Elizabeth was stunned. She had not expected to hear anything related to a Divine Aspect, but what she did not comprehend was that another one had appeared in front of her.
'So… I am not the only one?'
She frowned slightly as she observed the group's reaction to what the short Sleeper had said. From their expressions, they were starting to believe he was lying. The way he had formulated his answer did look strange, as if he were making things up on the spot. But what was the benefit of that, lying to their faces?
'It's as if he is putting up a performance…'
Any sane person would have noticed he was lying, but not Elizabeth. She believed what he was saying.
'The "glorious" appraisal, as well as receiving a Divine-rank Aspect for it, are both things that have never happened before…and that she had experienced, yet he knew.'
No one had ever heard of a glorious appraisal, nor seen anyone with a Divine Aspect to link it to such an appraisal. It could not be a coincidence that someone suddenly knew the words of appraisal and mentioned a Divine rank at the same time.
'Could… he know someone with a Divine Aspect?'
Had someone with a Divine Aspect told him those exact words, and he was using them to boost his ego by flaunting something he did not actually possess?
'So there are more Divine Aspect holders… most likely a Legacy?'
She felt a bit strange knowing she was not the only one, but she pushed those feelings aside. If not in NQSC, where so many Sleepers gathered, then where else would she ever encounter another Divine Aspect holder? The chances were small, but she had never actually expected to even meet one.
'Should I ask him where I could find that person?'
If she could find another Divine Aspect holder, preferably one with experience, maybe with their help she would be able to understand exactly how she was different from others and gain knowledge about some of the confusing runes she had.
'But I have to be careful.'
She could not just tell anyone that she possessed a Divine Aspect. If she knew who else did, she could gather information about them beforehand and investigate them before ever approaching them with the information.
Her thoughts were crushed the next moment.
"Mind you, I'm not some lofty Legacy. Pfft! I'm from the outskirts. I've never even received combat training. All that training and he only got an 'excellent'? What did he do during the Nightmare, pick his nose the whole time?"
'What? He is not a Legacy? Wait, did he say he was from the outskirts and never received combat training?'
Her mind was in shambles. She knew he was not lying about his background. Legacies were practically celebrities, and with a simple search on her communicator she could do a quick background check. There was no point in lying about that.
'How does he know then? Don't tell me he really is a Divine Aspect holder.'
Before she could ponder any further, the young man she had heard referred to as Caster smiled wider as he approached the short Sleeper.
"Glorious? That is interesting. Would you mind telling us what your achievements in the Nightmare were?"
The short Sleeper nodded and smiled widely.
"Sure, no problem! First of all, I killed an… uh… an Awakened Tyrant."
'What?....Just that?'
Now she was slightly hesitant to believe he was a divine aspect holder. Although it was still ludicrous to fight an Awakened Tyrant during a First Nightmare, was that really worthy of a Divine Aspect? Although weakened, she herself had fought a Sacred being and managed to kill a Supreme being as well.
'But then again… Rethen might have been weakened to the level of an Awakened, or even slightly weaker, by the time I killed it.'
That did not erase the fact that she had killed a Supreme, even if it had been by accident.
She listened back in on the conversation and found the others laughing at him. He was smiling as well, as if he did not care that they were mocking him. Then, as if remembering something, he frowned.
"That's the truth!"
That only served to fuel the surrounding laughter.
"Crazy bastard!"
"He actually believes his own crap!"
"Insane, he's insane…"
Elizabeth frowned.
'Is he really insane? Was everything just a coincidence?'
No matter how strange the situation looked, she did not believe it was.
She sighed and slowly stood up as she approached the group. The people laughing suddenly stopped as they watched her approach. Her hoodie was not properly covering her face, and they instantly entered a dazed state at the sight of her, their faces turning slightly red. Elizabeth did not care. There was a question burning at her lips that she had to ask.
