The rustling sounds of dry leaves could be heard from the surroundings. This wasn't an uncommon sound for those who lived within the Great Citadel of Bastion, especially near the forest.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Princess?"
June looked wearily at the princess of the Shadow Clan. The two of them had been travelling together, through the forest near Bastion, for quite some time now, with no end in sight.
It all came quite suddenly this morning, when Rain barged into the training grounds of the Dark City, right before his morning practice, requesting him to accompany her on a journey to help her ascend. June tried to turn down Rain's invitation initially, but to his dismay, she was quite adamant that he should join her. That, and considering how she's still ranked above him, within the clan, he eventually gave in.
'How did this even happen?'
June grunted as he pondered over his life decision leading up to this point.
Rain turns around with a small, cheeky smile on her pale face.
"It is! Don't worry about it... Wait— don't tell me that the infamous cold-blooded Corsair is afraid?"
In an instant, June responded back nonchalantly with a straight face.
"I'm not."
Corsair sighed before continuing to respond to the Princess.
"It's just that, we've been walking through the forest in a single direction for the entire day."
Rain chuckled a bit before turning back and continuing to walk.
"Ah- It's just that we need to find higher ranked Nightmare Creatures, so that I can ascend to a Master. And the higher ones tend to reside in the deeper part of the forest."
Rain went silent for a moment as her right hand scratched her head.
"At least, that's what my older brother told me!"
June sighed, summoning the [Black Canteen] to take a few quick sips before continuing to follow his boss's younger sister.
It's quite weird that it's only him, accompanying Rain, this time around; Normally, for these kinds of journeys, Tamar of Sorrow, Ray and Fleur would also be there as well. However, the others are currently undergoing a mission right now, leaving both Rain and June alone.
June then looked around to observe his surroundings, an old habit of his that he had developed during the Antarctic Campaign, all those years ago. It is almost akin to a defense mechanism he had; without it, he would've likely perished a long time ago.
The forest surrounding the Great Citadel of Bastion looks similar to the forest of the Waking World, albeit with a few small differences that set them apart from each other.
For example, the plant life was much, much more larger than that back in the Waking world. In his estimate, the average tree here is about two to three times taller and wider than the average tree on Earth. Every tree here was around the same size as the Giant Sequoia.
Unfortunately, he hasn't sensed any Nightmare Creatures nearby recently, even with his dormant ability being activated. With that, June looked back at Rain before opening his mouth.
"Regardless, Princess, the sun is about to set any time now."
Rain laughed before turning around and posing with a peace sign next to her elegant, pale face.
"Don't worry, we still have a lot of time left!"
June almost crumbled to the ground due to sheer mental exhaustion. It wasn't like he didn't understand where Rain was coming from, quite the opposite. It's just that, for some reason, she keeps on insisting that they travel in one direction only, even when there's no Nightmare Creatures in sight.
Though the moment he saw Rain posing, his heart skipped a beat.
'Ca— Calm down. Stop having weird thoughts about your boss's younger sister!'
Rain then continued to talk.
"Even if we do get into trouble, I'm sure my brother can pull us out of it in no time."
June looked down and sighed.
"I suppose you got a point."
He'd then lifted his head and glanced back at the Princess of Shadow.
"Rain, may I ask why you keep on insisting that we travel in a straight line?"
Rain halted for a second, one of her fingers touched her chin, as she pondered on June's question.
"Well, in an online forum that I've read, they said that the fastest way to go deep into a forest is to walk straight ahead."
June stared at her with a look of dismay written over his face.
'Is she unaware that the post isn't literally saying to walk in a straight line?'
Just as he was about to correct Rain on her mistake, June noticed a sudden, unusual pattern of movement of leaves around the corner of his eyes.
His hand started weaving signs in an instant to form unique symbols through the shadow.
[There's a Nightmare Creature nearby, around northwest of our current location.]
'Ah— his signs are mechanical as always.'
Rain thought to herself, as she began to weave back with signs of her own.
[Alright, let's stick to the plan then.]
Before entering the forest of Bastion, the two Awakened had formulated a basic yet effective strategy for their hunt. The plan was simple: Rain would conceal herself at a distance, through the shades of the trees, shooting at the creatures using her bows, while her companion would engage in close-range combat with the monstrosities.
