Kallen sat against the wall in his dormitory's bed, clutching at the pressure building up in his head. It had been months since the first time he'd experienced the sensation, and he was not happy to be graced with its presence again.
He drove his palms harder against his eyes as the pain ramped up. He would have lost the contents of his stomach if the familiar shift of his surroundings hadn't happened.
Once more, a vast ocean surrounded him. A temple sat below, and as he swam closer, the pressure began to lessen.
What is happening to me?
As he approached and then entered the temple, Kallen made sure to keep his eyes closed, only relying on his aspect to feel his way around.
It was a strange thing to use it for that purpose, but every little shift in his close vicinity sent ripples toward him that he used to navigate. It was almost like how a spider might use its webs to determine movement. Or perhaps like echolocation.
Besides, it was a development that he had discovered on his own, and it was sure to be invaluable in the future.
A voice called from the void. "Do not prolong."
That's it? Kallen wondered.
Without fanfare, he was dispelled from the vision. No shadowy figure, no horrible death, nothing. He was simply sitting back in his dormitory bed, the awakened academy quiet as a mouse in the dead of night.
Kallen did not get much sleep that night.
~~~
Occasionally, there were days where Naeve was forced to take leave and deal with something that his clan elders required. On those days, Kallen still arrived at the House of Night facility as normal, but his training sessions were shorter and with an awakened who was more closer to an equal to him than Naeve had been.
Kallen adored those days. They meant he could research his abilities and play with different applications. Though this testing, he had found that his attribute [Amplifier], didn't only apply to kinetic energy as he had begun to theorize. There was little he couldn't amplify that was already moving. However, he couldn't superficially move these things, nor could he control them. It was still an absolutely deadly attribute.
But his time with [Amplifier] was over for now. Currently in his soul sea, Kallen summoned the wondrous armor of his innate ability [Tideform].
The Knight armor wrapped around him like a second skin, twisting and churning. Kallen immediately felt an immense strain, and quickly got to work. He let the twisting sword of water in his hand dissolve into nothingness, summoning Legacy of the Fallen. In the same breath, he smashed it into the vambrace of his left arm.
Even though his sword was an awakened weapon, his water armor held strong. Without missing a beat, he tested his leading theory. Kallen brought the weapon toward the vambrace again, but this time slower, as if it were crawling toward the armor.
To his surprise, the weapon passed through as if Knight-Form were made of butter.
With a sharp exhale, Kallen dismissed the tideform, groaning at the strain it took on his soul.
Knight form works as a sort of non-newtonian fluid then. He thought, panting. It's probably how I'm able to move around so well, while also being protected by incoming attacks. Attacks with high velocity are stopped easily, while those with low velocity pass through.
I suppose that makes sense.
Leaving his soul sea, he began to ready himself for the day's training. Naeve was probably still gone, he had said it'd be a few more weeks before he was set to return.
Slowly, Kallen had all but forgotten his desires to be an engineer when he grew up. There was a newfound sense of pride he took in the way his Master praised how quickly he was learning. He had a divine aspect—who was he to choose his own selfish goals above serving the great clan who had treated his family so well? But there was a small part of him—the part that remembered the king from his first nightmare that was afraid. Afraid to end up like him. Afraid to be alone and fighting for his life.
But his training helped. It helped a great deal to dispel those thoughts, if not at least give him something to do.
Kallen made his way to the training arena, the familiar scent of chlorinated water present. There was a large pool at its center and various training dummies and obstacles scattered around. He had spent countless hours here over the past few months, honing his skills under the warm smile of Master Naeve. But today felt different.
To Kallen's surprise, his teacher was present, lounging casually in a chair near the edge of the pool. His posture was relaxed with a leg crossed over the other, but his eyes were sharp and alert. That languid smile of his hid a vast chasm of experience—years upon years of combat training and nightmare creature slaughter. Kallen had learned to respect that man immensely.
"You're an hour early," Naeve said. Seren had stayed behind at the academy for the day, complaining about a hand injury. "Eager to start?"
Kallen shrugged. "Just didn't feel like sleeping in."
Naeve laughed, standing and stretching with the ease of a man who had all the time in the world. "That's great, because we're switching things up today."
Kallen's eyebrows shot up. A glint of excitement flashed across his eyes. "Switching up how?"
"Aspect work starts today."
Kallen's heart skipped a beat. He'd been waiting rather impatiently for the man to begin helping him fight with his aspect.
