THE dreaded spell

dling a cup of coffee in his hands - not the cheap synthetic type slum rats like him had access to, but the real deal. This cup of plant-based c

s life was co

sed the cup and savored the aroma. Then, tentative

So bi

forced himself to drink some more. Bitter or not, he was

tead. Who knew actual coffee is so disgusting?

dozing off, and then slapped

hat a r

f the city were rushing past the small park on their way to work, staring at him with strange expressio

seemed so tall. Watching them with a bit of

three full meals a

s in exasperation, walked over and picked it up before carefully putting it in the t

r gave him a quick glance and

ou los

lls and poorly hidden turret nests in the ceiling. The officer, too, looked

m talkin

eared hi

, n

d the back of hi

ective, I am here to surrender myself

irritated to wary. He looked the young man ove

nfected? When did you s

shru

eek

became vis

hi

n, he pressed a button on

ack in the lobby! I

*

o. Back then, the planet was just starting to recover from a ser

attract a lot of attention. But when they started to fall into an unnatural slumber, with no sign of waking up even days later, go

ning into monsters, no one was ready. Nightmare Creatures quickly ove

was, what powers it posse

d came back alive - who put a stop to its rampage. Armed with miraculous abilities ea

t as far as Sunny was concerned, none of it had anything to do with him - not unti

n school, on the off chance of being infected. Well-to-do families hired private tutors to train their children in all sorts of martial arts. Th

better your chances of survivi

crounging for food instead of going to school, being chosen by the Spell

*

a weird mix between a hospital bed and a torture device. The room they were in was situated in the basement of the police station, with thick armored walls

them. The only thing he could think

in. He had a seasoned face and stern eyes, looking like someone w

anced quickly on his wristwa

your nam

, trying to concentrate,

nle

ceman raised

hat's a str

ug, but found hims

ast I have a name. Back in the out

ther yawn

ing a solar eclipse. My mom

Rain... back when she still lived with them, at least. Whether it was

policema

me to contact

ply shook

o one. Don

ook on the policeman's face. The

s. How long can

. not

iceman

cedure. Try to resist for as long as you

for a respon

know about the

him a quest

guess? Who doesn't k

and hear in the propaganda broadcasts

hard questi

few monsters to complete the First Nightmare

iceman shoo

ghtmares are trials created by the Spell. Once inside, you will meet monsters, sure, but you wil

o you

an just sta

Spell is and how it works, right? So

d. So do yourself a favor and ju

O

ted for a second, the

at your disposal and the creatures you have to defeat should be within the range of your abilities, at least. After all, the Spell sets up trials, not

h-

re sleepy. It was becoming ha

e end of the Nightmare. What those powers will be, exactly, depends on your natural affinity as w

nd more distant. Sunny's eyelids were so heav

a combat-oriented Aspect, something like a Swordsman or an Archer, things will be easier. If it is reinforced by a phys

room was gro

d utility Aspects are useful in their own ways, you'll just have to be smart about it. Ther

ll open a gate for a Nightmare Creature to appear in the real world. Which means t

nny felt a bit touched

won't be able to get here for a few hours, so we would really a

ha

, Sunny finally slippe

ng becam

rkness, a faintly f

Nightmare Spell. Prepare