Nephis held the shimmering crystals, looking at them with a heavy expression. Sunny was also staring at the shards, his head full of dark thoughts. The remnants of shattered souls glowed softly in the dim twilight of dusk. Around them, the inhabitants of the outer settlement were hurrying to get inside their pitiful hovels before the coming of night. The sun was already hidden behind the cyclopean silhouette of the Crimson Spire, drowning the world in its eerie shadow. The air was full of fear and worry.
Kane grimaced. "What are you thinking about?"
Changing Star sighed and looked up. Her ivory face was harsh and thoughtful. She remained silent for a while, and then said in her usual calm tone: "We need to split up."
Sunny couldn't help but laugh, a bitter, hollow sound. "You do know what usually happens when people split up in these kinds of situations, right?"
Nephis's gaze was steady. "This is not a drama, Sunny. We have the means to provide two of us with food and shelter for a week. There's no reason to pass on this opportunity."
Cassie turned to her, a confused expression on her face. "But… but what about the other two?" An uncomfortable silence hung between them, broken only by the whistling wind. Kane looked at the blind girl and Sunny, then at Nephis, and finally glanced at himself. Which one of them was going to remain hungry in the bitter cold while the other two would be eating their fill in the comfortable safety of the castle?
After a deep thought, he spoke. "I have an idea. Cassie and Sunny will stay in the castle. Nephis and I will be outside."
Sunny looked at him with a mix of surprise and suspicion. "Why us? Don't get me wrong, I'm not refusing. I'm just curious why you are so kind all of a sudden. Is it out of some misguided sense of nobility?"
Kane sighed. "It is neither of them. We need information. Your and Cassie's Aspects can be used to gather information easily compared to us. We can roam here and get to know about this forgotten 'outskirts.' After that, we might get a basic idea of what to do next."
Sunny looked at him with a curious expression. Nephis looked at Sunny and added: "The terms of our trade have come to an end. Your promise was to give up your share of spoils on the way to the castle. Well, here we are. That stone creature was your kill, so these shards are yours by right."
'Trade? What trade?' Oh, yeah… the trade he and Sunny had made with Changing Star to get her to teach him swordsmanship and hide the fact that he had no way to absorb soul shards. He had almost forgotten about it. But she hadn't. Now that Kane had been reminded of its existence and realized that it was over, he felt a sudden pang of regret. It was as though one of the few strings that connected them together had been suddenly severed.
With a sigh, he took the soul shards from her hand and gripped them tightly. "Alright. Then… I'll meet both of you in a week, I guess."
Cassie spoke, her voice filled with concern. "Be careful. We will meet you in a week." Kane nodded.
Sunny opened his mouth, wishing to say something else, but then just turned away. Stepping aside, Sunny and Kane gave the girls some privacy to say their goodbyes. Soon, Cassie's delicate hand found his shoulder. Sunny glanced at the blind girl, remained silent for a bit, and then asked: "Are you ready?" She hesitated before answering. When she did, there was a hint of sadness in her voice: "Yes." With that, they walked away and left Nephis behind, standing alone in the surging darkness of the descending night.
After Sunny and Cassie left for the castle, Kane thought, 'Crap! I am stuck with her.'
Nephis spoke in an indifferent tone, breaking the silence. "We need to gather information."
Kane replied, "And we need a place to stay, too."
Nephis nodded. "We might need to split up again to cover more ground."
Kane spoke, "Both of us need to gather information from my side. Meanwhile, you will search for a place to stay."
Nephis spoke in an indifferent tone, her gaze unwavering. "Shouldn't you also search for a house? Why me?"
Kane spoke with a sigh, "I have never had a home for a long time, so I don't know how a home should be." Nephis stared at him blankly. Kane could clearly see that she didn't believe him. Kane signaled to her to begin the search and went off. Nephis, who saw his figure moving away from her, muttered in a low voice, "I will make you follow me, for my goal."
