Chapter 54 - Facing the Nightmare (Part 2) (1/2)
Finishing the delicious, but sadly not-so-filling meal, Aiden, looked at the woman, who was still focusing on her cooking. He gulped and then stutteringly spoke.
”T-t-thank you for the breakfast, mother.”
Not even bothering to turn around to face him, she curtly replied.
”Wash up and get ready. You are supposed to be going to the Academy soon.”
”Yes, mother.” Aiden bowed respectfully then turned around and left the kitchen. As he left, the woman looked at the doorframe and shaking her head, she muttered mostly to herself.
”What a disappointment…”
Getting ready was uneventful, and quick, as all the bathroom appliances were familiar to him, just modernized. After he got ready and got dressed in a white shirt crowned with a dark blue tie and blue jeans. He was wearing dark blue uniform trousers and a similarly dark blue colored uniform suit that had the crest of a roaring lion on its chest.
What surprised him was that seemingly his body remembered dressing up properly and tying his tie even without him actively remembering anything. It took a few minutes to finish up, probably more than he should have spent on it, because as he was doing his finishing touches, suddenly there was a knocking on his door.
Shortly after, he heard his mother calling out.
”You will be late, son. Get ready and go to that school already! I'm not going to remind you again.”
As she finished, once again without waiting for him to respond, Aiden heard the sound of her receding footsteps.
Sighing, he picked up his bag that was just sitting on the ground between his desk and his bed, he opened the door and looked at his father who was still resting on the couch and watching the screen on the strange device.
”See you, Father, have a nice day.” Slightly bowing he respectfully said his goodbyes. As he thought, he has not received any meaningful reaction out of him other than a snort accompanied by a *Hmpf!* and a wave of his hand to signal him to not bother him.
As he went to the kitchen, he repeated this ritual, once again not receiving any response. His mother didn't even bother looking at him, and just waved with her hand, to let him know she received his wishes.
'I don't understand. Why are they both so cold towards me? Is this really how I lived my life? No… Something feels wrong with all this.' Aiden thought to himself, as he was making his way towards the Academy. This time he didn't need to ask as the large towers with the same large crest that he wore the miniature version his chest could be seen even from the busy street.
[You were not paying attention Aiden. I told you before, this is your last day, but also this is a test. If you would have bothered to check the system, you would have noticed, that both figures were engulfed with black auras. They had evil intent oozing out them.] Enya replied.
He abruptly halted his steps hearing her reply, causing a bit of a commotion. A few grumbled sounds could be heard as people avoided him, but Aiden didn't really bother with all of that.
'Black auras? Do you think, they are both created by the Nightmare I'm supposed to overcome? What do I need to do? I don't think I am supposed to be killing them…'
Aiden could hear Enya's reproachful tone as she replied to him.
[Again, you weren't paying attention. What does the quest require you to do? Read up the objectives once more, if you are unsure.]
Following his suggestion, Aiden brought up the details of the quest to check his required and optional objectives.
[Primary Quest: Cries in the Dark 1
Difficulty: D-A
Objective: Banish the Nightmare Spawns (0/???)
Optional: Fix the vision by cleansing the nightmare
Reward: ???
Failure Condition: Being pulled from the Pocket World, Defeated by any Spawn
Penalty: Death, Soul returned to the Wheel of Life and Death]
'Remove the Nightmare Spawns…'
[Exactly. It does not say 'Kill', it specifically says 'Banish'. Most likely they are part of the trial, you have to be able to recognize the irregularities in their behavior.]