Days later in one the many paths of the crimson labyrinth, a green, constantly shapeshifting polyhedron was hovering over the scene of carnage.
The path between two crimson walls was littered with corpses. Many Iron Spyders laid dead on the mud, and a carapace centurion was left kneeling. An azure spear was stabbed into its neck that was dissolving into yellow sparks.
A few seconds later a figure dressed in fancy garments emerged from the corner.
[You have slain an awakened monster: Carapace Centurion.]
Aether was the cause of this carnage. He had led the centurion into this corner of the labyrinth, where the spider tribe had formed their traps. The centurion walked into that trap, and the spiders ambushed the hulking creature. All of them died in the process, but they managed to heavily wound the centurion, making it easier for Aether to finish it off with a throw of his spear.
He had been hunting for awakened beasts for the past few days, however he wanted to test his progress and decided to hunt a monster this time around.
And with the help of Zheshi he was even more knowledgeable about the environment around him. Using it to his advantage.
His silent follower could analyze objects, food and nightmare creatures. It could tell what was edible or not and how he could cook it. As for the nightmare creatures, Zheshi gave him the knowledge of their anatomy. This way Aether learned their weaknesses and use it against them.
But most importantly, Zheshi could scout and he could see through her sight. This was he knew which path to take.
But in focusing on improving his hunting skills, he was delaying his progress westward.
Turning to the carnage, he smiled faintly. Ten awakened shards, basically for free!
***
Soul Fragments: [730/1000]
Aether was displaying an astonishing progress thanks to his aspect and Zheshi. Unfortunately he was not getting any echoes or memories as of the moment. But soul shards were a great boon too.
Suddenly his garments fluttered in the wind as he was hit by a not so gentle gust of wind.
'Zheshi find the nearest hill!'
That wind just now was not the normal air in the forgotten shore. The winds were usually gentle unless a storm was approaching. He was in big trouble if he did not find a hill to take shelter in, which his previous one was currently a bit too far.
Looking at the labyrinth from the top thanks to floating Zheshi, he could scan the surroundings. He immediately began skidding in high speeds, which had also improved as he absorbed more and more soul shards.
Zheshi had found the nearest cliff, which was a considerable distance to go. Aether started putting pressure on his legs as he started moving even faster. Through Zheshi's sight, which was floating above the labyrinth, he took the right paths that would lead him to the cliff.
***
As he darted forward, heavy drops of rain were starting to fall on the ground. Strong winds were howling between the coral blades, sending bits of mud and seaweed flying. With storm clouds gathering in the sky, sunlight dimmed, and a cold twilight descended upon the labyrinth.
Without the need to avoid monsters and death breathing down his neck, he moved with amazing speed. Side passages and crimson walls were flashing past him in a blur. There was no need to hold back and conserve strength for the long run, if he was late to reach the cliffs by a minute, his life would be over.
The inhabitants of the labyrinth did not give him much trouble. The scavengers seemed to be as panicked as he was. The bulky beasts were busy trying to hide inside the coral mounds or burrowing underground.
However, no matter how fast he was moving, the storm was faster. The rain quickly turned into a pelting downpour, each drop becoming a torrent. The winds grew in strength, striking against his body with enough force to make him stumble. The light dimmed even further, reducing visibility to almost zero.
Finally, a blinding bolt of lightning tore through the darkness, followed almost immediately by a deafening thunderclap.
In the next moment, the ground under Aether's feet trembled, causing him to lose balance and fall. He rolled in the mud, and then got up once again.
'Shit!'
When he got up the water was already on his shin.
And then a weird idea came to his mind as he lifted his foot and placed it on the water.
His feet did not sink, it felt like he was touching solid ground.
Without even wasting and second Aether started 'skating' on water. With each sweep of his leg the water would splash behind him. It felt like an amazing experience, the memory of his could also skid on water it seemed.
Soon Aether reached the cliff and hurriedly climbed on top of it. the strong winds were still present, daring to throw off his mighty bad which he still carried around.
Aether spent the night under the rain, his spear stabbed into the ground as he held onto it with his bag.
The storm raged on for hours. The cliff shuddered under the pounding waves, and each thunderclap seemed intent on splitting the heavens apart. Aether clung to his spear like a lifeline, every muscle in his body trembling from strain. His garments were drenched, his bag twice as heavy, but he did not let go.
***
Today would be half a month since he had been summoned into the forgotten shore. He had slain two awakened monsters and had hunted more than a few dozens of awakened beasts.
At some point he had even unlocked his aspect legacy and had even absorbed a transcended soul shard, learnt the basics of spearman ship and how to utilize his aspect ability to its full extent.
Had any sleepers before consumed a soul shard of that rank? Aether highly doubted it.
Despite him hunting a lot of creatures, his luck with memories and echoes were straight up dog shit!
Where were his memories? He at least deserved some.
At the moment he was walking between the crimson walls of the labyrinth. Sharing two sights was a weird feeling, but he had gotten used to it. Zheshi herself was floating in the air, scouting forward.
Aether had never really thought much about it, but he had been utterly alone for the past two weeks, surrounded by nothing but nightmare creatures.
It was like that back in the waking world too. Everyone he knew, everyone he had called a friend were no kinder than the nightmare creatures. Each relationship he had made during his career was for simply for the sake of fame or for money.
