Corvin dreamt of a road.
Like a long scar across the world, it streaked across the ashen landscape, ancient and winding. On one end, it led to a ruined city. Its ramparts fallen and crumbled, districts forsaken in a sea of rubble.
From the city, the road cut into the dead flatlands. Here and there, its stones were overturned, fissures expanding across vast swaths of the weathered cobbles. Surrounding it, scarce tree trunks stood as if they'd forgotten how to fall. The lands resembled a wasteland unsteadily sloping into the rocky surface of a looming mountain.
The further towards the mountain, the denser the bleached trees crowded together. At its base, it must have once been a vast forest, their leaves creating a veil against the hollow sun that hung in the sky.
The lands rose towards the mountain unevenly, forcing that last stretch of road to climb its harsh slopes.
Jagged and lonesome, its two peaks cradled the distant sun like a mother reaching her hands out to her child. The road wound along the uneven slopes, creating vast cliffs as it struggled to reach its epicenter. The trunks of stubborn trees clung to the sides of the mountain, refusing to abandon the stony terrain.
The higher the road rose, the scarcer the trees became, until they came to a sudden halt as if not willing to cross a threshold.
There, lying between the two arms of the mountain, and at the other end of the road, was a forgotten temple.
Corvin couldn't describe it. Its geometry was wrong. He couldn't decide where its edges started and ended. Angles didn't agree with each other, and the only shape he could understand was the entrance of a large corridor.
It stood there indifferent. It stood there alone. It stood there patiently.
Waiting.
Suddenly, the sun fell over the horizon. The moon rose from the west, streaked across the sky, and disappeared in the east.
He was watching the flow of time in reverse.
Centuries passed. The sun and moon traveled like blurry lines across the sky.
Fractures in the earth stitched themselves together. The fissures of the road reformed into thin cracks. Leaves unwilted. Debris rose from the streets of the ancient city and found its way back into walls, arches, ramparts, rebuilding itself in silence.
Corvin shuddered. He watched as human bones gathered into skeletons. Skeletons knit themselves into bodies. The spark of life reignited in empty eyes.
Then, there were people.
A group of people flickered into existence along the road. They moved backward along the path, to and from the distant mountain, and vanished.
Another group flickered past. Different clothing, different era. The same heavy steps. Then another. Between the trees, darker shapes stalked in silence — keeping pace with the ancient humans.
The road existed for these rare processions and sat empty between them — patient, purposeless, waiting for the next group of people desperate enough to walk it.
Throughout it all, the temple stood indifferent, as if it were above the passage of time itself. It was unchanging — everlasting.
Time slowed, stopped, and then resumed its usual pace.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial...]
'What... what the hell...'
Corvin shuddered, full of unfamiliar sensations. As his eyes adjusted to the harsh sun, he tried to get his bearings.
His clothes felt coarse and itchy all across his skin. The soles of his... boots were uneven, and he felt rays of the sun filtering through a couple of holes in the fabric that had failed to be patched. His body was aching... he was hungry.
He raised his hand to his face. The scars were still there, but different. His body felt the same, but different.
'Where the hell am I?!'
He blinked. To his left was a closed gate that towered to the sky... and to his right were people. Civilians. Farmers, elders, craftspeople, and what looked to be a handful of guards.
As Corvin turned his gaze towards them, the older ones of the group seemed to want to look away.
'What did I do to you guys?'
Looking past the annoying people, he saw the road. It stretched far into the distance, leading to the mountain and whatever that was that sat on top of it.
Corvin stood there for a moment, a frown on his face.
'What is this place? When... is this place?'
The odd experience when he fell asleep was still lingering in his mind. He saw a discarded land move backward through time and a temple that seemed to not obey the laws of physics. Worst of all, people were traveling to and from that temple using the ancient road that stretched in between.
'I know nightmares are supposed to be trials—'
"You're the one everyone keeps looking away from."
Corvin swiftly turned his head, spooked. The feminine voice from just over his right shoulder startled him... but what he saw next made him take a step back.
Eyes.
Large, beautiful emerald eyes that seemed to stare right through him. Only then did he notice the girl they belonged to.
Pale gold hair fell in a loose braid down her back, threaded with small white ornaments. Her clothes were practical for the road, though finer than anything the rest of the group wore.
For a moment, he forgot what he had been thinking.
After realizing he'd been staring for far too long, Corvin coughed.
"...Excuse me?"
"The elders."
She tilted her head.
"They keep doing this thing whenever they look at you. Like they're pretending you're not here."
'So, I wasn't imagining that.'
"Maybe I'm just not very interesting."
She studied him for a second, then smiled — the kind of smile that felt like it was deciding something about him.
"No. That's not it."
'What is that supposed to mean?'
She glanced at the road stretching into the distance.
"Are you nervous?"
"I can't say that I'm not. The road is long."
"It is."
The smile dimmed, but only slightly.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't, too."
Before Corvin could respond, one of the elders called out to the girl, giving a stern look to him at that.
"Lyra! Come on, girl!"
She was already moving, walking backward, still facing him with a mischievous smile.
"I'll find you later."
Watching her energetically walk away, Corvin stood there dumbfounded.
'What is she doing out here? She looks too refined for this place...'
Now, without interruptions, he tried to gather his thoughts. The group of civilians and the girl gathered here were obviously preparing to walk the road to the temple. And the body Corvin inhabited was positioned here too, so...
'Am I a participant? Wait, I know the Awakened are supposed to have some kind of runes... maybe I should check that.'
Corvin kept an eye on the group of people for a bit, trying to determine how much longer until they left. After deciding that he had some time to spare, he walked along the stone ramparts until he found solitude. His body felt odd...
'Okay, but how do I make them appear? Maybe I just have to imagine them showing up...'
Sure enough, glimmering runes ignited in the air. It was strange — although he couldn't read the symbols engraved, he somehow understood the meaning.
He focused his eyes on his status... and his shoulders dropped.
Name: Corvin.
True Name: —
Rank: Aspirant.
Soul Core: Dormant.
Memories: —
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Mark of Divinity], [Born of Nothing], [Unwoven].
Aspect: [Nameless Pilgrim].
Aspect Description: [Every pilgrim walks a road with purpose. A nameless one walks toward none.]