my pulse quicken.
Memory Tier: VI
Memory Enchantments: [Bloodless Steel], [Bararaq], [Enhanced Sharpness], [Oath]
[Bloodless Steel]: Blood doesn't cling to this blade.
[Bararaq]: You can cloak your blade with lightning.
[Enhanced Sharpness]: This blade is sharper than most.
[Oath]: Once this blade has started it is hard to stop it.
For some reason, I intrinsically understood that this wasn't the end of my ability's potential. These were only the enchantments the blade originally possessed—there was room for growth, for evolution, for something more.
I closed my eyes, feeling the new power settling into my being like a perfectly fitted coat. When I opened them again, I was no longer floating in my soul sea but sitting on the bed in my room, back in the physical world.
I thought of Baal's blade, and it appeared in my hand as if it had always belonged there. The weapon was magnificent—a two-handed longsword with a scaled handguard and polished steel that seemed to drink in the light. It looked absolutely flawless, a masterwork of both craftsmanship and magic.
However, as I held the blade, a sentence boomed in my mind with a voice that wasn't quite my own. It repeated over and over, compelling me to speak it aloud, as if the very essence of the weapon demanded acknowledgment.
"Dwell in my body, Baal."
The moment the words left my lips, I felt power course through me like a lightning strike. Electricity surged from my form, crackling along my skin and illuminating the room with brilliant blue light. The transformation was instantaneous and overwhelming.
While I still held Baal's Blade, my entire body had changed. My arms were now covered in scales that shimmered with their own inner light. Curious and slightly alarmed, I walked over to the bathroom connected to my room, needing to see the full extent of my transformation.
The mirror reflected a being I barely recognized. Aside from my scaled arms, my hair had changed from purple to electric blue. Two small horns now crowned my forehead, and a jewel pulsed with inner fire between them. An elaborate necklace had materialized around my neck, and blue scale-like armor covered strategic parts of my body. Most surprising of all was the long tail that now extended from the base of my spine, moving with a life of its own. Thankfully my face was still it's same handsome self. Yet as I looked at myself, I thought of the words status, new runes flooding my vision.
Everything was mostly the same except for new strings of runes under Nightmare Equip.
Vessel Rank: Awakened (Dormant)
Vessel Class: Terror (Beast)
Vessel Attributes: [Lightning Immunity], [Elemental Resistance], [Scaled body], [Hundred Men], [Enhanced Regeneration]
Vessel Abilities: [Bararaq], [Bararaq Saiqa], [Flight], [Dragon's Gaze]
I looked back up to my the first two new lines, somehow I knew that even though that was my rank, I'd still have to fuel it with my own essence, meaning I'd run out of quickly. However as I looked at my innate ability vesselmare, an idea popped into my head. The ability said that I could choose my rank and class, and so choose I did.
I experimented with the settings, watching as the string of runes changed in response to my will.
[Vessel Rank: Awakened---> Dormant]
[Vessel Class: Terror---> Beast]
Oh this was going to be fun to work with.
A/N: Should I post an auxiliary chapter with his whole status? Either way author out.