As Gilgamesh sat calmly on the ground with the three Suns warming him with their golden radiance he couldn't help but smile peacefully.
Was this how Thorfinn felt?
This deep sense of peace and quiet was something he hadn't felt since he first arrived, truly, he felt like he had no enemies at all.
"I did it."
He muttered to himself as a smirk overtook his face.
From his very first day in the Dream Realm to this last one, Gilgamesh had not only stayed alive but had really made something of himself, going far beyond what any Sleeper should have been able to do. He'd beaten the odds, and pretty easily at that. Pathetically easy even.
There was no doubt in his mind that even if he were to die right here, right now, his name would definitely go down in history as one of the best.
Leaning back, Gilgamesh closed his eyes and just relaxed, enjoying the soothing warmth the Suns gave off.
It brought him back to the good old days at home, when he had nothing to do or worry about.
Lazily opening one eye, he willed the Runes into existence.
Class: Demon.
Golden Cores: [3/7].
Golden Fragments: [2000/3000].
Surprisingly, Gilgamesh hadn't reached the fourth core like he thought he would.
"Makes sense I guess," he mumbled while lazily flicking his eyes through the Runes, "I haven't been able to put the Memories I got into [Gate of Babylon], and I still haven't eaten those Soul Shards I picked up after the fight."
Not wanting to waste the valuable Soul Shards by just leaving them there forever, he'd grabbed them right after everyone else had been teleported by him.
The portal of [Gate of Babylon] opened beside him right on cue, dropping the Soul Shards next to him.
This was something Gilgamesh had wanted to try out but never had the time for.
"So, I can bring things from the real world into my Soul Sea."
That was an interesting discovery, and a very useful one too. The idea of being able to bring a human into his Soul Sea could be interesting. Of course, he wasn't planning on letting anyone he didn't trust into his Soul Sea. Still, it was pretty neat.
"Hmm, I wonder, can you feel hunger inside the Soul Sea?"
Gilgamesh's calm face twisted slightly in thought. He hadn't stayed in the Soul Sea long enough to know, but if his hypothesis about not being able feel hunger in there was true, it could be game-changing.
His thoughtful look faded, replaced by a peaceful expression again.
Stretching his muscles, he let out a sigh.
The thought of holding back Cassie, Sunny, and Nephis' growth didn't sit right with him, but unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. Gilgamesh could have spent a few more months just to make sure they weren't as weak compared to their original selves, but he simply couldn't waste his time.
For the most part, the trio's strength was about the same, if not more, than their original versions before they reached the Dark City. After that, though, they were a lot less powerful than they would have been when they became Awakened in the original novel.
Gilgamesh wasn't sure how this would mess with the timeline because of him. Either way, he didn't give a shit.
From the moment he'd arrived here, he'd been ready to completely smash the plot.
He wasn't going to waste time trying to make sure the future didn't fall apart.
Gilgamesh had planned to carve his way through fate with his own hands since the moment he had realised the purpose of [Anomaly].
As he got up slowly, he put his hand behind him for support and looked at the three suns.
Even though it should have hurt his eyes, it didn't. Maybe it had something to do with them being in his Soul Sea? Or was it because of his enhanced senses?
"Most likely because of [Demigod]."
Nodding his head at the thought, Gilgamesh instead stared at the writing running across their surfaces. Red symbols spun around the Suns' surfaces.
If he wasn't mistaken, it was the same language that was written on Ea.
Unfortunately, he didn't know the name of the script or anything about it.
Taking a closer look, he realised that even though the script was the same, the words weren't.
Shrugging his shoulders and filing that information to figure it out later, Gilgamesh got up with a yawn and looked infront of himself.
Everything looked exactly the same, except for one thing.
Narrowing his eyes and staring at the end of the hallway where the golden figure sat on the throne, Gilgamesh blinked.
"Was that there before?"
Hesitantly taking a step forward, he kept walking so he could take a closer look.
On the ground in front of the golden figure, hundreds of 'people' were kneeling on the floor.
Looking closer, Gilgamesh realized they were kind of see-through, similar to the large golden figure that was sitting on that throne.
Instinctively, he lifted his leg out of curiosity and tried to kick one of them, but his foot just went right through the person without doing anything.
