In the next second, the colossus leaned forward and dove under the turbulent surface of the waves. Lua held her breath, unlike the previous day when they had to cross the canyon, this time they were being pulled deep into the void of darkness instead of across it.
As the pressure of the black water grew heavier and the cold of the lightless void seeped into his bones, the circular platform suddenly stopped and swayed lightly.Then, finally, the body of the colossus swayed once more, and suddenly began to move up. With the same speed that they were pulled into the depths, the cohort was now being lifted from the darkness of the cursed sea back into the furious embrace of the storm.
Lua choked on the sea water, greedily breathing in what air she could. Looking up she realised what had happened.
The ancient giant had not been pulled into the black water by the unseen horror of the depths. Instead, once the gigantic tentacles had proven to be a nuisance, he had simply leaned forward and scooped the abyssal creature from the bottom of the sea. And now the colossus was holding it in his hand, raising the leviathan into the raging skies.
Lua instantly realised her mistake as she gazed on the creature '...an… a great terror.' She shuddered. Such a being was an extinction level event if it appeared in the waking world without the sovereigns stepping in.
Held in the ancient statue's hand was a gargantuan skull that looked almost like that of a human, but simultaneously vastly different. The vile aura it radiated was almost palpable to the touch.
The most prominent and obvious difference, though, was that the gargantuan skull had three eye sockets instead of two, the third one situated above the other ones, right in the middle of its forehead. Its canines were also more prominent and heavy than that of a human.
The lower jaw of the skull was missing, and it was from there that the seven gigantic tentacles protruded. The hurricane winds broke against the statue, powerless to move the arm of the colossus even by a centimeter. The hammer gripped in his hand was suddenly enveloped in a ghostly blue glow.
Lightning danced across the hammer then the colossus brought his burning hammer down and delivered a devastating blow to the abhorrent skull. The beak of the hammer easily shattered the ancient bone and sank deep into the flesh of the horror hiding within.
The next moment an ear piercing wail shattered the cohort's ears. That wail was like nothing that a living being should ever have been able to produce, and much louder than even the deafening thunder tearing the raging skies.
Lua pressed her head against the stone, suddenly wishing she couldn't see in darker conditions. Her gaze settled on Sunny, who likely saw something even worse. Lua tuned out the rest, not wanting to look up any more. Hours later, the raging winds grew weaker, and the torrent of rain slowly turned into a light drizzle. The veil of tenebrous clouds was slowly torn apart, and the rays of sunshine shone through the tears. The storm was finally over.
***
Lua sat on the cold stone, her knees drawn up, a lost look in her eyes as she stared at the stone platform. The storm had lasted almost a full day. She sighed as she called on her runes, specifically relating to her Aspect Legacy.
New Beginning Mastery Level: [2/7].
First Relic: [Claimed].
Second Relic: [Claimed].
Third Relic: Unearned...
Fourth Relic: Unearned…
Fifth Relic: Unearned…
Sixth Relic: Unearned..
Seventh Relic: Unearned…
She had long figured out that her legacy was related to the manipulation of souls. And given the title, likely related to creating something new, possibly artificial life like an echo or eidolon. She'd advanced with essence then understood spell weave intimately, next would probably be something to do with echo's or true echos, once she found the difference.
The Blood Relic had been upgraded to a tier IV awakened armour, one which could probably shrug off hits from awakened demons.
The armour itself hadn't changed in appearance nor gained an enchantment, but she could feel that the already existing enchantments had been upgraded.
[Blood Relic]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Tier: IV
Memory Type: Armour
Memory Description: [In the great forest a King commissioned a great blacksmith to construct an elegant suit of onyx and gold. During the twilight of its forging, a stray drop of blood from a dying god reached the metal, changing it.]
Memory Enchantments: [Blood Bound], [Stalwart], [Assimilate], [Perfect Gold]
[Blood Bound]
Enchantment Description: [Blood greatly repairs this armour.]
[Stalwart]
Enchantment Description: [This armour provides extremely high protection against physical attacks, high protection against elemental attacks, and a moderate amount of protection against mind and soul attacks.]
[Assimilate]
Enchantment Description: [This armour can integrate another memory into it's self. Potency of the enchantments are dependent on the wielder's Soul Core capacity.]
Assimilated Memory: [Talon of Unrest]
[Perfect Gold]
Enchantment Description: [This armour is carved from a piece of sublime gold, and as such is extremely durable beyond logic and reason.]
'They've gotten better' Lua thought to herself, three of the enchantments had been upgraded. This was an acceptable reward in her opinion as enhancing already existing enchantments was as good as getting a new one.
