The newly formed cohort had decided to make their way to the tall hill where neph and cassia had stayed during the night, it did not take a lot of time. With Nephis leading the way, taking all the right turns at all the right places, there was no need to explore the labyrinth and backtrack after encountering a dead end. Additionally, there were no scavengers around.
They could have moved ever quicker if not for Cassia, who walked slowly even with the help of her staff. Guided by the golden rope, she carefully explored the ground ahead before taking each step. The uneven paths of the crimson forest were not an ideal surface for a blind person to walk on. aeric had offered to help her but the blind girl had refused politely.
Aeric glanced back at sunny who was trailing behind them watching out for any scavengers attacking them from the back, he must be thinking about how useless cassia was right now, he probably wants to leave her behind, well if not for his knowledge for cassia's true abilities he might have done the same, might
It had dawned on aeric that the characters in shadow slave were not characters anymore, they were real people, now part of his own reality. thinking of them as characters wont cut it. he had loved shadow slave, its enjoyability was far greater than any novel he had read and sunny....
A reader couldn't help but form a bond with the characters, no matter the novel, either negative or positive. Sunny was no exception, aeric had been with sunny when he had survived this hell and awakened, when he was falling into the abyss of the chained isles, when he was tricked by mordret, and even when he was hailed as lord... lady mongrol. Sunny was much more important to him than he realized before, it couldn't be helped right now though.
Cassia was no exception, he had liked her character during the forgotten shore, though the betrayal was unexpected, he could not hate her. so would he have abandoned her if he did not knew about her aspect?
'my head hurts'
The sunset was not far off when they reached the hill. After climbing it and approaching the massive growth of coral, Nephis dismissed the golden rope and immediately summoned it again. This way, it was untied and appeared in her hands in a neat bundle.
The length of the rope suddenly began to increase. Soon, it was thrice as long as it was before. Nephis calmly tied both ends of the rope into loops and then threw one of them into the air, accurately coiling it around a prominent protrusion near the top of the coral pillar. Then, she tested if the rope would hold, swiftly climbed up and waved from above, giving Them the signal to follow.
After hesitating for a second, Sunny approached the rope and grabbed it.
He couldn't help thinking that this would be the perfect opportunity to cut his head off. With him helpless while climbing and Nephis standing on the top of the pillar… yeah. The vivid picture appeared in his mind.
'Stop being paranoid!' Sunny thought, trying to calm himself down.
It's not that he was sure of Changing Star's impeccable moral qualities. Instead, he was certain of one thing: if Nephis really wanted to kill him, she wouldn't have needed to wait for an opportunity. She could have just cut him into ribbons whenever. aeric might, but he saw no reason as to why he would
Simultaneously scared and reassured by this though, Sunny nimbly climbed up and joined Nephis at the top of the coral mound. he was followed by the small cassia who placed her foot in a loop at the end of the rope, nephis wondered by aeric did not climb first
" um aeric, you can just climb with the rope you know, this hill has very slippery edges"
The young man fell deaf on those words and continued to climb the coral hill, he needed the experience anyways. In the future there would be many scenarios where he might have to use his own strength to climb, plus his body was quite muscular already.
The coral mound was much larger than the circular stone platform of the giant knight's neck. In fact, it was almost like a small island. At the highest point of the island, hidden behind some coral blades, the girls had made a little camp. There were piles of seaweed to sleep on, strips of scavenger meat drying under the sun, and a firepit.
an hour or so later Sunny watched as his first companion struggled to climb the steeped edge, his lungs screaming for air and his body shaking
"you crazy bastard, cant you be normal for once?"
Finally making it to the top aeric's body gave in as he managed a few words between breaths
"That... was.... harder that... it looks"
Sunny shook his head. noticing a makeshift fire pit he turned towards neph and cassia
"Was it you two nights ago? we saw an orange light in the distance."
Cassia's face darkened.
"Yes, this was the first time we made a fire. But it turned out to be a really bad mistake."
Nephis sighed.
Sunny raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"Why?"
The blind girl touched her hair and turned her head to Nephis.
"At night, any light will attract monsters. We were attacked by scavengers first. And then… then…"
She paled and didn't finish. But she didn't have to: the memory of the colossal tentacle was still fresh in Sunny's mind.
It seemed that it was wise of him to listen to aeric for once, the bastard had saved both of them from becoming something's dinner
"Uh. I see."
"See sunless... i saved the two of us.... yest-"
He could not say more, deciding to lay for a little more while.
Nephis looked at the sky and cleared her throat.
"It should be fine now. We still have time before the sun sets."
After that, she got busy making the fire. Cassia simply sat on a pile of seaweed and waited. Not knowing what to do, Sunny lowered himself to the ground and let his tired rest alongside aeric
After a while, he said:
"he had meat in that rucksack. Do you have water?"
Cassia smiled.
"Yes!"
After that, she extended an arm to him. A second later, a beautiful bottle made of patterned blue glass appeared in her hand.
"That's a Memory I have. It's always full."
Sunny took the glass bottle and looked at it with envy.
