Kapitel 43: Myriad of thoughts.

Setting up their cottage for the night, while Liala prepared to take some well-earned sleep, Raian sat down and meditated.

Resting somewhere near the dark sea wasn't the greatest idea to be sure, but it thrilled Raian.

Usually, they would rest in a cave found during their daily travels. If they couldn't find any, it was one of their responsibilities to make one. Liala with her variety of memories, making a cave was not hard for her.

For Raian picking up pieces of rock and boulders from the area and raising them to form a temporary home was quite alright, if you ignored the possibility of nightmare creature attacks.

Back in the academy, many teachers and workers would recommend hiding in small spaces or deep inside a cave, but not so deep as to leave no escape route. However, that advice was given expecting new Sleepers to struggle.

Both of them were far from rookies though. Liala boasted ridiculous amounts of strength solely with her memories and technically unpredictable movement with her aspect. Raian, already strong enough to defeat an Awakened Demon alone, two of them were confidently resting in the open.

Stopping his meditation for his routine check, Raian added a few more dried monster meats and sticks found around the area to keep the tiny amount of fire going. While there weren't many tasks for him to keep track of, Raian was secretly excited.

Just the thought of some creature catching sight of their fire, coming closer, setting up their assault, and violently attacking them felt intoxicating.

Despite getting his dose of weekly battles, more was always welcome.

Sadly, the last few days were quite peaceful.

Reflecting a little, It didn't take much for Raian to realize the obsidian scorpion was on the weaker side of Awakened Demons. Sporting a humongous body was great and all, but when the enemy was swift enough to slide through the gap in it's defense, the huge body immediately turned into a great disadvantage.

Both claws, deadly when hit, were only lethal when accurately hit. Simply timing their strike and dodging was enough to render them useless. Sure, the mantis-like raptorial claw was a surprise, but it works only once. 'Surprise attack are useless on second try.'

The more Raian thought about the scorpion, the more he pitied it. Even considering its venomous stinger, the odds slightly improved for it.

It would be a remarkable feat if the scorpion managed to survive for a year in the future. It was already a miracle it survived until this point. It most likely hunted some carapace scavengers to live this long.

Thinking to himself, Raian sat cross-legged against the small fire, directly opposite to Liala.

He then analyzed the surprising variety of nightmare creatures.

The current Hierarchy system was quite interesting. Seven ranks corresponding to seven classes ranging from Dormant to Unholy and Beast to Titan made sense, but comparing them didn't.

Two creatures of similar rank, depending on their environment, were quite contrasting. The only similarity was the number of soul shards, other traits, ranging from outer appearance, unique body structure, and form of attack and defense, could be anything. A few days ago, he killed an Awakened Beast with minimum struggle , but after that, he faced a Dormant Terror.

The situation was so dire that Liala almost intervened. He still beat it, but it was a close battle. Much closer than expected. Raian wouldn't say he could beat Awakened Beasts easily because he couldn't, but if he had to choose between fighting an Awakened Beast or a Dormant Terror, ten out of ten times he would choose the Dormant Terror.

Scratching his head, puzzled, Raian continued to ponder.

'How could a Dormant Terror be stronger than an Awakened Beast?'

It was an interesting thought. Both rank and class dictated how strong it could be, but the correlation between them seemed to matter as well.

'Maybe if I give them a point system: Dormant is 3 points, Beast gets 2, going up by 1. Awakened Beast is 5 points, but Dormant Terror is 10.'

Massaging his temples to make some sense, Raian disregarded the point system. The higher the creatures get in rank, the stronger they get. Without a proper understanding of the ranks, he couldn't make any logical judgment. If he followed the points, an Unholy Titan would be 17 points by his calculations. 'Heh, i should just leave these stuff to Liala, she would explain it much better than me anyway.'

From his knowledge, single Category 4 Gate was enough to force humans to migrate, not much land was left for humans to live on these days.

Maybe they could live in the Dream Realm, but the possibility of every human becoming Awakened made Raian laugh out loud, nearly waking Liala.

Calming himself and watching the starless night sky, there was not much for him to do except watch, be alert, and watch a little bit more.