Kane went to talk to multiple people in the slums. He got a decent idea of the place. The castle seemed to hold a monopoly on everything, such as soul shards, Memories, people, resources, and so on. While walking, Kane thought, 'Gunlaug has instilled a particular system that favors him and his followers. Those who oppose him are no more. The slum people are fearing Gunlaug and living on their scraps, just like the real-world outskirts.' As he walked, he saw two people returning from the ruins. Initially, five people had gone in a group, but now only two returned. Kane went to them and spoke, "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?"
It was a lady who has brown long hair with a lean build with alabaster skin,she was wearing white tunic cloth barely covering her body, She replied. "Yeah,Sure. Who are you? I've never seen you here."
Kane spoke, "Yeah, I just came to the city. Just got dropped here in this solstice."
The lady looked at him with a cold sense of pity. "It seems your luck has run out. Welcome to the city. What is the thing you need to ask?"
Kane spoke, "I want to know about how things operate here."
The lady laughed at him and spoke, "Sure, I will tell you. I am Shakti. I work under Kido's command. I mean, I used to. I recently left the castle. I tried to accommodate myself here." Kane's eyes widened. He thought, 'Seriously, does my luck seem to have a minor spike?' Kane spoke with a smile, "Sure, educate me." And then she started to explain everything she knew.
Most of the inhabitants of the castle, unsurprisingly, were directly serving Gunlaug. They were Guards, Hunters, Pathfinders, Artisans, and Handmaidens. Ruling over them were five lieutenants who answered directly to the lord himself, each responsible for their own aspect of the day-to-day life of the fortress.
The Castle Guard was the largest of these groups, consisting of around one hundred and fifty men. They were in charge of guarding the stronghold and enforcing Gunlaug's laws. Just like Cassie had said, they were near the bottom of the totem pole in terms of power and status. Anyone with a remotely useful Aspect Ability could join the Guard, and although their training was rather rigorous, actual opportunities to experience combat were few and far between. That was not to say that their job was not dangerous: every time a stray Nightmare Creature climbed the hill or attacked from above, it was their duty to either kill or chase the monster away. And out here in the Dark City, no monster was anything less than terrifying and absolutely deadly.
The Castle Guard was led by a morose giant of a man named Tessai, who was one of Gunlaug's most trusted lieutenants and perhaps the oldest Sleeper on the Forgotten Shore—he was just two years short of thirty. Tessai was a ferocious fighter and ruthless commander, holding his subordinates in an iron grip.
Above the Castle Guard, there were Hunters. These were the elites of Gunlaug's forces, each possessing a powerful combat Aspect, rich battle experience, and sharp wit to make use of both. There were around fifty of them, divided into seven hunting parties. Each morning, as soon as the gates of the castle opened, one of the parties left the safety of the impregnable marble walls and ventured into the harrowing maze of the Dark City to hunt and kill Awakened creatures. It was thanks to their efforts that people in the ancient stronghold had food on their plates. Without them, none of this would have been possible.
Hunters were recruited from the ranks of Guards, and becoming a Hunter was a dream come true. That was because these professionals enjoyed plentiful rewards from the lord, such as living in a room of their own as opposed to cramped barracks, better food, and access to various luxury items, the best Memories and tools the Bright Castle could provide… as well as many other things. Of course, the other side of the coin was that their lives were often the shortest. Despite all their experience and preparations, many never returned from the hunts.
And the only reason any did at all was the Pathfinders. Pathfinders served as guides for the hunting parties. Just as Effie had said, the secret to surviving in the Dark City was to find and kill comparatively weaker creatures without stumbling into something far more deadly. They made sure to do just that—track the Awakened monsters without leading the pack of Hunters into the jaws of Fallen abominations. There were so few Pathfinders that Kane even questioned whether they could be categorized as a group. In the whole castle, there were less than a dozen. Each of them was a seasoned veteran who earned his role through surviving long years of bloody battles in the ruins and thus had a chance to live long enough to learn large areas of the Dark City like his own five fingers. Needless to say, all of them were incredibly fearsome combatants and enjoyed lavish, sometimes even decadent, lifestyles. Both Hunters and Pathfinders were led by a charismatic man called Gemma. Gemma came to the Forgotten Shore in the same year as Gunlaug and had helped him take control of the castle.
