Nightmare Realm Summoner

Alex found himself sitting before he’d even realized it. Any awareness of his own body had already faded into the background. Right now, the only thing he could pay any attention to was the beautiful sea of stars above him.

A deep ache gripped his heart like a clenching fist. It was an emotion that came from far deeper within Alex than almost any other he’d had before. The beauty was almost unbearable. For a scene such as this to exist in the world had to be proof that Earth really had seen nothing yet.

No creation made by mortal hands had ever come so close to perfection — and the stars in the purple sky weren’t even a finished painting. They had still yet to be lit. What Alex currently found himself gazing upon was nothing more than an unfinished product.

What made the pain more unbearable still was not just the beauty of what he saw.

It was the distance.

Alex reached up toward the stars, covering one of them with his hand as his fingers closed as if to grasp it.

All that beauty. So much that it would probably take a thousand years to study every single inch of it… and it was out of reach. He’d never been one to covet before, but these emotions were unlike anything he’d ever felt.

They came from somewhere so deep within him that Alex wasn’t even sure they were his own. It didn’t matter. Such was their intensity that he could not even take bearing on where the feelings came.

His hand dropped back down to his side. It hit the lake with a splash, sending tiny droplets of dark water flying through the air. He didn’t even notice them. Alex’s eyes were pinned to the sky above.

All he knew was that something about the starry sky didn’t sit right at all. It was beautiful beyond belief…

But it would be even more beautiful if it were his.

Alex’s hand lifted of its own volition once more. The stars, in all their majesty, were too far away. They belonged down here. Together with him. Just like everything else he wanted. And why wouldn’t they?

There was no reason why he couldn’t just… reach out. Reach out and pluck them from the sky like grapes on the vine.

Why should I be forced to sit here and do nothing but watch when I could simply claim what I desire? This world is my own. Everything within it belongs to me. Those stars are mine.

Alex stared in silence. For how long, he didn’t know. His mind wasn’t working the way it normally did. It wouldn’t have been inaccurate to say a haze covered his every thought — but that wouldn’t have been accurate either.

He’d never felt more clearheaded. It was like the desert sun had slammed down on any fog attempting to reside within his mind, blasting it all away and leaving him with nothing but the sheer intensity of its molten light.

The clarity was so much that it was almost overwhelming. The only questions that could arise in his thoughts had already been answered. It was as if the world spelled itself out for him. There was no more curiosity. No confusion or distracting desires.

Only absolute, unflinching understanding. Only the knowledge of a fact that was so true that it could only have been a natural law.

He was the center of the universe.

A smile started to cross over Alex’s lips. This was what it must have felt to reach enlightenment. His mind was at peace. There was nothing to distract him. Nothing that could stray him from his course.

Everything was so easy.

I don’t even have to reach out. Why waste effort exerting myself? The stars will come to me. They are mine. As such, they will obey their master. There is no reason for me to reach out. All I have to do is wait until the stars make their way to down me on the ground. Wouldn’t that be so much easier?

The smile froze on Alex’s lips.

That… sounds kind of boring.

The thought rose, unbidden, and dinked off his mind like a pebble tossed at a castle wall.

Confusion dragged its fingers through Alex’s expression.

He had no need for such thoughts. It had no purpose in his mind. Boring did not matter. Who cared how power came, so long as it sill came? All he had to do was sit here. Sit here and do nothing, and the world would bend itself to his will on its own. He had no reason to exert himself.

Wait. That sounds fucking awful. I don’t want that at all.

Alex blinked, then shook his head. His expression twitched.

”What the hell is happening?” Alex whispered.

And the castle walls came crumbling down. The peace that had enveloped his mind shattered like sugar glass as the world snapped back to the way it should have been. The very center of Alex’s stomach tightened as if it had suddenly grown a thousand times heavier.

He barely even noticed. His eyes were wide in awe.

In the distant sky above him was the form of a man.

His rippling cloak was made up from the stars itself. Swathes of purple light outlined his features and illuminated his face. It was impossible to make out any of his features, but power radiated from his mere image like it was a miniature sun.

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They were too far for any communication to possibly ever happen. There must have been lightyears of distance between them… but, despite that, Alex couldn’t shake the feeling that the man was looking straight at him.

The strain of keeping his eyes open grew to be too much. He finally blinked — and by the time his eyes opened again, the man stood before him.

Alex’s breath caught in his chest as he jerked to his feet, nearly tripping over himself. The man’s features were no more visible now than they had been before. His translucent form had simply plucked itself from the sky and made itself present directly in front of him.

”You rejected me. Why?” the man said. His voice came even though there were no lips on his starry face to move. In comparison with the rest of his body, it was surprisingly average. Alex couldn’t have placed it among a crowd if his life had depended on it. It just sounded like a man. For some reason, that set him even more on edge.

”This is yours?” Alex asked, glancing up at the stars. ”How did I get your blood?”

”Your question does not have an answer. I do not own anything. I just am. Why did you reject me?”

”Because sitting around and doing nothing while the worked for me sounded lame,” Alex replied. ”Sure, it’s cool at the start. But who wants to just sit there while everything happens? I want to do stuff.”

”Do you comprehend the magnitude of the power you reject? The ability to do nothing but sit as your enemies crumple around you? You could be a god.”

