The wind howled, a relentless symphony against the desolate cliffs. After finalizing their daring plan, the trio—Changing Star, Sunny, and Kane—made their final preparations. While Changing Star, also known as Nephis, readied herself, Sunny and Kane retrieved the soul shards from the eight fallen scavengers. They presented these shimmering fragments to the silver-haired girl, watching intently as she brought each one to her chest, crushing them in her fist. With every shard absorbed, a subtle tremor ran through her, the essence merging with her very soul.
Minutes later, as the changes subsided, Nephis slowly opened her eyes and inhaled deeply. For a Sleeper, consuming the shards of eight awakened beasts was a significant feat, equivalent to slaying sixteen dormant creatures. Though not a monumental leap, it was a substantial boost to her physical prowess. Her body felt stronger, faster, enhanced in every conceivable way. They would need every ounce of that newfound strength to survive the trials ahead.
Nephis, remarkably attuned to her own physicality, quickly adjusted to her enhanced limits. She turned to Sunny and Kane, her gaze sharp and unwavering. "Are you guys ready?" she asked, her voice steady despite the storm raging around them.
Sunny and Kane nodded in unison. Nephis then turned to Cassie, the blind girl. There was little left to say; all necessary discussions had taken place. Empty words would only amplify Cassie's anxieties, and Kane knew that any attempt to console her would likely only worsen her worry.
Cassie, ever resilient, attempted a brave face. She turned toward Nephis, a forced smile gracing her lips. "Go and kill that thing. Maybe you'll finally get something decent to wear and stop making me feel so guilty."
A corner of Nephis's lip curled into a faint smile. "Okay."
"Stay tight, Miss Porcelain Beauty," Kane interjected, his voice carrying a playful warmth. "We won't be killed that easily."
Cassie's melodic laugh drifted on the wind. "You better not be," she retorted, her smile softening.
Kane returned her smile before turning. Nephis, her eyes set on the task ahead, spoke decisively, "Let's go." Kane nodded, and moments later, all three vanished into the stormy expanse, heading for battle.
A few minutes later, Sunny found himself perched atop a rocky ridge, peering down at the deadly monster below. Their plan, meticulously crafted, boasted a high chance of success. With a soft sigh, Sunny raised his hand and summoned the shimmering silver bell. He shook it lightly, and its clear, melodic ringing pierced through the storm's roar.
Immediately, the monster stirred. Its massive torso swiveled, its eyes, like twin crimson flames, ignited with furious intent as they fixed on Sunny. But Sunny saw none of this. The instant the bell chimed, he turned, launching himself from the ridge without a moment's hesitation.
The ridge wasn't towering, yet the fall to the ground was considerable. Sunny hit the rocks hard, rolling to dissipate the force of the impact. Scrambling to his feet, he ran, putting as much distance between himself and the monster as possible.
A breath later, the ridge behind him erupted. The monster, a hulking mass of raw power, had simply crashed into it, tearing through layers of rock as if they were mere paper. A flash of lightning and a thunderclap followed, momentarily drowning out the cacophony of falling debris. The creature locked onto the retreating Sunny, lunging forward, one of its scythes poised to impale him. Shards of rock streamed from its spiked carapace like a torrential river.
Fortunately, Sunny was already far enough. Without breaking stride, he lowered his body, sprinted a few more meters, and then pivoted. The sight of the monstrous creature, more than three meters tall, rushing at him like a speeding train, would have made anyone falter. Yet, Sunny stood his ground, raising the Azure Blade above his head. He was, after all, the bait.
Half a dozen meters away, the monster stumbled into their trap. Almost imperceptible in the darkness and the downpour, a golden rope stretched taut between two massive boulders, positioned precisely at the height of the creature's leg joints. Sunny had lowered himself to pass beneath it just moments before.
Overwhelmed by bloodlust, the monster failed to notice the taut rope and charged into it at full speed. A normal rope would have snapped instantly, but this golden rope was a Memory, its incredible sturdiness one of its inherent attributes. The boulders it was tied to, however, were entirely mundane. They shattered almost immediately.
But the damage was done. With its front legs suddenly yanked backward, the scythe slayer lost its balance, crashing face-first into the ground. It slid forward on the wet stone, leaving a shallow trench in its wake. Sunny, seizing the opportunity, jumped away.
