Soon, morning came again.
Neither Sunny nor Nephis had slept a wink, yet both of them looked as though they had enjoyed a full night's rest.
In the quiet stillness of dawn, Sunny turned his gaze toward the retreating water. As the black sea withdrew, the crimson labyrinth below slowly revealed itself once more.
Soon, the Carapace Scavengers began to appear, tiny, moving specks within the vast red maze.
And yet, despite their size, the sight filled Sunny with an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
There were simply too many.
"Where should we go?" Nephis suddenly asked, breaking the silence.
She looked straight at him.
Sunny glanced into the distance and pointed toward the direction of the headless statue.
"I'm not sure… but there's a massive corpse of a shark-like abomination over there."
Nephis followed his gaze.
"So that's why the scavengers are heading west," she said, immediately grasping the implication.
Sunny nodded.
"Yeah."
It seemed she had already noticed their strange behavior.
Beside them, Cassie still slept, her body shifting slightly as the warmth of the rising sun touched her skin.
Nephis stood.
"With the scavengers gathering in the west, the logical choice is to move east as soon as possible," she said calmly. "North or south are options too, but they won't put as much distance between us and the danger."
Sunny nodded in agreement.
Her reasoning was solid.
As she rose, the damp seaweed clung to her figure. Even Sunny, despite everything, found his gaze lingering for a moment before he looked away.
But before either of them could say more—
Cassie suddenly jolted awake.
Her breathing was uneven, her eyes wide open.
"Cassie?" Sunny stepped closer. "What's wrong?"
"A… a vision!" she exclaimed, practically trembling with excitement. "I saw a vision!"
Her face lit up with something Sunny hadn't seen since they arrived here.
Hope.
"People… I saw people! A castle—there were so many of them!" she continued. "I don't know how far it is, but I'm sure it's in that direction!"
Sunny and Nephis exchanged a glance.
Relief… and dread.
Cassie's trembling finger pointed west.
⸻
The next morning, they descended the hill.
Going down proved far easier than climbing up had been.
Soon, the wet squelch of mud filled their ears as they stepped into the labyrinth once more.
A long day awaited them.
Unfortunately, peace didn't last long.
A lone Carapace Scavenger blocked their path.
They could go around… but it would cost them precious daylight.
"I'll take care of it," Sunny said, stepping forward.
Shadows stirred as faint sparks of light condensed into his hand, forming his blade.
Nephis nodded, stepping back but keeping her sword ready as she positioned herself in front of Cassie.
The moment the scavenger noticed Sunny, it lunged.
Fast.
Faster than the ones he had fought before.
The shadow at his feet seemed to sigh before wrapping itself tightly around him.
'I wanted to try something…'
Sunny moved.
His body slipped to the right side just as the pincer tore through the air where he had stood a heartbeat before.
A breath escaped his lips as he lowered his stance and surged forward.
His movements weren't just reactive anymore.
They flowed.
The scavenger struck again, one of its legs stabbing into the ground where he had been.
Sunny was already gone.
He wasn't just fighting.
He was… learning.
Adapting.
His body moved like a shadow, echoing the memory burned into his mind, the graceful dance of the girl from his dream.
Step. Shift. Flow.
His blade flashed.
A leg fell.
The scavenger screeched, staggering.
Sunny was already behind it.
Another strike.
Another limb severed.
Almost…
His breathing slowed.
His movements sharpened.
For a brief moment, it truly felt like he was dancing.
⸻
A final strike.
Silence.
Sunny pulled his odachi from the corpse and wiped the blood from his face.
[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
[…Your shadow grows stronger.]
Sunny paused.
'No Memory…?'
A flicker of disappointment crossed his face.
He looked up as Nephis approached, already moving to harvest the creature efficiently.
Cassie smiled softly in his direction—though her gaze didn't quite meet him.
Still, Sunny smiled back.
"In that case," he said, exhaling, "we gather what we can… then head to the statue."
Nephis didn't argue.
⸻
By the time they returned, the day had already taken its toll.
They had encountered several more scavengers along the way.
All of them had fallen.
But more importantly—
Sunny's efforts had finally borne fruit.
⸻
'Focus… the dance…'
Mid-battle, his eyes sharpened.
The memory resurfaced again.
The girl.
The shadows.
The movement.
A pincer struck—
Sunny slipped past it effortlessly.
This time, there was no hesitation.
No stiffness.
His body moved naturally, perfectly aligning with something deeper than instinct.
Nephis, watching from a distance, froze.
She had been about to step in.
But now
She stopped.
Sunny's movements…
They were no longer just efficient.
They were graceful.
Like a dance.
[You have received an Aspect Legacy: Shadow Dance.]
Sunny froze.
His eyes widened.
He glanced toward Nephis.
Before even a second passed, she was already moving toward him.
⸻
'Shadow Dance…?'
Sunny focused inward, staring at the glowing runes.
Aspect Legacy: [Shadow Dance]
New lines of text shimmered into existence.
Shadow Dance Description:
[Once an elegant dance, now a deadly battle art. This mysterious style was created by the treacherous Lost From Light after witnessing a graceful slave dancing with her shadows. Who else could have taken something so beautiful and turned it into something so vile?]
Sunny's expression twisted.
"…Does the Spell hate me or something?"
For once he was completely at a loss for words.