The first exercise they tried had been conducted in order to understand control over the dormant ability. Most sleepers could use their dormant ability indefinitely, though it wasn't always the case. Kallen for example, could use the ability to his heart's content, but the weight with which he could pull or push was limited.
He began with standing in the shallow end of the pool and extending his hand. A small ripple had formed on the surface, growing into a wave that crested and crashed against the edge of the training pool, drenching the stone that lay beyond.
Next, he tried shaping the wave, then he made it curve, but when he tried disconnecting it from the body of water it was attached to, gravity won and sent his wave crashing back down at him.
His finesse wasn't quite at the level where he could compete with gravity. It became apparent that to launch a projectile with any sort of mass above the surface, he would need to apply near equal force around its surface, keeping it in a spherical shape. Or at least spherical enough.
After that, they tested the power he was able to exert. He summoned a small whirlpool, then pushed as large of a wave as he could manage. As they tested the limits of what he could do, Kallen couldn't help but notice a wide grin ever present on Naeve's face.
And when he had finished for the day, he laid back, exhausted, but ultimately satisfied.
~~~
Naeve Pov
Naeve leaned against the edge of the training arena, his arms crossed as he watched Kallen and his young sister prepare for the exercise. The two siblings stood side by side, their contrasting personalities evident even in their stances. Seren was calm and focused, her hands glowing a faint white with the energy of her tether ability. Kallen—like always—was like a barely contained storm.
Kallen, Sleeper from the Blackwater Clan… True Name: Blessed of the Sea, Naeve thought to himself, a faint grin showing. He's a monster in the form of a teenage boy.
Months of training had flown in the blink of an eye, and Kallen had begun to grow into a force to be reckoned with. He had raw talent and a relentless drive to learn. That had pushed him farther than Naeve had ever expected.
And his aspect…
He'd never seen a sleeper with such a potent first aspect ability. There had been other awakened that Naeve had seen manipulate water as he had, or maneuver underwater as expertly as he had. But those awakened had years of training. Countless hours to master their aspect. And none of them had all of that in one. Kallen was just a greenhorn, he was barely a novice in the art of combat.
When Naeve had initially proposed that Kallen fight against an Awakened Nightwalker alongside his sister Seren, he had expected to place restrictions on the awakened… not be forced to add more warriors into the mix.
The moment he gave the signal, the two awakened surged forward, coordinated and deliberate. Kallen stepped in front of Seren, tense. The young girl raised her hands, and two starlight tethers shot forth, one connecting to her brother, and another to the vanguard of the two awakened.
Kallen's body surged with energy as her buff took effect, his strength and speed noticeably increasing. At the same time, the awakened woman she had tethered stumbled, her body slowing as the effect took hold.
Leaning in, Naeve missed nothing, watching as his pupil turned into a whirlwind of powerful and precise strikes. He intercepted the first attacker, shoving her blade to the side with ease before countering with a front kick that sent her sprawling. The second attacker had already begun to flank him and press Seren, but Kallen was already moving, eyes drinking in his surroundings with impressive awareness.
Seren took a few steps back, her focus unwavering as she maintained the tethers. Naeve had learned from her instructor just how powerful her aspect could be when backed up by the right king of fighter. And Kallen was that type of fighter.
Her ability had become the backbone of their cooperation.
Intercepting the second attacker, Kallen evaded his sword, making sure to keep himself positioned in between the attacker and Seren. He sent a powerful strike with his training weapon at the Awakened man, who parried and stepped in closer, driving the pommel at Kallen's face.
Naeve leaned in even closer as the boy intentionally took the hit with his shoulder and used his positioning to knock the man off his feet.
As the battle unfolded, Naeve felt a sense of quiet pride. Kallen had come a long way since their first spar. His movement had improved, his knowledge and mastery of battle had as well. But what was most impressive was the fluidity with which he moved.
He strategized on the fly, sometimes intentionally letting himself be hit in non-compromising positions in order to deliver powerful follow up strikes. Naeve had assumed it was an attribute that allowed this, but he wasn't sure. Regardless, the whole process was exhilarating.
Though the two of them had ended up losing the spar, Naeve had no doubt that if the battle were to take place underwater, the two awakened would have lost. Even without Seren's buffing ability… even if they were using their aspects.
That kid is terrifying…
The two sleeper siblings were a more than formidable team. And though there was obvious room for improvement, just as well was there ample time to grow.