Aelon summoned Minos' Soulblade.
He had an advantage over the awakened with his Memory. They didn't know that it could shift into soul mode, and neither did they know of his Aspect.
The black haired boy was sure.
From the augmentation he received from the three awakened he could determine that they were sleepers. They must've come to this region of the dream realm during the last winter solstice as well.
'That means if I make them disappear nobody will think anything of it, right?'
It only made sense. If multiple people were sent to this region of the dream realm, that was not recorded in any known records, it meant that it was very likely that people were sent here before.
They just didn't make it back.
'I should've figured that out sooner considering the amount of Nightmare Creatures that are crawling around here.'
It would've truly been detrimental to his mental health if he found that out priorly. But...
The tree would keep him safe anyways.
So it didn't matter.
Eyes flashing through the three, he recognized two women, and one man.
'Is that Sun-'
Who was he thinking of again?
The tree would be mad if he got distracted, he needed to act now.
Just as Aelon was about to activate [Resonance Shift] to weaken the Sleepers' Aspect Abilities, he apprehended a hidden augmentation he hadn't noticed before.
It was an Awakened Terror.
'The tree is a Nightmare Creature?! I need to get-'
'The tree only wants the best for me, there must be some good Nightmare Creatures as well. At least the tree is one. Definitely.'
Strengthened by the souls of three sleepers, and an Awakened Terror, Aelon regained a little reason. He didn't rush into battle immediately.
First he had to analyze the victims— no, the criminals.
A feeling of familiarity arose in him, but when his mind tried grasping at it, it resulted in being futile. Whenever he was about to recall who they were, the thought slipped out of his clutches.
'If I barely remember them, they couldn't have been that important.'
Aelon noticed that one of them was lying down, gaze empty. There wasn't a single thought behind her eyes, yet the rest of the body acted as if she was alive.
The girl was blind. And by the condition of the other two it was clear that they were the ones who fought the Carapace Demon. The blind girl's Aspect probably wasn't a combat one.
'Good. That means that I can focus Resonance Shift on the both of them. I'll kill the blonde girl once I'm done with the black haired guy, and Nep- the white haired girl.'
A question lit up in his mind.
Should he focus his dreamer ability on the both of them, or on one person?
If he spread it out, the both of them would be weakened, but the individual potency would also be halved. On the other hand, if he focused it all on a singular person, they would receive the full might of his dormant ability.
'Since they're sleepers, I doubt they have powerful enough abilities for it to actually be worth it.'
Deciding to spread his ability, the familiar nervosity of entering a battle stirred in Aelon. His heart fluttered.
'This'll be an easy win. Come on you got this Aelon.'
Slowly but surely, he climbed down the tree, feeling as vigorous as ever. The augmentation felt on par with when he was in Instructor Rock's class.
'An Awakened Terror is that powerful huh?'
Not to forget that there were a lot of students in that class.
Using his enhanced stealth to it's fullest, Aelon slowly crept closer.
The aromatic scent of cooked crab permeated through the air.
Something churned in his stomach. It had been a while since he ate meat. The tree's fruit had been his only sustenance since he arrived here.
'Focus godsdammit!'
Surveying the area with his gaze, Aelon remained still.
They were sitting on a very big branch, at least twenty meters broad, and gods know how long. The white haired woman was resting a bit further away from the blind girl and black haired boy— around thirty meters to be precise.
Aelon focused on her.
Her hair was cut short, only falling down to her shoulders. Her focus was entirely lost, as she was staring emptily into the distant horizon of the crater.
'Okay... think carefully.
1. Black haired guy is bruised.
2. White haired girl is more exhausted than black haired guy.
3. White haired girl sits further away.
4. White haired girl can handle herself.
5. She seems to have done the most in the battle against the Carapace Demon, judging by the way that she acts.
Alright seems like I've found the most powerful one.'
He had two options. Let the black haired guy stay with the blind girl, and kill the white haired girl while she was exhausted. Or kill the black haired guy first, to get the easier battle out of the way.
'The white haired girl is probably the best option, if I attack the black haired guy first she's gonna have time to recover.'
With that in mind, Aelon made sure to use his lack of presence to get as close as possible before charging at her. There was a chance she had a sleeper ability that could harm him from far away.
Closer, and closer...
The white haired girl's head turned, and she looked him right in the eye.
'How the fuck?! My attribute is supposed to make me elusive!'