This is taking into account that they can actually combat these Nightmare Creatures to begin with. So before engaging, they would try to estimate what rank and class the monster was.
Without wasting a second longer, the two shadows silently rushed over to the direction in which the Nightmare Creature was at.
The two of them halted, around 30 meters away from the Nightmare creature, as Rain started to climb onto the closest tree near her. At the same time, June slowly crept around the general radius of where the Nightmare Creature was, to get a better view.
Eventually, after a minute or so of nothing but just observing the creature, he started to weave signs to Rain yet again.
[Judging from the looks, it's a Fallen Demon.]
Rain nodded as she weaved back her own signs.
[Got it. You think we can take on a Fallen Demon right now?]
This was a legitimate concern that had been inside her mind, for a while now. Believe it or not, but this isn't the first Nightmare Creature of the Fallen rank, that the two of them had defeated today; so both of them are still a little bit fatigued from earlier battles.
She then looked over in her companion's direction, who was currently laser focused on the Fallen Demon. The wind was currently blowing in his direction, causing his medium length hair to be wafted gracefully.
This sight of June caused Rain's cheeks to turn suddenly pink.
'No, focus, Rain. Don't get distracted!'
With both hands, she slapped herself on the cheek to stay composed, and to remind herself to stay focused on the current objective.
At that moment, the Corsair replied to her, in a cold and precise manner.
[We can.]
'AAAAAGHHH'
Rain internally screamed in her head. Corsair was, and still is, cool as always; back then, when they met at the bank, she was actually a little jealous of his coolness.
She still is, of course, that hasn't changed— but, over the months since meeting the handsome devil with midnight blue eyes…. She developed a little crush on the guy.
So what if June was a little bit older than her? Her type has always been older men.
'It's not like anyone's gonna find out about this.'
Rain thought to herself. Regardless, before she was just jealous, but now it was both jealousy and attraction; mixed up together, like one of those weird potions people concocted and sell in the Black Market.
'Which isn't helping at all!'
*****************
June slowly crept towards the Fallen Demon.
From his observation, the creature is roughly 8-9 feet tall, with Crocodilian hide and scales. Its body type is a mix between an Armadillo and a Grizzly Bear.
'Whatever those are.'
June thought to himself, as he tried to formulate a specific battle plan, against the Fallen Demon.
June himself was quite confident in his ability to ambush people. Having prior experience of killing a master, through means of ambush alone. Though, the thing in front of him is still a Fallen Demon, the strongest Nightmare Creature that they've encountered today; and he's still tired from the earlier hunts.
From what he had observed, it probably curled up into a ball as a means of defense. There's also an indent in the ground as well, suggesting that the demon can not only move, when it's in its curled state, but also is its preferred way of transport.
'It's going to be a pain in the ass to pierce this thing.'
Corsair quickly summoned [Sleeping Malice] in the palm of his right hand.
[Sleeping Malice] is a transcendent sword memory of the 2nd rank, gifted to him by his late grandfather, Master Vandal.
The blade's main enchantment is [Silent Night], meaning that when an enemy is injured by the memory, they're rendered silent for an amount of time proportional to the amount of essence used.
However, the secondary enchantment is the main reason why he's opting to use the blade. [Dreadful Night] causes those who are injured by the sword to experience hallucinations; making it useful to fight against stronger enemies, as it impairs their ability to think and perceive.
With everything in mind, June approached the Fallen Demon and swung his sword.
Unfortunately, due to being already fatigued, his blow missed, as the creature dodged in time.
Not all was lost, as [Sleeping Malice] had managed to cause a small cut, on the Fallen Demon's torso.
Seeing the wound on the monstrosity, June gave out a devilish grin, as the Nightmare Creature tried to scream but couldn't. It eyes weren't looking at June anymore, as the Demon looked everywhere and anywhere. The effect of the enchantments is in full force.
It was at that moment that June noticed something strange. It hides, no, its stomach is getting more and more red.
'Crap!'
June quickly rolled over to the left, just in time to dodge an incoming fireball, that came from the Fallen Demon's harrowing jaw.
'So, it has long range attacks too?'
The Bear-Armadillo then crunched down, and curled up into a ball, intending to run over the Corsair, at a terrific speed.
