"Alright. First of all, we will need to remain on the forgotten shore, for a few more months… at least, until the next winter solstice, which should take place, in about two months, right?"
He paused for a moment, after saying this, and received a few nods, in confirmation, prompting him to continue.
"Good, going forward, I want every sleeper to move to the castle, where they will all be treated equally, of course. From this point forward, there shouldn't be two camps, anymore, and instead only one, humanity.
Besides this, we should increase our hunts. We only have so many weeks, before we will face what awaits us, therefore, we should increase everyone's strength, as much as we can.
For this, I would also have another idea… a new rule, if you want to call it that. Everyone can challenge anyone to a duel, for memories, just to name an example. The challenged can, of course, reject, but in the case they agree, it must be brought before any one of the people present.
Then, it must be determined, if it will be a match to the death, or until one gives up. In the case of a deathmatch, the memories that the contestants will not be using, shall be transferred to a neutral, third party, who, in the case of one person's death, is responsible in handing over these memories to the victor.
This may be a bit radical, but it will give everyone a fair method to become stronger, and also gain either soul essence, or memories. Therefore, to put it to a vote, everyone, in favor of this rule shall raise their hand now."
When Ray stopped talking, he, himself, raised his right hand, which was followed by Gunlaug, Harus, Henry, and eventually, nearly everyone else, after they thought about the proposal.
While it really seemed extreme, in the first moment, the rules set in place, made it a feasible method, and their overall strength would not necessarily diminish, even in the case of someone's death.
In that case, they would simply go from quantity, to quality. Also, no one needed to participate in these matches, if they did not want to.
"Good. Next, I think you have something to say, don't you, Nephis?"
She nodded, while also taking up on the detail that he was, once again, calling her by her name, instead of her true name…
"Indeed. By this point, it should not be much of a secret that we need to gather all seven shard memories. They hold some kind of secret that is required to truly escape this place.
Nevertheless, the preparations to kill the last guardian are already in progress, but they will probably still take a few weeks, to properly show results."
Some of the people at the table, including Ray, were surprised by that level of preparations, before Ray remembered how much preparations he had to organize before, and with her personality, it should've been obvious.
After that, they talked about a few other topics, like how they would organize the hunting parties from here on, though, after a few exchanges, it was decided to make Effie and Gemma responsible for that.
It was something, both of them were not too happy about, but still needed to happen. They needed to go from enemies to comrades in the span of a few weeks, otherwise, when it mattered, there would only be chaos.
The entire meeting took nearly an hour, before they finally finished. When they did, Seishan, once again, made the handmaidens get to work, while leaving, after saying that she would prepare a real conference room, should it be needed, to which Ray agreed.
After that, Neph and the others started leaving, since the people from the settlement were most likely already waiting in tense apprehension. Before fully leaving, though, nearly all of them gave him one last look.
Ray then also dismissed the other lieutenants for the day.
Now, he was alone in the throne room, with only Gunlaug and Henry, by his sides.
"So, mind you showing me; where the 'golden serpent' kept his treasures?" Ray teased the previous bright lord.
"Very well, My Lord." Gunlaug responded, with an extra little bow to top it off.
Just when the golden-clad warrior wanted to lead the way, he was stopped by Ray again, "Before anything. Seriously, such formality might be helpful, in front of everyone, but not behind closed doors. Just… don't."
Responding with a simple nod, he then began walking again, leading the way to where his quarters, as well as 'treasury' had been located, already half expecting to hand it over to Ray.
While continuing to head deeper, and deeper into the castle, Ray wanted to make sure of one thing, "Just to be clear; you know that you are not my slave, now, right? The deal was about becoming the subordinate of the winner, not the slave…"
"Yeah, I know. Though, I still find it hard to believe that you were able to fulfill all of the conditions." the golden serpent responded.
"Well, they were actually rather predictable. I mean, escaping the dark city, was an obvious thing. Then, getting to the end of this hell, and bring something back, to prove it, that might've been a bit harder. As for the last one… I simply tricked you."
Finishing his response with a shrug, he continued walking, not even stopping when Gunlaug paused, to look at him, with a confused expression on his face.
Only then, did Ray stop. "Okay, it wasn't entirely fair, but there was also a certain risk. A calculated risk, though. I mean, you can't fully plan to get forgotten by hundreds of people, can you now?
To be honest, it was harder to be remembered again. Though, with Henry here, even that last step, was relatively easy to achieve.
Regardless, can we continue?"
"Of course."
After that short exchange, the trio continued further down.
Eventually, they reached a wooden door, with reinforced iron parts.
As they were all standing before it, there came a short awkward silence, with all of them simply standing there. Moments later, Henry, and Ray then turned Gunlaug, who was still standing right next to them.
"Well, how are we gonna get through it?" Henry asked, which seemed to bring the golden serpent, back to its senses.
"Oh, my apologies. I have become too used to this." After that, he proceeded to walk over to it, before the liquid gold on his integrated gloves moved into the keyhole, taking the shape of the required key, opening the lock.
Gunlaug then proceeded to shove the door, before stepping in first, and holding the door open, for the other two to follow.
Seeing the way he opened the door, Henry couldn't help, but whistle in surprise, "Now that seems like a secure entrance. Of course, as long as the actual key isn't around anymore."
