1 Month Earlier
It was the same day we had agreed to stay in the labyrinth for a while, and there was a question I still hadn't asked…
Sitting on the platform, facing each other while we ate, I asked:
"Sylvie, I forgot to ask earlier, but… do you know how to fight?"
"I have your memories of learning combat styles, but not the practice. And I don't know how to handle my Aspect either," she replied.
'That's bad. Theory is very different from practice.'
I brought a hand to my chin and started thinking about ways for her to learn quickly.
"Well, I can teach you the practical side of combat styles, but you'll have to learn your Aspect by using it."
"That works for me. When do we start?" she replied immediately.
'That was another thing that had caught my attention from the very beginning.'
I looked at her with a slight frown. "Why do you always accept what I say right away?"
She shrugged lightly. "Why would I doubt your intentions?"
'I wasn't expecting a question in response to my question.'
Before I could formulate an answer, she added:
"I don't accept everything you say because I lack will," she continued, lowering her gaze slightly before lifting it again. "I do it because I know you're not speaking from control, but from care. And even though I know every decision you've made in the past, this one—the decision to stay with me, to teach me—is new. It's yours… and it's also mine.
If one day I doubt, it will be because I feel it, not because I learned it from your memories."
I stayed silent for a moment, staring at the surface of the platform before looking back at her.
"There's something I need you to understand," I said at last. "In this place, Nightmare Creatures aren't the worst thing. They're predictable. They attack, kill, or die. Humans… aren't."
I paused.
"Humans can lie. They can use fear. They can smile while waiting for the right moment."
I looked at her seriously, but not harshly.
"You have my memories. You know how distrust is learned. But remembering distrust isn't the same as feeling it in your body when something doesn't add up. That isn't inherited. It's formed."
I exhaled slowly.
"And right now, the only proof I have of your character is how you are with me. That's not an accusation… it's a responsibility."
I rested my forearms on my knees.
"When we reach places where there are other people, I don't want you to accept anything just because someone sounds confident. Not even if that someone is me."
I looked at her again, firmer this time.
"If you ever feel that I'm wrong, that one of my decisions puts you in danger, I want you to refute it. Tell me. Don't stay silent."
I lowered my voice at the end.
"You being here wasn't a coincidence. It was a decision I made, and it has consequences."
I met her eyes.
"Taking responsibility for your well-being isn't an option for me. It's the right thing to do."
Sylvie stayed silent for a few seconds, as if organizing what she felt before speaking.
"I understand why you think that," she finally said. "And I'm not saying this to contradict you, but because I want you to hear it."
She straightened a bit, resting her hands on the platform.
"Yes, me being here is a consequence of a decision you made. That's true."
She lifted her gaze, calm.
"But now that I'm here, it's also my responsibility to sustain myself. To take care of my own well-being."
She paused briefly.
"There's something you still don't fully understand," she continued. "I'm not just the result of your memories. My past may come from you, but what I do with it… that's mine."
She tilted her head slightly.
"At the end of the day, I'm myself. And from now on, I always will be, no matter where my origins come from."
Her voice didn't harden, but it did grow more certain.
"I don't want you to carry everything just because you can. I'm going to take responsibility too. Not just for myself… but for protecting you when it's needed."
She looked straight at me.
"So don't put more weight on your shoulders on your own, okay?"
Then, almost like a concession:
"If at some point I need something, or I disagree with a decision, I'll say it. But for now… it's not necessary."
She was right… and that bothered me more than I expected.
Not because she contradicted me, but because she pointed out something I didn't want to look at. At some point, knowing that Sylvie knew every corner of my past had led me to assume that she would also need me to support every one of her steps.
As if sharing memories implied sharing fragility.
It was absurd.
Knowing the weight of my mistakes didn't make her weak. If anything, it made her more aware. But I had confused closeness with dependence, and responsibility with control.
Maybe it had been fear.
The idea of not being alone after so long, of someone seeing everything without filters, had pushed me to look for a clear role to stand in. Protector. Guide. Something I could define without doubt.
But Sylvie didn't need that from me.
She wasn't asking me to carry her. She was asking for space to walk on her own…
I let out a slow breath and nodded.
"All right," I said. "I understand what you mean."
After that, a comfortable silence fell between us as we both reflected on what had been said. Eventually, though, it was time to start training. I summoned Dawn's Ballad and handed it to her so we could begin with the first steps.
We're going to have to get her a sword soon.
I transferred the dagger [Chitin Edge] to her so she'd have something to defend herself with for the time being.