Content with the armour's quality she turned back to her main runes.
Name: Lua
True Name: RealmHeart
Rank: Dreamer
Class: Devil
Soul Core: [4/7]
Soul Fragments: [2541/4000]
Memories: [Winter's Warmth], [Knight's Crest], [Sky's Gift], [Scale Suit], [Talon of Unrest], [Eventide], [Papyrus Scarab], [Sky Cleaver], [Valhalla], [Broken], [Blood Rune]…
Echoes: []
Eidolon: [Aetherium Wolf]
Attributes: [Blaze of Divinity], [Soul Bound], [True Heart], [Asura], [Astral Bond],
Attribute: [Blaze of Divinity]
Attribute description: [Your soul is a blaze with the light of divinity.]
Attribute: [Asura]
Attribute description: [Your body is infused with Essence. Your soul is adamantite. Strengthening, healing and improving your body and soul.]
Attribute: [Astral Bond]
Attribute description: [A cosmic tether forms between the wolf and its master, empowering them both as the wolf's ethereal energy flows into the mortal world.]
She focused on [Asura].
Attribute: [Asura]
Attribute Description: [Your body is infused with Essence. Your soul is adamantite. Strengthening, healing and improving your body and soul.]
Attribute Traits: [Adamant Soul], [Limitless Endurance], [Overwhelming Might]
[Adamant Soul]
Trait Description: [Your soul is as unbreakable as adamantite, making you highly resistant to soul-based attacks.]
[Limitless Endurance]
Trait Description: [You do not suffer fatigue like normal beings. You can fight, run, and exert yourself far longer than others.]
[Overwhelming Might]
Trait Description: [Your physical strength is beyond human limits.]
'So [Asura] has turned into an all around augment, similar to Effie's dormant ability but weaker and mostly provides more endurance and soul protection.' Lua thought to herself.
***
In the middle of their second day of traveling, they finally reached their destination. In front of them, a vast, misty mountain chain rose up from the scarred ground. The malevolent coral labyrinth also refused to advance further. 'Thought so…. It's good to get a slight idea where we are.'
They had finally reached their destination, a place Lua knew well from her clan's time in the Chained Isles.
The Hollow Mountains.
They were known by most people as the most dangerous place in the dream realm. A place where death was a garante. The mountains themselves looked quite normal, extending out of the ground and piercing the sky. But there was something- off about them.
Of course, dwelling within the mountains were at the lowest, corrupted nightmare creatures, and that standard was widely accepted as being mostly great ones and the fabled cursed creatures.
Lua stood atop the colossus as it neared the jagged horizon line. As the gargantuan statue approached the border of the coral forest, its steps slowed. Finally, the stone giant staggered and stopped. This was the moment they were waiting for.
Lua watched Effie, Caster and Nehpis all climb down the statue, leaving Cassie and Sunny to Kai. Lua walked to the edge of the platform, and activated the [Blessing of Flight] enchantment on Winter's Warmth.
The marvellous white cloak unfurled into 6 large wings, the top pair stretching up, whilst the bottom stretched down. The wings themselves were mostly feathers but they were shaped more like a butterfly's or moth's wings than something like an angel.
Lua raised her arms so they were aligned with the top set of wings. This was a method of making winged flight easier. If you made the wings and your arms move in tandem, it was far easier to change and adjust directions.
Granted Lua wouldn't be flapping her arms to stay airborne, but this was purely a steering method. Stepping off the platform, Lua dove down. Her wings quickly caught the air, flapping repeatedly like a moth, keeping her in the air as she descended.
Lua glided down with clear skill and practice, her large moth-like wings easily carrying her downwards to the base of the colossus' feet. She quickly reached the ground, her four wings folded up back into the familiar cloak.
The rest of the cohort quickly joined her waiting on the mud, each of them both thankful and worried about leaving the sometimes relative safety of the colossus. Eventually, the hulking stone creation shuddered, then resumed its march around the Forgotten Shore.
Nephis sighed and turned towards the looming mountains. "We need to find a place to set up camp." Nephis spoke seriously.
Lua followed her gaze up the foothills of the mountains. At where they were, it wasn't too steep, but it quickly grew impossible to even climb. Lua turned around and gazed down at the Forgotten Shore. She knew relatively where they actually were within the dream realm.
Given her mothers rank, she was privy to quite a few secrets. Such as the existence of the nightmare dessert, as such she believed it was east of the Forgotten shore, but she couldn't know exactly.
Now they were resting at the northern side of the Hollow Mountains, although Nephis clearly hadn't realised. This meant that they were probably north of either Godgrave or the Chained Isles, maybe even Revenheart.