"Well 'He' is Celestial Worthy" Merlin said in a grim voice.
The cohort exchanged confused looks, then Nephis asked.
"Who is Celestial Worthy?"
Merlin leaned back and then replied calmly.
"The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessing is 'His' title in the western continent, 'His' other titles include…
King of Space-Time: Beacon of Destiny,
Embodiment of Sefirah Castle,
Dominator of the Spirit World,
And the Lord Of Mysteries."
Immediately the honorific name was completed, the entire castle shook wildly as the fog boiled, the cohort went on guard same with Merlin, but after a few seconds, the boiling calmed down and the castle returned to its state of silence.
Merlin sighed inwardly as he didn't feel any additional consciousness entering his mind, he also checked his body back in the dream realm, but as no issues arose, he finally let his mind calm down.
He turned to the cohort then said in a joking voice.
"I guess I won't be saying those words for a while…"
"Merlin… his title, it's just like your true name" Cassie said slowly.
"Yeah… Lord of Mysteries, Attendant Of Mysteries, we sound like a match made in heaven, except we're not, the situation is probably something about 'Him' taking over my body when I become strong enough, I'm guessing the reason 'His' descent was so short was simply because I was just awakening, I'm guessing that it'll probably be longer the higher my rank goes, until 'He' fully takes over my body" Merlin laughed sarcastically and added "after all my powers came from him"
The castle was left in silence again as the cohort took their time processing the information.
"Is… is he some kind of god?" Sunny broke the silence with his question.
"A god… no no no, 'He's' something called a Great Old One, something like a level above the gods you know of" Merlin replied with a smile.
"And he wants to descend in your body?" Kai asked.
"Yes, I think so, I mean we've seen it happen once"
"Why?" Nephis turned to him.
"Why? I don't know either, it's not like I know what plans 'He' might have, but I'm guessing it's not anything good seeing as he's all divinity and no humanity" Merlin replied as he pinched his temples.
"What are you going to do about it? Are you going to just let him take over your body?" Cassie asked worriedly.
Merlin chuckled and said.
"Heh… trust me I'm not planning on sitting by and watching him take over my body, I'll just have to make some preparations and figure it out as I become stronger, if that doesn't work, I'll just stay in sacred rank for the rest of my very long life, at least I'll still be one of the strongest people in existence"
The cohort heaved a sigh of relief, then Merlin brought up the topic about experiences in the waking world, they talked and discussed a lot of planning for the future, then after a while they said their goodbyes and Merlin sent them out of his soul sea.
As he returned to his room, he summoned his runes to confirm a few of his suspicions, he checked them and the runes showed.
Name: Merlin Hermes
True Name: Attendant Of Mysteries
Rank: Awakened
Class: Demon
Soul Core: [3/7]
Soul Fragments: [1272/3000]
Memories: [Cloak of Mysteries], [Formless], [Fur Coat], [Poison bottle], [Stone Sword], [Sunlight Shard], [Messenger's Wings], [Chittin Armour], [Spectre Suit], [Dimension ring]...
Echoes: _____
Attributes: [Fated],[Mysteries],[Mark of Divinity]
Aspect: [Child Of God]
Aspect Rank: Divine
Innate Ability: [Connection]
Aspect Ability: [Magician], [Faceless]
Flaw: [Apathy]
Flaw Description: [The stronger you get the more of your humanity you shed until you become a being of only divinity.]
He then focused on a few details and he saw that a few things have changed.
Description: [A Cloak bestowed by The Lord Of Mysteries. It corresponds to sequence 1 Attendant Of Mysteries, the wielder will be able to use corresponding abilities as long as essence is supplied, when worn the wielder is immune to all types of mental and soul attacks, however with every use the wielder will be stripped of their humanity little by little.]
.
Mysteries: [You have been marked by The Lord Of Mysteries, You are immune to the strings of fate but you will bring great opportunity wherever you walk.]
.
Aspect Description: [You are a soul not from this world, Your body has been tempered and created to house Gods. You have been blessed with their essence and you are now recognized as a being of their potential. You are a blessed of The Lord Of Mysteries.]
.
He confirmed that the runes that once showed '???' had now cleared up showing the name of the true holder, although he had guessed it before, seeing it written and recorded in his runes gave him a feeling of fear.
'People who receive boons from gods rejoice, but those who receive boons from outer deities… heh'
Merlin sighed then sat in his cave as he made a rough plan for his journey, he had already spent almost five months alone in the dream realm, and he was going to spend about a year before he would return to te waking world, he was also calculating the time he would spend in the second nightmare, he did an estimate on the months he would spend looking for the second nightmare, he wasn't keen on heading to the underworld, so he would look for a nightmare seed somewhere different.
Merlin did the mental calculations and estimated that he would spend about a year and half before he could return, he sighed inwardly, it was a price he had to pay for changing fate.
…
Two months later…
Merlin stayed in his cave for a week, then he spent the remaining weeks moving steadily towards the large tree in the distance, he had dreaded the journey too, it was a truly difficult one, the creatures in the desert had many ways to camouflage themselves, they could also detect locations through the sound, and somehow flying across was a more dangerous choice, many creatures were willing to pluck him out of the sky.
He had walked, run and fought through the brunt of the desert and after two months, he had finally gotten close to the tree.
From his position he could see the large tree, its height was towering and its branches blanketed the sky.
