In a particular restaurant in NQSC...
A boy, seemingly aged 12-13 years by his appearance, was picking food in the trashes outside. His appearance screamed of poverty, with his dirty, almost dilapidated, outwear and no footwear to protect his feet from the cold. His black hair was messy and dirty, while his face was full of grime. Overall, he will give an impression of street dweller, with no permanent home. However, his eyes, with a dark shade of purple, was mesmerizing, if not for the heavy eye bags and almost deadfish gaze.
"Tsk, so poor, this restaurant is so poor, not even a slice of bread..." He said with a voice full of bitterness.
He was kinda expecting his last meal would be a feast, as he guessed that there'll be delicious food here in the rich district of NQSC, that even trashbins were full of treasures. However, contrary to his expectations, much less real meat, not even a slice of bread was found in the trash.
'It seemed that other street rats were already a 'guest' here.' he thought with regret, not expecting the outcome of his journey to the rich district of NQSC.
As he finished this journey by walking straight at the outside of police station nearby, he opened the door, and announced cheerfully, "As demanded by the Third Special Directive, I am here to surrender myself as a carrier of the Nightmare Spell! Come, arrest me!"
The officer in charge frowned and said, "As an Infected of the Nightmare Spell, you are obligated to surrender when you showed symptoms. How many days have you been experiencing it?"
"Hmm, Idunno, 5 days? 6? I'm not in the right mind at the moment so I don't know for sure, but I feel incredibly sleepy that I had to do stimulating things like what I just did." He said calmly with a shrug, referring to the shouting earlier.
"Ohh, a code red? Come with me" He said with a smile, not bothered by the fact that the boy was already at his limit.
They went to the underground bunker, where the boy was tied to a metallic bed, much like a mental patient.
"Boy, What's your name?" The officer spoke with interest.
"Istaroth. Istaroth Shades, well just the surname I came up with, pretty neat, right?." He said sleepily, yawning.
"Istaroth, do you know what will you experience in the first nightmare?" The officer said with inquiry.
"The nightmare spell will conjure an illusion, or a nightmare, if you will. The said nightmare will be only completed if I finished the task given by the Spell Itself." He said, sharing what little knowledge he had.
"Correct. You have nice of way of saying things, not like the other street dwellers I had seen before." The officer said with curiousity, then continued
"As you have mentioned, The Spell will prepare a trial that you have to solve with any means necessary. Just an advice, do not think much about the trial itself and just focused on your survival. If you encounter people, don't think of them as such." The officer said with a sudden solemnity, unlike his previous tone.
"Yes, I know. It's just an illusion." Istaroth said with a faint smile, ready to conquer his first nightmare.
"In addition, utilize your given aspect correctly, there are no known useless aspect, only useless user." The officer said, then continued
"It seems you don't have much time left. Go have some fun out there!" He said with a brilliant smile, clearly not bothered by the possibility of slaughtering this child once he didn't overcome his nightmare and become a nightmare creature.
As Istaroth drifted into the state of sleeping, he faintly heard the Nightmare Spell spoke for the first time...
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]