He had never experienced a real friendship. He had always been alone, so living by himself in the forgotten shore was no different. The only difference was that there was trouble everywhere.
Sure, he was aware that Changing Star and the blind girl was here, it was his fault that he did not join them. But Aether simply did not trust her.
Pushing the bitter memories out of his mind, he focused on his path. Weakness was not tolerated in the forgotten shore.
***
Days bled into weeks. The crimson walls shifted, the storms howled, and still, he endured. Hunts blurred together, claws, blood, the same cold silence afterward. Half a month became a month, and then more. Nothing changed, except the shadows under his eyes and his runes.
He had reached the bone ridge. Settling in the skull of a dead monster. Here, he found out that people had settled here not a long time ago. Aether was not in a hurry to catch up to them, they were most likely farther away from him.
During the entire month, he had hunted almost everyday. As his soul grew stronger, he started to challenge monsters more frequently. Hunting them successfully in the process. Aether had also gained a new set of memories that could be considered useful.
Name: Aether.
True Name: The Blasphemer.
Soul Core: Dormant
Soul Fragments: [990/1000]
Memories: [Fallen Captain], [Silk Step], [Azure Spear], [Glassified], [Feelings of Attachment], [Wand of Fire].
Echoes: -
The Followers of The Godless: [Zheshi]
Attributes: [Complexity], [Trust], [False Sight], [Ever Winter], [Spark of Divinity].
He had gained three new memories.
[Glassified], was a memory of the awakened rank, tier two. He had gained it from a plant like monster he had burned to death with the ooze of the worms. It looked like a broken piece of a mirror.
The beast.. unfortunately had human like vocal cords. Aether had been forced to watch as the plant was burned to death. He could not help but feel bad even if it was a nightmare creature.
[Glassified] had two enchantments. One of them gave Aether a moderate protection against fire. And the other enchantment allowed Aether to double the intensity of the pain the opponent was feeling. However it had two conditions.
The opponent needed to be seen on the mirror. And Aether would have to feel the original amount of pain the opponent was feeling.
It was a very powerful memory, however was difficult to use due to the restrictions.
Memory: [Feelings of Attachment]
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Tier: II
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: [Once I dreamt that we were dear to each other. I woke to find that we were strangers.]
Memory Enchantments: [A String.]
Enchantment Description: [You may attach yourself to anything with an invisible string.]
Aether liked this memory. He had gotten it from a member of the Spyder tribe. With this string he could maneuver around the enemy faster with the help of [Silk Step]. The description of the memory was most likely tied to the fact that the spyders are usually away from their mother.
'Even nightmare creatures feel grief it seems.'
As for the last memory, [Wand of Fire], Aether had acquired it from a scavenger. It was a simple orchestra wand. Its enchantment was that it could gather up energy from the pain he felt and shoot it in a single explosion.
It synergized well with the [Glassified] memory. It was almost like they were made for each other.
Just like that he closed the runes, and looked at the lone soul shard sitting in front of him calmly. Zheshi was there too, hovering next to Aether. This time around, she was changing shapes slightly faster, as if she was pleased.
With his final shard he would saturate his core. So he crushed it with his fist.
[Your soul grows stronger...]
[Your soul is overflowing with power.]
'huh?'
With a sudden scream Aether clasped his chest and fell to the ground. HE was feeeling as though his very soul was on fire, as though something was rising from its dark depths, ripping it apart. Zheshi had also retreated into his soul suddenly.
[Your soul is taking shape.]
'Wh- What he hell is happening??'
Aether clawed the ground beneath him while trying to keep his screams to himself. His nails were hurt in the process, but it was not as painful as the feeling in his chest.
Tears streaming from his eyes. His gloved fingers left deep grooves in the stone. It was the first time he had experienced pain like this even if he got constantly injured during his hunts.
He slammed his fist down, sending cracks through stone, then did it again and again, pulverizing it into tiny shards.
"Argh!"
Eventually, those shards turned into dust, and only then did his agony finally begin receding.
The Spell whispered into his ear:
[Your soul is complete!]
'What the fuck just happened?'
Still feeling the lingering phantoms of the pain, Aether sat up on the ground. Breathing heavily he leaned against the wall of the cave.
It was something about his soul, so immediately delved into his soul sea. What awaited him there made his eyes widen. In the depths of his soul sea, there were not one but two polyhedrons hovering above the sea.
One of them hosted Zheshi. While the other was empty.
Aether was astonished, how could he have formed a second core? Was it due to his aspect again? Or was it due to the fact that he was a divine aspect holder? Aether did not understand, humans were supposed to only have one soul core.
He urgently summoned his runes.
Name: Aether.
True Name: The Blasphemer.
Rank: Dreamer
Class: Monster.
Soul Cores: [2/7].
Soul Fragments: [0/2000].
His runes had been altered slightly too.
'Ugh.. another 6 cores to saturate..'
He grimaced at the thought.
As he skimmed through his runes, he realized that Zheshi had also evolved into a monster. So since his saber was soulbound, it was most likely in the strength of a dormant memory of the second tier.
Aether also felt much more powerful compared to before. Although not to the point he would want to wrestle a scavenger.
It was a cool thought though!