Maybe...
'Did I make a lasting positive impression on her? That's the only way!'
As much as he tried to recall, Aelon couldn't. The thoughts just wouldn't come.
He had many advantages.
The soul shards from the fruits of the tree made him stronger as well. He was probably ahead of any sleeper who was in their generation, when it came to soul shards.
His augmentation made him a hell lot stronger as well, this was a very likely win.
It seemed like the chances were on his side.
It was not like anyone here had an attribute that made the unlikely things have a higher chance of happening.
Ehem.
"Aelon?!"
Nephis— no, the white haired girl's face was contorted in surprise. Aelon noticed that her hands were trembling.
'Perfect! This is my chance!'
Using Resonance Shift on both the black haired boy, and white haired girl, making sure to focus a bigger portion on the latter, Aelon activated the soul mode of Minos' Soulblade.
In one single leap, the grey-eyed boy flew forwards, augmentation causing him to move at superhuman speeds.
The white haired girl's pupils constricted when she saw him dash at her in an obviously combat-oriented stance, summoning her sword in retort.
'Useless. My sword will slip right through your defense!'
"Aelon why are you-?!" was all she managed to get out before moving backwards in an attempt to dodge his attack.
But Aelon had predicted her retreat...
The blade of his sword connected with her temple in a blur, moving at untraceable speeds.
Swish.
With a clean cut, as if there wasn't any resistance, Aelon's blade sliced through her head.
The hit landed.
It was as if the world halted it's breath for a moment. Something tightened around his heart, and before Aelon knew it tears slipped out of his eyes.
"N-Nephis..?"
Who was Nephis?
The white haired girl was standing, unharmed. Her soul seemed to be completely intact.
To Aelon's own surprise he seemed a bit relieved though.
'What? Why didn't it work?'
That's when an idea flashed through the aggressor's mind. Nightmare Creatures' souls felt substantially different than humans'. Specifically, there was a dark feeling. This feeling he got from their souls seeped through their entire body, altering it in some way. In the case of humans on the other hand, the souls remained steadily in their soul cores.
He had to hit her Soul Core.
That was a hard maneuver. While he could feel the spot of it's location, due to his innate ability and [Seed of Souls] (although the attribute still remained a mystery), it would be extremely difficult to target.
Human soul cores resided in the cores of people. The core was the one part of your body that moved the most along with your limbs during combat.
Twisting, flexing, and extending the spine would all result in the location of the soul core migrating.
'Fuck. Seems like I have to use the physical mode.'
Aelon wasn't practiced in trying to hit the soul core during battle. If he had fought humans formerly, he probably would've figured it out sooner and actually trained for it.
Well... at least he knew now.
The blue shimmer surrounding Aelon's blade receded, leaving only the familiar luster of steel.
His opponent's voice brought his attention back to battle.
"Sunny come here! I found Aelon, but there is something wrong with him! We need to incapacitate him!" she shouted, twisting her head backwards into the direction of the black haired boy, Sunny.
'Stupid. My chance.'
Utilizing her diverted attention, Aelon attacked once again. His blade blurred towards the tall girl's throat.
Then... steel intercepted it's path.
It seemed like she had expected him to attack, probably looking away on purpose.
She didn't expect his strength though.
Even though Aelon noticed that she tried her best to let her face remain apathetic, her teeth were gritted.
'Stupid girl... instead of dodging you take my attack head on.'
It kind of did make sense, to her credit. After all he did look frail, and even if she somehow knew about his Aspect, she wouldn't be able to recognize that the tree was augmenting him as well, unless she had some kind of location Aspect. She'd think that he was augmented solely by three sleepers, and therefore not as strong. Not to forget that the potency of his Innate and Dormant Ability were strengthened exponentially, due to the huge amount of Soul Shards he absorbed through Nightmare Creatures and the tree.
She definitely didn't know about his Aspect.
...right?
Aelon looked at her face.
She was gritting her teeth. The tall girl didn't let a blade lock occur, since she would very obviously loose a match of strength, and put a couple meters of distance between them.
"How the heck are you so strong?! You only have us three as augmentations!", the tall girl exclaimed, obviously frustrated out of her mind.
She did know about his aspect.
How though?
A familiar soul arrived. Interrupting his thoughts, Sunny rushed to the stupid girl's side, a blade in hand, and covered by what seemed to be a garment made out of bandages.
It was a two against one now.