Re:Cursed

Nyx did not awake when she became aware of the void. No, it simply seeped into existence. Or maybe it was her consciousness that was slow to realise where she was.

If she was fully cognisant, Nyx might have been frightened of the starless space that surrounded her. Especially after her encounter with the Eidolon God. But instead, she found herself in a calm fugue.

She was dreaming. That seemed like the right answer… but also didn't. It was more than a simple figment of her slumbering mind. An empty world formed to cradle her soul while she lacked a body. And her body was gone. When she looked down — it was hard to tell if she actually could look down — there was nothing but darkness.

Nyx could still feel her body, but it was more of a phantom sensation than a physical presence. She remembered what she was supposed to be. And with that memory, her mind recreated senses that didn't exist. Even the severed limbs were there.

But beyond that indistinct sensation of the form she knew, was something more. Something intangible. Like a cloud of smoke had settled over her, Nyx could feel the slightest frisson at a looming weight. A force she could not control.

Her future mutations? Or something else?

As she semi-consciously pondered the oddity of her own sense of self, her name scrawled itself in the space before her. It was the only thing visible in this empty void. The name rang in her mind just as clearly as it was visible. Though, those two things might not be all that separate here.

Nỷx

The sight snapped her awake, but not from this void. Half of her mind that remained in its slumber was yanked back into awareness as Nyx realised what this was.

Evolution.

She was sleeping? The last thing she remembered was being discovered by Tarchon. How could she have allowed herself to have fallen asleep after that? He may have been an incredibly powerful cultist, but she couldn't just let him do as he pleased. Nyx should have fought to the bitter end, not succumbed.

Was he tying her down? Severing her mutations? Announcing his discovery to all the other cults? Nyx was now doomed to repeat the past, and yet because of her weakness, she had passed out. She couldn't even resist.

It was a disaster. Yet as devastating as this result was, Nyx couldn't gather the grief or fear to make the situation seem real. In this dream world for evolving, her emotions were suppressed. Either that, or she'd come to simply not care about what happened to her… and that worried Nyx more than anything.

Ignorant to Nyx's concerns of what might be occurring on the outside world, her name continued to imprint itself on the surface of nothing. The last time she'd seen her name, it had only been Nỷx. Now…

Nỷx-aul-thaaren-est-evast-scol-eth-kryl-tanorr-nanaz-juul-nen-mpsil-ossuul-el-Lyotep

…Good thing I can't see a need to introduce myself any time soon.

The name was obscene. Just how many additives had she gained without her notice? Fifteen? It was hard to think she even had five.

No, wait, that last one was different. Nyx narrowed her focus, and without any difficulty, discovered what it was.

A Feat.

She'd gained another Feat. At only her first evolution, she'd received her second. That was unheard of. In normal circumstances, Nyx would have believed that the Feat came from surviving the Dark Star, but this wasn't the first she'd survived, and it wasn't like she destroyed the Dark Star herself.

Unwilling to waste time pondering its origin, she decided to let the Feat tell her itself.

Lyotep — Perseverance. Survival. Slaughter. Knowingly matched with the impossible, each are equal without compromise. There lies no middle ground for those of unmitigated desire, lest the soil crumble and the sky, fall.

I forgot just how damn cryptic name descriptions like to be…

Groaning, but hearing no sound to accompany her intent, Nyx tried to parse its meaning. Perseverance and survival are similar enough, but slaughter? Why would the name claim that is equal?

Is the description being snarky again? Nyx thought. I remember the last Feat doing the exact same.

The name was criticising her for attacking the cult despite already struggling to survive, wasn't it? Well, maybe criticising is wrong. It is simply — cryptically — stating her her intent and rewarding her for the actions she took. She wouldn't have a Feat if she hadn't done something impressive, after all.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

But regardless of intent or any consciousness behind how her names were decided, it was reasonable to assign the survival of the Dark Star as the Feat. No, survival, and the deaths she caused.

It was a bit concerning that there were Feats for mass murder — assuming that's what this was — and raised the question if any of the cult leaders had them.

Nyx let the words flow through her mind again. Unfortunately, they became no clearer. Nowhere did it say what kind of ability the name gifted. As far as she was concerned, it did nothing besides linger as a question of why names held such confusing descriptions. If she wanted to know what it did, she would have to discover it like with her last Feat, or hope it was immediately noticeable upon her return to her body.

She tried not to focus on the reminder that she might not be in the safest company.

As much as she'd love to sit on the Feat for days and ponder exactly what it might do, there were plenty more welcome arrivals to her name besides it. Just glancing over her full name, it was hard to comprehend.