She also trained her abilities, and I had to admit they were very interesting. She could draw mana from the environment and use it as bursts or shields. Additionally, she could create something similar to "spells" and deal damage with them.
We tested them on several Scavengers, but since she was still a Sleeper and the Scavengers were Awakened, they barely did any damage.
One very important ability was that she could create ranged attacks, and since they were formed from mana, they were invisible. In my case, I could perceive them through the movement of aether around me, but anyone else wouldn't be able to sense them—let alone see them. Obviously, I could if I was using Realmheart.
Seeing that gave me hope that once I became Awakened, or reached an even higher rank, I might be able to control aether in the same way.
She could also absorb mana from the environment, but for some reason she couldn't strengthen her body with it the way I did with aether. It was probably due to the nature of the element itself.
And finally, her dragon form.
It was an extremely overpowered ability, but obviously, it came with conditions.
The first was the amount of mana it consumed. We tested it on different occasions, and at first she could only maintain it for about two minutes. As the days passed, she managed to hold it for longer.
The second was the mental and physical strain the form put on her. That was the limitation she struggled with the most, and so far she hadn't overcome it completely.
In short, she could maintain her dragon form for around twenty minutes, after which she had to rest, meditate, and recover.
To help her meditate, I taught her the technique I had learned to circulate aether through my body, so she could simultaneously learn to feel her mana channels.
Following the routine of sword training, then meditation, and finally hunting Scavengers, the month passed.
***
Present
We stopped when we reached an elevated area of the labyrinth. Sylvie was tired and needed to meditate to absorb mana, so we decided to rest there before continuing.
From that point, we could already see a structure we called Bone Ridge.
The name was quite literal. From a distance, it stood out clearly against the crimson coral and the gray sky—a white structure impossible to confuse with the surroundings.
As we got closer, it became clear that it wasn't a natural formation.
Bone Ridge was composed of the skeletal remains of a colossal sea creature. Its bones rested atop a massive mound of chaotically grown coral, and its spine arched upward, rising above the rest of the terrain.
I had no way of knowing what that creature had looked like in life, but even reduced to bones, it was enormous. Something like that must have been gigantic even by the standards of the Dark Sea.
We settled at the top and spent the rest of the day meditating. Well, Sylvie spent the rest of the day meditating. I had already reached a point where my body cycled aether unconsciously. Progress wasn't very fast, but I could feel my channels expanding even further.
While Sylvie meditated, I looked toward the west.
At a certain distance, the labyrinth changed in appearance. The crimson coral turned gray and warped, as if it had lost all vitality. Beyond that, the terrain became an expanse of ashen sand, and the walls seemed to have collapsed completely.
There was no movement.
In the middle of that dead zone rose a massive hill, covered in gray sand. At its peak stood a tree.
Its trunk was black, and its crimson canopy contrasted sharply with the dull sky. Its sheer size, stretching unnaturally upward, made it even more unsettling.
I didn't like it.
The way all life seemed to have vanished around it was reason enough to stay away.
After a full day of rest and meditation, we resumed our journey toward where there were supposedly people, detouring to avoid the tree.
Further ahead, we found a gigantic crater, stretching beyond the limits of my vision. At first, we doubted whether Sylvie could make it across. We had started the journey as soon as the sun rose, though, so even if she got tired, there was time to rest or keep going before the Dark Sea returned.
We flew over it and continued on for quite a while until we came across a solitary statue. We only had to stop once during the trip, resting for a few hours before continuing toward the statue. We arrived well before nightfall.
We stopped there to rest a bit more and spend the night, even though from that point we could already distinguish, in the distance, a wall… and behind it, most likely, a city.
Despite our eagerness to see other people, we stayed an entire day at the statue meditating before entering the wall. We wanted to be in the best possible condition, just in case.
When daylight came, we resumed our march, and minutes later we reached the wall. It was made of gray stone and looked impenetrable, as if it could withstand the weight of the Dark Sea for thousands upon thousands of years.
During the journey, we had been surprised by how devoid of life it was. There were no guards, no signs of surveillance, no recent traces of activity. However, once we were on top of it, the reason became evident.
"Sylvie, do you see what I'm seeing?" I asked in a voice lower than usual.
A few seconds later, Sylvie replied.
"Yes… what… what is this place?!" Her voice trembled slightly.
Below us stretched a massive city, completely in ruins.
The stone buildings, which must once have been imposing, were broken and collapsed. Many were nothing more than piles of rubble scattered along wide, empty streets. There were no people walking, no voices, no sounds to break the silence. Under the cold, gray sky, the city looked dead.