Through the everlasting, pitch-black night in the desert, nothing was stopping Raian from turning into a philosopher. From the purpose of life to whether humanity could survive much longer to his gang, he pondered just some meaningless stuff. Switching between topics.

Then he wondered about the ecosystem inside the Dream Realm. How did new creatures spawn? Did they just walk through other gates or get out of an egg? Maybe every creature has unique ways of being born.

'Maybe the Spell is creating new ones for humans to defeat.'

Growing up in the slums, Raian had heard many theories concerning "The Spell." Some called it humanity's doom, bringing tragedy upon tragedy upon them. Before it terrorized their world, it was peaceful, green, full of life, and serene.

Others called it their savior, hope, and pillar for future progress. Maybe the pillar part was exaggerated, but some people preached the Spell. Some people who lived in good districts worshipped it so their children live free from infection.

For Raian, their words felt meaningless. He did not worship the Spell or hate it to his core. It was just a normal event for him. Being born after the Spell descended upon their world, even if Raian hated the Spell, he had no recollection of the past to compare it to.

Whether the Spell brought disaster upon humanity as a whole, or saved humanity from the eventual disaster by giving them power, Raian couldn't care less. For him, overreaching conversation like this was secondary. That's why when he saw a class in the academy studying Spell's origin, his first thought was moving on from there.

Raian doesn't see himself as a hero. Actions, emotions and feelings were a mystery even to himself. Helping others out of kindness or helping for his own gain—Raian didn't know which was which. Addition of his aspect made it worse.

Sighing to himself, Raian stopped staring at the sky. Anything concerning the Spell and emotions were way above him. Maybe if he became the first Supreme, there might be a chance, but as a Sleeper, no matter what he did or hoped, it would be meaningless.

People in the Awakened academy, those who lived in the upper district, were some people Raian would never understand. While they debated each other over something they would never reach or touch, Raian stood in the slums, hoping for success.

'What's scarier than poverty?'

Watching those close to you starving, riddled with sickness, weak, thin, and frail.

Nothing felt worse to him to this day.

Having depressed himself enough, Raian softly slapped himself in the face, stopping his track of thought, as It was going downhill really fast.

'Enough with dreams, focus on the present.'

Rejecting thoughts and embracing mindless meditation, he activated his aspect. Instead of going full throttle, the golden aura slowly seeped out of his chest, flowing gently from the between the chest and spreading across the body.

Opening a switch was easy, turning it on and letting it go wild was as easy as blinking, but slowly starting it, controlling the amount of willpower, slowing its speed inside his veins, and letting it flow while keeping track of it was hard.

After few minutes Raian stopped. Not because of its meaningless nature, but because it was too hard. Stopping and holding large amounts of willpower was taxing. Fearing it might burst some organs or key veins he stopped.

Wiping his forehead full of warm sweat, Raian muttered, 'Damn, I should have asked Liala for water before she went to sleep.'

From simple meditation to doing his tasks, the night in the desolate wasteland slowly neared its end.

Feeling the dark sea slowly plummet as the rays of light hit his eyes, Raian stopped meditating.

Part of the reason for resting near the dark sea was that when morning came, they could go without losing any time.

Slowly getting up and dusting his leather pants free of sand, Raian stretched to wake up his lax muscles. Walking over to Liala and kneeling on the ground, Raian reached over to pat her shoulder. Speaking softly "Wake up, it's dawn. We should probably go where the light you saw was. I don't want our future cohort member to be dead when we find him."

Rubbing her eyes, Liala sat up. Cross-legged like Raian, she stretched as well. "Did you see any light?"

Smiling a little awkwardly, Raian admitted, "No, not really. Maybe that person learned a terrible lesson from last night. We should go save him soon, though."

Standing up and summoning her armor, Liala poured water over her head. Drenching her hair, deciding it was moist enough Liala activated her aspect. Strands of hair, floating as if unaffected by gravity, slowly formed into a neat bun.

Watching it happen live, Raian: "No more dreadlocks?"

Using dried monster skin made into a rope to tie her hair, "Yeah, it gets in the eye, blocking my vision. It's quite annoying. Maybe later, but for now, no."

Cracking his knuckles and neck, Raian asked, "Alright, let's go then."

Summoning her claymore and prepared for anything "Yeah, let's go."