Awakened

Those who are infected by Nightmare Spell and yet to pass the First Nightmare are called "Aspirants" by the Spell.^[3] These people automatically challenge the First Nightmare when they first fall asleep after having been infected by the Nightmare Spell.^[4] They are given Attributes and start off with a Dormant Rank Aspect without the Flaw or Aspect Ability. The Aspect can rank up after the trial is over, depending on the appraisal the Spell gives.^[1] At this point, a True Name can also be given, though this is incredibly rare.^[5] The Dreamer awakens their Aspect Ability and is given Flaw in exchange for the power he/she received.^[6]

Every Aspirant who fails their First Nightmare becomes a miniature gate, allowing a single Nightmare Creature to enter the waking world, turning their corpses into monsters.^[4][7]

Main article: Awakened Ranks

The power of an Awakened is commonly measured based on the quality of one's Soul Core. The first five Soul Ranks, when applied to humans, have colloquial names in human language.^[1]

Awakened humans have longer lifespans than humans, but the exact amount was unknown. The Spell had descended on the waking world around half a century ago, and it took a while for the first Ascended to appear and Saints appeared later, after Sunny was born.^[8]

The Awakening had a profound impact on one's body, resulting in smooth, silky skin and no calluses.^[9] As their soul core develops, the body get rids of all its imperfections. It was hard to find unattractive awakened especially among strong ones.^[10]

Awakened did not usually have scars, since their bodies could recover better than those of mundane people, and there were plenty of people with healing Aspects around.^[11]

For the Awakened, visiting the Dream Realm was not exactly equal to good sleep, but it was somewhat similar. Mental fatigue still accumulated gradually, but it was easy to remove by meditating or sleeping on the other side of the Gateway.^[12]

One couldn't just enter the Gateway immediately after appearing in the Dream Realm. Awakened had to wait several hours before being allowed to use a Gateway again. The exact time they had to wait was slightly different from person to person, but in general, it was somewhere around ten hours.^[13]

There is a change in connection to the Dream Realm and the Waking World after Ascension. The Awakened establish a connection with the Dream Realm by anchoring themselves to a Gateway. Ascended expand on that connection, making them less tied to the Waking World, and thus capable of traveling between the two at will. Transcendent exist in a state of perfect balance. They are connected to both worlds in equal measure, which makes them independent of Gateways. In a sense, they are the Gateway, so they can even bring another person with them on their travels. However, the balance is broken once a person becomes Supreme. It shifts, tying them to the Dream Realm instead of the Real World.^[14]

Only Awakened below the Master rank can become Hollow or Lost.^[15]

Main article: Hollow

Hollow — people whose souls were destroyed, leaving an empty body behind.^[16][17]

Main article: Lost

Lost — people whose bodies had somehow destroyed or died in the real world, leaving their souls stranded in the Dream Realm.^[16][17]

The government and the powerful Legacy clans keep track of every Awakened in the world because of the following reasons:^[18]

• Every Awakened technically has a duty to respond when a Gate opens near their location. They are given a special communicator for this purpose. In exchange for all the privileges they receive, they are expected to protect this world from the Nightmare Creatures.
• Newly Awakened are monitored because everyone wants to recruit the best of them. Talents need to be nurtured, but first, they need to be recognized. The most promising Awakened receive a mark, usually SA, or simply S, on their file.

Only 5 were marked as SS from all the Sleepers that returned from Dream Realm in the last few years, namely Awakened Athena, Awakened Kai, Awakened Cassia, Awakened Seishan and Awakened Sunless.^[19][18]

• Other Awakened receive a portion of the soul fragments his enemy had accumulated when killing another Awakened.^[20]
• The number of Awakened has significantly increased in the last four years after the Sovereigns revealed themselves, with many challenging the First Nightmare by simply requesting it from the great clans, rather than waiting to be infected by the Spell. Many even survived.^[21]

Main article: Spirit Body

• Soul Core
• Soul Sea
• Aspect
• Innate Ability
• Attribute
• Soul Essence