The first thing Epsilon saw when he was born, was the face of his own mother who he found unsightly. She was a large Arachnid, with hundreds of small, glossy eyes that were like black beads.
He found everything about her repulsive, from her abdomen coated in a stone carapace, to her skeletal spiny legs, and even the webbed home she had created in this darkness, but what irritated him even more were his siblings.
They were all like him, yet somehow so different. Random mishmashes of creatures he had never seen before, some far from related, others resembling him more than most, that being a pile of flesh.
But there was something wrong with them, something that separated him from all the rest, the sole reason he hated them all so exceedingly.
They were autonomous. They couldn't even think for themselves, even his mother was like that too. They would hunt, bring back corpses for her to eat, which she would then consume and allow her lay more eggs, which would give birth to more hideous creatures made from their remains all to continue that vicious cycle.
Hunt, Return, Rest, Hunt, Return, Rest, Hunt, Return, Rest, Hunt, Return, Rest, Hunt, Return, Rest, Hunt, Return, Rest, Hunt, Return, Rest, Hunt, Return, Rest, Hunt, Return, Rest, Hunt, Return, Rest.
It was all so vexing.
"Why?", he questioned.
Although he himself was born an anomaly, the only creature in this strange family who had a choice to continue this cycle, he chose to stay in order to find the answer to that question.
But no matter how long he engaged with them, no matter how many times he convinced or tempted them to follow him, he could never figure it out.
And so one day, simply out of sheer boredom, he devoured his own siblings. Funnily enough, they were all weak so hunting them all was quite easy, but he also found himself growing stronger, it gave him a strange sense of joy but also accomplishment.
So that same day he decided to challenge his mothers authority. He tried to overthrow and kill her, and itt was then that he truly learned his place in the world.
**
Epsilon awakened once more like before, with him immediately rising up with his heart trembling and sweat dripping from his forehead.
No matter how many times he had experienced the perspective of another, he could never get used to the shock of being himself again. But even then, this dream was really strange.
"Who the hell even was I?"
Definitely not a human.
"A nightmare creature then? I thought my flaw didn't work on them?"
That didn't matter right now. More importantly, he needed to figure out where he was.
He was currently laying down on a poorly made straw bed, with his body covered in poorly wrapped bandages. Of course they were soaked in blood, but the injuries beneath had already healed, leaving behind very faint but present scars.
'Before I was knocked out, I was still fighting that creature.. what happened to it? If I'm still alive, did it die?'
If that was true, then something even more powerful should've killed it.
'Is Gracia still alive?'
Although he didn't want to accept it, he was sure that she was dead. If an object breaking was enough to cause her immense pain, then when her blade shattered like that, the damage must've been too much for her to handle.
'But if I'm still alive.. just maybe..'
He needed more information.
"Bob! Where are you?"
There was only silence.
'Damnit. Did he actually die too? Am I in the afterlife or something?'
Checking out his surroundings, he noted that he was in a small cavern. To his left, there were two more straw beds with a lantern glowing in-between them. To his right, was a small cloth bag that was a little full, and up ahead was the caves exit being covered by larger sheet of cloth that was a bit tattered.
Epsilon reached over and poked the bag carefully. There didn't seem to be anything dangerous inside it, but he did feel something shift inside. Opening it up, he saw several sharp pieces of metal, with strange wooden fragments mixed inside.
"Are these blade fragments?"
And then it clicked, these were the remnant's of Smile Of Heavens sword.
'Someone must've collected them. There's someone else here. Is it Ki Song?'
But the simple fact that there were three sleeping beds and not just two, must've meant that there was at least one other person in this place. He had to figure out who it was.
Taking the bag with him, Epsilon got up while summoning his sword just in case as he slowly walked up to the exit.
Using his [Yang] ability, he could feel a source of light on the outside, where two people seemed to be siting. He couldn't tell anything else about them though.
Rather than immediately confronting them, he poked his eye through one of the cloths holes to get a better look at them. There, he saw a wide open flat surface made from stone with a campfire in the centre. Rather than firewood, it was made from bones that were as dark as ash. It was obvious that it was used recently.
Further past that though, the surface abruptly ended, leaving only a boundless expanse of darkness that his eyes couldn't pierce through.
Sitting at the very boundary of that darkness though, were two people with their backs facing towards him. One who appeared to be Ki Song with her familiar raven hair and body type, but the other was..
