There was a silent sea. Utterly calm, serene and beautiful.
On top, there were three polyhedrons hanging on the bright blue sky. However currently there were going through a change.
A few seconds the polyhedrons took their shapes. They not looked like icosahedrons. The three cores glowed in a light green hue. There were eight glyphs that were circling the soul core that was in the middle. Those were Aether's memories.
At start, only a spark appeared, afterwards, by accumulating those sparks grew into green flames inside the cores.
Zheshi was resting in one of those flames. Seemingly unharmed by it, it was more like she was enjoying the warmth of the green fire.
The sea beneath looked deeper and vaster.
Aether laid, unconscious on the sea floor. He was utterly naked for anyone to see, but he was utterly alone in his soul sea.
His body was fit before. Now it was lithe, with not a gram of fat covering the lean muscles. His figure looked like something chiseled from marble by an enamored sculptor.
The water around him created small waves as it calmed down once again.
With a sudden scream Aether's body shot to sat up. His eyes had turned bloodshot red as he breathed in and out heavily. His heart thundered inside his chest, he was almost able to hear it clearly. His hands trembled as he put them on his face, trying to maintain his composure.
'Am I alive?'
He looked around, calming himself down as he realized he was till inside his soul sea. However things were different now. The polyhedrons above had now taken a clear shape, before they were formless.
Green fire was burning inside them too. However Aether was more concerned if he was alive or not.
The deer was nowhere to be seen. As he was about to summon his runes, the spell whispered into his ear.
[You have slain an awakened terror: Deer of Abundance.]
[You have received an echo: Deer of Abundance.]
'Huh..?'
Aether stared at the runes with wide eyes. The deer of abundance was a very powerful adversary, having it as an echo was a great boon. Before he could bask in his own glory, new set of runes appeared.
[You have received a new attribute: Gambler.]
[Your Aspect Legacy mastery level has increased.]
[Automatically claiming the relic.]
'Good.. wait what?'
Why the hell was the spell automatically claiming it? This had not happened the first time. And a new attribute?
[You have received a contradiction: Epiphany.]
'A what now?'
[Awakening Contradiction abilities.]
Aether was stunned. What were contradictions? He patiently waited to awaken the ability, hoping it would not put him through a torture.
Which it did not.
The green flames in his soul cores simply grew brighter.
[Contradiction ability acquired.]
[Ability name: Imagination.]
Feeling very interested, Aether summoned his runes. As he expected, the [Wand of Fire] and the echo of the [Carapace Centurion] were gone. And he had received soul fragments of the army he had slaughtered in the fight against the deer of abundance.
Name: Aether.
True Name: The Blasphemer.
Rank: Dreamer
Class: Demon.
Soul Cores: [3/7].
Soul Fragments: [380/3000].
Memories: [Fallen Captain], [Silk Step], [Azure Spear], [Glassified], [Feelings of Attachment], [Token of Vitality].. and 7 more.
Echoes: [Deer of Abundance]
The Followers of The Godless: [Zheshi]
Attributes: [Complexity], [Trust], [False Sight], [Ever Winter], [Spark of Divinity], [Gambler].
Aspect: [Heir of Reasons]
Aspect Rank: Divine
Aspect Abilities: [Whispering Paradox]
And there it was. The new set of runes.
Contradiction: [Epiphany]
Contradiction Description: [In a world full of lies, you are the only truth.]
Contradiction Ability: [Imagination]
Contradiction Ability Description: [You are able to create mind attacks.]
Aether simply could not understand what he was looking at. Had he received a new aspect? No.. it was not quite an aspect as it did not have a rank. Another extension of his aspect then..
The description was quite sick though. Aether would be stealing this for himself.
He could create mind attacks just like the soul-devouring tree. But from what he understood from the description, he could create any type of a mind attack he wanted. Making his mind attacks more versatile.
Since he had delved into the mind of the tree, he understood very well how it had been creating its mind hexes. Aether was almost certain he could do it too for a short amount of time.
With that out of the way, he decided to check his new attribute.
Attribute: [Gambler.]
Attribute Description: [You have high chances of succeeding once you gamble.]
This gave Aether weird ideas.
'Can I trick the spell? Like.. I could make it seem like I am gambling for memories or echoes. That way I would gain more of them..'
It was an idea he was willing to try.
However before he could think about it more, he was suddenly kicked out from his own soul sea.
***
Under the giant tree, a figure lay on the makeshift bed. His naked body covered by a piece of cloth.
Next to him, Seraphine sat on the ground, her back laid against the tree. It had been three days since 'Aether' had tried to kill her and had collapsed after apologizing. Leaving her terrified at the sight of the amount of blood he had puked out.
Seraphine did not know what had happened to Aether. However he had fixed himself right at the last moment, so she was willing to wait for him to wake up, it had been three days.
Even if he got up and tried to kill her once again, she was prepared to strike back this time.
And then she sensed something.
Seraphine had ridiculously sharp senses due to her attribute. It had been hard to become accustomed to it after her first nightmare, after all she had gained a new set of senses too that she was unfamiliar with.