It wasn't hard to tell that this hadn't been caused by time alone. Several of the collapsed structures were blackened by fire, and deep marks could be seen in the fragments of walls that still stood, as if something with claws had torn through the stone. In various places, enormous bones of ancient creatures jutted from the ground, far too large to have belonged to humans.
Figures moved among the rubble. Some crossed the ruined streets slowly; others remained hidden in the shadows of fallen buildings. The city wasn't empty. It was infested.
At the center of the ruins, atop a hill, stood an intact castle. Its walls were made of bright white stone, with tall towers and spires rising into the sky. Unlike the rest of the city, it showed no visible signs of damage. It loomed over the ruins as a fixed point, completely detached from its surroundings.
Behind it, much farther away, rose an even larger structure.
A cyclopean, dark tower that pierced the skyline like a gigantic spear of solidified blood. Its presence dominated the horizon, visible even from the wall.
The horror it emanated was enough to make me never want to look at it again, sending chills down my spine.
We stood there on the wall for several more minutes, completely absorbed by what we were seeing.
'There are supposed to be people here?!'
Suddenly, Sylvie broke the silence.
"What do we do now?"
I pulled my gaze away from the tower and looked at her. Shrugging, I said:
"We don't have much choice but to head for the castle…" I turned to look back at the city and added, "You know… I don't think there's a getaway here."
This time, Sylvie looked at me as she replied:
"That wouldn't make sense anyway. If there were, we would've heard or read about this place."
Nodding, I answered, "The best plan right now is to gather information about the situation."
Looking north, I noticed a small tower. I focused aether into my eyes to see if I could detect any movement, but there was none.
"There's nothing in the northern tower. Should we check the southern one?" I asked.
"If we don't find anything there, we'll have to go down from the wall and head toward the castle on foot. Flying is too dangerous—we don't know the rank of these creatures," Sylvie replied.
I nodded again. "That's the plan, then."
We started walking south, and minutes later we found the tower—but there was nothing there. So we decided to go down the wall.
It was very dangerous, but we had no other choice. Flying straight to the castle was just as risky, and circling the wall to find a closer point didn't make sense.
Minutes later, we were already in the city streets. I kept my aether sense compressed to about two meters around my body, and together with Sylvie, we began moving through the shadows of the city, fully alert.
I walked ahead with Dawn's Ballad already summoned in my right hand, while Sylvie positioned herself to my left, sword in hand. Her sword was an Awakened-rank weapon we had obtained over the past month by killing Scavengers. She was also very close to saturating her core.
Meanwhile, I was just beginning my second.
Aether Fragments: [64/2000]
Since I obtained my second core, we hadn't killed many more Scavengers and had focused instead on finding the city. Because of that, my progress with Dawn's Ballad had also slowed.
Name: [Dawn's Ballad]
Memory Rank: Ascended
[65/800]
'Eight hundred kills to reach Transcendent rank… and something tells me they won't be easy to get.'
Still, our journey toward the castle began.
Moving through the ruins turned out to be slow—much slower than it had seemed from the wall. The city had no clear layout. Wide streets ended abruptly in collapses, and narrow alleys twisted between fallen buildings, forming an irregular and unintuitive path.
We advanced along a roundabout route, avoiding open areas whenever possible. Every so often, we had to stop and remain still in the shadows, waiting for some presence to move away. We didn't always see them, but the movement and distortions in the environment were enough to make us cautious.
The worst part was that whenever we spotted a creature in the distance, we only looked at it from the corner of our eye to avoid drawing its attention. Doing that, we noticed something that made our hearts race.
Many of those creatures were Fallen, with a few Awakened wandering among them.
In some stretches, we walked under the open sky, crossing ruined plazas and avenues covered in debris. In others, we entered deteriorated buildings and moved through their interiors, climbing over piles of broken stone and wood. Several times, we passed through half-collapsed houses, emerging on the other side into narrow, hidden alleyways that weren't visible from outside.
On a couple of occasions, we had to go up. We reached the rooftops of buildings that were still standing and continued from above, walking across unstable tiles, exposed beams, and planks placed there long ago by someone to bridge especially wide gaps. Some sections required jumping between buildings separated by several meters.
The journey, with its constant pauses and changes in elevation, felt strangely familiar.
It was like returning to the first zone of the Dream Realm. The same feeling of moving carefully, of advancing only when it was safe, of treating every corner as a potential ambush.
We continued like that for quite a while, gradually approaching the castle.
That was when I detected movement that was different from the usual.
It wasn't erratic like Nightmare Creatures, nor heavy like the larger ones. It was controlled. Intentional.