The monster, surprisingly, remained unperturbed. Almost instantly, two bone scythes plunged into the ground, halting its massive body. In the next moment, with unexpected swiftness and agility for its size, it began to rise. Allowing it to stand would spell their doom.
Fortunately, Sunny's Echo was faster. The moment the monster fell, the Echo ceased its masquerade as a dead scavenger, springing to life and dashing forward. Just as their enemy was about to regain its footing, the Echo launched itself onto the monster's carapace from behind, pinning the creature down with its weight. Its powerful pincers locked onto the monster's arms, just below where the bone scythes began. Despite the Echo being wounded by the spikes protruding from the monster's carapace, it successfully immobilized the beast, if only for a second.
A second was all they needed. As if materializing from thin air, Nephis and Kane, who had been lying in ambush, appeared before the monster. Darting between its terrifying scythes, Nephis leaned forward, delivering a devastating thrust with her longsword, putting her entire weight behind the blow. Simultaneously, Kane jumped sideways, attacking the monster's legs with his aspect, aiming to disrupt its connection to its front limbs.
They weren't certain if the awakened monster possessed the same weak spot on its back as its lesser kin, the scavengers. However, there was no reason to assume there wasn't a gap between its carapace and torso armor. It was a matter of mechanical design: anything requiring flexibility could not be entirely rigid.
The tip of Nephis's sword plunged into the narrow gap. The blade disappeared into the monster's body, penetrating so deeply that its hilt brushed against the chitin. However, in the very next second, Kane's expression dimmed. The creature didn't even seem to register the wound, which was meant to be, if not fatal, then at least heavily debilitating. Straining its massive body slightly, it suddenly twisted, throwing the Echo off its carapace, and rose to its feet. The bone scythes scraped against the rock as it pulled them from the ground.
Nephis, defenseless, was directly in front of the creature, her sword still embedded in its flesh. Kane, reacting instantly, pushed her to the side. Nephis forcefully pulled her sword free, and Kane began to tackle the monster's pincers from all sides.
'This is more trouble than the centipede', Kane thought, his mind racing. 'The centipede was fast but vulnerable. This thing is incredibly tough. I need to switch to full body enhancements to parry its pincers. I need to shift to soul attacks'. The monster's sheer weight was immense. Suddenly, Kane lunged back, repositioning himself to unleash a soul attack. He focused entirely on soul attacks, his mind and body becoming one with his intent.
Suddenly, Sunny leaped from behind, attempting an attack, but his blade failed to pierce the carapace, throwing him to the side. Kane moved to help him, but the scavenger hurled Sunny at him, sending both of them sprawling. Kane was only mildly hurt, but Sunny was bleeding heavily. As Kane struggled to his feet, the carapace scavenger turned its crimson gaze toward him. Kane, consumed by a pure, singular focus, was determined to destroy the scavenger.
They lunged at each other, but then Sunny's Echo rammed into the scavenger, engaging it fiercely. Kane, seizing the opportunity, climbed onto the Echo and began attacking the monster. After a long, grueling battle, victory was theirs, with Sunny delivering the finishing blow.
As Kane climbed down from the Echo, he saw Nephis healing Sunny with her flames. Simultaneously, she let out a muffled scream. Kane's mind raced: Sunny might have guessed her flaw. Luckily, the rest of the night passed without incident.
The next morning, no one was in a hurry to make plans or suggest leaving the cliffs. They simply gathered meat from the dead carapace centurion and the scavengers, collected the two soul shards, and moved to the opposite side of the small island. They feared the remains might attract other creatures, and as it turned out, their instincts were correct.
Not long after the group had relocated, a dark spot appeared in the sky. Soon, it grew larger, approaching the cliffs and landing near the centurion's corpse in a whirlwind of motion. Kane thought, 'It was quite large. I need to get stronger as soon as possible if we are going to face beasts like this'
Kane had never witnessed anything like it. The creature was gargantuan, easily twice the weight of the carapace monster they had just defeated. Its body was a pale, corpse-like white, yet muscular, like that of a lion. It possessed two mighty hind paws and six forepaws, protruding messily from its wide chest, each ending in long, sharp talons. Its neck was covered in long black feathers, as were its enormous wings. Its head resembled that of a raven, with large, round eyes and a terrifying black beak.