Luckily for June, since the creature is experiencing mass hallucinations, it couldn't aim where it was going; making it easier for the Black Market elite executive to move out of the way.
After a while, it uncurled itself and tried to slash at the Awakened using it long and slender claws. Though, June noticed that each swing is getting more and more accurate.
'Ah, the enchantment effect is almost over.'
Without a moment of hesitation, June slices at the Fallen Demon's inner thigh.
At the same time, the claws of the Nightmare Creature managed to create a small cut on June's shoulder, making him grunt in pain.
Thankfully, the enchantment effect is back, making it easier for him to avoid the monster attacks for a while.
'We have to end this quickly.'
June thought to himself, as he took a quick glance over in Rain's direction. In a flash, his hand formed a quick sign, signaling to the Princess of his next move.
June activated his awakened ability, causing time to be slowed down around him.
Seeing June activating his bubbles, Rain let go of her bow string, firing the arrow memory, [Don't Cut Yourself], towards the Fallen Demon.
Right before the arrow entered the zone that he had just created, June deactivated his Awakened ability. Just in time for the arrow to pierce the Fallen Demon's stomach.
The monster let out a silent scream as it toppled over to the ground. The amount of essence Rain had infused into the poisonous arrow, could kill 15 Elephants. Though, Rain knew that it was just enough to, not kill the monster, but enough to immobilize it.
Taking this opportunity, Corsair tightened his grip on [Sleeping Malice], and walked over to the monster on the ground, piercing its neck.
June takes a sigh as he awaits for the familiar voice of the spell.
[You have slain a Fallen Demon, Withered Beast of Nazarax]
June looked over to his side, seeing Rain who was rushing over to the Nightmare Creature corpse, with a bright glint in her eyes.
'Wait, did she also look at me for a brief second there?'
****************
After a while, Rain had finally finished scavenging the Fallen Demon corpse for soul shards.
"Alright, that should be everything!"
June sighed as he leaned on a tree, taking a sip from the [Black Canteen].
Out of nowhere, he then felt a droplet of water landing on his nose.
'Don't tell me that it's about to rain…'
Which was ironic, considering how his companion, the Princess of Shadows, is named 'Rain'.
Rain who was just walking over to June, paused and looked up.
"Oh, it's raining."
Rain takes a sigh, then looks over to June.
"I'll guess we need to find a shelter somehow."
June dismissed [Black Canteen] as he straightened up.
"That would be the best course of action. But where though?"
Rain went silent for a moment before speaking again.
"I saw a cave nearby actually. We can always take shelter in there for a while, until the weather calms down."
The two shadows quickly rushed over to the cave that Rain just pointed to.
Right before entering the cave, the two shadows felt an ominous aura coming from it. Against their better judgment, the two gave each other a quick nod, before entering the cave, since neither of them wanted their clothes to get soaked in the rain.
However, the moment that they took a few steps within the cave, the entrance suddenly collapsed. Trapping the two awakened inside.
'You have to be kidding me, this is the worst luck ever!'
Rain screamed in her head upon seeing that the entrance of the cave had been blocked.
Though there was a more pressing matter at hand. The cave was dark, well they still could see due to a small fire that Withered Beast of Nazarax spat out a while ago, miraculously landing in the cave. What's concerning is that, their ability to see clearly in the shadow, which was given to them by the Sovereign of Death, isn't working.
Realizing this, June went to the pile of rocks that was blocking the entrance and tried to move them. To his dismay, the rock didn't even move an inch.
Rain with a look of concern written all over her face, walked over to Corsair.
"Wait hold on, let me try."
She tried to summon her memories, to blow the rocks to smithereens; however Rain found that she couldn't summon any memory, for some odd reason.
June, somehow still retaining a calm and collected demeanor, sighed and looked back at Rain.
"I think there's something going on in this cave that is interfering with our abilities."
June paused for a moment before continuing.
"Currently, my strength is only slightly above a mundane, and my dormant isn't working like it's supposed to."
Hearing that, Rain quickly tries to summon her runes, using the memory that her brother had given her, the only memory that she always equipped; which oddly enough worked.
"Well, I can still see my runes."
June frowned and responded in a collected tone.
"Then I guess it's only hindering our abilities and the Nightmare spell. Not canceling them entirely."