'Sylvie, there's something different ahead', I told her, and we immediately stopped in the shadow of a destroyed house.
A few seconds later, a figure appeared at the end of one of the partially collapsed streets in front of us.
It walked slowly, down the center of the street, without trying to hide its presence. At first glance, it looked human, but something about the way it moved didn't quite fit. Its posture was strange, slightly crooked, as if its body didn't respond entirely naturally.
It wore a dark, unadorned cloak that concealed its limbs and most of its features. Even so, as it came a bit closer, I could make out its face—pale, expressionless. Its eyes had a glassy, empty sheen, as if they were looking without truly seeing.
'Is it human? 'Sylvie asked.
I didn't answer right away.
'It has a human shape… but I don't like it. It could be a creature imitating one.'
'Do we talk to him?'
'Not yet.'
We didn't have time to decide anything else.
The figure stopped abruptly and made a small gesture with its nose.
"Come out," it said softly. "I can smell you."
Hearing its voice sent a chill down my spine, and I noticed Sylvie's body tremble slightly as well.
Our options narrowed immediately. Either we came out and faced it, or we stayed hidden and pretended it hadn't really smelled us.
I exchanged one last glance with Sylvie and gave a small nod.
We stepped out of the shadows slowly and revealed ourselves in the street. As I moved toward the center, my eyes never left the face of that person—or creature pretending to be one. Dawn's Ballad was in my right hand, and every muscle in my body was reinforced with aether, ready to explode into action.
The figure watched us with its glassy, lifeless eyes until we stood facing each other a few meters apart.
A long silence followed. My gaze tracked every possible movement and detail. Sylvie remained to my left, but now we were side by side, both with our swords and armor summoned.
The figure lowered its head slightly, and after staring at us for a few seconds, I noticed its body straighten a bit.
"You are not part of Changing Star's cohort," it said, in a tone that sounded more like a statement than a question.
'Changing Star? Why does that name sound familiar? ' I wondered.
As soon as it said the name, Sylvie's posture shifted slightly, and she replied:
'That's Nephis's True Name from the academy, remember?'
'Now that you mention it, yeah… hey, Sylv, don't get mad about this', I replied.
'Arthur, don't do anything stupid!' she practically shouted in my head.
Staring straight at the figure, I said, "And what if we are?"
Sylvie shot me a glance from the corner of her eye and thought, 'What are you doing?!'
Still looking forward, I replied, 'Trust me.'
The figure lowered its head a bit more. After staring at us for a few seconds, its body straightened slightly more than before. Then it shrugged and extended one hand.
Woven from sparks of light, a heavy chain appeared in the air and wrapped around its arm from wrist to elbow. The figure grimaced and straightened its back as much as its deformity allowed, its twisted silhouette radiating a sense of savage, almost bestial power.
Two menacing lights ignited in its pale eyes.
"Then you will die." It took a few seconds and added, "Because that is the will of the Lord."
The chain vibrated slightly, emitting a dry metallic sound that echoed through the empty street—and in the next instant, my world turned completely dark.
What the hell—
I didn't finish the thought before a chain shot straight toward Sylvie. Acting more on reflex than understanding what was happening, I shoved Sylvie out of its range. The chain struck me in the chest at a bad angle, sending me several meters back—but I stayed on my feet.
I tasted metal in my mouth.
I couldn't see anything, and yet I didn't panic.
Blindness. That was all.
It wasn't the first time I'd fought without sight, and it wasn't a condition that truly limited me. The aether around my body was still there, intact, perceiving every nearby distortion. Taking advantage of the moment, I expanded it even further.
'Sylvie, stay out of it. Don't come closer', I sent firmly.
I felt her hesitation for a moment… then she accepted.
If anyone else had been in my place, they would already be dead. Deprived of sight, very few could have resisted the furious assault of such a brutally strong figure. But I wasn't just anyone.
Even while blind, my perception didn't rely on my eyes.
I felt movement in front of me.
The figure lunged forward.
I shifted left and stepped back several meters at the same time. Something whistled past my head at an absurd speed. A fraction of a second later, and the links of the chain would have crushed my skull.
Fast…
Without breaking my rhythm, I summoned [Infinite Lash] in my left hand and hurled it downward, aiming for where its leg should be based on the displacement of aether and the tension in the ground beneath its steps.
I missed.
Its chain intercepted the attack cleanly, the impact ringing out with a heavy metallic clash. I dismissed [Infinite Lash] instantly, using the distraction to advance.
I closed the distance.
An attack came from my right. I repelled it with [Dawn's Ballad] without stopping. The chains hooked around the sword, and I felt the immediate tension—brutal force trying to tear it from my grip.
