Frank was finally in bed. So far as he could tell. Whatever the system was trying to tell him couldn't be ignored anymore.

Earlier on the drive home, the creeping fatigue he felt after being healed by Nora wasn't going away, even when his wounds had mostly closed up. Despite his best efforts, he still fell half asleep at a red light and decided to test the speed limit a little bit on his way home in a risky effort to outpace his exhaustion.

The battered and shaken hero of the night came home to find his family all up late, worried sick for him. He smiled and assured them he was fine despite the dirt, blood, and sweat he was caked with, and his partly torn clothes. He even lifted the shredded ribbons of his sleeves to show them there was nothing seriously wrong. After giving the briefest rundown of the events of the night, he assured them he would answer their questions tomorrow and had to sleep.

It took everything he had to fight a drop to the sweet, warm embrace of the floor in his room and nap until the end of time. A few more steps, and the barest effort to get undressed finally saw him to his bed.

'Alright, you bastard thing. What are you trying to tell me?' he mentally willed to the System, which exploded into view before the question was even fully formed.

Frank tried to absorb as much information as he could while fighting off sleep.

'Self-issued quest completed [Beauty and the Beast], Spiritual Power being awarded based on performance.

Performance accolades: Underdog victory

Limit pusher

Mental lapse

Steel Will

Steel Resolve

Minimal greed

Large spiritual power bonus rewarded'

'What does any of that even mean?' Frank wanted to tap one of the accolades the system gave him, but his arms wouldn't move. That wasn't a good sign. He tried instead to mentally command the system to give him more information. The prompts each opened just like they would if he tapped them to get more information.

'Underdog victory: You have triumphed over an enemy with overwhelming power in relation to your own.

Limit pusher: You attempted to surpass the limits of your current skillset, and realized the need to further develop your abilities.

Mental lapse: A negative occurrence, you lost your will to fight and your resolve to achieve victory. Fear had you in a snare, and invited death to your doorstep.

Steel will, Steel resolve: You overcame your mental lapse, awarding double the performance taken by [mental lapse] for each of these accolades gained. You hardened your will and resolve, and forged on with courage despite the odds. Fortune favors the bold.

Minimal greed: Your victory came mostly with others in mind. You did not attempt to extort others, you did not attempt to get more from the quest subjects.'

'I guess getting Nora's number didn't count as taking more. Honestly, I just don't trust her enough to let her disappear, especially with useful powers like hers.'

Frank realized partway through reading the accolade explanations that everything around him was dark. He must have closed his eyes, yet could still read the system. The messages weren't done though.

'You have slain a Fallen Human, spiritual power gained. Bonus spiritual power gained from challenge difficulty.'

So Gerald was a human after all. But what was a Fallen Human? Was he Awakened or not? Was there a risk of Frank becoming Fallen? He'd already heard the term when people discussed Lincoln's goblin raid stream, because certain Awakened had visual identification skills that named the goblins as being separate races. True goblins and Fallen goblins. Just what the fuck was happening on the other side of those portals?

'Spiritual Power threshold reached, upgrading status from Awakened to Awakened Neophyte. Please find a safe place to sleep, you will be forced to sleep if you are not in combat'

That explained the creeping fatigue he'd been feeling after the fight, it was the System. And what was a neophyte, anyway? The prefix "neo-" made him think it had to do with something new, was this the beginning state of an Awakened? Was he rank zero this entire time?!

He had two more messages informing him that [Total Invisibility] upgraded to rank five, and [Teleportation] upgraded to rank seven. That was damn quick, was it because he used his powers in combat?

The ringing from the system notifications stopped, and he finally let himself drop to sleep. For a while there was nothing, just Frank and his breathing. And a little bit of drool on his pillow. Then the ringing came back, at a different frequency this time. It wasn't the slight chime of a bell trying to get his attention, now it was like a thunderclap inside his head. It hurt, but he couldn't call out. This was worse than when Sir Granspier forced the [Limited Telepathy] skill onto him! The pressure building and the ringing noise threatened to split his skull wide open and Frank was powerless to stop it.

Then it quickly settled down, the feeling of a clanging church bell in his skull was gone and replaced by a noticeable humming noise. Almost like someone was generating a bell tone in his head on a very high frequency. It didn't hurt, wasn't even that annoying. But Frank still felt quite scared, paralyzed and powerless. After what felt like too long a time, Frank felt something snap, a cracking noise in his head, and then he could see.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

He found himself in some sort of strange hall, too vividly real and too empty to be a real place. The walls were a deep sapphire blue, trimmed in gold all the way down. He moved to the wall, tracing his finger along decorative gold knotwork etched seamlessly into the crystalline walls. If this weren't a dream, Frank would have assumed the walls were backlit somehow with the way the crystal seemed to shine from within. But he knew better, it wasn't the first time the System had pulled him into a dream world of its own design. But had they always been this vivid and elaborate?

A small yapping noise sounded from behind him and out of view. Frank turned to address it. The sound issued forth from a small puppy, barely at the age where it could open its eyes and begin to play on its own. Its tongue lolled out onto its snow white chin while beady eyes peered out from a mask of black fur. The pattern of black fur on top and a white belly repeated down its body, though every time Frank looked away and back at the same part of the dog's body it seemed to shift around exactly how much of a ratio of dark and light fur appeared. The only constant was the carefree, innocent face. The dog was waiting.

