It has been another few days.
'Today's the 80th day I believe?'
The original trio had been exploring the place, mainly sunny. Caster knew that Sunny wouldn't simply trust him based off of his experience from the academy. So the best way to gain his trust would be to allow him to explore the work he put in for nearly three months.
They had yet to meet Kai, because he was out on a mission as per Caster's orders. However, it was simply a misdirection for the lieutenants to believe that he's going somewhere due to Gunlaug.
They still believed that Gunlaug would appear when the battle of the crimson spire commences, not knowing that it was all but a truth on Caster's part.
In reality Kai was just sent to the dark city to hunt. Hunting alone was dangerous, but Kai was given a bow of the ascended rank by Caster. The bow used to be part of Gunlaug's memory collection.
Caster wasn't planning on using bows for the time being due to him having a more than simply 'good' ranged attack. Giving it to someone who specializes at range would be much better than simply letting it rot. Especially if it made Kai more loyal to him.
It was a calculated decision... unfortunately.
He had also given an ascended quiver that would generate arrows automatically overtime if they got depleted. Essentially giving Kai a very high supply of arrows. An arrow summoned once every three seconds if it wasn't at its maximum capacity, maximum capacity being 120 arrows.
Caster decided to give that to him, because he already gave him a bow, so he might as well invest further in the Kai stocks.
The bow was hard to use for Kai, because he lacked the strength for it, but it wasn't hard to the point of being unusable.
He alternated the use between his ascended ranked bow and the awakened rank bow he originally had.
The bow was a tier 1 memory, meaning it only had 1 enchant. But the enchant was very useful. It would allow the user to make arrows from essence. Meaning infinite arrows unless you're out of essence.
Unfortunately, as good as it may have been, it requires the need for essence manipulation. Meaning, no one below the rank of an awakened can utilize the memory properly.
On top of all this, Caster even threw another awakened quiver to Kai. This quiver could store physical things in it and take it into the soul sea, kind of like mimic, as long as the thing being stored in it was arrows. So, it could act as Kai's backup arrows.
Caster had sent Kai to the Dark city to let him get some solo experience with the new memories to get the hang of them.
"Don't come back until your fragment count has reached at least 500."
That's what Caster told Kai.
Kai's fragment count was 291 when he said that.
So basically, it will take him a while to come back.
Caster was worried that Kai would just straight up die. But Kai had perhaps the best aspect for survivability on the forgotten shore, and he has plot armor.
'Oops, did I just break the fourth wall?'
⸢The fourth wall says "It s no t ea sy to br eak me."⸥
Setting Kai aside, there's a lot more that has happened.
First off, Caster found a massive stash of shards saved in Gunlaug's room a few days ago. Of course, Caster absorbed all of them.
[Soul fragments: 789/2000]
He could have given them away, but he needs to get as many shards as he can as soon as possible. Because he's the one who'll be fighting the fallen terror. And he can't risk getting messed up enough in that fight to not be able to move properly.
Like Nephis had gotten for a few moments. And she had an healing aspect unlike Caster.
Secondly, yesterday the Castle had finally settled down due to all the new people who started living there. Nearly everyone was working at the Castle in some way, but that will soon change. All the lieutenants were getting way more work force, and it was strengthening them.
They still wouldn't dare go against Caster though, he has too strong equipment for that. Even though Caster doesn't wear the echo as armor currently, to not expose his identity to the normal residents so soon, they still wouldn't stand a chance against him. Because of his attribute [Below Speed], it probably makes him the person with the fastest reaction time on this shore.
But, the lieutenants getting so much power will change soon after the official announcement for the change of the bright lord occurs soon.
Already, Caster had gone around and made more lieutenants. Because he needed more.
The original ones—Gemma, Tessai, Kido, Sheishan and Harus—were still lieutenants, but Effie, Kai, Nephis and Sunny were all made into lieutenants as well.
Cassie was given an honorary lieutenant position to not make her feel left out. She knew it was bullshit. I knew it was bullshit. We all knew it was bullshit.
Luckily no one, except Effie, spoke much about it. Since, in the end it was Caster's way of making Cassie feel better.
The castle was still a mess, but they were still making ends meet. Just barely though. They had a lot to change still.
But that will have to wait until after the announcement.
For now, Nephis, Cassie and Sunny were mostly seen together. Still distrusting of this place and the rapid changes they heard of. However, each one of them was at least very impressed with Caster.
Because what he did in two months was something nobody could do. Not even Nephis.
