บท 33: Reaches of The Dark City
A small thud echoed as the side of our ship bumped against the brick wall of the Dark City. I climbed over the edge, and as I jumped onto the wall, my fingers found hold on the protruding bricks.
Activating [Fool's Gambit], I scanned below just in time to see a black tentacle slithering out from the wall itself.
It wrapped around the ship, gently lifting it upwards, and before long, it had placed the ship safely on the top of the wall.
I grabbed onto the tentacle, using it to haul myself onto the cold surface of the wall, dismissing the appendage back into ash.
A sigh escaped me as I took in the sight of the massive, sprawling expanse of the Dark City below.
From the ship, Nephis climbed over the side, carrying Cassie on her back in a piggyback. Balancing effortlessly on the side of the ship, i then formed another tentacle and used it to lower her and Cassie safely onto the floor before dismissing it in a cloud of ash.
Nephis put Cassie down and looked around cautiously before turning her gaze to me.
A shadow slipped from my body and solidified into Regis, who hopped onto the ground. Purple wispy flames danced around him as he inspected his surroundings, scratching at the ground with his claws before looking me over.
"We've reached the Dark City, right?" Nephis asked, a hint of uncertainty in her voice as she scratched her chin.
I nodded and summoned [Covetous Luggage]. "Yeah, welcome. I hope you enjoy your stay."
Regis chuckled and walked over to the edge, peering down.
"Not exactly a great vacation spot. Doesn't really scream 'relaxation' to me." He glanced back at me, his eyes glinting mischievously.
I pointed to the open maw of [Covetous Luggage], causing him to grin and waddle over. I took out the remaining soul shards and placed them on the ground.
Licking his lips with his shadowy tongue, Regis sniffed them before biting into one eagerly, swallowing it whole.
"We'll stay here for a while," I said to Nephis as she kept her stoic expression, glancing over at the ship.
"We need to wait for someone who has experience traversing this place."
"Do you know this person?" she asked, her gaze steady.
Scratching my cheek, I laughed.
"No, not really. I haven't met her yet, but I know she exists."
Nephis nodded, accepting my cryptic answer, and went over to check on Cassie.
"ERMMM… BOSS!" Regis yelled, catching my attention.
"Did you… gain something from them?" He was giddy, dancing around on his paws.
"Can't you tell?" I looked closer, feeling Sunny's voice in my mind.
(I think his core got a bit bigger.)
Focusing on Regis, I noticed that his core had indeed grown significantly. It was no longer the size of a golf ball; it was nearly as big as a tennis ball now.
This meant he could definitely increase the amount of essence he could absorb and hold from consuming soul shards. But would it cause his core to saturate and create a new one, or would it help him advance in rank?
Currently, Regis was a dormant beast. If he absorbed enough shards, would he ascend in rank or class?
Regis slowly approached, placing a paw on my leg as if to reassure me. I tilted my head at him, and he gave me a toothy grin.
"If you keep thinking so hard, your face will become wrinkled and even more unpleasant." He laughed, and I kicked him lightly with my other foot between the legs, making him stumble back a few steps.
He shot me a glare and muttered under his breath, "Dick."
Ignoring him, I took out an Awakened soul shard i got from the Carapace Centurion. I tossed it to him, and he examined it for a moment before grabbing it in his mouth.
But instead of eating it, he placed it at my feet, covering it with his paw.
'>>Try to upgrade it.<<' His voice whispered into my mind.
Widening my eyes, I crouched down and picked up the shard, knowing that Sunny might notice what I was doing. I needed a distraction.
[Hey, Sunny, could you check below the wall with your shadows? Blisto is still too anxious to do anything but hover over me.] I sent the lie out effortlessly, hoping he'd take the bait.
(Alright, but what should I be looking for? The person who'll escort us?)
[No, I actually have another raven watching her. I've been studying her behavior for a while, and I know it'll take at least a week for her to get here.]
(Studying her? You make her sound like a wild animal.)
[Well, she kind of is, so can you do it? Pretty please.]
Sunny grumbled but complied, gloomy shook his fist at me before he went over the wall.
Lazy stretched without any interest and followed closely behind, leaving me some precious moments.
Discreetly, I activated [Greater Stasis], and the shard in my hands began to glow brighter. I upgraded it once, then again, finally achieving an Ascended soul shard of the third rank.
I could upgrade its rank or class further if I wanted.
Lowering my gaze to Regis, I saw him practically drooling over the glowing shard.
'>>Hey, I've got an idea. Why not upgrade it to a Divine soul shard from a Titan and feed it to me? Simple, right?<<' He was only half-joking, but I could tell he was genuinely tempted.
I almost did it. But I stopped myself.
Lowering the shard to the ground, I looked at him.
'[Like I said, I don't want us to get consumed by power. I'll upgrade some whenever I get the chance.]'
Regis seemed to contemplate my words before sighing heavily. Then he picked up the shard happily and devoured it whole.
His flames pulsed, becoming darker and more like actual fire than mist. His tail wagged excitedly, and he looked at me with an open mouth.
"Look at this! I already feel even more full, and my core's a little bigger."
