Epsilon awakened once again on the same straw sleeping matt as before. He felt relieved that he did not experience another nightmare, but a pain did pierce his head which made him groan.
Noticing that Bob was absent, Epsilon isllsummoned tlconnected them both. To his surprise, it extended past the shelters exit.
'So he can move farther away now? Great! I can finally have some privacy again.'
The next thing Epsilon did, was summon his Spell runes. He wanted to see what the contract between him and Bob looked like now that he signed it.
Name: Epsilon
True Name: End Of The Unbound
Rank: Dreamer
Soul Core: Dormant
Soul Fragments: [368/1000]
Memories: [Maddened Frenzy], [Best Friend], [Crossing Tunic], [Wrath Born]
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Bond], [Yang], [Judgment], [Spark of Divinity], [███]
Contracts: [Bob]
Interestingly, his Contract had gained its own section in the Nightmare Spell runes.
'Does that mean I can have multiple?'
Focusing hard on Bobs name, the runes Infront of him vanished, and new ones appeared instead.
--Contract--
Contractor: Bob
Attributes: [Soul Vision], [Meta Contact], [Possession]
Attribute: [Soul Vision]
Attribute Description: [You can peer beneath the surface, seeing the true nature of the Soul as well as it's foundation.]
Attribute: [Meta Contact]
Attribute Description: [You can reach beneath the surface and take hold of the Soul.]
Attribute: [Possession]
Attribute Description: [You can inhabit and share your powers with a contracted body.]
There was alot to take in, but basically the contract gave Epsilon access to all of Bob's attributes. This let him see the soul, as well as the soul cores that support it, while also giving him some kind of control over them too?
He needed to experiment further with that last one, but all in all it was an incredible boon.
If he did have one issue, then it would be the contracts duration and conditions. As long as it existed, he would have to travel back to the abandoned castle, and then turn the other way.
Once that happened, his contract with Bob would end, and he would lose access to all his powers.
He did consider it to be an issue, but he was currently aware that every Nightmare Creature in the chimera forest was most likely dead.
'I'll have to negotiate with Bob a little.'
Standing up, he approached the exit of the Shelter yet again, this time, he ended up walking in on Galahad sparring against Ki Song.
Galahad swung his black staff, attempting to sweep Ki Song off her feet, but she easily hopped over the attack while also throwing a horizontal slash aimed right at his head.
'Is she trying to kill him?'
The momentum from Galahads first swing carried on. Making him spin faster than Ki Songs sword could move.
She quickly had to change her attack into a defensive stance that shielded her right side, as Galahads black staff smashed right into it.
She was sent flying a decent bit away, but she gracefully landed on her two feet while skidding back a little.
Galahad taunted her jockingly,
"Cmon, you can do better than that!"
"I think I might actually kill you."
Her speed suddenly increased, and her sword strikes became more ruthless. Where as before she was being passive aggressive since they were sparring with real weapons, now she attacked him regardless of if he would die or not.
But rather than being a little bit intimidated, Galahad welcomed the challenge with a massive grin.
He too charged forwards, clashing his weapon against hers, causing a loud clang. But they still didn't stop, rather, they kept clashing, retracting their weapon while swinging it once more.
As they fought, sparks from the battle began to fly.
Although Galahads weapon was less lethal, it was more technical than Ki Songs simple sword.
For every Swing Ki Song threw, Galahad could attack with one end of his pole, before quickly switching to the other in half a swing.
Although subtle, Ki Song was being pushed back, and if this continued she would surely lose.
It reminded Epsilon of his weapon affinity lesson from Professor Orum.
'If I can't beat you head on then.. I'll just bait you out.'
She suddenly took several steps back while dropping her guard, providing the perfect distance for Galahad to attack her with a thrust.
And as expected, he took the bait. Gripping firmly on his staff, Galahad pushed forwards
But right at the last moment before the hit, Ki Song suddenly stepped to the side, and thrusted forwards with her sword, aiming right at Galahads throat.
'Die!'
Her victory was in clear sight, and yet, she could've sworn she saw the grin on Galahads face grow slightly wider.
His grip around the shaft of his staff tightened, before shaking subtly. The end of his staff which was far behind Ki Song, slowly started to bend and curve before planting itself right in her leg, causing her to trip flat on her face.
Epsilon was stunned, just as much as Ki Song herself.
Quickly getting back up, she declared,
"I'll kill you! I swear I'll actually kill you!"
"Yeah, good luck with that."
His annoyingly arrogant smile only irritated her all the more. Without break, Ki Song quickly rushed back at him to resume their fight.
They were obviously too engrossed, so Epsilon didn't bother about interrupting those two anymore.
