Arthur knew this was the time to shut his mouth and shake his head from left to right; he didn't dare to open his mouth again!
Abner sighed and told Arthur, "Just come here already; I don't want to see you naked any longer than I have to."
Arthur did just that and finally got an armor as he heard the spell whisper into his mind.
[You have received a memory: Hidden Rebel's Regret.]
He quickly summoned it and then looked at the description.
Name: [Hidden Rebel's Regret.]
Rank: [Awakened][II]
Type: [Armor]
Item description: [Not everyone agreed to the sacrifices; they harbored rebellious thoughts and conspired against the people worshiping the Sun, only to be met with despair as they realized that they acted too late. The Sun had already become completely malevolent, spreading corruption all around the city that heavy regret is still lingering within this armor in the forgotten shores only steel remembers]
'Not everyone agreed with the sacrifices? I guess it makes sense that darkness isn't so bad that you would have to use lives to fuel a fancy light bulb. Just keep using candles or something!'
Arthur then looked around and said, "By the way, are the six of you the only ones here?"
Abner looked at him confused and said, "Six? There are seven of us, and yes, we are the only ones here."
Arthur just looked at him like he was looking at a child who couldn't count and said, "Take a better look; there's clearly only six!"
All of them looked around and noticed Glorielle in the throne room, still on the ground. Passed out; none of them except for Zane had noticed she was unconscious!
Naamah muttered under her breath, "Oh no... one of the meat shields died. *Sigh,* there's still so much time before the new ones arrive..."
Brave could only mutter to himself quietly after hearing her: "I really am the only normal person here! Who let all these psychotic people gather and then decided to throw me in here!?"
Arthur, who did not hear the two, looked into the room they were staring into and was shocked to see the body of the fallen monster in the throne room.
He knew a Spire Messenger had been killed in the throne room by the First Bright Lord.
'One of them is the first Bright Lord!? It must be the knight since he looks like the leader... did I just make The Bright Lord my underling in the future? As expected of myself!' Arthur, never one to miss an opportunity to glaze himself, immediately thought
And then he noticed a red-haired woman with small horns on her head passed out in the throne room; he asked, "Is she dead?"
Zane answered him, "No, she has just lost consciousness."
Arthur, who somehow didn't notice Zane despite being right next to him, shouted in surprise, "Ah!"
Abner chuckled slightly at the sight and asked Zane, "Did you notice that from the start? Why didn't you tell us?"
Zane answered, "None of us have a healing aspect nor a healing memory, so it's useless to point it out; besides, I thought you all would notice eventually"
Abner did not answer; instead, it was Brave who did. "It's still important to tell us about something like that, you know!"
Zane did not answer and instead just ignored brave, who's lips twitched in annoyance as he thought, 'Bastard, don't just pretend you didn't hear me!'
Abner sighed and told Zane, "Brave is right; we need to know such things even if we can't help Glorielle knowing our circumstances better will only help us."
He then turned to look at Arthur and said, "By the way, are you planning on joining our cohort?"
Arthur smiled, thinking, 'Finally, I've been waiting for that question!' He then answered, "Yes, I do."
Abner nodded and told Arthur, "Then tell us your aspect and flaw; escaping this place will take years if we ever even manage that, since the Crimson Spire, the place we assume the gateway is located, is locked, and we don't have a clue what the key to that place is. We need to know each other well in order to work together effectively."
Arthur nodded and said, "My aspect allows me to make divinations and gives me a warning a second before I encounter danger."
Arthur's lips twitched in annoyance as he recalled his flaw, but he didn't try to deceive them "... My flaw makes others see me as a joke."
Abner looked at him strangely. He thought, 'But you're not even funny!' If Arthur could hear him, he would definitely have his feelings hurt.
Abner didn't voice his thoughts and told him, "My aspect lets me become stronger against stronger enemies, but if the enemy is too strong, the power I get might hurt me as my body can't hold all of it, and my flaw makes me unable to train."
Kaelen then said, "My aspect is of the awakened rank; it makes me fast for up to five seconds; my flaw is that I have to stay still for as long as I was using it after."
Naamah casually said, "My aspect ability lets me trap the souls of my slain enemies into my eyes and unleash them to destroy the mind and soul of anyone I lock eyes with, but I lose all the souls I use after. My flaw is that after I kill something, I freeze for one second."
Alec, Kealen and Arthur Shivered slightly as they heard her. Alec and Kaelen shared the same thought: 'I really don't want to get on her bad side!' Unlucky for them; they already sort of were.
Arthur only thought, 'Good thing some psychopath doesn't have that ability. Just imagining being trapped in a killer's eyes with all sorts of nightmare creatures and other humans sounds scary!
How did such an innocent-looking person even get such an ability? I thought aspects were supposed to be reflective of the individual?'