”What, that was my Visualization or something?” Alex’s brow furrowed. ”I’ll be honest, I can’t really afford to go around saying no to magic right now. But I don’t really like the idea of being stuck sitting around while the world fights itself for me. Sounds lame. Also, anybody that shows up promising to make you a god is probably a liar. I wouldn’t mind borrowing the power for… say, as long as it takes to kill a Region Boss, though.”

The man wasn’t amused. He didn’t seem annoyed either. He simply was. ”Make your choice. A Visualization does not often give immediate power. Either sit back down back down and accept a master — study under the heavens until you might reach their heights — or turn your back on this power forevermore.”

Alex squinted at the man for a moment. He really, really hated the idea of turning back after all he’d done to get the Visualization. But the only thing worse than no progress was negative progress. Getting stuck trying to embody some lame shit that he had no interest in…

Fuck it. I’ll just run it back. I know this isn’t Berith’s Visualization. Worst comes to worst, I’ll find another way to get that one. Besides, the idea of having to accept a master just seems lame. I don’t want to get bossed around and told to cook eggs for five years before I learn anything. I take shit at my own speed.

”I’m good,” Alex said. ”Not interested.”

The starry man stood in silence for a moment. Then the shimmering lights that outlined his mouth curled up into a smile.

”Good. You will do.”

”I — what?”

”Nobody that bends to the will of the heavens is worthy of walking my path to power, even if you were the one that birthed me.”

Pretty sure I’d remember being pregnant, actually. The hell is he on about?

”Right,” Alex said, drawing the word out as he squinted at the strange being before him. ”You… were bluffing, then? The whole meditation and do nothing shit isn’t actually what my Visualization does?”

”Follow your instincts,” the man replied. ”Though you might have to find them, first. It seems they are buried, but enough remains to give you the leverage you need. This power can never go to one who willingly bends the knee. You must be arrogant beyond belief. A fool in the eyes of all but your own. Only through such means can you truly begin to comprehend the power of this path.”

”You’re telling me your secret technique is to be an asshole?”

The starry man smirked. ”I am not telling you anything. I do not even know anything to tell. This is merely a conversation within your own mind as the Visualization you formed tested your mettle. Ironic, is it not? The creation testing its master.”

Alex squinted. ”I passed, then?”

”You survived,” the man corrected. He waved up to the sky above. ”Should you have accepted my offer, all this would have ceased to exist. But it remains. Now we will see if you can harness your mind enough to turn what could be into what is.”

”Could anyone not speak in semi-riddles for once in my life?” Alex demanded. ”I mean, I get what you’re saying, but you could have gotten it across just as well by saying, ’I’m a representation of the Visualization you created used to speak with you and judge your mettle. You did good enough, but I’m done testing you now so my purpose is over. Good luck, hope you kick some ass.’ Would that be so hard?”

The starry man smirked. ”Perhaps you should become a Visualization’s representation yourself. It seems you know what you’re talking about. Then allow me to speak in a language you would appreciate more: an example. It is the only one you will get. Then my purpose will cease, and all that remains will be you.”

The starry man turned to look up at the stars. He extended a hand toward it, his fingers splaying like he was trying to mush them across the sky itself.

Alex’s gaze followed that of the man.

A distant flash illuminated the stars as one of the dim motes of light suddenly ignited with energy. It shimmered with such intensity that it threatened to sear itself into Alex’s eyes, and the star showed no signs of stopping. It quickly reached the intensity of the sun itself, bathing Alex’s entire soul with molten white light.

How goddamn bright is that —

Wait.

Holy shit. It’s not getting brighter. It’s getting closer.

The star tore away from the heavens and plummeted down toward them, a burning meteor streaking down directly in their direction. Pressure built in Alex’s ears, bearing down on him like the foot of a giant.

Alex slammed down to his knees. The breath was crushed from his lungs and his body trembled with exertion as he fought to keep from getting pressed completely prone.

The starry man didn’t so much as flinch. His hand remained raised to the sky, even as the pressure magnified and the meteor grew closer still. The rumble of its approach filled Alex’s ears with the intensity of a stampeding horde of elephants.

Ripples and waves splashed across the surface of the lake, slamming into his body and threatening to pull him under. And still, the man beside Alex remained unflinching. Nothing could shake his focus. To him, it was like nothing existed but the sky and the star falling toward him.

Then the man blew out a breath.

The stars that made up his eyes went pitch black. Every scrap of light around them bent inward, swallowed by the two twin voids that had appeared on his face.

His hand clenched.

The meteor snuffed out.

Its pressure evaporated entirely, disappearing as if it had never been there in the first place. Alex drew in a sharp breath, shoving himself back to his feet as the man turned look back at him.

The starry man smiled. His fingers unfurled one by one, revealing a single mote of energy shimmering upon his palm.

”Take what you desire. So long as you are powerful to pluck the stars from the heavens themselves, they will belong to you,” the man said. ”And… one last tip from a Visualization that never lived to a man who might be about to stop.”

To stop? What?

”Huh?”

The starry man pointed up to the sky. ”Don’t fumble the catch.”

Alex’s gaze followed the man’s finger. Then the blood drained from his face.

Oh, shit.

One more star was plummeting from the sky — and this one was headed straight toward him.