บท 43: Food for Thought
As I stretched, zoning out, my attention drifted to the sky above. The stars formed a slow, mesmerizing dance, circling around a pristine white triangle like planets in a miniature solar system.
Beside me, the brightly glowing soul core caught my eye, its light far more radiant than others I had seen through blood weave.
Likely, this was because I possessed a stronger soul than most due to soul weave, as well as the higher level of divinity compared to others.
Whistling out of boredom, I got to my feet. It had been two weeks since we first encountered Effie and arrived at the castle.
While Sunny and I left almost immediately, Nephis and Cassie stayed behind. My ravens kept an eye on them, but nothing major had happened—except that Caster joined Nephis, and even Kai had become part of their cohort.
After the week within the castle expired, they all left the castle together, gathering at Effie's little shack. Each of them now had a raven assigned to them, allowing me to keep tabs.
As I glanced at the soul core again, waiting for Regis to finish saturating his own, I reflected on the weeks. Over that time, I'd fed Regis nearly a hundred fallen and awakened soul shards.
He mentioned feeling that his core had almost reached its limit, which was good timing since both of us had grown.
I absorbed some shards myself but only gained a few fragments. Still, those fragments counted all the same.
The first ability I honed was [Grafting]. I became proficient in using it to not only reassemble physical objects but also refine non-physical ones.
For example, I grafted the heat from a fire into the inside of the sheets of our bed, so it was always comfortably warm.
I even connected doors, allowing me to travel instantly between two locations—essentially creating a personal, albeit scuffed, portal system.
Then there was [Impossible Thief], and this one was fun. I learned that I could steal almost anything, including concepts like distance.
Once, during a hunt, I stole the distance between myself and an awakened beast, nearly losing my head when it worked too well. From then on, I abused the ability relentlessly—stealing legs, hearts, and whatever else I needed from the creatures I faced.
Each kill earned me credit, and Sunny got his precious shadow fragments, there were even a couple of memories thrown into it, which were fed to krabs since they were mostly useless.
[Load Amplifier] became my go-to when facing tough enemies. Normally, a single hit from a fallen beast could kill me or leave me paralyzed, but I learned to reduce the damage to a mere knockback.
On the flip side, I could amplify the flick of my finger enough to smash an awakened monster's head. I also became skilled at combining multiple abilities at once, though using [Grafting] in conjunction with others remained risky.
Sunny had also improved by leaps and bounds. He took his training seriously, swinging his weapon five thousand times a day and finally mastering the art of transferring enchantments between memories.
He obsereved what i did every time i weaved, such as when i fixed the mantle and when i studied the enchantments of the memories i'd recieve every now and then.
I used [Promised Victory] to help transfer enchantments from the underworld mantle to my armor and [Unbroken] was also added to it.
Even Krabs had grown stronger through the new memories I'd collected.
As I returned from my musings, I noticed Sunny barely dodging an attack from Saint, the stone warrior's elegant sword technique more refined than even Nephis's.
And the praise came from someone that didn't know jack about sword elegance and all that other fancy stuff.
Despite his effort, Saint pressed forward, and her sword was inches from Sunny's cheek when he barked out, "STOP!"
She froze instantly, and Sunny collapsed to the ground, panting.
[Good job. You lasted a bit longer this time.] I teased, though I hadn't been paying much attention.
Slightly dazed, Sunny sighed, "Two minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Better than last time."
I hesitated, [How long did you hold out for last time?]
Sunny frowned and looked down. "Two minutes and five seconds. You're the one who told me to do this, but you aren't even watching my 'training arc,' as you call it."
[Well, it's your training, not mine. But yeah, that's on me.]
Sitting in a beautifully upgraded chair, its pale wood and reddish pillows a welcome comfort, I summoned the [Bottomless Spring] and let Sunny take a sip.
His fatigue melted away almost instantly. As he leaned back and stared at the ceiling, he asked aloud, "So what now?"
I cleared my throat. [We're going to reunite with our pals. They're already plotting to overthrow the Bright Lord. Doesn't that sound fun?]
Sunny scoffed. "Sounds like hell."
Before I could respond, Regis manifested. As soon as his paws touched the ground, he shivered.
"Ugh, being in there for so long makes me nauseous." He looked around, his form mostly unchanged except for a few subtle improvements.
His flames were a deeper purple, his horns slightly larger, and his overall size now reached up to our lower ribs. He seemed thrilled with his growth, wagging his tail excitedly.
He was eager, but I was cautious. Regis might be stronger now, but most of the abominations we faced could still kill him.
Until he ascended in rank or class, I preferred to keep him safe.
"Come on, let's go see Effie. Maybe she'll greet u slike last time." Regis said, his excitement clearly more about seeing Effie in her full glory than anything else.
Not surprised, Sunny stood and dismissed Saint. The shadowy wolf led the way to our makeshift portal.
Sunny opened the door and stepped through, emerging near Effie's shack, Sunny belnded with the shadows while Regis was submerged in the shadows.
Even though his arsenal of abilities was still a little unclear this was definetly something akin to shadow step, although unlike that he could remain in the shadows indefinetly.
