"Don't you go peeking on me! Understand!"
Sunny was about to head into the small river they had found in order to wash up. Despite the horrors of the realm they were in, Professor Obel taught him something that could contend with that danger… that being not taking care of basic needs.
See, while they could be put off, they could never be ignored—not because of anything physical but rather mental. If you are in poor condition, your mental state will reflect that, and a clear mind is key to surviving in this realm.
"You don't have to worry, I'm sure there's nothing much to see anyways."
Her response was sharp, her hair still damp from her going in first. She was using a root they had found to brush her teeth from the monster meat they had consumed on their travels. It's been about a week since they have come to the dream realm, and there was still no sign of Cassie.
"Oh yes, I d—actually, I probably shouldn't say that, should I?"
Throwing a glance at him from behind, she nodded.
"That would be wise, yes. It's quite rare to see your brain working."
This time he lost, but next time—
"Hurry up and go bathe, you stink worse than an alley mutt."
Never mind.
---
The water cascaded down his body like little bugs running across his skin. Peeling his soaked hair out of his face, he noticed how long it was growing. When he entered the academy, it was only down to his ears, and now it's down to his neck.
Looking at his body, which was once ridden with scars when he was Auro of the Nine, it was soft, pale, and weak. He had gotten so used to having raw physical strength as an Awakened with a powerful body, but now… still, that doesn't matter. Slowly but surely, his body will grow stronger and surely taller!
In this body, he was only 17, so he still had a couple of years! Taking the soap and rubbing it on his scaly neck, he yearned for his old neck once more. He supposed he had gotten too used to willingly throwing away parts. It seems he would either have to find a human-like nightmare creature, a nightmare creature made of flesh, or a human in general to kill and rob them of their neck. Luckily, that could be put off into the future. Sadly, what couldn't be put off was the fact that a loud boom came from just a bit behind him, and something launched into the water, making a loud splash.
Hurriedly looking back and summoning strings of shadow, he saw a wide and tall nightmare creature whose body seemed to be made out of metal… no, rather obsidian plates. Looking at the place where something fell into the water, out popped Nephis, whose flames were already healing her injured body.
"Man… I guess today I really just can't win after all."
Launching the shadow strings around the plated creature's legs, he attempted to sever them, and something severed already.
Before he could notice, his fingers had flown off—one of the plates from the creature had spun off of its body, honing itself to his hand, instantly chopping his fingers off. Before he could scream, another plate came flying at him.
Luckily, a blade appeared in front of his face—the Dream Blade. Nephis knocked it out of the path before charging at it, only to have five plates fly off of the abomination, surrounding her.
Before they could cut into her flesh and bone, hundreds of shadow strings wrapped around them, slowing them down just enough for her to get out of the way. Sadly for him, another plate came while he was protecting her, cutting off his arm.
"URGH!"
A loud noise came from his throat as he beat down on his lips, causing the skin to break instantly, blood rushing out of them and his arm now.
Suddenly, the abomination lost balance, one of its arms gone. A metallic screeching came out from it as it faced up, allowing him to fully make out its appearance. It seemed to be an animal he had recognized in a book of extinct animals.
It was a gorilla made out of obsidian, yet its body seemed to be melted into each other, making it deformed.
Taking a glance at his now obsidian arm—the arm he had taken from the creature—a snarl appeared on his bloodied lips.
"I really liked that arm, y'know."
By the time it regained balance, a flaming blade entered between two of its plates at its neck. As it began to thrash around, Nephis didn't let go for a second, letting it spin her around as she dug her blade deeper. As soon as its back was turned, he wrapped shadow strings around his arm over and over and over again until it appeared to be a giant fist, slamming it into the back of the abomination's head, letting the blade fully go through its neck.
Large exhales came from the both of them before Nephis looked down.
"It seems there was something to see after all."
Oh… he never put on clothes, did he.
---
Booms came from the distance. She didn't know what it was, but she had an idea on who it could be—or rather, the individuals it could be. She wasted no time getting on her Echo and began to rush in that area, using it as a mount. Her heart was beating the fastest it had ever beaten before, to the point where she thought she would have a heart attack. The nothingness she was always seeing faded away as the voice of two individuals overtook her need for vision.
Hearing the muffled shouts of voices, despite not being able to make out what they were saying, she recognized them. She sped up her pace.
She was close, so close—even though it hadn't been that long, they would finally reunite. How should she appear? Should she jump over the trees and stand on top of the beast like a huntress? Should she slide in through the trees and look down at them with a smile?
All of those ideas disappeared as she could finally hear what they were saying.
"You don't have to worry, it's not like it was small or anything."
"That's not what I'm worried about! Just stop looking!"
A rustle came from the bushes as they both saw a disheveled blind girl walk out of them. On her face was an expression they couldn't describe. If they had to describe it, then all they could say was it would be the—
"What the fuck is going on here?" look.