For the rest of the night, Reinhard trained his control over soul essence.
As morning approached, he gathered meat from the scavengers and retrieved the two soul shards from the centurion's body.
Although he was tempted to absorb them, they belonged to Nephis and Sunless.
So he left them alone.
Nephis woke first, followed by Sunless.
The night before, Reinhard had decided to give Cassie an attribute that would help her navigate her surroundings. He had also already thought of a way to explain it to the other two.
After returning from his useless survey of the island, he walked over to the group.
Nephis glanced at him before returning to cooking breakfast.
Nearby, Sunless continued training with his sword.
Reinhard approached the still-sleeping Cassie and crouched beside her. The movement drew some attention from the other two.
Sunless watched him with curiosity. Nephis still wore her usual flat expression, though she seemed slightly intrigued as well.
How do I wake her up?
He thought for a moment before lightly tapping her shoulder.
By now, a routine had formed between the four of them.
Reinhard stayed awake through the night; Nephis always woke first, followed by Sunless. Cassie, meanwhile, was allowed to sleep for as long as she wanted. She usually woke well before they planned to leave, and none of them expected her to take on any work anyway.
This was the first time any of them had needed to wake her.
After a second, Cassie's eyes fluttered open slightly.
They stayed that way for only a brief moment before closing again.
"...Cassie."
There was no response.
He waited another second before gently tapping her shoulder once more.
Come on, wake up!
"Cassie."
This time, she stirred.
A soft, sleepy sound escaped her lips as her brows knitted together slightly. She shifted, still caught somewhere between sleep and wakefulness; the carapace armor she was wearing scraped across the hard ground, creating some irritating noise.
That probably helped in her waking up.
"...Mm..."
For a few seconds she simply lay there, then her eyes opened again.
Unlike everyone else, she couldn't immediately make sense of where she was. Waking up meant returning to the same endless darkness every time. It took her a moment to remember why she had woken up in the first place.
Only after hearing the quiet breathing and seeing the attributes in front of her did recognition return.
"...Rein?" she mumbled, her voice still thick with sleep.
I almost forgot she was still calling me that...
Since she had decided to randomly start calling him by a nickname, and thankfully Sunless or Nephis were not picking it up, Reinhard decided to leave her as an exception; plus, he didn't know how to tell her to not call him that either.
The two sleepers behind him were watching the whole scene with rapt attention but still acting like they weren't.
"I have something for you," he said quietly.
Cassie blinked a few times, trying to clear away the remnants of sleep.
"...me?"
"Yes. Sit up first."
She looked a little confused but still nodded.
"...Okay."
Supporting herself with one hand, Cassie slowly pushed herself upright. She paused for a second after sitting up, instinctively adjusting the way she was sitting before turning her face toward Reinhard.
"What is it?" she asked softly.
"It should help with your vision."
"My... vision?"
Her voice was quiet and uncertain, as if she didn't believe him for a second.
For a brief moment, Reinhard wondered if she thought he was making some kind of joke.
"It won't cure your blindness, but it should make moving around easier."
Even without looking directly at them, Reinhard could tell the other two had stopped whatever they were doing.
It wasn't difficult to understand why.
Blindness was her flaw, while Reinhard's aspect appeared to revolve almost entirely around combat and utility. The strongest nightmare creature they had encountered so far was only an awakened monster, so it was difficult to believe he possessed a memory capable of compensating for something like that.
Which left only one possibility.
His aspect.
Neither of them knew where its limits lay before, but they had a rough idea; now, they simply had no clue.
After a few moments, Cassie turned toward him again.
"...How?"
There was hope in her voice.
She knew he couldn't lie. More importantly, she knew Reinhard wasn't the type to make claims unless he was certain they were true.
So all she could do was wait and see.
"Give me your hand."
If it weren't for the curiosity filling her mind and the tense silence surrounding them, Cassie might have laughed.
Somehow, reaching out her hand to Reinhard had become the solution to most of her problems.
Whether literally... Or metaphorically.
A similar thought crossed Reinhard's mind.
***
Back, I guess.