Two figures sat at a long wooden table with equally pensive expressions. Both were sitting in opulent wooden chairs across from each other and were staring at the stretch of table that separated them. On its seemingly smooth surface was a myriad of roughly carved grooves forming a vast maze. To others it might have looked like nonsense but to the two sleeper it was a map of their immediate surroundings. Each line represented either a street or the wall of a building. Several chunks of black stone rested atop the map representing various nearby abominations while splintered wood represented debris blocking off streets and fallen buildings.
Frankly it was not looking good for them, in fact their situation was quite dire. They had started the map just this morning as soon as they had woken up and in that short time they had come to a dreadful realization. The majority of the abominations residing inside the dark city were of the fallen rank. Awakened nightmare creatures were rare and hard to find in this city making it difficult to find suitable prey. Gwin had scouted from the top of their temporary shelter's roof along with Elena this morning and had failed to spot even one. Perhaps he just didn't know where to look. He used that thought to calm him down slightly. Strangely enough he wasn't panicking despite their worsening situation. Maybe it was the hope of other survivors along with a gateway that kept him from freaking out…or maybe it was that he was starting to forget. In the back of his mind Gwin could feel a foreign presence nestled there that was making it hard for him to remember things.
He had chalked it up to be the after effects of being mind controlled. After all, they had gotten far, far away from that horror dwelling in the monolith so he no longer needed to worry about it. Even forming the map would have been difficult for him without Elena's help. He was still doing his best to hide his condition until he got better since he wasn't sure Elena wouldn't up and leave him once she found out how useless he was becoming.
Just then Elena had picked up and moved a chunk of black stone.
"The rotting scorpions had been on this street, not that one."
She was still deep in thought as she charted their course in her head.
"We need more information. We can't make any progress until we know where we are going and if we can retreat back in case something goes wrong."
There was a lot of logic in what she was saying. They had landed near the base of the Great Walls surrounding the city so they had a vast length to travel in order to reach the castle. A single mistake would spell doom for them.
They had briefly pondered whether they should wait for some kind of rescue party from the castle but after seeing the state of the city they realized the denizens of the castle did not have a very stable footing here.
Gwin couldn't focus on the map with several other things fighting for his attention at the moment. He dove into his soul sea and was met with the still expanse of crimson blood and the lonely scarlet moon high in the sky shining with lonely radiance.
Out there breaking the even surface of the endless expanse of crimson blood was a fearsome squid made from blood. Its body lay flatly on the surface of blood and its glossy red eyes reflected the lonely moon like an iridescent iris. Its beaks were open as if mid shriek and its tentacles spread all around it in the air like a show of strength. Under its mantle rested hundreds of human arms that clutched the surface of blood as if ready to move at any moment. It was so lifelike that Gwin almost thought he saw it move.
He circled it for a few minutes enthusiastically taking in its many details he had missed before in all the life or death situations. For one he found out that the remnant feeder actually had a hidden needlelike tongue inside their beaks after sticking his head in its mouth and taking a look.
'Why do they never use that one?'
It was truly fascinating and almost made getting ripped apart by thousands of man-eating bugs worth it. He had learned a lot just from studying it like this. He felt like he could better use and understand how to use them for his own gain now.
Next to the squid lay an unfinished sculpture of a snake's underbelly. It was quite small however since Gwin had neglected using the disciple with his attribute due to his meager essence pool and the strain that using it put on him. It was still the most powerful creature in his collection however so he made a mental note to use it more often.
He decided to take this chance to inspect the memories he gained during that ordeal as well. He had slain hundreds of the [Black Locust] through various means and for that he had been rewarded with…Three memories! He felt a little disappointed at how little he had gotten for how much he had gone through. Maybe his earlier luck had spoiled him.
Looking up at the lonely moon he focused on the three new motes of light and called them down. They floated down and stopped right in front of him and as they did three runic descriptions appeared.
*****
Memory Name: [Dark Wing]
Memory Rank: I
Memory Type: garment
Memory Description:[This cloak is as light as a dragonflies wing… and as durable.]
The image that appeared in front of it resembled a large pair of transparent bug wings. He was quite excited to test this one out since flying had always been a dream of his…right? At least he felt it had, he couldn't really remember whether or not it was right now.
'This sucks, when is my memory going to come back?'
He distracted himself from these thoughts with his other two memories. He was quite pleased with what he had gotten next. The runes read.
Memory Name: [Militia Steel]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Class: I
Memory Type: weapon
Memory Description: [Cold hard steel is often the best way to defend oneself]
The image that appeared in front of it was a lusterless black sword with a simple hilt and a short and broad blade.
'A sword! Finally!'
He would finally be able to put what he learned at the academy to use. He couldn't describe how much relief he felt to finally have some semblance of familiarity in this cruel place. He now felt like he could take the lead in drawing the nightmare creatures attention now instead of putting that burden sorely on Lena's shoulders. Her small and slender shoulders…..
'FOCUS!'
He read the next set of runes feeling oddly ashamed.
Memory Name: [Shrill Screecher]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Class: I
Memory Type: tool
Memory Description: [An undeniably annoying noise reminiscent of the swarm it came from]
From what he could tell from the image this memory was some type of archaic musical instrument. It looked like a wooden stick with one larger and rounder end. He decided to summon it to inspect it further. In his hand formed a wooden maraca made from brown wood with countless engravings on its gourd. After hearing it rattle slightly he decided to shake it much to his immediate regret as an ear piercing shrill erupted from within it. He quickly threw it far across the vast expanse of his soul sea yet the deafening sound still persisted even as it finally hit the ground several dozen meters away. After a moment more of enduring the awful sound he finally had the genius thought to just dismiss his memory. It seemed he had gotten quite a strong noise making memory! Which was useful for…for…yeah he couldn't think of how it could be useful…
"Are you even paying attention?"
Just then he realized he had been staring blankly at the table between them while in his soul sea while she apparently had been saying something to him. He nodded and she continued with a sigh.
"We will have to fight and make a path through this area."