Adam POV
I quickened my pace to catch up to Reena, who strode ahead with her usual confidence.
"Say, Reena… why don't we get to know each other better? Since we'll be working together for this entire expedition, we should at least know each other's strengths and weaknesses," I suggested.
She hummed softly, thoughtful.
"I suppose you're right. Why don't you begin first, #%&#?"
Assertive as always.
As I considered her expectant gaze, I sifted through what I could reveal without throwing myself into unnecessary danger.
I couldn't risk exposing real details about myself. After all, I can't reveal any details about myself, not only do I not know how the strange force would react, but I also have to be extremely wary of that force acting on people.
I was too careless when I revealed information about myself to Cassie, but thankfully, that didn't provoke any reaction. But there is no guarantee that it would remain silent at my blatant actions.
Plus she is an unknown character that likely either didn't survive in the main story, or is one of the nameless firekeepers that Cassie employed later in the story.
"My Aspect is… a magic and enhancement type. I can create basic weapons or cast spells, though their effectiveness varies. I can also do area-of-effect enhancements and minor healing. As for flaws… the more I use my abilities, the weirder I get. It's proportional to the level of the spell," I said, altering all the major details into something more believable.
Reena abruptly turned, eyes widened and uneasy.
"Y—you just revealed your flaw!!" she hissed in alarm.
"Ahh, rest assured. It's not that bad," I reassured quickly. "As long as I use my Aspect reasonably, it's manageable."
She exhaled sharply. "No wonder you're so inconsistent. It's because of your flaw?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked. We kept walking; she didn't look at me.
"Earlier, that sudden joke of yours was out of character. I thought your %#(* head got scrambled somewhere in this hellhole, but turns out, you used your Aspect earlier, so it made you act differently."
Outwardly, I nodded calmly. Inwardly, I felt anything but calm. Panic pulsed beneath my ribs, crawling up my throat like rising static.
I thought my flaw would only affect when I use envisioning, but now I hear that it not only affects me when I use it, it also affects me even if I don't!
This shook me to the core, I had been so damn laid back, that I hadn't even realized the changes and inconsistencies I have been showing, ME! A SPECTATOR! Couldn't even realize an inconsistency in myself… just how many important details did I miss until now?
Negative thoughts stacked atop each other like falling bricks, but my attributes provided a dull cushion, helping me keep the worst of it contained.
Even so, the moment I instinctively summoned my runes, my heart sank.
—------------------------
Name: Ivan
True Name: Adam
Rank: Sleeper
Class: Devil
Soul Cores: [23 / 4000]
Attributes: [Telepathist], [Listener], [Sailor], [Bard], [Student of Ratiocination]
—-----------------------------------
Aspect: [Visionary]
Aspect Rank: [Divine], ???
Innate Ability: [Envision]
Attempts: [6 / 7]
—-----------------------------------
A cold despair curled up my spine as my thoughts began spiraling, looping back to the same:
Why… why hasn't my soul fragment count increased?
"Adam!"
No! before that—why didn't I notice?
"Adam!!"
Why am I only noticing now? Has the flaw really caused me to go mad? No if Cassie would have noticed and spoken about it, did the combination of the passive Spectator attribute and the madness merge making it unnoticeable?
"ADAM!!!" just then I heard someone shout my name and the next moment-
UCK!
Getting pushed to the ground, I groaned, getting caught off guard I didn't brace for impact, so the pain was raw and unfiltered.
I looked up and shot a frown and demanded an answer, "Why did you just push me?"
"You dead ass #&%& you were standing and staring into the void like a damn mannequin, I tried calling you 3 #%$& times" she growled.
At her growling answer, I finally came back to my senses, I looked down at myself, I let out a breath.
Just now, I had a mild panic attack, how embarrassing.
Now is not a good time to panic about all this, once that bastard returns, I will figure out why my soul fragment did not increase even by one digit despite having killed a lot of nightmare creatures, and I should figure out what's powering my aspect.
I lifted my head and looked at Reena who was looking down at me. "Ah.. I am sorry, I was just remembering something." I explained.
Reena gave a hand, I grabbed her hand and lifted myself up with her help. Reena looked at me with a worried look, she took a step forward getting closer to me.
"what did you remember that caused you to freeze like that?" she asked.
I began walking as she also resumed walking beside me.
"It's personal, nothing that warrants my immediate attention, it's just I should have remembered it earlier… Regardless" I replied shortly and moved to change the topic.
"Where were we again?" I asked, Reena stared a few more seconds before her usual indignant look returned.
"Well, #%%#, you were bragging about your arsenal of abilities… not gonna lie, you're one of the most overpowered Sleepers aside from Changing Star, Brightlord, and Harus," she said, a smirk curling at the corner of her lips.
She jabbed me playfully as she added, "Old #%&, You're a bad friend. How could you hide something like that from a friend? Tch tch tch."
"'Old'? Reena, aren't you one of the oldest Sleepers around here? And who just goes around revealing their Aspect to strangers? We've only known each other for a few weeks, and I'm already taking a risk telling you anything." I retorted.
All of it fell on deaf ears as Reena clapped her hands over her ears and chanted, "Blah blah blah blah."
I sighed helplessly, shaking my head and rolling my eyes as I tried to keep my thoughts from spiraling again.
Then I turned to her. "Oh? What about your Aspect?"
"I'll answer later," she said, coming to an abrupt halt.
My brows creased. "What do you—"
Before I could finish, something caught my attention at the edge of my vision. Turning, I saw a large camp shelter made of nightmare creature skin—far more extravagant than anything that should've existed in the slums.
"We're here," Reena said. "I'm an important member of this expedition, so I'm going to reveal a bit about my Aspect in the meeting anyway. It's more efficient if everyone hears it at once instead of me explaining individually."