Reinhard opened his eyes.
The armored ceiling of the police station's vault hung above. The moment he laid his eyes on it, a wave of relief washed over him.
Not to mention, his body thrummed with life; after rising from a four-day slumber, he felt as though he could run a marathon without breaking a sweat.
And then he looked below.
On a cheap plastic chair placed beside his reinforced medical bed sat a man.
Reinhard looked at him, forming an initial impression. But just then, he realized the guy was staring right back at him too.
As their eyes met, the man spoke.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Sleeper Reinhard. Congratulations on surviving your first nightmare."
A smile tugged at his lips.
Reinhard simply stared at him. His mind didn't know how to come up with a response.
After a few seconds of that, he soon realized he had to answer. He quickly came up with something to say and spoke up.
"Thanks."
That was all he could manage.
___
Sleeper Reinhard.
That's what people would call him now. He'd gone from being an unknown outskirts rat to a survivor of the first nightmare, i.e., a Sleeper.
Alright, that wasn't special enough. But he had a divine aspect of all things!
No one had ever had that before, at least, not from what he knew. Even an Ascended-ranked aspect was rare. Anything above that was practically unheard of.
The Divine rank was probably the highest of them all.
And now, he had one. That alone made him special.
Not to mention, he'd gained a True Name too.
'Gilded Saint.' That sounded pretty cool. And creating attributes with a dormant ability was no joke either.
'I just climbed the ladder of life, didn't I?'
He smiled at the thought.
Anyways, currently Reinhard was enjoying a hot shower.
Awakened Cline was the man who had watched over Reinhard's body during the first nightmare. After unfastening his restraints, Cline told him to take a shower since he "reeked of the nightmare."
The unnatural slumber induced by the Spell had slowed his body's metabolism, and the medical apparatus he'd been strapped into was meant to handle the rest. Still, he had been asleep for four whole days.
Even if only in his mind, the scent of bloodshed and despair still clung to him.
Now he stood alone beneath the shower, letting the streams of hot water wash over his skin.
In that calm, he summoned his runes and studied them in silence.
Had he seen his own reflection, he might have noticed the faint smile fixed upon his face.
It's not every day you receive a Divine-ranked aspect, after all. He was eager to test just how far his new ability could go.
Still, it was a pity, gaining both such blessings and a flaw at once meant he couldn't focus on either properly. The excitement of his aspect and his new True Name should've made him ecstatic, yet uncertainty about his flaw ate away at the back of his mind.
After a few moments he reluctantly turned off the tap and walked towards the towel rack, making a mental note to study his flaw properly once he found a quieter place to think.
Just then, he caught his reflection in the mirror.
What greeted him was a slender frame featuring an array of well-toned muscles. He had bright crimson hair and deep blue eyes. Even he had to admit it: he looked good. Well, more like extremely handsome.
A smug smile crept onto his face.
"Now that's what you call good looking."
He spent a few more minutes flexing his muscles and admiring himself before finally stepping away and reaching for a towel.
It was truly fortunate no one had walked in or that would've been awkward as fuck.
___
A few minutes after that, he was wearing a clean police-issued tracksuit and heading for the cafeteria. Awakend Cline was waiting for him at one of the tables with a full tray of steaming synthetic food infront of him.
"Help yourself."
Reinhard looked down at the food he'd been given and sighed. It wasn't much different from what he used to get in the outskirts.
'This is a police station cafeteria,' he thought. 'Couldn't they serve something better?'
Still, food was food. He didn't complain, just sat down, muttered a small thanks, and picked up his spoon.
However, He had wished for the food to taste better.
And just then, the Nightmare Spell's voice rang in his mind.
[New attribute acquired.]
[Attribute Name: Flavour Grace.]
'What the fuck?' He didn't show any change in expression outwardly, But his mind was racing.
Fortunately, his [Calm Mind] attribute kicked in.
And so he started to think normally of what had happend.
'So I wished for tastier food... and got an attribute for it?' That was unexpected but also kind of amazing. He wasn't about to complain.
Seeing Reinhard just staring at his plate, Cline frowned slightly.
"Is something the matter?" he asked.
Reinhard glanced up at him and replied.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking about something."
Without wasting any more time he took his spoon and started eating.
As he took the first bite, flavors burst across his tongue.
Even if it was just cheap synthetic food, it tasted like a five-star meal. Not that he'd ever had one to compare.
He wanted to devour the entire thing like a man starved for weeks, but he forced himself to eat at a resonable pace. No matter how good he looked, the way he carried himself mattered just as much.
When he finally set the empty bowl aside, Awakened Cline spoke up.
"Alright, now that you're done with your food," Cline began, his tone turning official. "As per protocol, I'm obligated to inform you of a few things.
"First, regarding your Nightmare. You're entitled to receive free psychological counseling. Whatever you went through in there, there's no shame in asking for help. Your mind is just as important as your body, and it's only right to keep it healthy. So, Are you interested?"
Reinhard shook his head.
Cline nodded, accepting the answer. "Alright. There's also some paperwork concerning family matters, but I've read your file so i know that doesn't apply. That leaves the last thing: how you plan to prepare for your first journey into the Dream Realm."
___
Thanks for reading the chapter.
This is my first time properly writing a fic, had to rewrite and edit this like five times because i am kind of a perfectionist and didn't want to write anything except the very best.
If you find any mistakes just comment and i will fix it.
Again, thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter.