Nightmare Realm Summoner

The world crumpled around Alex. It folded in on itself like an origami piece, crackling fluffy clouds of Riftwarped Qi transforming into flat shards. Before he could even try to rise from the throne, his domain had already collapsed upon him.

There was a brief instant of blinding… something. Alex didn’t know what it was. It wasn’t pain. It wasn’t a flash of light or some other sensation that any of his current senses could have ever hoped to describe.

It was a feeling like the one that came when someone was staring straight at him. None of the five senses had any way to have gathered that information. It was not sight nor taste nor smell nor touch nor hearing, but something else entirely.

He wouldn’t have said it was uncomfortable so much as foreign. It was almost like a new limb attaching itself to his soul as if it had always been there. But, in the end, there was one classification that he could slot the domain into.

It was something new and old. Something that was simultaneously completely unknown to him and something that he couldn’t believe he had ever lived without. It was as much a part of him as his eyes and ears and teeth. How he had gone this long without it was a baffling question.

This was no mere sixth sense. The domain was so much more than that. He would have traded every single one of his other senses for it in a heartbeat. What Alex felt could have only been himself. The domain was ingrained so deeply into what made him, him.

All awareness of the outside world faded away. Every single scrap of his being was completely turned inward, drinking in the new power that felt like it always should have been there. He didn’t quite know what the domain did, but he could feel it filling every single part of his body.

It was a crackle of lightning running through his veins and the sparkle of mist behind his eyes. The domain ran through the foundations of his soul and reinforced his very being.

The tiny pool of Riftwarped Qi that resided within his core was no longer quite so tiny. Even though he could feel that it was around the same size, the amount of energy swirling within it had magnified tenfold.

Alex wasn’t sure how long he stood there in silence. For that matter, he wasn’t even entirely sure where he was. His attention was so focused inward that nothing else mattered. He couldn’t even figure out what emotion he was feeling.

Elation? Relief? Exuberating? Some other cool dictionary word from a classic novel that I didn’t pay enough attention to in English class?

But, as all things inevitably did, the sensation faded. If there was one thing that humanity excelled at, it was adapting. Alex’s body changed in record time. It grew used to the new sensation and enveloped it as if it always had been.

And as the sensation went from new and stunning to a background buzz, awareness finally returned to Alex. He no longer sat upon the throne in the center of a storm of Riftwarped Qi. In fact, he wasn’t sitting at all.

Alex was back in his Mind Palace. His hand was pressed against the stone door of his gate, which had closed once more. He had returned to where he had been moments before stepping into the domain to take its challenge.

But the world was not how he had left it.

The marble hands that rose up around the basin in the center of his soul to reach up toward the twinkling sky of stars above were scarred. Streaks of lightning had been carved through their surface, twisting up the fingers like tattoos.

Power burned within them like a white-hot flame. It was a familiar energy. The Riftwarped Qi that had previously been contained exclusively within his core now infused every single part of his being. It coursed within the stone basin and slithered beneath the lake at his feet.

”Whoa,” Alex breathed. ”I didn’t realize—”

”Did you really think that you could begin to exert your will over the universe if you did not first exert it over yourself?” Berith asked, his words cutting through Alex’s sentence. Rolling laughter fell from the demon’s mouth. ”To advance your Soul Manifestation is to change yourself. You are feeding the deepest, most core parts of yourself. It should come as no surprise that they change you in turn.”

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Alex started to nod. Then his eyes narrowed. ”You’re being oddly helpful.”

”I am amused. That was a delightful showing,” Berith replied. ”There are few things for me to do in this space. Some entertainment is occasionally worth unimportant information. Perhaps it will motivate you to grow strong enough to free me from these infernal chains.”

An echoing clang rang through Alex’s soul as Berith jerked one of his hands. The chain binding it jerked taut, sending his motion to a grinding halt without giving so much as an inch of leeway.

Information for entertainment, huh? That’s a clever way for him to try and get me to show him more than what I want to. It’s easy to start telling him things if he gives me info in return. Everything will seem great right up until Berith completely fucks me over to ease his boredom.

He is not my friend. Anything he actively wants is something I should endeavor to make sure he never gets.

”Good to know,” Alex said. He flexed his fingers, still getting used to the new power coursing through him.

Then he summoned his status forward with a thought. To his surprise, there was no change to it. Everything was the same as the last time he’d checked it. Alex’s brow furrowed in confusion.

Did the System not acknowledge the fact I just unlocked my domain? But it’s directly connected to my Soul Manifestation. It should have changed, shouldn’t it?

”Your domain isn’t set yet,” Berith said. ”You’ll have to call upon it for it to finish taking shape and be acknowledged by the System.”

The back of Alex’s neck prickled.

He’s being way too helpful. I don’t like this at all. What the hell did he see while I was unlocking my domain?

”Noted,” Alex said, keeping his thoughts from showing on his features. He was tempted to sprint right out of his Mind Palace and return to the real world to test his domain out. After working to unlock it for so long, he wanted to see just what he’d gotten. The power wanted to be used.

But Alex didn’t know when he’d next get a chance to meditate. He was already here, so there was no point for him to pass up on cashing in even more power. There were several Title Fragments just sitting around waiting for him to combine — and he’d been waiting to use them for quite some time.

Today is just a gift that keeps on giving. I bet even Claire’s eyes are going to bug out of her head when she sees just how much more powerful I’ve become. I’ve got four of my five title slots full right now, which means I can make one more title for free before having to swap one of them out.

Alex’s fingers twitched in excitement as he ascended the stairs of his basin and made his way up to the mantle behind it to press his palm against its cold surface. Black words slithered across its surface instantly, as if his soul knew exactly what he wanted.

Would you like to combine any of your Title Fragments?

”Hell yes,” Alex said.

More words appeared in the place of the first sentence.

Top Ranker

Lone

Cataclysm

Spawncamper

Alex scanned over the Title Fragments he’d earned since the start of the apocalypse. He could think of a few different potential combinations that seemed interesting. Anything put together with Cataclysm felt like it would probably be pretty powerful.

Top Ranker and Lone felt like they’d go great along with pretty much anything as well. That said, he was pretty sure there was nothing that said he could only combine two at a time. Doing three at a time would probably be harder, but there was no point in living without a little challenge.

Top Ranker and Lone seem like they’ll probably be boosting the effect of another title rather than bringing much to the table themselves. Spawncamper came from defeating the Region Boss, so I bet it should have something to do with taking out more of them. And then Cataclysm…

He still remembered all too well what he’d gotten that one from. Intentionally or not, he was responsible for the destruction of Valley Ford and the hundreds or even thousands of people that had been within it.

This title came at a cost. It’s definitely going to be very powerful. Even with the region boss kill… this might be the most dangerous Title I’ve got.

Alex chewed his lower lip and furrowed his brow in thought.

It’s worth considering swapping out one of my other Titles as well. I don’t need to keep Ascending Forerunner permanently in my list of active ones. If I do that, then I could combine two fragments now instead of just one, though that means I won’t be able to try out my theory of putting three fragments into one.

Alex considered that thought for a moment. Then he dismissed it. Cataclysm was almost certainly going to be too powerful for him to not try and get the most effect out of it that he could. There was no reason to hedge his bets. It wasn’t like not using one of the Title Fragments now would make it useless.

He’d just have to wait until he got another fragment to combine with it.

Then that settles it. I’ll be trying to combine three fragments into one title. And if I’m going to go all in on Cataclysm… I think the choice is pretty simple. Lone and Top Ranker are probably going to boost the result of what they’re combined with.

Alex smiled. His mind was made up. He knew exactly the path he was going to take.

Let’s see what kind of monstrous title I can create when I slap both of them onto Cataclysm.