He rubbed his chin in thought and walked closer towards the starting of the hallway where the rows of the kneeling people began. Once he was beside the golden figure's throne, Gilgamesh looked on, his eyes burning with curiosity.
"Is that Gunlaug?"
In the first row, at the very right side of the hallway, was none other than Gunlaug, wearing his golden armor, his face uncovered, staring blankly at the ground.
Scanning through the rows and columns, Gilgamesh quickly found Cassie and Sunny kneeling on the marble ground as well. After that discovery, it didn't take him long to understand why these people were here.
"Interesting, so this is what happens when someone gets 'conquered'."
He grinned, running a hand through his hair as his eyes swept over the hundreds of Sleepers kneeling before him. This had just made his ego swell by at least another ten percent.
Still, there was something he was curious about: how did the Spell decide what the people were wearing? Gunlaug was wearing his Echo, which looked just like the original, even having the same fluid and always moving texture, except his face was uncovered.
Even Sunny and Cassie were wearing the armor-type Memory he had given them. Did it depend on what the person was wearing at that moment? What if they were naked?
Shaking his head, he turned away to look at the golden figure sitting on the throne with a single thought in his mind.
"What exactly is this?"
Gilgamesh hadn't had the time to really think about it before, too busy with everything else constantly happening around him.
The figure was easily sixty to seventy feet tall while sitting. It looked translucent and almost transparent, except for it's grin that marred its face as it watched the countless Awakened while leaning on its fist.
Was this supposed to be some kind of representation of himself? Did it have any use besides just sitting there, grinning like a moron?
Gilgamesh lifted an arm to touch it, and as expected, it phased right through the figure's body.
"The Spell works in mysterious ways."
Too many mysteries, too many secrets. He almost wished he had kept reading the original novel just to find them out. Still, Gilgamesh shrugged his shoulders; no point crying over spilled milk.
There wasn't really anything else he had thought of testing inside the Soul Sea. Just as he thought that, he got an idea.
Striding out of the hallway, Gilgamesh looked around.
A vibrant, huge green field stretched as far as his eyes could see. The grass was rich and brightened by the Suns' glow, with many trees scattered across the area. There were no paths, just a never-ending expanse of green.
It was kind of strange that the place managed to fit in perfectly, like a puzzle piece, despite the sky's contrasting colors.
The most important part, however, was that no matter how much he strained his eyes, he couldn't find an end to this field.
Gilgamesh frowned in thought, "Are Soul Sea's supposed to be like this?"
Wasn't there supposed to be an edge of some sort? He was planning on throwing an Echo off it to see what would happen.
With this new discovery made, he instantly decided that he would explore the whole area just to see how vast it was; maybe it was a loop? Of course, he had something better to do for now.
With a smile, Gilgamesh stopped actively holding back the Spell and sat on the ground.
[The Second Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers...]
Gilgamesh rotated his hand curiously as he felt a new power waking up inside his Soul, coming directly from his Golden Cores. It was strangely strong and well-defined.
Was this how someone felt when they became a Sleeper after beating the First Nightmare? He couldn't tell, having no memories of what happened in it.
Gilgamesh turned his attention towards the Suns which were giving off an otherworldly, but almost touchable, heat. The energy was flowing through his entire body, changing it, making it stronger. It was somewhat similar to the strange feeling he got every time he received a Golden Fragment, but so much more powerful. Probably a thousand times more powerful and deeper too.
Closing his eyes, Gilgamesh focused on trying to feel exactly what was happening.
Every part of him was soon full of the mysterious energy. A feeling of pure europhia washed over him, like a warm wave. The feeling was addictive; he wanted to experience it more, a lot more. Was this how it felt to use drugs? No wonder people did it, but he somehow doubted that drugs came anywhere close to this feeling.
His body was getting better, stronger, more perfect... and there was another, subtle, but equally incredible change happening.
It was happening to his soul.
Gilgamesh had no words to describe it, but he knew he had never felt anything so wonderful. The change in his soul wasn't painful at all, unlike when the Golden Core was created. It felt natural, right, and profound. As though he was getting one step closer to being complete, to what he had always been meant to be.
A better being.
Of course, he was already perfect, but still.
Soon, the pulsing waves of heat pulled back, replaced by a wave of soothing coldness.
Just as that happened, he got up and stretched, bouncing on his toes with a grin.