'An endless supply of water, huh? Sure beats my super loud bell!'
"Thank you."
A small cry reached their ear, almost like a dying child who could not breath
"wa-water?"
Cassie handed him the bottle looking at him strangely, well not looking per se. none the less he gulped down the cool water giving his body the much needed chill. he greedily drank more before handing it to sunless
Sunny brought the bottle to his lips but paused, looking at him with a strange expression. he then drank the cool, delicious water. Indeed, no matter how much they drank, the amount of water inside did not seem to decrease.
"Is it really endless?"
Cassia touched her hair again.
"Uh… not really. If you turn it upside down and let the water flow, it will stop in half an hour or so. But then it will be full again pretty soon."
At that time, Nephis was already done making the fire. Without looking up, she took the rucksack and opened it. Immediately, the soul shard rolled out. The tall girl looked at it, then at them. Then she put the shard back in and pulled out the meat.
"did you guys kill it?"
Aeric nodded " sunless was attacked by one hiding it the sand, luckily while it was distracted i managed to sneak up from behind and stab its weak point"
He summoned his stone blade for a few moments before it disappeared
Neph looked at him strangely, her eyes seemed to pear through him
"impressive"
Soon, the rich smell of roasting meat permeated the air. At the same time, the sun was beginning to approach the horizon; a loud rumble came from somewhere beneath, and first traces of the black water began to appear between crimson walls of the labyrinth.
Sunny looked east, where the skies were already growing dark. Then he uncomfortably shifted.
"Do scavengers come all the way up here?"
Nephis turned the meat and nodded.
"Yes. But… only at night. In the day, most of them seem to disappear."
Sunny grinned, having an idea of why there weren't a lot of monsters in the labyrinth in the day.
"That's because they all gather near the place I had been spending my time recently. You should have seen it — the tall cliff to the west of here. Well, it's actually a statue."
Cassia opened her eyes wide.
"A… a statue? But for you to survive, it should be…"
"Yes, it's a giant statue of a knight, at least two hundred meters tall. He is missing his head, so I hid on top of the neck. Anyway… the day we were sent here, two sea creatures fought each other near that statue. When the water receded, I saw an enormous carcass lying there, with hundreds of scavengers slowly tearing it apart."
Nephis nodded.
"That would explain the lack of Nightmare Creature in the day. How long?"
Sunny blinked.
"How long what?"
Changing Star stared at him for a few seconds, making everyone feel uncomfortable.
"How long... until they are done devouring the carcass?"
"Oh. One day more, two at most."
Nephis turned away, took the meat away from the fire, and then quickly extinguished it.
'There's definitely something wrong with that girl!'
The four of them ate in the dimming light of the twilight. The meat was juicy, tender and indescribably delicious. It was better than anything they had tasted in a while.
From time to time, they would pass the glass bottle to each other.
When they were finished with their meal, the dark sea was back, and the night was upon them. Everything was consumed by absolute darkness.
Of course, Sunny could easily see aeric Nephis and Ca.s.sia. Under the cover of the night, Changing Star remained pretty much the same. aeric looked at him with the same small but strange smile but the blind girl, however, allowed her true emotions to show, thinking that no one would see. She seemed much more lost, lonely and frightened than she did in the day.
As if trying to resist these feelings, Cassia said in a bright voice:
"How about we formally introduce ourselves? I'm Cassie."
Nephis glanced in her direction and shrugged.
"Neph."
Aeric grinned and spoke
"aeric"
last it was Sunny's turn. He exhaled, glad that they didn't ask his name directly. Most likely, he would still have been able to provide his human name — however, it also might have depended on the wording of the question.
Relieved, he smiled and answered:
"I'm Sunless. But you can call me Sunny."
Sunny was slowly growing fond of having conversations in the dark. Without the burden of light, people were more relaxed and honest. Although throughout the entire conversation that smile on aeric's face never wavered, infact it grew except for that these dark hours had become some of his most precious memories.
He was silent for a few moments and then said:
"Since we're going to be depending on each other, should we share what abilities and Memories we have at our disposal?"
Aeric sighed, coming from sunny this was a logical suggestion. If they were going to fight side by side, knowing each other's strengths was more or less vital. Still, he knew that all three of them were going to hide the full extent of their abilities. he decided to go last in this chain of information
"I'll start," Sunny said, both to show his sincerity and to reveal information about himself in a controlled manner.
"My attributes give me an affinity to shadows. I also have a slight affiliation to divinity. Lastly,
Cassie listened carefully, and then lowered her head, as though embarrassed.
"Uh… he is telling the truth. Not that we doubted your honesty!"
"Why not? Sunless spent so much time earning the reputation of a pathological liar!"
The three of them looked at him strangely, but he just shrugged
Sunny cleared his throat and smiled, hiding his nervousness:
"Really? That's good to know. But… why are you so sure that I am being honest?"
The blind girl shifted a little.
"Oh! That's my Ability. I can "see" people's Attributes. Sometimes, I also receive, uh, "visions". They can be about the future or the past. I mean, that's what I think… it only happened a couple of times."
