Everyone needed some time to rest and recuperate, so they decided to spend a day on the marble arch and continue their journey tomorrow.
As a result, Lucien had found himself in quite a precarious situation.
Because everyone's armor and weapons were damaged during the battle in the catacombs, they had to keep these Memories inside the Soul Sea for a bit of time to allow them to restore themselves.
As such, all of them were currently wearing nothing except for some loincloths and, in the case of the girls, makeshift brassieres.
Everyone was busy doing their thing. There was a fire in the middle of the arch, with roasting meat filling the air with an appetizing aroma. Effie was tending to it.
Nephis was helping Effie with the breakfast. Next to the huntress, her figure seemed especially slender and lithe. However, she was also extremely athletic in appearance.
Cassie was resting near the fire, wrapped in her beautiful cloak. With her delicate features and small stature, she looked extremely lovely.
That was where the problem lay. He knew he had told his mother that he wasn't interested in any of them, but he was still just a man.
'This is dangerous. But isn't it normal to feel like this? Besides, I'm not going to be the only one who's having this issue, right?'
Lucien glanced at the rest of the guys, hoping to find solace in seeing them in a similar situation. Kai and Caster were busy with menial tasks, so there was no reaction from them. As he glanced at Sunny, his only hope, it was different from what he expected.
Sunny was staring not at the girls, but at the boys, a hint of yearning reflected in his eyes. Or was it jealousy?
'Sunny don't tell me you're ga…' As Lucien thought, he caught Sunny throwing a glance at him and instinctively covered his body with his hands.
Sunny just frowned and turned back to Kai.
Shaking his head, Lucien turned to gaze into the deep expanse of the coral labyrinth below. Then his thoughts went elsewhere.
Could he use the coral as raw materials for one of his creations? He did not even know what it was made of, only that it had some connection to the crimson spire.
'On second thought, maybe I shouldn't use parts of a fallen terror's body as raw materials.'
Soon, breakfast was ready, and he returned from the edge of the arch.
After breakfast, which transpired in somewhat awkward silence, Sunny sprawled on the ground and smiled happily.
"You know, guys. These past few weeks made me realize something. Actually, it was all thanks to Kai, who introduced me... introduced me... uh... to Stev."
Effie stretched, making Sunny stutter and lose the train of thought for a second, then smiled with satisfaction and glanced at him.
"Really? And what is that?"
Sunny hesitated for a few moments and said:
"When I was a little kid, I loved reading webtoons about the Awakened. You know, the ones where they always explore ancient ruins, battle Nightmare Creatures, and grow more powerful with each victory."
He chuckled.
"The hero and his cohort decide on an adventure, vanquish evil, gain mighty Memories, then return to the real world and sell their spoils at the adventurer shop. They spend their money to upgrade their equipment, and immediately set out on a more epic and dangerous adventure."
'What's a webtoon?' Lucien frowned, confused. Was it some sort of novel?
Seeing him, Effie leaned down and whispered:
"They're like comics."
"Oh,"
He vaguely remembered Effie mentioning those before. Something about drawings with speech bubbles?
Cassie smiled.
"I loved to read those too."
Sunny glanced at her and sighed.
"Yeah. But when I got older, I couldn't help but think — what are they thinking about? Exploring ancient ruins is not a wise thing to do. In fact, only crazy people would do it. No matter how good you are, sooner or later, you will meet something more terrifying than any human can handle and die. If this was real life, why would all those adventurers go into the ruins over and over again?"
The blind girl tilted her head and opened her mouth, but then closed it again.
Sunny smiled.
"But then it hit me! They were not doing it to vanquish evil. They were doing it to collect a wide variety of powerful Memories. You see, the real dream is not to be the hero, one of their companions, or even the love interest. The real dream is to be the owner of the shop where the hero sells his trophies and buys new equipment! That way you can live a pretty life without risking your neck. That's the real goal."
He crossed his arms and added.
"After a few short years of adventuring around the Dream Realm and collecting Memories, you can retire, open a shop, and live comfortably for the rest of your life. All you need is to sell a Memory once every couple of years. Maybe make some money off the younger, less fortunate adventurers, too."
Kai laughed and looked at Sunny with curiosity.
"So… say that we somehow manage to return to the real world and become true Awakened. Is this what you're going to do?"
Sunny thought about it for a few moments and shrugged.
"I don't know. I don't really have a lot to do in the real world, apart from compiling all the things I've learned about the Forgotten Shore into a report and giving it to a teacher who was kind to me back at the Academy. So… maybe? I don't have enough Memories yet to open a real store though."
He glanced at the charming archer and smiled.
"What about you? What is the thing you really want to do if you return to the real world?"
Kai suddenly turned away with a look of embarrassment on his face.
"Oh... I don't know. I haven't really thought about it."
But after several seconds, he suddenly said in a shy voice:
"...Avatar Singer."
Sunny blinked.
"A what?"
The archer hesitated for a while and then said:
"Avatar Singer is a music competition show. Popular singers compete with each other, but the twist is that they are all using the stock VR avatars to perform. So the judges can only evaluate their voices and skills. They only learn the singer's identity after."