Looking up, he saw Smile Of Heaven and Bob talking to eachother while they spectated the fight.
Noticing that Epsilon was awake, Gracia quickly flew down to greet him.
"You're awake!"
But as she drew closer and closer, Epsilon gradually realised how bright she actually was. In comparison to right before he passed out, he thought she had turned into a sun.
"MY EYES!"
"AH! sorry."
Quickly enough, her light died down letting Epsilon see normally again. Bob also zipped down from the skies shortly after.
"Bob here was teaching me how to control it properly. I still haven't gotten used it but I should have it figured out soon enough."
Epsilon nodded, but turning his head to Bob, he asked
"How did she end up like that anyway?"
"It's your fault honestly."
Epsilon looked at him with confusion.
"I'm serious here! Your Soul Essence is way too potent! While I was using it to mend her Soul, it seemed to have boosted her somehow!"
She chuckled a little, but Bob also nagged at her,
"Even you too! You're a little freak yourself, I thought I was going to burn alive trying to fix you."
He had potent soul essence? So that feeling he felt rushing down his arm was his Soul Essence. Sleepers weren't meant to be able to control it, and yet, the confirmation was right there.
However, it wasn't him that was actively controlling it, and although he could feel it in his body, he couldn't actually move it himself.
'So Bob can control my Soul Essence for me.'
Just then, he got a bright idea. As long as Bob was possessing him, then maybe it was possible for him to enhance Epsilon on his behalf.
Just then, Galahad and Ki Song approached the group, finally noticing that Ki Song was awake.
They were both covered in sweat and breathing like dogs. Galahad even had to dismiss the top half of his armour just to breathe properly.
"You. We need to talk. Now."
Without even giving him a chance to accept, Ki Song grabbed him by the wrist and stormed off in another direction.
"Hey! I was supposed to fight him next!"
**
Ki Song dragged Epsilon quite faraway from the shelter.
"Hey! What's up with you?"
She didn't say anything, instead she just quietly grumbled.
It was obvious she was still frustrated from her fight with Galahad. He could even feel it in his wrists that Ki Song was gripping tightly.
'She's never this emotive, what the hell did he say??'
In the end, the two sat down on the outer edge cave, similar to the place outside the Shelter.
Once it finally came time to talk, Ki Song seemed slightly hesitant to speak. But after gathering her thoughts, she uttered,
"How did you know about my mother?"
He suddenly froze.
The clan Song wasn't anywhere near as famous as Valor or the Nightwalkers due to their lack of involvement in the establishment of the current world order. However, they were still a legacy clan.
The day their head, Ravenheart died, it was broadcasted for a short while, but it wasn't as dramitized like a celebrity death. But even then, if you dug deep enough, you would find the tie between Ki Song and her mother.
However, the only news that was publicly released, was that Song Jiwon had died protecting her citadel from a Nightmare Creature attack. It was never made known that she died alone, without even the help of her followers who ran away.
Which is why when Epsilon questioned if Ki Song wanted to get revenge for her mother, she found it abnormal.
"So? How much do you know?"
Epsilon gulped, before answering honestly,
"Everything."
Ki Song paused. It was a little alarming.
"How."
He struggled to speak, consistently stuttering in his words before pausing to think. He was hesitating, and it was obvious. The Flaw was something that shouldn't be revealed so easily, no matter how insignificant it was. That slight mistake, could be the difference between life and death.
For Epsilon, the only one who knew it was his brother, someone he could trust? But even then, it wasn't willingly, and the reverse was true for Nero.
He hadn't even told Emma his flaw, and he did not know hers despite being in a relationship.
Did he consider Ki Song a close companion? Obviously, but did that really mean she had the right to know? Even if he did invade her personal space. He didn't even know hers either.
'Ive already put my life in her hands before, so whats the difference now?'
And yet, he couldn't bring himself to say.
Ki Song could tell that Epsilon was conflicted.
"If you can't tell me, then that's okay. I trust you."
She took a deep breathe,
"Can you just promise me one thing?"
Without hesitation, Epsilon nodded.
"Yeah."
"If I ask for your help, then you have to give it to me."
Epsilon looked at her curiously.
"That's it?"
"You say that but when the time comes, you might hate me."
"Really? What is it?"
She just winked and said,
"That's a secret."
What did that even mean?? You can't just tell someone you'd ask for something later, just to not say what that thing is an be all menacing about it like that!
Or mabye she just didn't trust him enough either.
The two just sat there quietly for a while, peering into the darkness. Sometimes they thought, was there something living in there? Watching them quietly.
But of course, Epsilon knew the answer to that already.
It was the Chimera Queen that he saw in his dreams.