Aeric really wanted to know if she could see his attribute or not but he already knew the answer, cassia's attribute enabled her to look into the sea of fate, and since his was broken there was nothing to see
"That's a good Ability. Speaking of Abilities: you have already seen mine. My shadow can move independently and explore. It can't affect the material world, but we share sight and hearing. That way, I can spot danger before encountering it. The shadow is fast and stealthy: it can go anywhere and is almost impossible to notice. Oh, I can also see in the dark."
He smiled, expecting the girls to understand and appreciate the utility of his Shadow Scout. Their reaction, however, was a bit strange: Nephis slowly turned her head in his direction, while Cassie became a bit pale and raised her hands to cover her chest.
"Uh… what?"
Nephis frowned and said in a flat tone:
"Have you ever used your Ability in the Academy?"
Sunny blinked.
'What a strange question!'
"In the Academy? Sure, of course. Why?"
Aeric palmed his face with his hand
"Sunless while i do truly believe that your act at the academy was all that a act, even you have to think about speaking so carelessly."
Sunny grimaced.
Neph turned to aeric with that same strange expression and opened her mouth to say something but sunny beat her to it he hurriedly raised his hand and blurted:
"But I have never used it to do anything improper! You have to believe me!"
"I had more important things to do than… than whatever you're thinking about! I spent almost every waking hour learning how to survive!"
Nephis raised an eyebrow.
"I haven't seen you in class… even once."
Sunny chuckled.
"Of course, you didn't. While you were busy wiping the floor with other Sleepers, I was studying Wilderness Survival."
It was Changing Star's turn to blink.
"Wilderness… what? There is such a course?"
Cassie seemed equally puzzled.
"Yes, there is. It might seem like an afterthought for most people, but for an outskirts kid like me, who never went to a fancy school or saw a private tutor, learning how to survive in the wilderness is the difference between life and death. Without it, I would have drowned the moment we were sent to the Dream Realm."
On a rare occasion, Nephis looked completely bewildered. She rubbed her wrists and stared thoughtfully in his direction.
"I see. I didn't know."
Sunny grimaced and struggled to keep the venom from sipping into his voice. When he finally spoke, his tone was light and amiable.
"That's okay. It's natural for someone of your status not to know…"
When he mentioned her status, a strange smile appeared on the Changing Star's face. But in the end, she didn't reply.
Sunny continued:
"Anyway, that's my Ability. As for Memories, I have two. One is an armor and the last one is a really loud bell."
Now it was their turn to share. After a short pause, Nephis spoke:
"My attributes give me an affinity to light and fire, as well as a strong affiliation to divinity. I have two Memories: a rope…"
Of course her aspect was much more than that, that went for sunny as well. cassia and him knew that and sunny was most probably figuring it out himself too.
"...and a sword. The rope is very sturdy and can change its length. The sword is very sharp and can protect its wielder against souls attacks, to a certain extent. My Ability… can be used to heal."
"You're a Healer? That's great! Having a Healer among us is incredible luck!"
Cassie nodded and smiled.
"Neph is also an amazing fighter! You should have seen her dealing with those scavengers. Well… I also did not actually see it. But it sounded very scary."
Sunny didn't need anyone to tell him how formidable of a warrior Nephis was. He had seen it with how own two eyes. Sort of. Actually, they were his shadow's eyes. Well… whatever it had instead of eyes. Aeric shuddered. cassia spoke
"It's my turn? Uh… my attributes are nothing special. I guess I have an affinity to revelations and fate. My Ability is like I told you before. It's not very useful. About my Memories, I have three: the bottle, the wooden staff and this armor. You already know about the bottle. The staff can create wind. The armor is actually of the Awakened rank… uh, Neph gave it to me when we met. It has a very powerful protective charm."
The blind girl turned away and added after a while:
"I used to be a pretty decent fencer… before. Now I can't really fight."
Knowing that there was not much else to speak aeric started
"My turn!... well there is nothing much to say, i have a stone blade as my only memory as you saw, my aspect is pretty much nonexistent as it only slightly boost my vision... yeah that's pretty much it"
silence filled the small group
'great way to introduce yourself aeric, why dont you tell them how your practically just a regular human, god i cant even fill up my soul core, do i even have one?'
"Alright... That's good enough I think we have enough tools to survive, provided we use them right. I guess it's time to sleep?"
In the darkness, Nephis tilted her head, listening to his words with a distant look.
"Alright. I'll… take watch first."
Sunny decided to be helpful and said:
"Actually, my shadow doesn't sleep. It can wake us up if something happens."
Changing Star slowly smiled.
"I'll take watch first."
Feeling a bit of coldness in her voice, Sunny sighed and shrugged.
'Suit yourself. What are you going to watch, huh? You can't even see anything! Whatever. Just don't blame me when something giant swallows us in the middle of the night…'
Aeric turned around, shuddering due to the cold wind hitting his body and cursing at the lack of clothing, he let sleep takeover his body, or had it already taken over? he didnt know