Hidden behind rocks, the group watched as the creature feasted on the dead centurion, effortlessly tearing apart its carapace with its talons and beak. Satisfied, it then snatched a few scavenger carcasses with its paws and ascended back into the air, creating a small hurricane with each powerful flap of its black wings. The creature left the cliffs, flying back the way it came, moving steadily westward.
"Any idea what that was?" Kane asked, his gaze fixed on the receding speck in the sky.
Nephis, too, had been staring at the sky. After a few seconds, she lowered her gaze. "I have no idea," she admitted.
Kane simply nodded and returned to his routine. He still had his thousand strikes to perform.
After making a fire, they roasted the centurion's meat and enjoyed a delicious, hearty breakfast. Then, stuffed and content, the four of them lay down, lazily resting. After battling two scavengers simultaneously, running from a sudden flood, scaling tall cliffs in the midst of a storm, and fighting an awakened monster—all within a single day—they deserved some time off.
'I have clarity now', Kane thought. 'But I need to get stronger in every possible way. We might have to fight monsters like that from now on'. With that thought, Kane immediately rose and went to a secluded corner, beginning to swing his sword with murderous intent, repeating the motion five thousand times.
Some time later, Sunny approached Nephis to talk, while Cassie gestured for Nephis to come closer to her. Kane, out of curiosity, asked, "What is it?"
Cassie turned to him, a faint smile playing on her lips. "Kane, why do you call me 'Miss Porcelain Beauty'?"
Kane chuckled. "Because you are. But if you're not fine with it, I can call you by your name."
"No need," Cassie replied. "That sounds good."
At that moment, Nephis returned, wearing a striking white armor over a black bodysuit. When Sunny and Nephis rejoined the makeshift camp, the first thing Nephis did was walk directly to Cassie.
"Hey, Cas. Guess what."
The blind girl turned to her, smiling. "You've finally received an armor-type Memory?"
Simultaneously, Nephis announced, "I found something decent to wear…" She then fell silent, staring at her smiling friend. Cassie laughed softly. "The sound of your footsteps changed."
Nephis blinked. "Ah. I see. Well… it's from the Carapace Centurion." As Nephis described the armor to Cassie, she allowed her to touch the mysterious white metal it was forged from.
Kane sighed dramatically. "Finally, she got one. Still, that image of her topless is haunting me."
All three of them stared at him in shock. Sunny was utterly exasperated by his bluntness.
"What happened, Kane?" Cassie asked, her voice laced with confusion.
Before Kane could speak, Nephis interjected, "Didn't… you forget it?"
"I couldn't forget it easily," Kane replied. "It's the first time seeing it."
Sunny, ever the opportunist, added, "Here, I got a pervert tag. So, Kane, how exactly did it happen?"
"Enough," Nephis commanded, her voice cutting through the banter. Silence descended. Nephis approached Kane and whispered, "You and I are forgetting it now."
"Better this way," Kane muttered, his mind reeling. 'Crap, I shouldn't have spoken that loud.'
Some time later, Nephis was busy preparing dinner. Sunny, true to form, was once again sprawled lazily on the stones, staring into the perpetually gray and unfriendly sky. With all three of them equipped with decent armor, they were finally beginning to resemble a real Awakened cohort.
At that moment, Cassie sat down beside Sunny. Kane turned his head, looking at the blind girl with a hint of surprise. She bit her lip. "Nephis told me that you and Kane almost died yesterday."
Sunny shrugged. "Yeah." Then, with a silent sigh, he added, "But don't worry about it too much. It's not my first brush with death."
"I have faced things like this before," Kane chimed in.
Cassie was silent for a while. Then, she quietly said, "I'm sorry."
Sunny raised his eyebrows. "Sorry? What are you sorry for?"
The blind girl lowered her eyes. "For being so useless."
Sunny frowned and looked away. A second or two later, he said in his usual careless tone, "You're not useless."
"Which part of you is an asset, you didn't get it?" Kane immediately added, attempting to be helpful.
