The trio walked on through the fantastical dream library. Frank, the strange man with his sword and wand, and the little ghostly puppy held a steady pace but Frank's mind still raced with questions. The friendly, inviting atmosphere of the wooden bookshelves had now given way to a slightly dimmer area with stone bookcases containing a mixture of clay tablets and all manner of scrolls large and small. Something about the sudden change of scenery put Frank more on edge. Yeah it was a dream, sure. But that didn't make this part of the Akashic Records seem less ancient, or any less creepy.

"Say, you never told me your name" Frank spoke up in an urge to break the silence of echoing footsteps.

"Would it matter whether I did or not?" Of course this guy answered with a question.

"Yes, it absolutely would" Frank drew a line here, he needed some sort of answer or he was going to tear this dapper stranger's robes apart and choke him with them. The man merely chuckled at Frank's simmering annoyance and rough tone.

"Then you may simply call me Raziel, if it pleases you" The man gave Frank a gentle half smile, which rubbed Frank the wrong way once again. Smug bastard.

"Fine, Raziel. Where are we now? This place seems more ancient than the place we just were" Frank wondered where the light was coming from in this place. Before the book shelves were brightly lit, the whole place was comfortably lit as if by sunlight. Here, the lights were much dimmer but there didn't seem to be a source of light anywhere, "And it's getting darker as we go on"

"We're in a dream, dear boy. What do you think the darkness means?" Raziel asked, and Frank cursed under his breath.

"Alright, I think the darkness represents the unknown. We're going deeper into the Akashic Records and I don't know what we'll find, I'm not even sure I'll understand what I see once we're there"

"Ah! Very good, very good. Now, ponder this: What does the System want you to find?"

Frank stumbled, he didn't expect to hear that from some dream character. So far, when people outside his family or the forums talked about the System Interface, they talked about it in terms of heaven's blessings or the will of heaven. They didn't just outright call it the System. That set off alarm bells in Frank's head.

"What the hell does that mean? And how come you're calling it the System? You fucking dream characters never call it that!" Frank yelled, but Raziel merely walked on, unconcerned by Frank's outburst.

"That is what you and many Awakened from your world call it. Why shouldn't I do the same?" The man tilted his head, and the strange infinity sign floating around his head seemed to tilt with him.

"Because... because..." Frank kept trying to spit out words, but ended up swallowing them all. He really wasn't sure why a character in his own head calling the System by the same name as he did was so unnerving, even though the dream was brought on by the System itself.

Frank decided to try another question, this time as they emerged from the dim tablet shelves and came upon what seemed to be a great temple edifice. The temple seemed grandiose and ornate with high pillars of gold being climbed by massive crystalline snakes, ruby flames, even some strange smoky looking quartz that Frank felt resembled whirling storm clouds.

"Back in the real world, I just came back from a fight. The System says I killed a fallen human. What is that? I've seen that term applied to goblins as well"

"Congratulations on your victory, it was well deserved. I suppose I can tell you this. All humans and many sentient beings are given free will. This is not an alien concept to you. When the System chooses to bless a being with spiritual power they are given a boon to help them deal with that power. When someone is not blessed by the System, they may still gather power even without that boon but there is the chance it brings out the worst parts of that being, they fall out of harmony with the universe, some even descend into madness. These beings are Fallen, and any you slay will grant you spiritual power, even if they're human"

Frank had already gathered a lot of that on his own guesses, but to have Raziel spell it out for him was a solid confirmation. Frank had safeguards in place, supposedly.

"Now when you say spiritual power brings out the worst in a being... Do public displays of my powers count against me?"

"Of course not. Before long all of mankind will know the reality of the blessings the System grants you, and if you Awakened fail to contain more portals those basic humans will also feel the edge of a blade by the hands of the enemy, or worse"

That first part made sense, Frank even got spiritual power when he used his powers to convince people that an invasion was really coming. But that last comment Raziel made...

Frank thought back to Nora, to the portal in Utah, and how the media won't talk about it. How overrun was Cedar City now? Was the military able to contain it? Frank realized he had been seeing more ads lately for military recruitment. How badly did they need help? How much stronger did he need to get in order to push them back?

Stolen story; please report.

As they approached the temple edifice, Frank was shaken from his thoughts by a sudden burst of heat in his stomach. He felt like it had gotten really hot all of a sudden. This was strange, seeing as he didn't feel any sort of strange temperature the whole way down here. As far as Frank could tell, it was room temperature up til now. Was there a huge fire inside this temple or something? The massive doors were already cracked open slightly, but they opened more and more as Frank, Raziel, and the ghost puppy moved towards it. Frank felt the heat go to strange parts of his body with every step, first down to his feet and then it moved to his head and finally ended at his hands. When they got to the doors themselves, which towered over Frank and his companions, his skin felt like it going burst into flames any second. Strangely, he didn't feel like he was in any immediate danger.