Gilgamesh felt like... like a sword that had been made tougher and stronger in a fiery furnace, a being made of cold, pure, tough steel. He exhaled with the grin widening and threw a few jabs in front of him. His body felt stronger, faster, and more able to take a hit.
But that wasn't the main difference.
Gilgamesh knew that the real quality that separated Awakened from Dreamers wasn't just physical strength, but a new natural ability. Just like Dreamers gained the ability to sense and interact with soul cores, the Awakened could do the same with soul essence.
But knowing and feeling were two different things. Before, he could vaguely feel his Golden Cores. The feeling was vague and ethereal, but clear. Now, that power wasn't held inside the Golden Cores anymore, but broke free, flowing naturally through his entire body. It moved slowly, coming and going from the cores, passively filling his bones and muscles with power.
Gilgamesh instinctively felt that, with some practice, he would be able to guide the flow of essence to concentrate it in a certain area. He could use some essence to give his arms incredible, explosive strength for a short time, or fill his legs with the power to jump a dozen meters into the air.
In short, it wasn't like he had become monstrously stronger than he already was but it was still a rather impressive change, he felt alot better than before as if a eighty year old just got transferred into the body of a twenty year old.
It would be interesting to see just how much he could enhance his already rather impressive speed and strength, he was truly on his way to become an overpowered protagonist.
Gilgamesh could now control the essence by instinct, but if he wanted to truly master it and do it more efficiently, he would have to practice constantly.
"Would my essence be called Golden Essence?"
It made sense, fitting the theme of Golden Fragments and Golden Cores. Shrugging, he decided to start calling it Golden Essence. But first, he wanted to try it out.
Feeling the weird essence moving through his body, he managed to 'grab' it and bring it to his right leg. With one step, Gilgamesh shot forward without meaning to.
"Fuck," Gilgamesh gritted his teeth as he skidded uncontrollably across the ground, not wanting to be ragdolled any further, he dug his feet inside the ground leaving behind deep grooves and successfully managed to slow himself down. After a few more seconds of his feet sliding on the ground, ripping it apart, Gilgamesh finally came to a stop.
"That was a lot more explosive than I meant it to be."
He had only meant to give himself a little boost, but now he was probably about a hundred feet away from where he started.
He definitely had to practice a lot more in a safe place before using the essence ever again. At least he wouldn't be running out of Golden Essence anytime soon, unlike normal Awakened who had to be careful not to use it too much.
Before he could think any further, the Spell's cool, emotionless voice began again.
[Awakening Aspect Ability...]
[...Aspect Ability acquired.]
[Aspect Ability Name: The King's Decree.]
Gilgamesh smirked slightly and summoned the Runes with anticipation.
Name: Gilgamesh.
True Name: Wedge of Heaven.
Rank: Awakened.
Class: Demon.
Shadow Cores: [3/7]
Scrolling down further, he finally found what he was looking for.
Aspect Ability: [The King's Decree]
Aspect Ability Description: [The king has total control over his people. His voice carries a power that listeners can't fight against. Every command he speaks becomes a truth that's accepted, every order an action that must be done, leaving no room for saying no or thinking for oneself. The people hear, and the people simply do.]
Well, that was interestin—
[Wake up, Gilgamesh!]
...
First of all I'd like to thank, The_True_King_Gil, Gutterstomp, SATTAMX8 and anyone else for giving powerstones to this story even after I stopped uploading, especially The_True_King_Gil who voted almost every day. I'd also like to thank 7XsS(I still have your screenshot of saying that you're my first fan), SkitS, Kaizo1 and anyone else who commented on my chapters or voted for the book.
Wassup gng, I finally had the time to upload again. Rather then going on a long essay I'll keep it short.
School started and with it being my last year I had a lot of things to complete, multiple assignments and homeworks that I procrastinated upon during my holidays and unfortunately it came to bite me in my ass and I had to complete everything as quickly as possible.
Even without all these things I barely have 2-3 hours of free time each weekday which just isn't enough to write anything and I would be lying by saying that I don't want to spend this free time relaxing instead of writing anything.
And my exams are starting next month from 25th, so that makes my schedule even more hectic. Anyhow, I'd say that I'll probably only be able to upload anything on the weekends.
Also looking back, it seems kidna crazy to me that I was able to upload 4k-6k words everyday for almost two weeks, I was working the whole day writing and then editing.
...
Word Count: 2637.