The short Sleeper seemed to notice her approach as well, and frowned when he saw the strange state the others were in. Caster snapped out of it faster than the rest and gave her a curious look.
The moment she arrived beside the group, she looked straight at the short Sleeper, only then noticing that all attention was on her.
'…fuck.'
She did not really want to ask the question any more especially with all the attention on her. Maybe she had acted a bit impulsively.
'No, I have to…'
She bit her lower lip.
"You… how… how do you know about that appraisal?"
The moment she asked, the rest of the group snapped out of their trance and looked at her strangely.
"Hey, don't believe his nonsense, lady. He's just trying to get attention. Ignore him."
They all nodded.
"Yeah, there are lots of people like this, mostly trying to get attention by making shit up, although he is the craziest one I have seen."
Elizabeth did not listen to them. She kept staring at the short Sleeper, whose eyes narrowed further after the question, then widened in surprise. He went quiet for a moment, as if lost in thought, before his face contorted in a flash of pain.
"I uh… it's because I got it. Yeah! Definitely because I got it!"
Elizabeth frowned even more.
'Why does he keep speaking like that?'
"So… you truly have a Divine Aspect?"
The boy was silent for a moment before nodding.
"Uhh… yes, I do! and you won't believe the way I got it! I communicated with a bunch of gods, even though they were all dead....uhh, I made one of them wake up. He gave me a blessing! I was blessed by a god!"
The people around him burst out laughing. Caster sighed deeply before approaching Elizabeth.
"Please do not believe his nonsense—"
"Oh yeah? That's all you did? Well guess what, buddy. I also possess a Divine Aspect. Guess how I got it? By killing a Supreme and a Sacred being."
For a moment, there was silence. Caster who had been approaching her suddenly stopped in his tracks, the people who had been laughing before stopped and stared at her strangely. Funnily enough, the short Sleeper was also looking at her as if she had grown a second head.
Elizabeth smiled.
She finally understood what the short Sleeper was doing. Earlier, she had seen him get slapped while talking to someone, and now she understood why he spoke the way he did and said what he was saying. He was purposefully antagonizing himself, so people would avoid him. Everything he had been doing was a performance meant to make others hate him.
He was deliberately out casting himself.
Why would he do something like that? There were three reasons she could think of.
First, he truly hated people and wanted to be alone, so he came up with a plan to make everyone avoid him.
Second, he had something to hide, for example, a Divine Aspect, and the best way to hide it was to avoid as many people as possible.
Third, he might have a flaw that was dangerous to those around him, so he was sacrificing himself and his reputation to keep others away.
But with everything that had happened in the past few minutes, she was leaning toward the second option.
If that was correct, she would be surprised to learn that there was another Divine Aspect holder, but that was where it would end. Since he was just another Sleeper like her, there was nothing she could learn from him, and that's where her interest ended. If what he said about being from the outskirts was true, he probably knew even less than she did and was more confused than her.
However, his strategy was nothing short of genius.
'Maybe I could also appear crazy to make people avoid me… would that counter my attribute?'
The moment she figured it out, she decided to apply it herself. Judging by the looks of surprise and disappointment on the faces of those around her, it seemed to be working. Her smile widened.
"You communicated with the gods? Well guess what, I killed a god's offspring by slitting his throat."
The short Sleeper snapped out of his trance and laughed.
"Really? I am in awe.....My biggest achievement was killing an Awakened swordsman by shaking my finger a few times....Oh, but I guess I did kill an Awakened Tyrant by just spitting."
The group stared at the two of them. Caster sighed as he walked back to the group while shaking his head.
"Seems we have crazy people in our generation group."
"Yeah… it was funny until it wasn't. I kind of pity the girl, though. She really is beautiful. A shame she's also crazy."
Hearing those words, Elizabeth felt slightly embarrassed, but it was quickly washed away by a liberating feeling.
At least she would not have to deal with people anymore. She started at the short sleeper, who was giving her a weird look, and smiled as she walked away.