"No, that wouldn't change anything. The only other person, who even knows about this place, now, would be my prior right hand.
Anyway, welcome to the treasure trove…!"
When they stepped inside, it was like walking into a completely different world. A shining world.
The first thing they noticed, were piles of soul shards. Huge piles.
The next thing, the room was actually quite big, it simply seemed small at first, due to the piles. Though, besides them, it was actually nicely decorated.
Having a somewhat helpless look on his face, the blonde-haired man shrugged, "What can I say… I've been the king for years, now. They pile up eventually. I even have dozens of memories. Even ones that I would never use."
Ray looked around, scanning the huge piles of shards, before addressing Henry, "Well, I guess, take what you need. Surely, the few dozen shards I got you, aren't even close to filling your core."
Henry raised both his eyebrows at him, surprised by the ease his friend was talking about someone else's belongings. When he threw over a look at Gunlaug, he got a nod in return, and after a short consideration, began absorbing shard after shard.
While Henry was busy, Ray turned to Gunlaug again, "Would you mind, using these shards as rewards, for those that participate in the duels, and win? At least, at first. This would be a small enticement for the beginning."
Gunlaug did not need to think much about it, "That should be possible. My core is long saturated, and I have more memories that I can use."
"Good. Then, after Henry is done, we'll look for a space of our own, the next few days will probably become quite hectic, anyway."
It took Henry a while longer, to finally absorb the essence from enough of the shards, to saturate his core in one go. He seemed to even slightly vibrate with energy, though, this was merely because he hadn't become used to this yet, and the increase was too fast, and too much, at once.
Nevertheless, they thanked Gunlaug, since as Ray said, it was about becoming a subordinate, not slave, before heading out, roaming the castle halls for suitable chambers.
By chance, they actually managed to find some, even if they weren't too big. For each of them, they were spacious enough, though.
After 'claiming' them, the duo continued their search for a suitable place. Just that it was for a space big enough to train for the moment.
This time, they were unable to find anything, on short notice, and simply decided to go with the spacious hallways behind the throne room. The room itself, came up, as an option, but was dismissed instantly, due to its importance.
Then, finally, the two stood facing each other, and made themselves ready. Though, they wouldn't use weapons to fight, this time, merely their fists.
When they started, Henry underestimated his strength and speed for a few times, but managed to get that under control twenty minutes in. At that point, they continued, before Ray eventually paused, and suggested that he should also use his aspect, for once.
They should be too far into the castle, to let it affect any real nightmare creatures outside.
Henry weighed these words for a moment, but had to agree, at least partly, since his runes also mentioned something about an 'enticing smell', when it concerned his flaw. Therefore, it was unlikely to be something all-powerful, and instead transmittable only by actual smell.
So, he gave it a shot.
The next moment, his skin grew even paler, his cheeks hollowed out, and the faint red shimmer appeared around him. All signs that his aspect was active.
Henry did not hesitate, and momentarily, even Ray was surprised.
It would be no exaggeration to say that after his second transformation, Ray currently had one of, if not the highest physical strength and speed, among the sleepers on the forgotten shore, but, with Henry's aspect active, he was also a force to be reckoned with.
The speed of his friend was tremendous for any sleeper, probably even awakened out there, and differently to Caster, Henry also had extra strength, as well as a strengthening aura for his weapons. All in one.
With the chance to finally let go, for once, Henry continued experimenting with his current rushed state, wanting to try more, and more.
Unfortunately, though, at some time a person appeared right next to them.
Shocked that they had been so engrossed in their spar that they hadn't even noticed her arrival, they turned to Seishan, who was standing there, in front of them, as composed as ever. Though, if one looked very seriously, they might catch a very, very faint shimmer of a blush.
"Gentlemen, it is advised that everyone shall return to their quarters now, because the lights will be turned out, shortly." After saying that, she paused for a second, looking at what they had caused; some of the walls were dented in, while all over the floor were scrapes from their armors scratching the marble floor.
"Also, please do not engage in any such 'activities' in the hallways, from now on. As the newest bright lord, you should lead with example." She spoke to Ray, but her gaze still lingered on Henry, who had deactivated his ability by then.
"Alright, sorry about that. Then, tomorrow, after the assembly, please show us rooms, in which we can 'engage in any such activities'." Ray answered, while quoting her words.
After the short exchange, Ray went back in the direction of their rooms, but Henry was still stuck in place, it seemed. With a slightly amused grin, Ray simply continued. Who was he to stop his friend from falling in love, after all.
It was likely that she had been in a past relationship with Gunlaug, but with how the man actually was, beyond his presence, it most definitely wasn't anything truly serious.
'Time to sleep…'
---
The next morning, the assembly was held, and as expected; the reactions to both proposals was mixed, to say it lightly.
The people living in the castle were against letting the settlement dwellers inside, and voiced that, as if forgetting that their new Bright lord had also been one of these dwellers, just a day ago.
On the other side, the proposals about the duels, just seemed fishy to the people from outside the castle. Just like that they were suddenly allowed in the castle, without even paying tribute. For them, it took Nephis's support to make them understand.
The deep-seated mistrust among the two groups was simply still too big.