I opened my eyes, the armored ceiling of a vault entering into view.
Still a little groggy, I tried to move around, before immediately realizing that I was strapped to what seemed to be a bed.
My mind, registering the restraints, sharpened considerably, focused and alert for any threats.
I scanned the room, before my eyes landed on a figure sitting in a black folding chair.
The moment my brain registered the presence of another human being, a deep, profoundly uncomfortable feeling began to gnaw at the pit of my stomach. My heart accelerated, thumping violently in my chest. My palms began to sweat, my feet claming up.
Y-You havee g-got tto be k-kidding me!
Ignorant to my inner turmoil, the figure seemed to realize that I was awake, their soft brown eyes locking onto my figure.
They gave off a surfer kind of vibe.
A sharp jawline, skin the same shade as polished bronze. Their hair was a deep shade of black with the occasional light brown accent. A curly middle part framing a set of gentle, sunkissed features.
"Welcome back to the waking world, sleeper Audun. I'm Cory, and I'm the awakened that got tasked with supervising you while you were asleep. Congrats on surviving your first nightmare man." The man, Cory, said casually with a relaxed smile.
Audun?
The name rang unfamiliarly in my ears.
The spell had referred to me by the same name throughout the first trial, it's probably the name of the person who's body I'm in right now.
Cory's eyes radiated a sort of serene warmth that calmed those around him, but that effect seemed to be lost on me.
Not wanting to be rude, I tried to formulate a response, my vocal cords refused to cooperate.
I kept on trying to say something, but my efforts were in vain.
A gazillion thoughts rushed through my head.
"What if he thinks I'm rude!"
"What if he doesn't like me?"
"What if he thinks I'm weird?!"
Self-doubt gnawed at my mind as my heart beat louder and louder against my ribcage.
Anxiety started to take hold, my lungs pumping air faster than my body could process.
This was, unfortunately, a very very familiar feeling.
'This stupid spell literally gave me crippling social anxiety for shits and giggles.'
'I swear to god, when I get my hands on the person behind the spell, I'm gonna beat them so bad their sisters gonna wish they never gave birth to them.' (A/N who gets the reference :D)
But then, like a switch was flipped in my consciousness—
Calm washed over my mind like a wave, my attribute [One who Stood at the peak] activating.
I regained my composure, my expression falling back into an expressionless stare.
Now was the hard part.
Sweat was still dripping down my brow as I formulated a response to the awakened Cory's earlier greeting.
My voice, devoid of emotion or any sort of inflection, resounded in the armored vault.
"Greetings Awakened Cory, th-th-th-th-th-th-thrank you for overseeing me during my trial."
I had managed to mangle the word "thank" so badly with a stutter so profound it made the nearby furniture levitate, the word nearly unintelligible, resembling more of a ritualistic chant than a word recognized by the standard conventions of language.
My poker face was absolutely unshakable, the confidence in my tone making it seem like the stutter had been completely intentional.
But behind the expressionless mask, I was utterly embarrassed.
F)*)(**(&(*&(&98797(*&#$%^&
HOW DID I EVEN STUTTER THAT BADLY!!
GYAHHHHFHGRAGHHHH
*********************************************************
(Cory's POV)
Man, it's hella boring here.
I sat in a black folding chair, swiping idly through my phone.
I grumbled to myself, wondering why I had accepted this job in the first place.
'Well better here watching this kid then out and about duking it out with abominations.' I mused.
I had been sitting here for the last three hours, supervising this dude to minimize damage in the event that he failed and turned into a fugly monster.
Is that dude even a dude, though? He looks better than most women I know.
Staring absentmindedly at the kid's face, I turned my attention back to the phone in my hand.
I was bored out of my mind, literally just swiping through dating apps to pass the time.
'Mid'
'Ugly'
'Aight'
'Oooooo, not bad at all!'
Smiling lecherously to myself, I swiped right on my phone, lost in my own little world.
While sliding into someone's dm's, I noticed a slight movement out of the corner of my eye, my awakened senses tingling at the movement.
Throwing my phone aside, I locked eyes with the now sleeper in front of me.
The kid's eyes immediately started to dilate, probably a side effect of his trial or something.
Putting on my best act, I smiled while looking at him.
'Keep it casual, Cory.'
"Welcome back to the waking world, sleeper Audun. I'm Cory, and I'm the awakened that got tasked with supervising you while you were asleep. Congrats on surviving your first nightmare, man."
'Bam, nailed it!'
'Awesome delivery as usual.'
I smirked inwardly, looking forward to how the sleeper before me would react.
Most were polite, but every once in a while, you get the sleepers who survived a first nightmare so horrible they can't help but tear up at the first instance of human warmth.
'Cue the water works pretty boy!'
Contrary to my expectations, the kid didn't tear up or even respond immediately for that matter.
Instead, he immediately paled and started hyperventilating, sweating like an animal, face contorting inexplicably, eyes trembling in a display of intense emotion.
My smile froze.
'Is... this kid ok…?'
Just as quickly as the odd behavior started, it disappeared frighteningly fast.
His expression faded into an expressionless calm, eyes tranquil and deep, his erratic breathing calming down instantly, the sweat on his brow the only reminder of the earlier outburst.
The weight of his presence seemed to weigh down the very air around us.
I was getting whiplash from the changes, the boys powerful emotions seemingly in a constant flux.
Just then, the boy opened his mouth, an authoritative weight entwined with the emotionless tone of his voice.
"Greetings Awakened Cory, (*&(*&@(!&((&(!&(@#(*&@(#*!& you for overseeing me during my trial."
It was then that the most baffling noise I've ever heard graced my ear lobes.
'What the Fuck? Was he trying to summon an eldritch abomination?? Did he cast some kind of spell on me?'
My mind swirled in genuine, honest to god confusion.
I couldn't help but stare at the brand-new sleeper in front of me, searching for some kind of indication that whatever he just said was some kind of mistake.
But I found nothing, his face was expressionless, his eyes not betraying the slightest hint of emotion. There wasn't the slightest hint of embarrassment, only cold confidence.
My left eye twitched in bewilderment.
'I really need a raise...'
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(A/N: Ik I kept it kinda vague in the wording of Audun's flaw, but basically, the spell handed him a massive FU in the form of crippling social anxiety. He has the attribute [One who stood at the peak] just to help him regain self awareness, so he's aware of his flaw, and so he can sorta mask it (idk I thought it'd be funny). Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, see you tomorrow with another release!)