The rest of the night was rather uneventful, the 3 newcomers took the news of being stranded rather well in Lua's opinion. She could now only feel faint emotions from them, nothing like the pure despair or anger from before.
So instead of pestering the 3 greenhorns she instead began practicing circulating her essence. Thanks to her dormant ability [True Essence], she was able to manipulate essence despite being a sleeper. This defied the usual rule that essence manipulation was an ability only acquired after awakening.
She had even been praised by the Academy for the purity of her essence. The quality itself varied from half a rank above, to at most two ranks. The downside, however, was that her cores were still dormant, meaning she only had a few drops of essence to work with. Nevertheless, the more she practised manipulating essence, the more efficient she became at using it.
After two years on the Forgotten Shore she had refined her essence enough to comfortably use ascended enchantments without immediately passing out or draining both cores. The last benefit of her ability was to manifest her essence to either augment memories or manifest it in a more physical form. However, any creations from her essence tended to be rather fragile and unstable.
To finish her practice, she channelled her essence into her fingers, a faint purple glow illuminating her hand. She concentrated, bending it to her dormant will. Slowly, the essence took shape, forming a roughly shaped dagger about 30 centimetres long. The radiant purple energy crackled and warped constantly, its unstable nature requiring constant mental focus to maintain.
"What are you doing?" Nephis approached, her silver eyes fixed on the rough dagger.
"Practising essence manipulation," Lua replied, keeping most of her attention on the blade. "My dormant ability lets me manipulate essence despite being a Sleeper," she quickly added, hoping to prevent any assumptions that she was an Awakened.
"Interesting," Nephis said after a moment, her tone measured.
Lua continued to practice for a while whilst Nephis simply observed. Sunny, Cassie and Effie had already fallen into the deep embrace of sleep.
Nephis opened her mouth and lingered for a few seconds "You're a legacy aren't you?"
Lua immediately dismissed the essence dagger, turning to face Nephis "I am… Its a pleasure to meet you, Last daughter of the Immortal Flame Clan" Lua teased using Nephis' full title.
Nephis' eyes sharpened, her expression calculating as if she were already considering ways to eliminate Lua if necessary.
"Relax, will you? I'm not going to attack," Lua said, raising her hands slightly in a non-threatening gesture.
Nephis didn't relax, her fierce stare unyielding.
"Although, you likely have a 'friend' waiting for you in the castle" Lua spoke slowly "Supposedly another legacy landed there a few weeks ago, so… Watch out"
Nephis didn't lower her guard. "Why'd you tell me?"
"Why? Because I don't particularly respect 'their' authority, and 'they' clearly would have ordered someone to get rid of you" Lua shrugs in response.
Nephis lingered a moment, then spoke with certainty. "You're Sky Tide's daughter—the eldest."
"…I am," Lua admitted before turning away. "But beware, I'm not the only Legacy here. Seishan of Clan Song and Caster of the Han Li Clan are here too. Caster came out with a hunting party a few weeks ago and nearly died. Both of them are currently in the castle, and Caster is likely the one sent after you."
Nephis asked no more questions, instead walking away and lying down.
***
The next morning the five sleepers prepared to set off and return to the outer settlement. Effie took a few moments to warn the newcomers along with teasing Sunny a bit. Effie then turned around and rolled the massive slab of granite that blocked the exit from the tower to the side. She then paused and turned to Sunny "Like what you see?"
Sunny blurted out, "Yes… huh… wait, no! I mean, that's not why I was looking! How are you that strong?" His panicked response earned a snicker from Lua.
Effie simply responded "Oh, that. That's my Aspect Ability. It's a strong all-around physical enhancement."
Sunny continued to stare at her, caught off by how potent her ability was.
Effie noticed his interest and continued. "What? It's not like it's a big mystery. Around here, anyone with eyes knows what my Ability does. Want me to tell you my Flaw as well?"
Sunny's face twisted in surprise. Effie smirked. "It's very simple. My Aspect doesn't just enhance all my physical attributes—it also magnifies all my physical needs. Why do you think I ate enough meat to create a literal pile of bones? For fun?"