Corsair then walked over to the direction of the flame, and sat down against the wall of the cave next to it.
With nothing left to do, considering that they were both stuck, Rain followed right after and sat down next to June.
There was a brief moment of silence between the two shadows, as they stared at the majestic flame that was dancing gracefully in front of them. The two of them were both tired from today's journey through the forest of Bastion.
After a while, Rain decided to break the silence by attempting to make small talk.
"So, why did you decide to become an executive for the Black Market? I thought your family are a bunch of government people?"
June glanced over at Rain, with a small smile, while a sweat ran down his face.
"It's because being a government grunt was too limited, Princess. The government is bound by a lot of rules; there needs to be several pieces of legislation passed, before they take any serious action. That's why they were so slow to react, back in the Realm Wars."
June sighed before continuing to answer.
"While in the Black Market, you can just do whatever you like, at any pace you want to work at. As long as you signed the contract for the task you wanted to take, of course."
June then looked back at Rain again, before asking a question himself.
"What about you? Anything interesting going on with you lately, Princess?"
Rain moved a hand over her mouth and chuckled.
"Ah, nothing much honestly. Tamar, you and the others are planning to challenge the 2nd Nightmare soon. I just thought that I should try and ascend myself, so that I won't get left behind."
"Ah, understandable."
There was a sudden, small jitter of movement coming from June's left hand that caught Rain's attention.
'Is— Is he trembling?'
Rain wondered. This was the first time she had seen him move that frantically.
'Wait…'
A sudden thought popped up in her mind, as she looked back up at his face to confirm her suspicions.
Everything seems normal, however, for some reason, June was sweating more than usual.
"June, do you have claustrophobia, by any chance?"
June's eyes widened, he did not expect that question coming from Rain.
"Y— Yes, I do. How did you figure it out?"
"Well for one, your right hand is currently trembling, and you're sweating more than usual while we're stuck in a cave."
June let out a sigh and turned his head away from Rain, staring at the fire yet again.
"Ever since the Antarctic campaign, I've started feeling…. Uncomfortable when being stuck in a confined space."
Rain lifted her eyebrow, her face was a mix of concern and curiosity.
"What happened in Antarctica, if you don't mind sharing?"
June laughs nervously as he stares up at the cave ceiling.
"I don't mind, Princess. Back then, during the Campaign…. My whole team died, murdered by a horde of Nightmare Creatures, while I was trapped inside a broken PTV, with no way out."
June, take a long breath before continuing.
"In the end, I managed to break out from the PTV, do a few side gigs as a Black Market executive, and the rest is history. But that incident…. Just haunts me every time I'm in an enclosed space, I get reminded of that feeling of being unable to escape, to help."
June then turned his head and looked at Rain, with a small smile on his face.
"Well, that's mostly what happened."
"Oh, I'm sorry that happened…."
"It's okay, that was in the past anyway."
At that moment, June briefly spotted a small figure from further into the cave.
Corsair stood up and walked over to the figure, with Rain following soon after.
"This—"
In front of them, near the end of the cave, stood a miniature shrine.
There was a wooden charm, lying on top of the shrine as well. Although the Spell was severely weakened, it could still translate the words written on the charm:
[Pray to the warlord, glory to the artisan]
Rain looked at the charm over his shoulder.
"What does it say?"
"It seems to be a charm, dedicated to the god of War."
Rain's eyes suddenly widened as a new idea entered her head.
"Oh, that makes sense. If this place is a place of worship, dedicated to the god of War, it makes sense why the spell and our ability are restricted. Maybe if we destroy the charm, then there wouldn't be any restriction anymore?"
June sighed as he turned back, to look at Rain.
"It's worth a try at least."
With both hands firmly gripped on each side of the wooden charm, Corsair snapped it in half.
Upon seeing the charm destroyed, Rain attempted to summon her bow and arrows again.
"It worked!"
With a rush of excitement, she turned around and shot [Beast of Prey], towards the rubble that blocked the cave entrance. Destroying it completely.
With a sense of relief rushing through the two shadow bodies, they headed towards the entrance of the cave in excitement.
Though it seemed that it was still raining quite heavily outside.
Rain frowned as she turned her head around and looked at June.
"I guess we have to wait here for a little longer."