Aspirations.
They drown aspirers in despair, steer them into their addictive desires, and most importantly, fill them with hope for the future…
To exist, to have existed, aspirations could never separate from the soul.
Along the way, aspirers might constantly switch from one aspiration to another as their spirits develop and grow.
However, one aspiration only was never enough. They stacked on top of each other, eventually merging into the spirit’s vitality, the soul’s zeal.
They could differ from one soul to another, but more often than not, they overlapped.
To be a hero, a protector, a leader, an entertainer, a mentor, an indulger…
Those were roles that could manifest in many different jobs and roles.
A superhero, a scarecrow, a gang boss, a racer, a teacher, a murderer…
All those stemmed from deep sparks within the soul, taking form in hopes of achieving one’s true aspirations.
To be of help, to protect, to be in control, to be free, to be respected, to prove one’s existence…
To be loved…
Therefore, in the end, aspirations, although different and yet the same, preceding even addictions, were the true driving force of all souls, living or dead.
Therefore…
Aspirations were dreams.
The dreams we chase forever.
***
At a glance, the scarecrow could immediately notice the similarities.
Surrounding him were a few dozen pawns, many of which looked like their neighbors. Cloaks, masks, suits, armored, anthropomorphic predators or potentially aggressive animals…
Naturally, there were a few that stood out among the crowd, such a reddish Grodran, the same race as Mathros, albeit without a tail and with a bow in hand, or a one legged female elf leaning on a long, oversized hammer.
These were the pawns the Blood Fiend had made sure to keep hidden until now. Somnu couldn’t know why John Doe hadn’t instructed all his pawns to keep a low profile or to attack the blind Sleeper all at once the second he stepped into the fort, but the murderer had once again chosen to lead them all into this obvious trap.
After being tricked to reveal themselves and then getting free, they all sought the nearest Luscairna and demanded to see the fortmaster. Receiving no opposition, they simply followed the pathways to the top of the fort.
They had all come here to take back control, to stop the hunt of pawns once and for all, to make the fortmaster truly fear the name Blood Fiend.
They came to support their benefactor, John Doe.
Although Somnu was still worried an innocent Sleeper might still be hiding among his enemies, controlled as Almon had been, the blind Sleeper was fairly confident most of them were acting on their own accord and had already passed the initiation. That meant he didn’t need to worry about losing his System when his next plan succeeded.
“Who wants to go first?”
“It’s you, isn’t it?! You’re the one hunting us!”
“That guy? Seriously?”
“He’s blind… and unimpressive. How did he kill so many of us?!”
“Hey, Evu’Dral!” The blind Sleeper interrupted their chatter, watching them gear up to hunt him.
It was very likely they were all Savants, experienced murderers who knew better than to waste time.
“Yes, Somnu, my boy?”
[Straw Storm!]
“?!”
Just as the pawns were about to take action, straw tendrils shot up from beneath their feet, signaling the start of battle.
Immediately, most of them dodged the attack with their high perception, and helped free those who got captured by them.
However, Somnu’s goal had been reached. A momentary distraction.
“Look at them, Evu’Dral! I just got here, and they’re all shitting themselves already! I sure hope you got enough toilet paper for this lot, and a good, cheap plumber. Geez, I haven’t even raised my weapon yet, could you all babies take control of your bowels?” The strawman sneered and scoffed, using the one thing that he never thought he would.
A…
“Aha! A joke! And from Somnu, my boy, no less! Ahahaha!”
“?!”
“Oh no…”
The fortmaster laughed.
And with it, everyone felt a freezing chill invade their spines. Everyone, but one.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“The pathways are gone! We can’t retreat!”
“We foresaw this! Hurry up and use your skills!”
“...”
Still dodging and fighting the straws, most Sleepers fell to their knees, clasping at their bubbling stomachs.
“You!!”
“Get him!”
The few who could somehow resist the fortmaster’s dreadful ability, swarmed the blind Sleeper.
Stage two.
‘Naga, now.’
‘Yes, master!’
“?!”
In a mere second, Naga, who had momentarily disappeared to resist the effects, came back in full force around the entire throne room.
This time, she adopted her full serpentine size, her black scales shimmering beneath the occasional purple runes. A piece of Grudgekeeper was still accompanying her, and her countless clones.
The four who had rushed at Somnu were immediately wrapped by multiple serpents, squeezing the air out of them, or biting whole chunks of body parts away.
Still, one managed to retreat, only to find the other Sleepers all struggling against both straw and serpent attacks. While some were still managing to resist, the ones who had fallen victim to natural functions of their own bodies, became serpent prey as soon as they emptied their rectums.
They got swallowed up, unable to contain their laughter till the very end.
However, amongst the pawns, at least four were completely unaffected by the growing, deafening laughter all around them. They slashed serpents easily, blocked straw tendrils with secondary weapons or skills.