Sunny's eyes widened, and he turned to Lua.
Lua responded calmly, "Mine? I feel a portion of others' emotions. So, keep yours in check, please."
Sunny turned red as Nephis and Cassie observed his embarrassment with amusement. They soon set off, with Effie and Lua leading the way.
***
It took them a few hours to return to the outer settlement. As they entered the area a strange expression was playing on Sunny's face.
Nephis leaned closer to him and spoke "Sunny? Are you okay?"
Sunny simply responded "Yeah. I was just reminiscing."
Nephis nodded and turned to the guides "What do we do now?"
Lua and Effie exchanged chances and Effie spoke "It's going to get dark soon, so I would advise you to find a shelter before that. Look around for an empty hut. With how many people die each season, there's always plenty of those. Otherwise, two of you can pay the tribute and go into the castle. But the third one will have to stay."
Nephis lingered and asked "What about you?"
"Us?" Lua tilted her head and gestured with her hand towards a hut, "That's ours, two bedroom bungalow, best in the settlement."
Effie snorted in agreement.
Nephis stared at her, obviously wanting to say more, but then simply nodded "I see. Thank you for everything you have done for us. I won't forget it."
Effie smiled, patted her on the shoulder and turned to Sunny and Cassie "Bye, doofus. Bye, doll. See you around."
With that, she began whistling a cheerful melody and walked away with Lua. The two entered the bungalow and sat around the stone table. "Lovely folk aye?" Effie asked with a grin. Lua only nodded in response whilst changing the form of Winter's Blessing into a simple Kimono to get more comfortable.
"I guess. But I can tell, things will change with those three around" Lua nodded along.
"Really?" Effie cocked her head to the side.
"Could you not feel it, Fate's tapestry playing with our lives" Lua smiled.
***
A few days later Lua is sitting by the stone table in the bungalow, reading over the progress she's made within the last few days.
Name: Lua
True Name: RealmHeart
Rank: Dreamer
Class: Monster
Soul Core: [2/7]
Soul Fragments: [504/2000]
Memories: [Arc Coil], [Winter's Blessing], [Knight's Crest], [Sky's Gift], [Scale Suit]….
She focused more deeply on a new memory, the runes expanding on it, heading her mental command.
[Scale Suit]
Memory Rank: awakened
Memory Tier: III
Memory Type: Armour
Memory Enchantments: [Living], [Reactive]
[Living]
Enchantment Description: [This Memory repairs itself]
[Reactive]
Enchantment Description: [This Memory reacts to force]
Lua sighed, summoning the memory. Thousands of small black scales weaved themselves into existence over Lua's body. The bodysuit covered her body entirely from feet to jaw, stopping just under her bottom lip. Lua briefly flexed her toned body 'it doesn't disrupt movement'. She thought to herself before standing up.
Lua forced Winter's Warmth into its standard form of a cloak. The cloak is long, flowing, and pure snow white, a large hood lined with thick, luxurious fur. The cloak drapes over the shoulders and extends down past her knees. Lua pulls the hood up and makes her way outside.
She spent the next few hours patrolling, keeping an eye out for any stragglers or opportunities. Eventually, she came across a familiar young woman with silver hair standing in an alley.
"You're still homeless?" Lua jokingly asks Nephis.
The latter turning her head, her silver eyes betraying her confusion at the joke "No, I have a house" she responds dryly.
'I get it' Lua's face went stiff. 'She has no social experience,' she paused for a few seconds. "Never mind. But, what are you doing here."
"Exploring… but I want to confirm something?"
"Yes?" Lua tilted her head.
"There is a gateway here, isn't there?" Nephis continued.
Lua's expression stiffened 'Shit.' Lua paused for a while before speaking "There is but… it's rather… unreachable."
Nephis remained silent, her intent clear despite her quietness.
Lua sighed. "The Crimson Spire," she explained, pointing towards the malevolent tower in the distance, "and it's guarded by a Fallen Terror."
Nephis' eyes glowed with white flames, and a smirk slowly crept across her face.