It was her name. That was something she could tell immediately and instinctively. But she'd not expected it to have grown so much. Then again, it had been what? A couple of years? She had to do this much if she ever wanted to reach the cult leader's heights.

Considering she'd not been able to sleep in all that time, she'd likely missed what could have been multiple opportunities to evolve. Well, she was doing it now. And from her casual glance, many seemed promising. Before she got ahead of herself, she had new additives to look at. Fourteen, in fact. Between them, her base name, and her Feat, that made a name sixteen long.

The last time she'd looked with her sense — only a couple weeks ago — it hadn't been twelve. Even that had seemed high. But now that she felt them intimately, it struck her differently.

When she opened herself to the first name, she was surprised. Not because it was good. But because of how useless it was.

Aul — Breathe twice with a breath.

Not only was the idea of breathing twice stupid — two times void is still void — but her first additive wasn't her blade Talent. It should have been. After her evolution, the Talent had been her first. She had been almost certain that a name was ordered by time of acquisition, with the exception of base, then evolved names. Apparently not.

Thankfully, the next additive was what she expected.

Thaaren — From early stages of evolution, to the hardened razors of the forge, these weapons have proven themselves time and time again. But a killing edge is only as good as its wielder.

During her time in the Dark Star, she'd very quickly learnt everything it had to teach. It wasn't much, but she'd known that when she got it. The additive in its current state helped her hold her rapier correctly and taught her to make precise strikes, but not much more. She hadn't felt its mental nudging in months.

To bring out its more impressive teachings, she would need to evolve it.

Nyx's third additive was just as unimpressive as her first.

Est — Boosts introspection.

She changed her mind. This was somehow even less impressive.

If it wasn't only two words, Nyx would think the description was cryptic, and therefore a much stronger name. But no, it was as basic a name as you could get.

What does 'Boosts introspection' even mean? Nyx thought. Does it make me think to myself more? Or improve my senses somehow?

Whatever it did, its effect was so weak that she hadn't even noticed. It was likely she got the name early in the Dark Star, so if it had given her a noticeable effect, she probably got used to it while distressed. Not that she was holding her breath on it actually being beneficial.

Evast — Rhythm in all: the pace, the beat, the thrill of the body spinning in dance. One who gives in to melody enjoys a tempo set only by themselves.

It was not immediately obvious what this name was. With a description so esoteric, it was unlikely to be worthless, which made it's lack of appearance questionable. Even if she wasn't sure how a dancing additive could have helped her.

Only when she moved on to the next name, and saw that it was Scol — the common name for dexterous fingers, which also applied to her tentacles — that Nyx's non-existent eyes narrowed. She focused back on the wording of Evast, and to her surprise, the name fit.

She'd hardly considered it a dance, but her wings did create a beat. That must have been enough to trigger the ability. So this name allowed her to accelerate beyond normal means as long as she was moving to a rhythm? It couldn't be that easy. Otherwise, simple running would have had her moving faster. Still, it said nowhere in the description it was specific for wings, so it should be possible. Somehow. The additive was a very nice addition.

The next name was so fitting that it suddenly had her questioning what she knew about exactly how additives were gained, and just how random they truly were.

Eth — Mind over body. Those with true determination will stave off all worldly requirements until nothing but the grave awaits.

Even ignoring the revelation that it wasn't entirely her mutation that had kept her going, it was too close to the challenge that she'd faced to be a coincidence. She had to double check that it wasn't, in fact, a Feat. But no, it was a simple additive. An additive that had likely kept her alive, but still a simple one and nothing more.

Looking back over the names she'd seen so far, and peeking through the one's she'd yet to analyse, it was clear they all followed how she'd lived, with some variance. This was not nearly the randomness the rearing wards taught. It was obvious to all that the cults had paths that brought their acolytes into often similar naming conventions, but mostly that was pinned on their rituals and worship. Not their lifestyle.

Though, there isn't a chance anyone beyond their third evolution doesn't know this. Nyx would bet anything that this was how the cult favourites always did so much better than the rest in the Trials.

But… it wasn't like it affected her all that much. She'd been facing challenges originally to try and incite the gamble of names. Knowing that it wasn't a gamble, and actually gave her abilities suited to the challenges she faced was welcome. Though, all those kids that toiled away at poor jobs hoping for a lucky break would never find it.

Nyx turned her attention to the next name, and even through the emotive suppressing mental state, her mood soured.

Kryl — One who has a great deal of experience with creations of true opposites: flesh and steel, though steel and flesh remain a mystery. Graft flesh to steel, but not steel to flesh.

A fucking Fleshsmith additive. If Nyx could snarl, she would be hissing acid all over herself. I'd rather nothing than a Fleshsmith name.