Night came not long after, luckily, Sunny was already on the top of the statue when the sea came back.
The time on top of the statue was boring, but it did help him to expand his insight on his Shadow Dance, he felt he was going to unlock the next step soon.
While meditating, Sunny considered what he already knew about the first step.
In the beginning, he thought it was simply imitation of the battle style he saw, to make him mirror the enemy, but he soon realized that, it was to understand the very essence of the opponent's style and use it against them, to learn and adapt.
So, by that logic, what was the next step? Using those styles in battle? No, he was already doing that. Changing his being? No. Learning more battle styles? He already knew a lot thanks to his sisters and the sleepers in the academy…
"But… What if I am overthinking this?"
What if the point was simpler?
That the point is to understand that all styles were different and he had to learn on the fly to adapt to them?
He already mastered the foundation of multiple styles thanks to his training in Ravenheart.
"Meaning that I merely have to remember…"
It didn't take long for the spell to announce.
[Your Aspect Legacy mastery level has increased.]
[You have received the right to claim a Legacy Relic.]
[...Your Shadow has evolved.]
'Finally!'
He looked at his runes.
Aspect Legacy: [Shadow Dance].
Shadow Dance Mastery Level: [2/7].
First Relic: Claimed.
Second Relic: [Claim].
Third Relic: Unearned…
He concentrated on the second relic.
"Claim!"
[You have claimed an Aspect Legacy Relic.]
[You have received a Memory.]
Memory: [Drop of Ichor]
Memory Rank: unknown
Memory Tier: unknown
Memory Type: unknown
Memory Description: [Before, there was only boundless, eternal void. From that dark abyss, the -unknown- were born. Just like chaos itself, they were endless and everlasting, vast and forever changing. But then came desire, and with it came direction. From it, the gods were born.
When gods appeared, the void was not eternal anymore.
When gods appeared, the darkness was not endless anymore.
When gods appeared, the chaos was not orderless anymore.
The gods appeared, and brought with them war. This drop of divine blood was spilled by Shadow on one of the battlefields of that war, before the void was bound.]
Sunny's mouth gaped unintentionally, he summoned the new memory and kept looking at it as if it was his own heart.
"A drop… Of Shadow? As in Shadow God? Does that mean…?"
Shadow God's lineage.
[You have acquired a drop of ichor. Do you wish to consume it?]
Sunless didn't even notice how the voice of the Spell seemed… Almost excited.
"Yes!"
Something changed in the air after he accepted the ichor, all of the shadows, be it in the sea, his own, or even the shadows of the nightmare creatures seemed to all silently look at him.
His body was overcome by shadows, the ichor was slowly being absorbed by his body.
It wasn't painful, or violent, it was…
Peaceful. It felt right.
As if the blood of Shadow God cared more for him than anyone else.
Soon, Sunny opened his eyes, he felt different, better.
The lineage was inside him, he was Shadow God's heir now, the first heir of shadows.
[..Your Memory has been destroyed.]
[One of your Attributes has evolved.]
[One of your Attributes has evolved.]
[You have acquired a new Attribute.]
[You have acquired a new Attribute.]
Sunless took a deep breath.
He felt calmer now, more at peace, he could feel that his shadows got stronger.
He opened his runes and looked at his attributes.
Attributes: [Fated], [Flame of Divinity], [Heir of Shadows], [The Shadow], [The Blood's Shadow], [Embodiment of Death and Solice].
His attributes changed and he got new ones, they weren't the only thing that changed. The lineage would do much more…
But that's for another day.
His body felt stronger, more… connected with the shadows, like he was a shadow.
He checked his new attributes descriptions.
[Flame of Divinity]: "Your soul is aflame with the light of divinity."
[Heir of Shadows]: "Shadows recognize you as their future ruler."
[The Shadow]: "You have inherited the lineage of Shadow God."
[Embodiment of Death and Solice]: "As the rightful heir of the God of Death, you bring it to all. You will be hated for ending lives, and worshiped for bringing Peace."
'I got more attributes than I thought…
Maybe it's because everything I have is connected to Shadow God, or because of my Divine Aspect… Who knows.'
He rested on the black stone, feeling better than ever.