'What the spell is a stock VR avatar?' Lucien grumbled internally. He understood nothing about what Kai said. He felt out of place, like a stranger who had walked in on a group of friends.
There they were, talking about the waking world, and what they would do once they returned. Sunny would open a memory shop, Kai would enter a music competition, Effie would eat real chicken wings; whatever those were, Cassie and Caster would spend time with their parents…
But where would he go? Once it was done, he would be alone with his mother. They could not leave the dream realm like the others. The waking world was but a distant dream to them.
Sitting amongst them, he realized just how different he was compared to them.
Hell, he wasn't even human. The more cores he awakened, the more visible it became. His blood no longer even resembled theirs.
His thoughts were brought to a standstill when Sunny turned to him and said:
"What about you, Lucien? What will you…"
He trailed off, a look of horror plastered on his face. He had forgotten that Lucien was born on the shores, and he couldn't leave. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Lucien interrupted him.
"It's alright," He smiled, a look of longing on his face. "I'd like to see the waking world for myself. You guys talk about it with such fondness, and even though I don't understand half of the stuff you're talking about, it sounds like a nice place."
An awkward silence filled the space. Effie slowly reached out and patted his back consolingly. Then Sunny cleared his throat, attempting to change the topic.
"How about you, Neph? What are you going to do when you return to the waking world?"
Changing Star was silent for a while, looking into the distance with a calm expression.
Then, she sighed and answered in a quiet voice:
"I would go visit my mom, too."
Everyone grew silent. Sunny blinked, a little confused.
"Wait. Your mom? I thought she was dead."
Nephis lingered for a bit, and then turned her face away.
"She is. Technically."
Lucien blinked. What did she mean by 'technically'? You're either dead or you're alive. There's no in between.
A few moments passed in tense silence, which was broken by Changing Star's sigh. Looking at them, she said evenly:
"My mother is one of the Hollow. She became hollow while pregnant with me, actually. So I never really met her. Just her… body."
Nephis grew silent. After a while, a strange smile appeared on her face.
"It's funny, really. When my grandmother was still alive, I made a point of treating that body as nothing but a corpse. But once she passed away, and we were the only ones left… well. I found myself getting a bit confused."
Nephis shrugged and turned away once again.
"Anyway, before leaving for the First Nightmare, I used what little money there was left of our estate to buy her a VIP spot in a specialized Hollow care facility. They are treating her really well. But still… I don't like the idea of her being alone there. So when I return, that's what I'm going to do. Visit her."
No one said anything, heavily affected by her words.
Everyone except Lucien, who was simply confused. 'What the spell is a hollow?'
Sensing the heaviness in the air, Changing Star glanced at them and smiled darkly.
"What? Is this your first time meeting a hollowborn? Well, I can't blame you. Creatures of my breed are pretty rare. In fact, even I have never met another one."
"That makes two of us," Lucien muttered under his breath.
Then, she sighed and stretched her legs, moving them closer to the fire.
"So yeah, that and dye my hair. These are the things I would do in the real world first."
Sunny blinked.
"...Dye your hair?"
Nephis nodded.
Sunny scratched his head and asked:
"Why?"
She glanced at him in surprise.
"What do you mean, why? I'm not used to it, and it's weird. Do I need another reason?"
He stared at her with a perplexed expression. Noticing it, Changing Star frowned and asked with a tiny hint of amusement in her voice.
"Sunny… did you, perhaps, think that this is my natural hair color?"
He was silent for a while, then opened his mouth and closed it again.
"...It's not?"
Nephis looked at him for a while with a strange expression, and then suddenly exploded with laughter.
Her laugh was melodic, pure, and very pleasant to the ear. With regret, Sunny realized that he had never heard it before.
He wished that their lives were different, so that people could hear Nephis laugh more often. But they weren't, and would probably never be.
After a while, she glanced at him and smiled.
"Sunny, it's silver, for Spell's sake. Who has natural silver hair?"
Luckily, at that point, Kai suddenly came to his rescue:
"Actually, I thought that it's natural too. Ah… it suits you very well, Lady Nephis."
Changing Star turned to him with an expression of utter surprise. Then, she glanced at Effie with a silent question.
"I would have thought the same, but after seeing Lucy's hair change, I wasn't sure. I mean…who knows what you legacies are even made of."
Hearing that, she turned to Lucien, who was shaking his head. Noticing her staring, he elaborated.
"Yeah, it used to be black before, but after my first nightmare it started changing. Same with my eyes and blood."
Nephis frowned, "Your blood?"
"What, have you not noticed?" Lucien said incredulously, he had bled quite a lot the previous day. It would've been hard not to notice the strangely coloured blood.
But after seeing the rest of the cohort look at him in confusion, he sighed.
Fishing out a piece of scrap metal from his pouch, he pricked the tip of his finger. Deep magenta blood began flowing out of it.
"See?" He pointed his finger towards them.
Nephis frowned at it in silence.