Together, these three groups—Guards, Hunters, and Pathfinders—formed Gunlaug's army, which was simply known as the Host.
There were two other groups of people that belonged to Gunlaug. The first of them consisted of Sleepers with useful Utility Abilities and their helpers. These people, known as Artisans, played a very important role in the life of the castle. They were responsible for creating and maintaining various items that were either vital to survival or made existing on the Forgotten Shore less unbearable, such as clothes, tools, equipment, utensils, and various gear. Each Artisan had a small team of less gifted Sleepers helping them craft the necessary items. All in all, there were around a hundred of them in total, with most of that number consisting of the assistants. They were led by a young woman called Kido, who was a talented manager and had an Ability that allowed her to change attributes of certain plants. The status of Artisans was somewhat of a tense subject in the Bright Castle. Because they were largely non-combatants, Guards felt that their position should be inferior to that of people actually risking their lives in vicious battles against Nightmare Creatures.
The last group of people who belonged to Gunlaug was the Handmaidens. These were the young women Kane had seen quietly performing various chores around the castle, like making sure that windows were properly closed before the onset of the night or preparing and handing out food during mealtime. And these young women technically belonged to Gunlaug.
Shakti spoke, "So, yeah. This is the gist of the structure. Now, are you able to follow the information?"
Kane nodded and spoke, "Yeah. Why are you not in the castle? Why did you leave and try to create your own hunting party?"
Shakti, who had suddenly been smiling, immediately turned grim. She spoke, "That is none of your business."
Kane, who sensed the sudden rise in tension, spoke, "Sorry. Anyway, thanks." and Kane left immediately. Having collected enough information, he searched for Nephis to know what happened on her side. He searched for her and found her.
At the very edge of the slum, perched precariously above the vertical fall from the stone platform, stood an uncharacteristically spacious dwelling. It was crudely put together out of slabs of stone that had been unceremoniously scavenged from the ruins, with many of them still bearing the intricate carvings left behind by the original inhabitants of the Dark City. This barbarous atrocity was the closest to the road of white stone out of the entire outer settlement. Perhaps that was why it seemed to be a bit sturdier than the rest of the hovels. The lodge even had a small addition built on top of it, somewhat resembling a second story.
Changing Star was sitting on its roof with her legs crossed, gazing at the rising sun and the cursed city below. In the pale light of dawn, her ivory skin and silver hair looked beautiful and eerie. She had dismissed her armor and was wearing a crude tunic, with a piece of rope tied around her waist. Sensing his approach, Nephis turned her head and glanced in his direction. Then, she stood up and jumped down, landing lightly on the stone surface of the vast platform.
Kane spoke, "So, any updates on places to stay?"
Nephis led him inside the stone lodge, which had turned out to be her new residence. The interior was spartan and austere, with pieces of broken furniture lying here and there and cold winds sweeping freely through the spacious hall of the first floor. Despite its larger size and superior craftsmanship, the lodge had been empty when she found it. No one wanted to live this close to both the edge of the platform and the threshold of the road, where the risk of being attacked by Nightmare Creatures was the highest. But Changing Star didn't mind.
Kane thought, 'Seriously, is she an idiot? She chose a place where there is the highest possibility of Nightmare Creature attacks?' Kane asked, "Why here?"
She stared at him for a while, then said in a flat tone: "It's quiet here."
Then, a small smile appeared on Neph's lips. Turning to a window, she added: "I like it."
Kane facepalmed. 'I am worrying for her future husband.'
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The character 'Shakti' already present in Original SS,she is one of the Fire Keepers