If this was at the start of his transmigration, he'd have been happy with winning some comparison over her, like he did during the fight against her at the academy.
However, he had grown. He was no longer the same naive boy who tried to set up things for the future like an ameture. The current Caster would have done so much more at the academy, like expanding his influence beyond just Cassie and Sunny, set things up for when they get out of the shore and much more.
But he didn't.
It will make things harder for him, but it couldn't be helped that Caster had a hard time anticipating things at the start.
Now he can practically already paint the picture of what will happen after he gets out of the shore.
Retaliation from both the sword and song domains, or at least just from the sword domain, which will make it harder for Caster to go to the chained isles, which is very necessary for him for one particular reason.
Mordret's reflection and Mordret himself.
They are two big risks to Sunny.
In any case, Caster would have to figure a lot of things out after getting out from the shore, and won't get any rest even after getting out of this god forsaken shore.
Getting back to the present, Caster also found out about one very important thing.
And that was about why Caster wasn't sneak attacked by Harus when he was making so much progress at the camp.
And the reason was that Gunlaug was too afraid to get Harus killed. If Gunlaug hadn't known about how Caster killed dozens of awakened rank creatures with one attack, he'd have sent Harus to kill Caster soon enough. But he did find out.
Another important thing he found out was Harus' flaw. From his very own mouth.
His flaw was 'to become fully loyal to the one who saves your life.' Which means he was quiet literally Gunlaug's slave.
Which also meant that he'd never betray Caster because it was 'Gunlaug' who told him to treat Caster like him.
It was great for Caster, +1 slave for for him.
He initially planned to use Harus to get rid of useless and corrupted people from the Castle but ended up just giving him to Gemma for the time being.
Because if someone should kill those people, it should be Caster. For maximum shoul shard accumulation.
Now, coming to the memories, Caster had gotten loads of good ones from Gunlaug. They included the ascended bow and quiver and the awakened quiver given to Kai.
The ones he still had included a ton of different weapons and armor but he didn't need them. But he did keep one, it was an ascended rank sword of the first tier named [Moon Sabers].
It was the first ever dual wielding memory he had ever seen or heard of.
Memory Name: [Moon Sabers].
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: 1
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [Upon the hushed and silvered plain, where starlight weaves through dust and vein, two sabers woke from lunar stone, not forged by fire but by silence grown. Together sung, their voices met in a harmony the void won't forget; like bells that toll where no winds stir, a hymn of balance, wanderer's lure.]
Memory Enchantments: [Moon's hymn]
[Moon's hymn]: The hymn of clashing swords can swell into a wave of soundless force, pushing back enemies like an unseen tide, or drawing them inward as if the Moon's pull itself had grown fierce.
The memory turned out to be a really good one.
There was only one enchantment on it, but it was such a unique enchantment, a great enchantment to throw off human enemies who depended a lot on anticipation and skill.
Caster was planning to give away a large share of these memories, but he had decided the ones he was going to keep.
One of them was a fourth tier awakened memory.
Memory Name: [Aquifer's Gift].
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Tier: 4
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: [Aquifer's Gift was born in the age of the Great Drought, when rivers fled and skies turned to brass. Aquifer, the wanderer of hidden springs, beheld Serenya of the Dunes, who poured her last drop of water into a dying child's mouth. Struck by such selfless grace, he carved a vessel from the stone of an eternal spring and breathed into it a fragment of his spirit. Thus was the chalice named Aquifer's Gift—a well without end, sealed by compassion eternal.]
Memory Enchantments: [Endless Pour], [Healing Draught], [Flood Unbound], [Spring's Choice].
[Endless Pour]: Produces fresh, clean water without limit.
[Healing Draught]: A sip restores vigor, easing thirst, fatigue, and minor wounds.
[Flood Unbound]: When overturned, the vessel can unleash a torrent like a bursting river.
[Spring's Choice]: The water poured can shift in nature: cool for drinking, warm for comfort, or pure as rain for ritual.
It was like Cassie's memory [Endless spring] but better, much better. This was awakened, her's was dormant.
Another memory he'd keep was an ascended rank rope. Yes, of all things, an ascended memory was a rope.
Memory Name: [The Celestial Cord].
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: 2
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: [Forged in the twilight of the first age, the rope is said to have been spun from the strands of night itself, twisted with moonlight and sealed with a drop of dawn. Where Aquifer's Gift carries compassion, the Cord carries binding and passage. It links what is sundered, restrains what is untamed, and bridges what is unreachable.]