If any of the cohort except for Naamah had heard him, they wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry; at least a psychopath pretends to be normal; Naamah doesn't even bother; she is even worse than one; don't be fooled by her looks!
Alec was the next to introduce himself: "My aspect is of the awakened rank; it lets my skin absorb the force of any hit I take up to a limit, and my flaw..."
He sighed and took off his helmet; it revealed a middle-aged man with a high hairline that reached the middle of his head.
Alec continued, "It makes me look twice my age I'm actually 19 years old, but I look like I'm 38 Years old now"
Arthur couldn't help but feel pity for the guy but still couldn't stop himself from thinking 'what an atrocious hairline!'
Arthur looked at Alec with pity and said solemnly, "My condolences." Alec just nodded, accepting the pity with a sad expression.
Brave was next. "My aspect is of the Ascended Rank; it lets me become an irresistible target to anyone who is looking at me, and my flaw is that I can't use my aspect while I stand still."
Zane was last to introduce himself: "My aspect is of the Ascended rank too; it enhances my senses passively based on what day it is: Monday for smell, Tuesday for sight, Wednesday for hearing, Thursday for taste, Friday for touch, Saturday for time and navigation, and Sunday for intuition."
"My flaw is that no one can remember what I look like."
Arthur was curious about the rank of everyone's aspects; he knew that ascended rank aspects were rare, and there were two users of them who dared to brag to him about them!
So he asked while bragging about his aspect rank. "But what are the ranks of your aspects, Knight Guy and you the blonde girl? My aspect rank is divine! I just didn't tell you all it can do since I'm so humble I didn't want to brag!"
All of them looked at him with doubt except Zane, who said, "His heartbeat is steady; he might really not be lying, unless those 3 months of solitude made him go crazy."
Everyone looked at Zane, who had spoken, and with shock evident in his demeanor, Abner said, "You're not joking, right? Did he really tell the truth? Tell me seriously!"
Zane nodded his head, saying, "He was really honest about his divine rank aspect, but his heartbeat speeded up a little when he said he didn't want to brag about it."
Arthur the Con man was shocked he had revealed such a flaw; he thought, 'Is it that hard for even myself to deny it?'
Abner looked at Arthur and said, "What is your name? And tell us everything about your aspect; we will tell you our aspect ranks too once you do."
Arthur easily agreed; after all, he wanted to know what rank their aspects were so he could brag about just how much better his was!
"My name is Arthur, and my Aspect also allows me and those I invite to enter a special place where I can give blessings to those who chant my true name. That place also has some anti-division protection."
Arthur still remembers the Weaver's mask Sunny found under the cathedral where the Fallen Devil stays.
He wanted Weaver's mask for himself! If he could get it, then no one in the waking world will think he is the one above the Grey Fog, and his flaw would be reversed!
That was very beneficial for Arthur, as not only could he use his 'The Fool' persona to brag, but the Great Clans would never figure his identity out and force him to join them.
The only problem was that he couldn't get the mask himself, as he would need to defeat the Fallen Tyrant to get the key to the room where the mask is,
Even if he stole the key from under its nose somehow, with the Fallen Devil guarding the cathedral, it was completely impossible for him to get the mask; his aspect was not even combat-related after all!
Although Arthur had knowledge of how to naturally awaken from the novel and could just train until he became an Ascended to get the mask and keep his identity a secret,
He didn't have the patience for that; it would just take him far too long for his liking!
That's why he told them all about his aspect, and he even planned to teach them how to naturally awaken so that they could leave this place faster.
Although they could expose him later, he didn't think they would; by the time they could leave this place,
they would have been a cohort for years, and his charming personality would have surely conquered their hearts.
Abner looked shocked and asked, "You have a true name? And what are those blessings? What do they do? How many people can you take to that space?
Arthur answered truthfully, "My true name is [The Fool Who Does Not Belong To This Era]. I don't know what my blessings do since I never really blessed anyone, and I don't know how many I can take; it probably depends on my essence."
Zane affirmed that Arthur didn't lie, and Abner nodded and said, "My aspect rank is sacred, and since you even told us your true name, I will also tell you mine; my true name is [Father of Light]."
No one showed any reaction; they already knew Abner's aspect rank; he was known as the academy's most talented sleeper for becoming the First Sacred Rank aspect holder.
Naamah still a little shocked by Arthur's confession of having a divine aspect, then said, "My aspect rank is transcendent."
Arthur then remembered that the red-haired lady wasn't a corpse and asked, pointing at her, "What's her aspect, flaw, and aspect rank?"
Brave answered, "Her aspect lets her enhance objects for as long as she touches them, but it damages the object if it can't stand the power of her aspect, and her flaw makes her go crazy about glory or something; the rank of her aspect is transcendent."