Making his way through the shadows sunny finally came closer to the shack and the sight that greeted him was unexpected: almost a hundred sleepers gathered around Effie's house.
Some were making small camps in the rundown houses or just making a little tent out of Nightmare creature hide out in the open.
Nephis had been busy, gathering more and more people from the outskirts. Even I was surprised when my ravens first alerted me to the growing crowd.
Nephis had been hunting powerful nightmare creatures, distributing their meat to the starving sleepers. Over time, her generosity and strength won them over, and now they were flocking to her cause like loyal little pups.
As Sunny emerged from the shadows with Regis taking the palce of his shadow.
Regis couldn't resist a snicker at the sight of a struggling sleeper barely managing to carry a heavy load of cloth.
Sunny, used to his antics, simply shrugged it off and made his way toward Effie's shack. A few sleepers glanced in his direction, but most were preoccupied with their tasks, indifferent to his presence.
Still, Sunny remained cautious, using his shadows to augment the shroud around him, ever-paranoid of an attack. It was a habit he couldn't shake in this environment.
Approaching Effie's shack, he was greeted by a young woman with scruffy wheat-colored hair and amber eyes.
She looked at him with a neutral, almost business-like expression.
"Have you come to receive your rations?" she asked, causing Sunny to frown.
[Secretary? Assistant? What the hell—just how much has Nephis accomplished in such a short amount of time?] I mused.
(She was practically royalty in the waking world. Who wouldn't want to rely on her?)
"I'm here to meet with Nephis" Sunny replied simply, but the woman gave him a suspicious look.
"I wasn't informed of this," she said, pausing before adding, "You'll need to give me a reason for meeting with her."
>>How professional. Do we need a membership or something?<<
[Or maybe we need to wear all white or be A-list celebrities to get through the door?]
Sunny chuckled nervously, his flaw kicking in as usual. "We're actually friends. I'm just here to reunite with her…you know, catch up."
[You're making it sound like it's been years] I teased, but Sunny ignored me, trying to flash the assistant a reassuring smile. His smile seemed to deepened her suspicion more.
Just as things were getting awkward, Kai stepped out of the house. When his eyes landed on Sunny, his expression shifted from surprise to concern.
He took a step back, brows furrowing in unease. Before Sunny could process Kai's reaction, Effie appeared behind him, casually pushing Kai aside as she stepped into view.
This time, she wore her white tunic, and the sound of a faint 'tsk' came from Sunny's shadow.
Effie's gaze quickly shifted to Sunny, her face lighting up in recognition. She raised a hand, waving enthusiastically as she called out, "Hey, doofus! Got any more goods for me?"
The assistant looked bewildered, glancing between Sunny and Effie. "Miss Athena? You know this… boy?"
Effie chuckled, turning to the assistant. "Boy? Oh, yeah, of course, I know him. Right, doofus?" She patted Sunny on the shoulder, and even though her touch was playful, it carried a surprising amount of force, causing Sunny to wince slightly.
Sunny laughed nervously, but then Effie leaned down and whispered into his ear, "Tell me, who's in control now?"
Sunny's eyes widened, a chill running down his spine. He whispered back, "It's Sunny, but how do you know?"
Effie didn't respond directly. Instead, she grinned and, still holding him by the shoulder, ushered him into the house.
As they passed Kai, the young man gave Sunny a nervous wave, to which Sunny could only respond with a guilty expression.
(Look what you've done to the poor guy. He's practically trembling just by looking at me,) Sunny thought.
Sensing an opportunity, I jumped in with, [Maybe he's just scared of your face.]
Sunny stopped for a moment and grimaced, cursing under his breath. Effie gave him a 'gentle' push to keep moving, causing him to stumble slightly as they entered the house.
Inside, Sunny found Nephis standing before a crudely drawn map, focused and intent. Across from her stood Caster, the scion of the Han Li clan, his appearance as striking as ever.
Nephis turned at the sound of their arrival, and a slight look of surprise crossed her face, though it was brief. Caster, on the other hand, fully turned toward Sunny, his smile overly warm and forced.
"Sun… Sunless! What a pleasant surprise to see you here, my friend!" Caster said, his words dripping with exaggerated cheer.
Sunny cringed internally, and before he could stop himself, he blurted out, "Yeah, I don't exactly feel the same way."
Realizing what he said, Sunny quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, cursing himself.
Regis, hiding in Sunny's shadow, chortled loudly and then materialized beside him, drawing everyone's attention.
Effie stepped aside, while Caster's expression shifted from confusion to alarm as he began summon a memory.
"Stop. That's an echo" Nephis commanded with authority, her voice calm but firm. Caster hesitated, looking from her to Regis in confusion.
Regis gave a lazy, fiery-eyed grin, his tail wagging lazily. "Don't worry, I'm harmless… for now" he said with a mischievous wink, while Effie observed the exchange with an amused smirk.
Nephis, unfazed by Regis's appearance, crossed her arms and turned back to Sunny. "You came just in time" she said, nodding to the map.
"We were just about to discuss soemthing concerning you."
Next Chapter: Starting a Resistance
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