"That's what it was?" Sunny suddenly spoke up, "I thought you were just covered in monster blood."
Seeing Lucien's blood made Sunny think. Did his blood look weird, too, because of Weaver's forbidden lineage? He himself could see the flecks of divinity in it, but no one else had pointed that out yet.
"What? No, why would you think that?"
The cohort stared at him. Clearly, they all thought the same as Sunny.
Lucien sighed deeply, "You know what, forget it."
After that, they spent some time resting and lazily conversing with each other. However, pretty soon, people started to get restless from boredom.
To combat it somehow, Sunny suggested the idea of playing a sports game.
Lucien initially refused; they were already wearing makeshift underwear, and engaging in sports activities would only make the chances of a wardrobe malfunction higher.
…
'On second thought…'
He shook his head, 'No, no, pure thoughts, Lucien. Do not think of the gorgeous women around you. Do not…'
Eventually, Sunny convinced him.
However, things didn't go as he had envisioned them. Pretty soon, Lucien found himself straining to pull on the golden rope in a furious match of tug of war.
…Well, it was supposed to be furious. But what was actually transpiring was Effie casually holding the rope with one hand while the five of them — Lucien, Sunny, Cassie, Kai, and Caster — were trying to move her from the spot with no visible results whatsoever. After a while, the huntress simply pulled on the rope and sent their entire team to the ground.
With a satisfied grin, Effie walked over and towered above him, her arms akimbo. Looking down directly at Sunny, she smirked.
"Weak. When did you lose your spirit, shorty?"
Then, she winked and said in a mischievous tone:
"Back at the cathedral, you were able to perform better. Not to mention last longer…"
Lucien looked at Sunny in pity; his face had turned bright red at the insinuation.
'Good luck.' He prayed, even years after knowing her, he still wasn't used to her teasing.
Soon, they realized that all types of physical activities were out of the question. Not only would Effie steamroll through all of them, but also Cassie wouldn't be able to participate.
Lucien felt a pang of disappointment at that.
'Wait, why am I disappointed!' He grumbled, 'Degenerate brain.'
They settled for a game of wit instead, where everyone had a fair chance of winning.
After thinking for a while, Sunny made a few preparations and addressed his companions in a mischievous tone:
"Alright, let's have another competition. This time, it will be a challenge for your minds."
Sunny paused for a few moments and then smiled.
"And to spice things up, this time, there will be a prize. The winner will get this!"
With that, he produced the ascended soul shard that he had gotten from the Corpse Eater from behind his back and showed it to everyone. The beautiful crystal shone with an alluring, ethereal light.
Lucien shrugged, "I'm out."
"Wha-why?"
"Soul shards are useless to me; I can't absorb them." He explained, before sitting down a distance away from them.
Staring at him for a moment, Sunny shook his head and turned back to the rest waiting expectantly.
Effie began to speak.
On the other side, Lucien closed his eyes and dove into his soul sea. It had been a while since he had last visited that place.
His inner world was as he remembered. A calm ocean lay under his feet, and gloomy storm clouds roamed the skies above. Every once in a while, there would be a flash, and the sound of thunder would reach his ears.
Between these two were three magnificent stars hanging in the sky. They illuminated the entire area in a deep purple light, and the ocean reflected it.
It made for an incredible view, a world bathed in a purple hue with three suns in the sky. One by one, he summoned each of his memories. They were all nearly fully repaired, except his sword. It still had quite a few nicks on its blade. He even saw a hairline crack. He hadn't realized how close it was to breaking; a few more swings and he would've lost it.
Sighing, he stared up at his cores. Lightning arced from them in slow motion. He never quite got why.
The last time he had come here, things were moving at normal speeds. But now, they were back to moving slowly. Why was that? He couldn't tell. His aspect held many mysteries he hadn't quite grasped yet.
With nothing else to do, he summoned his runes if only to check on his storm fragment counter.
Name: Lucien
True Name: Hour of Calamity
Rank: Dreamer
Class: Demon
Storm Cores: [3/7]
Storm Fragments: [23/3000]
Memories: [Stone Spear],[Storm Blade],[Stone Armorsuit], [Silk Yarn], [Iron Warbow], [Bone Arrows], [Starlight Pendant]
Echoes: - [Crimson Mantis]
Attributes: [Ember of Divinity] [The Tempest] [Stormborn]
"Twenty-three fragments," He muttered, "If the skeletons counted, I would've probably been in the hundreds by now."
But alas, you could not have everything. He sighed and left his soul sea.
Back in the real world, Effie was still speaking.
"...terms of the competition?"
Lucien frowned. They still hadn't begun?
Turning towards Nephis, he asked, "How long has Effie been speaking for?"
Changing Star frowned and then opened her eyes, "What do you mean? She just started talking."
"..." Lucien opened his mouth and then closed it again. She had only just begun?
But he could've sworn he was in his soul sea for at least a few minutes.
'Did I activate my aspect by any chance?'
No, his reserves of storm essence were the same as before. Nothing had been used.
A theory began to formulate in his mind; he needed to find a way to test it.