"In combat, I am useless," Cassie continued, her voice gaining a fragile strength. "I need help and protection. I need assistance to even walk. If I want to eat, I need to wait for one of you to feed me. That's my life now. I can't do even the simplest of things without your help… let alone be of use to either of you in return."
Slowly, her voice turned raw with emotion. This was the first time Kane had seen her mask of resolve slip, revealing the desperate, angry, frightened face beneath. He remained silent for a long time. Then, Sunny spoke.
"Hey, have I ever told you about my First Nightmare?"
The blind girl shook her head. Sunny half-closed his eyes. "My First Nightmare was as bad as it gets. To tell you the truth, the situation was pretty hopeless. I was a slave destined to die of cold or mistreatment. Chained, bleeding, defenseless. What's worse, my Aspect turned out to be completely useless. I mean, literally. If I remember correctly, the phrase the Spell chose to describe it was 'a useless wretch with no skills or abilities worth a mention.'"
Cassie turned her head slightly, visibly drawn in by his words. "Then… how did you survive? Did things change for the better?"
Sunny smiled, a faint, almost sardonic curve of his lips. "Gods no. In fact, they quickly turned worse. Much, much worse. But, what would you know? In a strange twist of fate, my useless Aspect turned out to be the only thing that could guide me through that mess alive. In that regard, I was incredibly lucky."
He shifted slightly, glancing at the delicate girl, noticing a thoughtful frown on her face. "But here's a thing about luck. People usually speak about it as though luck is something that just happens to you. It's not. Luck is fifty percent circumstance and fifty percent your own ability to grasp it. Luck is something you have to make happen yourself. I fought with everything I had to survive. That's one of the two reasons I'm still here."
Saying that, Sunny remembered the cold, dark mountain and shivered. Then, pushing the chilling memories away, he continued: "The second reason is the Spell itself. I won't go as far as to call it reasonable, but it is fair… in its own, perverted way. The Spell takes with one hand and gives with the other. It was like this with my First Nightmare, and it is the same with you."
Cassie's frown deepened. Sunny chose his next words very carefully. Eventually, he said, "Your Flaw is the most debilitating one I have ever seen or heard of. You are right, without help from someone like Nephis, it would have been a certain death sentence. And people like her… well, I'm not even sure that someone else like that exists. But…"
The blind girl gritted her teeth. "But what?"
Sunny looked at her with a serious expression. "But that also means that the other side of the Flaw, your power, is equally as extraordinary. You just haven't found the way to grasp it yet. When you do… believe me, you'll remember this conversation and feel very embarrassed about how naive and foolish you were."
Cassie's expression shifted to one of doubt and confusion. "Do you really think so?" she whispered, a hint of desperate desire in her voice. However, the question itself almost made him laugh, for an obvious reason.
"Trust me. I'm the most honest person in the world. Two worlds, in fact."
Kane, who had been listening to the entire conversation, thought, 'Sunny seems to have a quite an Nightmare complementing his previous points.'
Cassie was silent for a long time, lost in thought. It looked as though she was in the throes of some inner struggle. Sunny almost assumed that their conversation was over, but then she suddenly said in a low, raspy voice, "I had more visions than I told you guys about."
Kane was surprised for a moment, but then realized, 'She can't speak because she thinks telling the future might make it happen by simply knowing it'. Kane immediately spoke, "I trust your judgment, Cassie. You think knowing the future might lead to it. Just tell what is necessary."
After some time had passed, Cassie spoke to Sunny, "Can you… can you just promise me one thing?"
Both Sunny and Kane looked at her expectantly.
"That depends on what it is," Sunny said cautiously.
"Do tell," Kane urged.
The blind girl hesitated before speaking. "Can you promise that you and Kane take care of Nephis? No matter what?"
Sunny reluctantly said, "I can't. I can barely take care of myself."
"Can't, Cassie," Kane echoed.
Cassie seemed to accept their answer and immediately turned to Sunny. "Sunny, can I speak to Kane alone?"
Kane's curiosity was piqued, and Sunny, after a quick "Sure," immediately left.
"I got multiple visions, Kane," Cassie began. "But after some analysis, I came to a conclusion."
"Interesting. Do tell," Kane replied, leaning in.
Cassie's voice dropped to a grave whisper. "I think you might die here on this place, Kane."
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It is quite an Long Chapter.Quite Bear with it