I nodded, observing that his core was now almost comparable to that of a regular human. It was clear he wasn't advancing through profanity like other Nightmare creatures.
Instead, he seemed to be on a path toward ascension, like humans.
The question remained whether he would rise in rank or class. If he rose in rank, would he be like Saint? In the novel, Saint rose in rank by consuming memories, advancing in class when she absorbed something from another Nightmare creature.
Like when she took that red gem from the Forsaken Knight or that essence from the Heart of Darkness.
These questions could wait. For now, I needed to assemble the cohort and focus on advancing my weaving skills. Through that, I could help Krabs advance and Saint when Sunny inevitably got her.
But with Regis now, I'd have to set some shards aside just for him. My progress would definitely slow down, whether I liked it or not.
I glanced over at Regis, who was playing with his tail and manipulating the flames of his mane to pulse and ripple along his body.
Smiling slightly, I walked over to the ship and began dismantling it. Using the beds made from the spiderwebs I'd gathered from the nest, I made makeshift bedrolls, setting up a small campsite for us on the wall.
I left some of the lustrous steel on the wall, dropping the rest into the depths of the Dark City below. If I ever needed it, I'd just come back here to retrieve it. With that done, I got to work.
************
Over the next five days, I made significant progress. I used [Grafting] to create a full suit of armor from the lustrous steel, incorporating parts of the scarlet wood mast for extra reinforcement.
The armor was plated and sturdy, with the scarlet wood forming the poleyns and rerebrace. It ended up looking similar to Nephis' armor, but the scarlet wood added a striking contrast along with the lustrous steel being a slightly darker grey color.
I also crafted a sword in the style of a kord, with a handle made from the scarlet wood wrapped in fine vermillion cloth created with [Envisioning].
The guard was made from an alloy that I also conjured using [Envisioning]. I turned the armor and sword into memories using the two transcendent soul shards I had, and I fed the last shard to Regis who was beyond excited to devour.
Although the memories had no inherent enchantments, I managed to copy the [Unbroken] enchantment from the Midnight Shard and apply it to the sword.
It was a complicated process that nearly destroyed the memory, but somehow, I pulled it off.
The armor still lacked enchantments, but I planned to copy the ones from the mantle I'd eventually buy from Stev's Memory Market.
My weaving didn't go uninterrupted, though. Nightmare creatures would occasionally scale the wall, attempting to kill us.
Fortunately, Krabs stood watch, and no awakened abominations got through. The soul shards from these encounters were either absorbed by me or fed to Regis.
Occasionally, a fallen abomination would appear, and I would assist in taking it down.
Krabs would engage head-on, and I'd use [Sternritter] to horrify the abomination, causing it to stagger. Krabs would then finish it off.
We used the fallen soul shards for ourselves, and the dormant ones that i got from making Blisto hunt down dormant beasts and monsters were turned into memories that were then fed to Krabs as monster chow.
Blisto was now at about the same level as and awakened monster so he was more than capable of handling a couple dormant beasts
Regis had also grown bigger, not by much, but now he was just below my knee. His horns had grown too, and he was more than pleased with his new look.
His essence reserves had skyrocketed, and he'd learned to absorb essence from the atmosphere. Meanwhile, I hadn't made much progress with my own core.
[Soul Fragments: 754/1000]
It was regrettable, but I wasn't in a hurry to get a new core. With Sunny already having a second core, I could benefit from his strength and mine combined.
We were technically a dormant demon, and with his two shadows enhancing me, we were probably as strong as an awakened.
Finished with converting another dormant soul shard into a memory, I headed over to Krabs, who was still standing guard on the wall.
He turned to me, raising his pincers in excitement, clicking them together in anticipation. I tossed the memory to him, and he caught it in his pincers, placing it into his small maw.
The memory cracked and dissipated into sparks, and Krabs crouched slightly before resuming his vigilant watch.
[He's charming] I sent the thought over to Sunny.
(Hopefully he's even more charming when that counter of his is filled up.) Sunny's voice responded with a chuckle.
Over the five days, Sunny had advanced in his training as well. He continued with his thousand sword swings daily and placed one of his shadows on Nephis' shadow.
I'd suggested this in hopes that he would learn Shadow Dance, but it still hadn't happened. At least he was learning to swing a sword properly, which was a good start.
He also expressed an interest in learning how to weave, so I let him take control a few times.
To my surprise, he picked it up frighteningly fast. I knew he was a genius, but seeing him master the basics of weaving in just a few days was impressive.
And watching him learn so quickly left me feeling a bit like an average Joe.
My thoughts were interrupted by a signal from Blisto. I switched my perspective to his and saw her—a kilometer away, a tall woman with tanned skin and shining olive eyes.
I grinned and shouted to Nephis and Cassie. Nephis was training, while Cassie rested on the bedrolls.
"It's time, guys. She's here."
Nephis looked at Cassie and helped her up. Sunny dismissed Krabs, and I glanced in her direction. Effie was finally here.
I knew dealing with her personality would be a hassle, but I was also a hassle for others to handle.
Next Chapter: The Huntress
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