For a moment, I considered forcing it.
I could have.
But it wasn't worth it.
I let the sword go… not before giving it a sharp pull to test our strength and throw him off balance.
In that pull, I felt it clearly.
We're almost equally strong.
I moved before he could react. We were too close now. I drew back my fist and delivered a dry, direct punch to his sternum.
The impact sent him flying several meters back.
I heard his breathing break, turn ragged.
"Damn bastard…" he gasped. "How are you doing that?"
"I'd tell you," I replied flatly, "but then I'd have to kill you."
I didn't give him time.
I attacked again, [Dawn's Ballad] now gripped with both hands. I felt one of his chains approach and deliberately guided the blade toward it.
The instant I felt it latch on—
I dismissed the sword.
And gambled.
I activated [Static Void].
The world stopped.
His body froze completely. I could feel his muscles straining to move, feel the chains wanting to fall under gravity… but I didn't allow it.
I ran.
In motion, I summoned [Dawn's Ballad] again and drove it straight toward where his heart should be.
The impact was clean.
I retreated as far as I could, and my vision returned instantly.
Seconds later, his body collapsed heavily onto the pavement, lifeless.
Then the spell spoke.
[You have slain Dreamer Harus]
[Your aether grows stronger]
Suddenly, I felt the entire flow of fragments surge into my core. The sensation was incredible—feeling my core go from empty to so full in an instant…
Then I felt a sharp hit on my head and spun around immediately, only to find Sylvie's face mere centimeters from mine, her eyebrows drawn down and her hand raised to strike again.
"Hey!! What was that for?!" I blurted out.
Somehow, that only made her angrier. She stared at me coldly.
"Are you seriously asking that?! Why did you do that?!" She took a breath and continued, "You just killed a human, Arthur! And the only thing you care about is the fragments that went into your core!"
That was when it all hit me.
I had acted on impulse and ended up killing a human. And as if that wasn't enough, I hadn't felt any remorse afterward.
What… what did I do?
My gaze drifted involuntarily to the corpse on the ground. I knew we had to leave the area—the noise and the smell of blood would draw countless creatures here—but my body wouldn't move.
Once the adrenaline faded, helped along by Sylvie's outburst, my body felt heavy, as if a backpack full of bricks had suddenly settled onto my shoulders.
I knew that in the Dream Realm I would eventually end up killing humans, but I hadn't thought it would happen so soon—or like this. I had no real reason to fight him, and yet, driven by an impulse to gather information, I had done so and killed him.
Then I felt Sylvie grab my hand and start running toward one of the nearest buildings. I followed until we reached the second-to-last floor, where I leaned against a wall and slid down until I was sitting.
Sylvie sat beside me without letting go of my hand and rested her head on my shoulder.
Without thinking, I apologized.
"I'm sorry, Sylvie. I… I didn't realize my decision could lead to that."
She squeezed my hand tighter and replied, "I understand why you wanted to take the risk. It's just that… it wasn't the right moment. If you look at the context, that person was sent to kill Nephis. Why else would he be walking so far from the castle and asking whether we were part of her cohort?"
That made several thoughts in my head click into place, but I needed more to fully understand everything from that single interaction.
In a timid voice, I said, "Sylvie, I think I might be able to deduce something about the situation if I activate [Former King]. What do you think?"
She lifted her head from my shoulder and looked at me, shaking it slightly.
"It's not worth doing it with so little information. You might deduce things, but they could be incomplete or based on only one side of the conflict."
I added, "If that 'Lord' and Nephis are fighting over control of the castle, we're going to have to choose a side no matter what."
Sylvie nodded. "Yes. That's what it looks like for now."
A comfortable silence settled over us. I checked my runes to see how many fragments I had gained.
Aether Fragments: [1024/2000]
'So I gained around a thousand fragments from that kill…'
'No doubt his core was saturated. That's why we were evenly matched.'
We stayed there for a while longer, waiting for the creatures that had already arrived to feed on the corpse to leave. After nearly half an hour, we set off toward the castle again.
The atmosphere between Sylvie and me was still a bit tense, and that was completely understandable. But for now, we had to set those feelings aside until we reached a safer area.
The journey lasted hours, but eventually we arrived at what we believed was a settlement on the outskirts of the castle.
Exchanging a glance with Sylvie, I said, "It's time to find out what the hell is going on in this city."
She gave me a single nod, and together we headed toward one of the outposts where we saw a group of people talking among themselves—each of them wearing a strip of white cloth on their sleeves.