"Sigh, time to put in the work…"
Merlin walked forward, he summoned the stone sword, he also had the cuthul's gloves and the gauntlet style formless on hand, he was armed to the teeth, he wasn't willing to take any chances with those two relics that were tied to the tree, especially Eurys, after all the man had once killed a god's avatar, who knows what he'll do to a vessel, and a weak one at that, he would just be a moving target.
"Let's get this done then…"
After a while of walking, he finally arrived at the base of the tree, chained to it were two skeletons, the eye sockets of the two skeletons locked on his approaching figure.
'That's really unsettling…' Merlin thought inwardly as he felt a chill run up his spine.
"You really look like an unusual one, would you be so kind as to introduce yourself to this humble slave?" One of the skeletons spoke up.
Merlin smiled and bowed as he said calmly.
"I am but a humble traveller, I pay my respects to the Plague of Steel Azarax and Eurys of the nine… the god killer"
The two figures on the tree remained silent until the one that was quiet started to laugh maniacally.
"Interesting… you really are an interesting one, I give you credit for recognizing my name even in this state"
'Technically I can't differentiate between either of you, I can't even tell if your skeletal system is male or female, but hey, you don't know what you don't know right…'
"Who are you?" The skeleton that Merlin guessed to be Eurys asked.
"Me… well just call me Flugel, the child of change" Merlin replied with a smile.
"Alright Flugel… now what might you want from us? I'm guessing since you already know who we are, you didn't end up near this tree by chance" Eurys said again, his voice still calm, and Azarax simply listened.
"Well I currently need two things that you both can provide me, first, a path to a nightmare seed, and second a very good teacher for battle" Merlin laid down his offers.
Azarax then spoke up with vigor.
"A battle master you say, then I believe I'm the one you're looking for, so now get me off this damn tree and let's start with the lesson, I've been itching the feel a sword in my hand"
Merlin listened to his words and thought.
'Maybe I really should just leave the learning path to life experiences… it's probably safer than this guy right'
"We'll get to the releasing part soon, but first I need to make sure you're a on board" he said as he turned to Eurys.
The latter stared at him then asked.
"And what will I gain in exchange for helping you find a nightmare seed, I'm sure that's my role in your offer"
Merlin smiled, he knew that the two had detected something odd with him, but he had no choice, he couldn't go finding a nightmare seed all by himself, freeing these guys might be a bad idea, but it was a gamble he was willing to take, well just not right now tho.
"As for what I can offer, well one would be a ticket off this damned tree, and you see, I'm a good friend of the one that inherited the shadow's god lineage… I'm sure you can guess the rest"
Merlin simply played the 'I will give you what you want and you give me what I want' move, but inwardly he sighed.
'Man it wasn't this complicated with Nephis, I mean she's a nephillim, they're also a problem but noooo, she smooth sails the journey and I get stuck with two overly suspicious skeleton generals… I really need some plot armour'
"I see, then you can free us so we can complete this deal as soon as possible" Eurys said.
"Oh no… not so fast, I'll take the training for a while first, before we get to the nightmare part, and before any of the chains comes off, I'll have to make sure you guys don't chop my head off…" Merlin said plainly.
"Hahaha… You have a keen intuition for a mere vessel, I will really enjoy training you" Azarax laughed unhingedly.
'Guess I was right after all, now time to pull up my other move… glazing, borrowed from the goat Alger Wilson (Hanged Man) himself'
Merlin turned to Azarax then smiled as he said.
"Let's look at it this way, Eurys already has the title of god killer, but you are still just a champion, killing me can indeed give you a solid title, but I'm currently not a god's avatar, at least not yet, plus I'm still to weak for you to even put effort…"
He spread his hands then continued.
"Then train me, make me stronger and when I stand at the peak of power, I will challenge you again" then he pulled out the tai lung line "Our battle will be legendary… Plague of Steel against the avatar of god, such a battle is fit for a warrior of your calliber"
Merlin's words sounded convincing, but in reality it was simply translated as 'Let me live until I get strong enough to survive a head on clash with you', but to Azarax, his speech was exactly what the fossil needed to hear.
"Hahaha! Interesting offer indeed, I, the Plague of Steel Azarax will make you into a worthy opponent and we will have our battle on this desert where we stand!"
'I may have just made my training programme more intense… well that's one guy off my throat for a few years, as for Eurys… meh I'll think of something'
Azarax then grinned, or what looked like it, hard to tell when the teeth are always on full display, well Azarax said.
"So then Vessel, undo my bindings let's begin the training"
Merlin's eyes twitched as he replied.
"First the name's Flugel, Second before any physical training, you're going to direct me from right there until I'm good enough to survive the physical part"
"Well then Flugel, I suggest you start swinging your sword immediately, the faster you get better, the lesser I have to stay on this tree"
Merlin ignored the swinging part of Azarax's words as he turned to Eurys.
"We'll talk about our own deal later, for now I'm going to spend the next six months training to become strong enough to not get killed by you in one strike"
Eurys simply replied calmly.
"Suit yourself…"
Then Merlin got into position, he held the stone sword in place as he turned his head to Azarax.
"Good stance, now swing that sword until you can't move your arms anymore, when you're done, you sit still for ten minutes before you repeat the process again" Azarax ordered calmly, although he was a battle champion, he was also a leader of warriors, so he knew the training methods well.
Merlin, who was holding the sword, suddenly regretted a lot of decisions in a very short period of time, then he gritted his teeth and started swinging.
His hellish training was just beginning…
.
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One chapter remaining… that will probably take a while tho.