Out of the 33 pawns Somnu had counted, 12 had already died, 9 were struggling to fight back while at the same time resisting their own bodily functions and laughter, 6 were in the process of being either squeezed to death or devoured whole, and lastly, 4 were managing to stand their ground, unaffected.
So far, these results hadn’t been as ideal as Somnu had hoped. Although he realized the perfect plan never existed, part of him had hoped all the pawns would have been easily affected and fallen prey to the serpents.
Nonetheless, he still had other skills to use.
I guess it can’t be helped…
The scarecrow rushed forward at speed that made the wind howl in his wake, both sickles in hand. Focusing his borrowed gaze at one of the four, he swung his weapons and sent glowing violet slashes at the one-legged elf.
“!”
THUD!
In an instant, she effortlessly twirled her blazing hammer around her, immediately incinerating both serpents and straws, before bringing the weapon down on the ground in a wide flourish. The impact instantly caused a fire wave to explode in front of her, rendering the coming slashes void.
That’s a higher level weapon…
The scarecrow barely dodged the fire, only to be stabbed through the chest upon landing.
“!”
“Take that, asshole!”
“Why aren’t you laughing?”
“?!”
The elusive armored black knight shuddered as he tried to retract the rapier he had stabbed through the strawman.
[Distorted Fallacy.]
“Laugh, it’s supposed to be the best medicine.”
“Ah… Ahaha-”
Just as he fell to the ground, struggling to stop his own mouth, a serpent spawned from the scarecrow’s cloak and bit his head off, causing streams of blood to gush out of his severed neck.
“I guess in your cases, it’s more like poison.” The strawman turned his head to check on the remaining three healthy pawns, only to see one of them, a bulky, fur-covered figure, rush toward the still laughing Evu’Dral. What is that guy thinking? Is the laughter making him impulsive?
Somnu ignored him and checked on the hammer-swinging elf, still doing her thing to incinerate everything that came her way, while the other remaining-
“!”
An arrow went through the strawman’s head before he could steer the serpent’s eyes within the cloak’s hood to another side of the throne room.
BOOM!
Then, the head exploded. The body fell limp to the ground.
“I got you, dumbass! Did you really think we’d all fall for that?!” The red-scaled lizardman was flying with a protective transparent shield around him. He continued shooting at serpents and straws, exploding them upon impact. “That’s what you get!”
“Watch out, idiot!”
“?!”
Just as a figure wearing a deep plum outfit appeared behind the flying lizardman, slashing down at him with two sickles, a faraway voice resounded to alert him.
However, before the strawman could land his sickles, a shadow flew out of the lizardman’s back and cut off both arms of the attacker.
Upon landing, another figure phased through the air and cut off both his legs.
There you are…! Somnu thought, having foreseen the two extra Sleepers who had completely disappeared from the crowd. He hadn’t anticipated they would come back until… Why is Evu’Dral not laughing anymore?
Looking that way, Somnu saw the black wolf Sleeper slash at the fortmaster with his long claws. Instead of hitting him, the claws were simply going right through him.
“What the hell is this!?” He growled, increasing his size and trying to bite the furball instead.
“Fiddlestumps… This isn’t funny, doggy.” The fortmaster retorted with his head inside the wolf man’s maw. “Please remove your big mouth or I will be forced to brush your teeth, or rather fangs, for you.”
“What the hell are you?!”
“A dream entity, a Lightmare Being, my dear doggy boy. It’s only natural that we cannot be hurt by such shallow aspirations.” Evu’Dral clicked his tongue a few times while still inside the stinky maw. “I have chosen to overlook this slaughter if it means ridding us from the potential nightmares. Bad dogs like you are usually put down, no? Or eaten?”
During that exchange, the strawman, with his head gone, regenerated one made of condensed straws and stood back up. He no longer had a hood on his cloak, so he summoned Grudgekeeper to replace his sister’s clothes.
“Wait… can he switch bodies?!”
“No… the one we just cut down was another clone…”
“Another?! You mean this thing is…?!”
As the two assassins and the lizardman figured it out, the wolfman and elf joined them. They all watched as the strawman resummoned his sickles and glared at them with two hollow, yet chilling violet slits.
Having finished their part, his serpents quickly slithered closer to him, filling the air around him with black smoke and an almost palpable, shaking pressure.
The Unseen Dreadbeast of Lethe was now standing amidst his countless clones.
Surrounding him were the remaining five pawns from the initial 33.
Relying on the fortmaster wouldn’t help any longer. He had hoped to get all of the pawns before they got the chance to use the skills from all their Aspiration Classes, but alas, he needed to work harder to achieve his victory.
Even if Somnu hadn’t been in the fort ever since he visited Aurora…
The scarecrow’s job was never-ending.
All for the purpose of his aspirations.