"Shadow God's Heir…"
Sunny let the time pass, and a new day in the Forgotten Shore began.
—
Cassie woke up in cold sweat, breathing heavily.
She looked around like she could see, scared for her life, only to feel a warm hand touching her shoulder.
"Cassie… What happened?"
A sight of relief escaped the blind girl's lips. Nephis was still there, it wasn't a dream, she was still alive.
"I… I thought I heard something… And got scared… That's all."
Nephis had saved Cassie in the first day.
While she was crying in the corner, the Immortal Flame's daughter had killed the nightmare creatures.
Now she was being protected, but she was dead weight, only giving Nephis more to carry.
Until Cassie started having visions…
A tree, a castle, a Man with golden armor on a throne, Sunny meeting them… And more.
She said all of it to Nephis, whose voice seemed grateful, it looked like Cassie was not going to be dead weight after all.
The visions gave them a direction, the tall castle, maybe that was the way into safety… Well, as much safety as a Death Zone could give.
So much in so little time.
"Come, I cooked some food."
Nephis said as she sat next to the bonfire.
Cassie was frozen for a moment. And only one thing passed through her mind…
'WHY DID YOU MAKE FIRE??!'
Making a fire meant making light, making light in a place where darkness ruled meant attracting every nightmare creature!
And Nephis just did that! Worse, she did that while Cassie was sleeping, meaning she did while it was still in the night!
Nephis seemed to read Cassie's mind, because the next words that came out of the silver haired girl let Cassie speechless.
"Don't worry about nightmare creatures, if any come, I'll just kill them."
Cassie stared at Nephis, where she thought Nephis was.
'This girl is crazy… Is she protecting me or leading to my death?!'
Against her better judgment, and for lack of options, Cassie stayed with Nephis and started eating.
The nightmare creature's flesh was… Edible, not bad, but not good.
As they were eating, they discussed what to do next.
"Let's go to the castle as soon as possible, I don't wish to stay here any longer."
With the little time Cassie and Changing Star stayed together, if there was one thing the blind seer could be certain about the legacy was that she was determined.
Nephis was always focused, always serious, always obsessed with something.
But before Cassie could ask about it, sounds interrupted the two, sounds of battle.
Nephis got up and branded her blade in the direction of it, getting in a position where she was between Cassie and the battle.
The poor seer shrank in fear behind Nephis, she could only tremble in expectation of what would happen and hope Nephis saved her.
Torturous seconds passed, and the sounds continued…
Until they died down…
Until they could only hear the ambient sound of the Death Zone.
"A-Are… They go-"
A giant sound invaded Cassie's eardrums, coral was torn as something came out.
Nephis body shifted to encounter it…
But soon enough, Cassie could tell Changing Star's body relaxed by the breath of relief she exhaled from her.
Cassie heard another sound, a crash on the ground.
The nightmare creature fell down, and a voice came from the same direction.
"I swear, who starts a fire in the middle of the night. In a Death Zone surrounded by nightmare creatures?"
That voice… Cassie recognized it…
The voice of the boy whose mother changed his fate…
And hers in the process.
—
Sunless looked at the two girls while standing above the dead carapace scavenger he had just killed.
Last night while resting, he saw a fire being formed in the horizon and decided to investigate, something told him he should check it. And he was right.
Dropping to the ground, he brushed off the dust and walked to the girls with a genuine smile.
"Nephis, Cassie, what a coincidence…"
Cassie's glassy eyes beamed with happiness.
"Sunny, is that you?!"
She relaxed a lot, the fear once obvious in her body language disappeared in an instant.
Nephis was still on edge, but also relaxed once she saw him.
"Yes, it's me, looks like the Spell dropped us in the same Zone."
Once Cassie knew where Sunless was, she hugged him tightly.
It was strange, and reminded him of Rain.
"Thank the Dead Gods! A normal person! Someone who's not crazy…"
Sunny stopped for a second, then looked at Changing Star, looking for her reaction.
Cassie basically just said that Nephis was crazy and not on her right mind. That had to affect the girl in some way.
And it did… Nephis squinted her eyes but soon returned to her indifferent demeanor.
'Really? Just mild annoyance?'