Memory Enchantments: [Horizon's Thread], [Pathfinder's Line]
[Horizon's Thread]: No matter how far it is drawn, the rope does not diminish. Like the horizon itself, it retreats as one approaches, offering length without limit.
[Pathfinder's Line]: When cast, it always anchors to the safest route or most stable point, even across impossible distances.
Upon noticing this memory, Caster's first thought was:
'A rope is this good? Honestly, Gunlaug had some incredible stuff in his soul sea. Pity he died without the cast being able to extract these memories.'
The rest of the memories were all good and all, but Caster had no need for them. But his followers would definitely love them. Each was at least an awakened rank memory.
However none of these were the true boon that Caster got.
It was the echo he had gotten that he loved the most.
Echo Name: [Evermelt].
Echo Core: Transcendent.
Echo Type: Devil.
Echo Description: [In the twilight of the Third Age, when drought and fire warred across the land, two relics already walked among mortals: Aquifer's Gift, the vessel of compassion, and Auriviel, the Gilded Flow, born of a fallen star's weeping gold. Yet between them lingered a void... Water could quench thirst, and gold could shift into any shape, but neither could endure both flame and famine.
Thus was Evermelt born. Some say Aquifer himself wept upon Auriviel, his tears mingling with its molten form; others whisper that Auriviel split a fragment of its body, kissed by Aquifer's hand, to walk the world as a new companion. Whatever its origin, Evermelt became a being of living, golden water, a fluid spirit that shimmered like sunlight on a river.
Unlike Auriviel's proud independence, Evermelt carries a gentler soul. It flows to where it is needed, pouring itself as water to slake thirst, as gold to shield the weak, or as a radiant tide to drive back corruption. Though small in voice, it is vast in heart, forever bridging the legacies of spring and starfire.
But when Auriviel, the brilliant, molten-flowing sentinel, was sundered, struck down by pride or fate unknown... Evermelt, the child of tears and gold, recoiled from its serene purpose. Once a flowing poet of mercy and marvel, it now traced a darker current, a path whispered of in fear.
Evermelt fell onto the path of the unholy.]
Echo Attributes: [Molten], [Gildflow].
[Molten]: Evermelt can only ever remain hot and molten.
[Gildflow]: Evermelt, gilded of gold, can take the form of anything.
Echo Abilities: [Auric Veil], [Weeping Quench], [Golden Tide]
[Auric Veil]: Evermelt's golden surface flows like liquid sun, brilliant enough to draw the eye and yet treacherous in its beauty. Any who dare meet their reflection in its gilded currents feel a chill in their thoughts, a subtle sinking of the will.
[Weeping Quench]: It is said that Evermelt's tears remember the sorrow of Aquifer's drought and the loneliness of Auriviel's fallen star, carrying in them both mourning and mercy. Its tears can harden itself.
[Golden Tide]: When roused to fury, it may surge as a vast flood of molten-gold water, scouring corruption yet leaving the innocent untouched.
When he first read the description, he couldn't believe the massive amounts of lore hidden in it. Lore that was never introduced into the novel prior to his transmigration.
Perhaps it's becasue the dream realm is far too wide to be covered entirely, or perhaps its because not even the ruins of it were left due to some catastrophe.
What was interesting, though, was that Gunlaug had three memories connected to the same past... as if he was deliberately collecting them.
What made them even appear on the forgotten shore is not something he would know for now though.
In any case, despite of the lore, what mattered the most was the echo was incredible. Incredible to the point that Gunlaug was a complete fraud to lose to nephis, not even being able to utilize its hot and burning nature against Nephis.
He simply made it into an armor.
Its ability [Auric Veil] was passive, mind supressing ability and [Weeping Quench], while active, didn't require essence. Which is why it was able to be hardened into a permanent form in the first place.
The final ability [Golden Tide] though... it required essence manipulation. So it was not usable currently.
He'd find out what it would do eventually though, so its not all bad.
The boons, the benefits, he had gotten from Gunlaug was way more than he could have ever imagined. He also found out how much of a fraud Gunlaug actually was.
Yet he wasn't satisfied. He couldn't be.
***
Caster got out of bed and immediately called for Gemma.
"Gather everyone in the throne room. It's time for me to announce... the change of bright lord. They must already know something happened to Gunlaug for this big of a change to occur so suddenly."
Gemma simply replied: "Yes, my lord."
'Phew... I'm nervous.'
[The first fragment, 'The fourth wall' is calming you down.]
'Well... not anymore.'