"Raziel, what's going on? Why do I feel like I'm on fire? And why doesn't it hurt?"

"Hmm... I suppose I can explain this too. If only to calm you somewhat. You know this place, I told you before that everything you see here is a representation conjured by your mind. The heat you feel isn't from a flame, a warm blanket back home, or even a fever. This is the spiritual power awakening in you. You would have felt this already, but you needed some more time compared to others"

Frank felt a calm wash over him, an acceptance. Yes, what the strange man said was true. Frank knew it somewhere deep inside him that this was the next step for him. He thought he was already on the path to adventure, but really he hadn't even left his house, hadn't even put his shoes on. When he woke up, this clarity wouldn't last, but it would help him find his way to further advancement along the path.

With this calm clarity and feeling of burning fire in his body, Frank walked with his head held high into the temple. He vaguely noticed that the ghostly puppy had become larger to almost an adult dog's size, and that Raziel's strange halo had become more defined. Less like a strange hazy figure eight and more of a defined, solid, figure eight with a distinct glow. Frank knew he could sense new things the system had to spell out for him before.

He looked back towards the room, the high ceilings adorned with statues and brilliant sapphire crystal covered all of the walls just like the hallway the dream began inside of. The most eye catching thing however, was a massive crystal floating in the center of the room, spinning slowly in place like a trapped sun. It was subtle, but the feeling it gave off was that of raw power. When Frank looked at it, he could see that it gave off a burning blue flame that was almost more the impression of a fire than one he could see. Yet he could feel it, this was what was roasting his body from the inside out, cleaning the impurities within him that yet lingered from his awakening.

Standing in front of this massive crystal was an altar made of stone, with an ornate purple and gold cloth on top of it. On this cloth sat a gold chalice, a disk about the size of a kitchen plate, and a few steadily burning cones of incense on a small ceramic disk at either side of the altar.

Frank turned to Raziel, who had taken his sword out. He placed the sword on the altar, and then his wand followed it.

"You know what to do from here, Awakened. You already knew when you came here, even if you weren't aware of it" The magician stepped back, leaving the rest to Frank.

Frank was confused at first, then he realized the magician was right. Frank knew the moment he fell asleep that he was coming here to complete his Awakening, to get rid of his bottleneck.

Frank picked up the chalice on the altar and looked into it. It was filled with water, almost overfilled. Yet the cup did not spill. It gave off a feeling of cold and calm while feeling very inviting and familiar.

He set it down, and picked up the disk. It was heavier than it looked, and was inlaid with different colored gems. In it, Frank felt a certain weight that went beyond how heavy it was. It felt like a different energy than the one radiating from the massive crystal, though similar enough to recognize it.

Next he picked up Raziel's sword. It felt light, elusive, and even looking at it Frank felt he would cut himself with too long a glance. The sword had a certain airy quality to its energy, different from the cold energy of the chalice or the solid, pulling energy of the disk. It felt like the sword would fly away from Frank's hand if he wasn't careful with it.

Finally, he set down the sword and picked up the wand. The wand almost resisted Frank's attempt to handle it. It seemed to have a will of its own and wanted to make use of it. Raziel made it seem so easy when he used it earlier. When Frank felt he had some measure of control over it, he could feel the heat settling into his palm when he held it. This thing gave off an energy almost like the burning sensation he felt all over his body, but more volatile than calming. Where the energy welling up in Frank felt like intense sunlight, the energy coming from the wand felt like a fire or burning embers pricking his hand wherever they swelled.

He didn't set the wand down. This time, he held onto it and channeled his will through it, using it to guide the energy he felt out his hands and into the wand, then out towards the crystal. As he did, he saw the flames grow brighter on the crystal, watched the crystal spin faster and faster.

He felt it in his stomach, somewhere near his navel. The energy he was feeling rushing through his body was condensing now into a warm, buzzing center of electricity in his body. He was forming the energy he had accumulated since awakening into a core and condensing it, giving it a spinning motion to pull more into himself.

This place, Frank knew, was no ordinary temple. It was his skull, and the energy core he was manipulating here represented the core down in his navel that he was now forming and filling. The System put the blueprint that was naturally there into place, set the core to start spinning. It only had to guide Frank to do the rest himself. Just like they promised him back in his first dream. They would show him the way.

'Congratulations, you have unlocked new abilities by breaking your own internal barriers!

[Supernatural Sense] unlocked

[Limited Telepathy] has been unbound, now usable in the physical world

Spiritual Core formed, you have begun the first step to becoming more than you presently are

Welcome to the path, Awakened. May you walk it well'