Frank reached out to pet it, and the puppy gladly nuzzled against his hand. Frank noticed its tail did not wag, and it creeped him out a little. Did it even have a tail? The rest of its body was so ephemeral that Frank couldn't be certain. Before long the nuzzling turned to a few licks at Frank's hand and the puppy ran off down the hallway. A few feet down, it turned back and sat still. The dog was waiting.

"Man, what the hell is this? Do I have to follow you somewhere, buddy?" Frank asked, getting another little bark in response. He sighed and followed the dog down the hallway. Before he knew it, a door appeared before them. It felt so surreal, the door wasn't even at the edge of his vision before and then it was there before them. The puppy had stopped too, turned around and kept panting in Frank's direction. Once again, the dog was waiting.

"What happens if I open the door?" Frank asked the dog, only half expecting a response. He received none. He took a hard look at the door. It was ornate, in an arch shape with a pointed tip accentuating the round curve of its outline. Frank reached out a hand, still unsure if he should open it, he couldn't even find a handle to grab. As soon as he did, the previously brightly lit hallway began to dim. Frank stiffened up, a bad feeling brewing in his stomach. He chanced a look behind him and found the hallway behind him was now much darker and gave an eerie feeling.

No, he didn't like that at all. He gulped and looked back at the door, it was now glowing with a warm light that shifted between blue, green, and red. Why was he so afraid to open it? This was the only path forward. The only way he could take hold of his fate with his own two hands.

'Huh? Where did that thought come from?' Frank heard more ringing, somewhere out in the hallway, or in the doorway before him. He wasn't exactly sure where. Then, he took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The moment he did, he was sucked into a swirling darkness. He felt like he was moving, with no control over where. In fact, it almost felt like the tug of [teleportation] but stronger and more chaotic, more primal.

Screams erupted around him, sounds like the clashing of swords, words he couldn't understand that sounded like pleas for help, that sounded like oaths of vengeance, that sounded like mournful sobbing, then a gunshot rang out and light blinded him.

He could see again, his vision blurry and his ears ringing. The strange puppy, seemingly unaffected by its trip through the darkness, licked Frank's face as his eyes began to adjust.

"Where the fuck am I?"

Frank heard a book slam shut somewhere out of his view and a chair scrape against stone, the very same cool stone he was face down against.

"I usually respond better to 'how are you' or 'good day, kind sir', but your question is one of many similar questions I get from first timers. Stand up, boy, you're perfectly safe here" An exasperated voice called out from behind Frank.

When Frank jolted up and wiped his eyes, he could tell he was in a library. A colossal library by the looks of the massive bookshelves that may well have been skyscrapers if they weren't packed end to end with books and scrolls. Standing in front of him was a man clothed in a dashing crimson with a head of flowing brown hair and a neatly trimmed goatee to match. He wore glasses that seemed to be more akin to ancient spectacles than modern eyeglasses, though under his flowing crimson and black robe he wore a more modern looking wine colored vest, complete with a dark shirt and pants.

The well dressed man held what seemed to be a cane at first, but upon closer inspection of the handle was actually a sword in its scabbard. He was impatiently tapping it against his leg while he stared at Frank.

"Ah, the silent treatment now, is it?" He prodded. Frank, slack jawed as ever simply responded

"O-oh sorry. I uh... where the fuck am I?"

The stranger slapped his forehead with his free hand

"Good lord, this one really did need a little more time in the oven, eh?" He took out a strange, intricate stick and tapped it against the book he was reading. A heavy, leather bound tome. In a flash the book was gone, as if teleported away somewhere. The stick, Frank suddenly identified it as a wand, was being used as if it were straight out of a wizard school movie. The man just tapped it and it did what he willed, which seemed to be to disappear. He then put it away inside his coat as if it were nothing special.

"Neat trick, you gonna teach me to do that?" Frank asked, having regained some composure.

"No. Not yet, anyway. That depends on you. Come along, Mr. Lepari. We have much to discuss" The man began to walk away, sword at his side. Frank realized as he followed the man that he seemed to have some sort of hazy light flowing around his head if Frank looked at the correct angle. He wanted to call it a halo, but it seemed to curve around itself almost like a figure eight. He wasn't sure what exactly to make of it, or the massive library they were inside of for that matter.

"Oh, and welcome to the Akashic Records by the way. Not everyone perceives them quite the same way, so do be mindful of the aura this place gives off should you visit again without me"

Frank nearly stopped dead right there.

'This is it? This is the Akashic Records? It's huge, but it just seems like a giant library'

"What gives? I thought it was going to be much more... weird. It's just a giant library. And why am I here now? Did I finally make a breakthrough?"

"All in due time, boy. You ain't seen nothin' yet, as they say. We are heading toward what you perceive the core of the Records to be"

"And what is that, exactly?"

"Oh we'll know it when we get there. Your subconscious already knows the form you would accept it as. In fact, you probably have already made up your mind about what your next quest is. Did you realize you finished your quest to overcome your spiritual bottleneck? Do you even know what it was that you had to overcome?" The strange man questioned Frank once again. Why did he keep asking questions? Frank was the one searching for answers, this guy sure sounded like he had them!

"Hey, listen pal: this is my dream, I'll ask the questions" Frank asserted, much to the chagrin of the bespectacled man guiding him.

"Oh? Is that so, dear boy? If this is your dream, then do you not already know the answers to the questions you ask within it? Perhaps you should think this over as we walk on. Ask yourself the questions I am giving back to you. The answers will come in time"

'Bullshit' Frank thought, stomping along beside the well dressed, smooth talking bastard, as the ethereal puppy from the first hallway tagged along behind them. This was going to be a long, confusing dream.