'I can't tell.'
It was a boy with a slim but bulky figure, who seemed just a bit taller than him at a glance.
He thought he could've been a threat, but seeing that Ki Song was there, he assumed he was in a safe place.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled open the curtain and stepped forwards. Right away, the two noticed that someone was there, and turned their heads in his direction.
The first was Ki Song confirming his suspicions, but the second one... Oh god the second one.
'Why is he here??? WHY HIM!??'
To Epsilons disappointment, it was Wuxing Galahad, Smile Of Heavens Consort. He was gazing at him with a unique sparkle in his eyes, almost like a puppy. Suffice to say, he did not like that guy one bit. There wasn't anything particularly negative about him, but he was just so...
"Ooooo! You're finally awake! If you've survived this long then you must've gotten stronger right?? Let's spare really quick!"
Annoying.
'I just woke up after god knows how long and he wants to spar with me?? Are you for real?'
Looking at Ki Song, he just lightly smiled, but she looked far more worried than anything.
"Are you ready to move like that already?"
"I still feel a bit stiff, but I'm fine. How long was I out for anyway?"
"About a day or two."
Epsilon flinched. He knew his body recovered fast, but this was a bit too much.
"Your spine was broken, your ribcage was shattered, you were bleeding internally and all your organs were messed up. How are you even alive? Are you a walking corpse?"
Epsilon shrugged.
"Maybe I'm just lucky. Anyway, what happened to Gracia."
Galahad waned a little bit but he remained mostly upright, but Ki Song turned glum.
"She's.. I don't know honestly."
She then pointed at the bag of blade fragments that Epsilon collected, prompting him to empty their contents. The pile of sharped iron clattered to the ground.
"If a memory is damaged, you can send it back to the Soul Sea where it will be repaired, but in a case where its completely destroyed it will disintegrate without a chance of recovery."
It was common sense for any Nightmare spell carrier, but already, Epsilon noted that there was an exception to that rule. Ki Song continued,
"I believe that Gracia inhabiting her sword seems to have delayed that process somehow. If we can fix it, then I think she might be able to be wake up."
It made sense on the surface, but Epsilon wasn't totally sure it would work. But it was the only thing that they could think of doing at the moment.
"How are we going to fix it anyway?", Epsilon asked.
As far as he was aware, Galahad was a battle junkie who new nothing about fixing things, and despite being very resourceful, he didn't think Ki Song had any blacksmithing skills either.
Surprisingly, Galahad answered his question,
"Anvil can!"
Epsilon sighed,
"What? You mean Anvil Of Valor?"
Galahad nodded.
"Yeah, It would be nice if he was here."
There were other classes in the academy aside from the basic combat or survival, such as the forgery class for students whose aspects were suited or had an interest in the creation of memories and weapons. It was in that class, that Anvils skills as a blacksmith were made known, to the point that people gave him the nickname 'Hephaestus' or whatever that meant.
Galahad looked back at Ki Song confused, but she just shrugged. Turning back, Galahad spoke.
"But he is here."
It took him a minute to comprehend those words, but once he did, a flicker crossed his eyes. Blinking rapidly, Epsilons arms shot forwards and grabbed Galahad by the shoulders.
"Anvil Of Valor is here? And I mean the prince of that Valor clan? THE Valor clan?"
"Yeah, and Sylas too."
Galahad could feel his grip tighten as he leaned forwards with his eyes wide.
He looked down, before the corners of his mouth twitched upwards, and then a laugh bubbled up from his chest.
"Er..."
Escaping this place might actually be possible after all. Is this why his [Judgment] attribute thought it was beneficial to continue down this path?
"So where are they?"
"Well.. they left without me three days ago.. and they haven't come back since."
It was a bit regretful, but Epsilon remained hopeful. They had a tangible target to chase after now.
"The answer is simple then. We just need to catch up to them, get Anvil to fix the sword so that Smile Of Heaven wakes back up, then we can all work together and finally escape this stupid place."
The future finally seemed a little hopeful. But destroying that hope, was a familiar voice who could only be heard by Epsilon.
"Except, there's something wrong with that plan."
The dark spirit had never truly left, but rather was just silently waiting for an opportunity to irk him.
"I'm afraid that this Anvil person cannot save that girl, Gracia as she's called."