If he called his sisters crazy, they would blow everything out of proportion.
There was this one time when Howl got angry because he just said she was a crazy battle monger…
And she destroyed his favourite desk after it!
'Women…'
"Well, either way, why did you create fire? Especially at night? The nightmare creatures of the sea are much stronger than…"
He couldn't finish, because he just now noticed what Nephis was wearing…
She just had coral hiding her… Personal things.
The rest of her beautiful white body was showing, slender and at the same time athletic.
And looking at her face… He just noticed how breathtaking her face was.
Now he understood why the Sleepers in the academy always talked about her beauty.
'How did I not notice earlier…?'
Maybe it was because there was too much on his mind, but now, looking at Nephis…
His face heated up, got red.
Sunny lived with many beautiful women, his mother, sisters, Saint Frostblade, even the maids of the Clan were beautiful.
But they were familiar relationships, it was the first time he looked at a girl and…
Got horny.
Nephis raised an eyebrow.
"Yes? You were saying?"
He remembered where he was and how long he stared, shaking his head, trying to stop himself.
'Damn it Sunny! She literally plans to kill your mother!'
Shaking his hormones, he calmed himself to ask.
"Sorry, why did you put a fire on, and why are you wearing… This?"
He tried to look to the side and pointed at the red coral on her body, trying to seem like a respectable legacy.
Nephis then looked at herself and maintained her indifference.
"I made the fire so I could see and cook some meat. I gave my armor to Cassie, since she didn't have one."
Sunless looked at Cassie, who stopped hugging him and now nervously shifted, embarrassed for not gaining any armor in her First Nightmare. Having to use Nephis's armor to protect herself.
Sunny sighed.
"Why didn't you say so in the academy…?"
"I… Didn't want you to see me as useless. Even if I am…"
Sunless' eyes were full of pity for the girl, blind, scared, not even a legacy with a family to back her up…
He sighed again then walked to Nephis while looking to the side. Touching her shoulder, he transferred his [Steelbone armor] to her.
"Give it back once you get better armor."
Nephis seemed surprised for a moment. However, soon enough her indifferent mask returned and she summoned the armor on her skin, appearing in sparks of light.
The armor was simple, wrapping her body with leather, hunter-like clothing. White bones surrounded the vital parts like torso, back, arms and legs.
Nephis analyzed the new armor on herself and nodded in approval.
"Thank you."
Sunny nodded as well, then sat on the ground.
"Now we have to find a way out of here…"
"Oh! We already have!"
Cassie's unprecedented loud voice surprised Sunny, who looked back at her surprised.
"W-Well, I had a vision of a castle, it may be the gateway that can get us out of here."
Sunless' eyes widened.
'Castle? Could it be the one in Hel's vision?'
Cassie then informed him of everything she saw, as well of the direction they needed to go.
Of course, he knew it wasn't the gateway, if it was, Seishan would already be in the waking world. But he didn't voice this knowledge, it wouldn't bring any benefit.
He simply nodded and agreed, but still voiced his concern.
"It will be hard to avoid all the nightmare creatures on the way, especially considering the risk of not having a high enough ground…"
"Who said anything about avoiding?"
Nephis asked as if it was a natural, if not obvious question.
Cassie looked spooked.
Sunless raised an eyebrow to her arrogance.
"What? You want to fight every single creature in the way, who are of the Awakened rank and that have multiple different classes?"
Nephis smiled for the first time.
"Yes. I'm confident that we can do it."
Cassie looked horrified, the idea of fighting an Awakened Beast was already out of the question for her, now Nephis wanted to fight her way to the castle, confronting all Beasts, Monsters, Demons, and who knows what along the way.
It was insane…
But Sunless knew better, Nephis just saw him defeating some carapace scavengers effortlessly. She knows that he is a Song, meaning he received training that made me already above the rest.
'And she knows I want to grow stronger.'
"Are you sure you can keep up?"
Cassie snapped her head to Sunny, not believing her friend was actually agreeing with the absurd idea.
Nephis smile widened just enough so he could notice.
"Of course I can, if it is my will, who can stop me?"
Cassie shrank in horror.
"I'm stuck with crazy people!"