So she immediately got up as she felt Aether's breathing change. Yellow sparks shimmered in her hands and a bow and an arrow with a yellow tip was summoned into existence. She immediately charged the bow and pointed it towards Aether. Ready to shoot if something happened.
Aether's figure slowly sat up. His eyes did not look as hollow as before. They looked confused now as they looked at her. His eyes widened as he registered the fact that she was pointing an arrow at him.
Raising his arms in surrender, he spoke up.
"Woah there.. Please put that thing down my friend..."
"Are you Aether?"
Aether nodded, Seraphine lowered her bow. But the bow was still charged, and here eyes were narrowed as they stared at him.
"I think you owe me an explanation. What happened?"
"Apparently, I was under the influence of this tree's mind hex. I somehow saved myself in the end. Speaking of which.. how are you not under its influence?"
Seraphine had already guessed that this tree was a living being due to her sharp senses. And from what he told her, it specialized in mind attacks. But why hadn't it put her under its influence just like it had done to Aether?
Was he lying to her?
One of her attributes influenced people to tell the truth to her when they made eye contact with her. Sure, it did not work all the time, but it was still reliable.
A creepy thought appeared in her mind. During the days she had been here, she had been sensing fear emanating from the tree. And once Aether woke up, the fear that the tree was feeling had increased by a lot.
...Was the sentient tree scared of Aether? If so.. what had he done to make a nightmare creature so terrified of him..?
Her thoughts were interrupted when Aether spoke up once again.
Aether glanced down at himself, then at her. "…Did you undress me?"
"No! I did not do anything! It just disappeared when you fell asleep!"
"That sounded rehearsed."
"Because it was!"
***
After a while, both of them were sitting on the ground, munching on cooked scavenger meat. Aether was aching all over, and his head hurt a lot. It was most likely due to the fact that he had been in a mind clash with the tree.
At least he was back in his garments now.
"Do you know where we are?" Seraphine asked once she finished her portion.
"The name of this place is the forgotten shore. However I did not learn it from any books, it was written in the description of a memory I received."
"Oh... So we really are in an unexplored region."
"Where did you come from?"
"South. The Hollow Mountains are down there." She wrinkled her nose. "So I went west instead. And, well, here we are."
Aether nodded. He had done a good decision to head west. The hollow mountains were not a place they could venture into.
"I think we should keep heading west-" he began, but Seraphine cut him off, eyes lighting.
"I already checked. While you were out, I scouted ahead. There's a massive crater. If we skirt the rim, we'll eventually reach the end of it. So… yeah, west works."
Aether inclined his head.
"So, since we are going to travel together should we share what abilities and Memories we have at our disposal?"
Seraphine gave him a guarded look. He did not blame her, after all it was hard to trust someone you just met, even if you are going to travel by their side.
"Sure." She reluctantly agreed. "My attributes.. I have very sharp and different senses. And one of my other attributes give me a sense of where to shoot."
Aether listened quietly.
"My aspect ability is that I can create shockwaves with each of my attacks. As for memories.. I have a backpack, it holds what's inside even when dismissed. I have an unnecessary amount of swords.. spell keeps giving them even if I already have good ones. I also have a bow and a poisoned arrow."
Aether held out his hand to her with a gentle smile. She raised an eyebrow, questioning his intentions, but grabbed his hand.
[You have transferred a memory: Wanderer.]
Wanderer was a memory he had received while he was under the influence of the soul devouring tree. He had received it from an awakened devil. However Aether had decided not to use it, because it was designed for women to wear.
As he let go of her hand, Seraphine immediately summoned the memory.
Her body was now covered by a layer of gray leather armor. The armor was simple, there were shoulder guards, elbow and knee guards. The top only contained her chest, weaving a sturdy leather armor on top of it. But it left her toned midriff open, the shorts that were weaved were out of leather, and provided sheaths for daggers. There were also leather boots, they reached out to her knees.
She looked herself over, then smirked. "Thanks. Actually, this would look good on yo-"
"No."
"But.."
"Absolutely not."
Seraphine rolled her eyes dramatically. Then looked at me expectantly. I was about to question her, but remembered that it was my turn.
"My attributes give a slight affinity to divinity, one of them improves my sight, and another makes me more appealing to both humans and nightmare creatures, oh I am also very likely to succeed if I gamble."
"Appealing to both humans and nightmare creatures...?"
"Don't ask." Aether replied flatly.
"I was not planning to." she shot back, lips quirking
"I have some memories. But not every one of them are useful. I have a spear and a saber, this garment and some charms and tools."
He kept some of his memories to himself.
"And my aspect…" He let the words hang, then shrugged. "Call me a seer."
Seraphine narrowed her eyes at the vague description of his aspect. She had analyzed back in the academy that he could foresee an attack before it came, so she knew that he was more than a seer. His aspect was most likely complicated, so she did not press him for answers.
Tomorrow they would set out to travel around the edged of the crater.