Sunny looked back to see Nephis wearing actual clothes this time. He did not expect to wake up today. He did not expect her to survive, either, but they did. They had both survived. Nephis had fought after he blacked out and even used her flames to heal him.
That is why he was so shocked to not only find himself alive, but also capable of seeing, but for today, maybe he would prefer to be blind. He had only glanced at her for a second, even less than that, but he still could not get the image out of his head.
He had to get someone to erase it from his memories after he got out of here, no doubt. He could not even stop his face from heating up. Nephis seemed to be rather indifferent, though. Contrary to how she acted after the …first incident, she was much more emotionless.
Seeing her wearing actual clothes was relieving, still. She did not have an armor memory before, so she must have gotten it from the monster. The black bodysuit seemed especially durable, not as much as his armor, but still very durable. No doubt, it was an awakened memory.
"Y-Yes… much better." He said, stumbling on his own words. The armor looked exceptional on her. The fabric brought attention to all her good parts and brought it away from all the bad ones… if she had them, that is. It did not help at all.
"You look great…" He said in the same tone, still blushing all over his face.
Nephis did not react, though. Her face was emotionless, even more so than usual.
"Do I?"
Sunny nodded his head. "Of course."
"I guess I do then…" She said, not reacting at all.
"Is that the memory you got?" Sunny pointed at Neph's new armor and asked, already knowing the answer.
Nephis nodded her head, summoning all the protective parts back.
"Yeah… It's called Starlight Legion Armor." Then she dismissed the plates again.
Sunny's eyes widened slightly. He thought the armor was only the black bodysuit, but it seemed like it was more protective than he thought. He could not deny that she looked great with the plates as well, though. In retrospect, he should have realized earlier. All armor memories could be summoned in part, and while the fabric seemed durable, it was still too fragile for an awakened memory. Especially for something that came from the carapace family of nightmare creatures.
"Did you reach the one thousand soul fragment mark?" Sunny asked again, trying to keep the conversation with his best friend, who seemed to be awfully indifferent.
Nephis shrugged, then she checked her runes.
Name: Nephis.
True Name: Changing Star.
Rank: Dreamer.
Soul Core: [Dormant].
Class: Monster.
Soul Cores: [2/7].
[Soul Fragments: 128/2000].
If Neph's emotions were not so blazingly burned away, she would be greatly shocked right now. She would also be excited. She might have even jumped around. She only felt a slight, numb emotion, though. The prospects of their progression were much clearer now. They could grow, grow much farther than anyone else.
She glanced at Sunny, nodding slightly and explaining. When Sunny heard her, he almost passed out from shock.
"W-What?! Monster Core?! Really?! You think I can do the same?"
"I think so…" She responded coldly.
"Quick! Check your soul sea!" Sunny told her with excitement.
Nephis did not feel the need to confirm the spell's words. Even if she was supposed to hate it, she did not doubt its omnipotence. She still humored him, though.
Diving deep into her own soul, she could see it, another core next to her old one. Indeed, it was there and real. It was just as radiant as her first one, as well. She exited her soul sea immediately and told Sunny everything.
Sunny was both shocked and excited at the fact that Nephis had multiple cores. The fragment counter had been exclusive for divine aspects, and he had the same counter, as well. Most likely, he could also grow multiple cores, but that was not all. Nephis had confirmed that she still had the counter. She just needed to fill it up twice as much. To Sunny, that meant they could most likely become titans and have seven cores.
While Nephis said that she did not get any new abilities as nightmare creatures did, she did get much stronger physically. That meant that if she became a titan, she would be as strong as a dormant titan. Right now, Nephis was as strong as a dormant monster. She had left him in the dust.
Sunny and Nephis did not obsess over the new information for too long. Rather, they left quite quickly for Cassie. Poor girl probably thought her new friends had just died in their battles. Sunny could not blame her either. They were passed out for hours. If he were in her position, he would think the same as her.
Finding the blind girl in her hiding spot, they could see her still grieving. Looking at her face, Sunny could clearly see marks of tears. She must have cried a lot. Seeing the two again, Cassie's face lit up with various emotions. She was crying again, this time, they were the tears of joy.
"S-Sunny! Nephis! Y-You're alive?!" She said in between her sobs.
Sunny's cheeks rose slightly, but Nephis remained unusually cold.
"Yes, we just passed out after the battle… Sorry for scaring you." Sunny said, following it up with comforting words. After calming Cassie down, Sunny prepared food again. The three of them ate like usual, killing their hunger and quenching their thirst. If Sunny were asked which memory was most integral to his survival, he would choose Cassie's water bottle. Without it, they might have already died. Who knew what drinking filtered water from the dark sea would do to him?
After finishing the meal, Sunny came to a conclusion. Nephis must have lost herself to pain. It made sense, feeling that horrifying agony must have numbed her emotions. Coming to this conclusion left Sunny in a somber mood. That is exactly what he wanted to avoid with her flaw. What if it were permanent? What if she ended up forever emotionless and unfeeling? What would make her different from those ghouls, then? Sunny hoped she would return to her usual self, eventually. If she did not… he did not want to think what he would have to do.
Stopping himself from thinking that thought, he cleaned up and rested with the team the entire day. He did not feel like progressing further in the labyrinth for today, and regardless of what Nephis wanted to do, she could not leave him behind. While she barely felt anything, she could still think logically, and from a logical standpoint, he was her trusted ally to help her defeat her enemies. She could not let them separate.
And he was a formidable ally, indeed.
Aspect Legacy: [Shadow Dance].
Shadow Dance Mastery: [1/7].
First Relic: [Claim].
He had completed the first step of his shadow dance. Mostly thanks to his divine lineage, and he had earned the right to claim his first relic. Seeing the set of runes, he realized what shadow dance truly was. Shadow dance was shadowing and using the enemy's strength against them.
His divine lineage, [The Shadow], not only boosted all of his shadow-based abilities, but it also made him more flexible and adaptable, granting him an innate ability in this battle art.
Which made Sunny excited. Not only would he get seven legacy relics, but he would also learn a deadly battle art at the same time.
'Claim!' He thought, claiming his first relic.
The runes started glowing until changing and turning dull.
First Relic: Claimed.
Then he heard a familiar voice whisper into his ear.
[You have received an Aspect Legacy Relic.]
[You have received a Shadow: Soul Serpent.]
Sunny was left pleasantly surprised.
Shadows: [Soul Serpent].
A set of runes that were not there before shimmered. He had been thinking about turning the scavenger echo to a shadow, but if he got a shadow from his aspect legacy already, maybe he should hold on for now.
Shadow: [Soul Serpent].
Shadow Rank: Dormant.
Shadow Class: Beast.
Shadow Attributes: [Shadow Guide].
Shadow Description: [When the end came, Shadow was the last of the gods to be destroyed. Many have resented him for creating death, but in the end, death embraced all.]
'…Creepy.' The soul serpent's description was rather intriguing, but it was a bit creepy as well. Sunny could not deny that Shadow God had always struck him as a creepy one. Whenever he was mentioned, it was always ominous.
[Shadow Guide] Attribute Description: "Soul Serpent guides shadow essence as it flows through your body."
'W-What?! Shadow essence?! Can I control essence as a dormant?!' Sunny immediately summoned the soul serpent, excited about his new shadow. Surprisingly, it had not appeared near him.
"What?! Where is it?!" He yelled out, forgetting that he was not alone. Sunny and Nephis noticed immediately, coming to question him.
"Sunny? What is it?" Cassie asked.
"You see… I just received my aspect legacy, and it's an… echo, of sorts, but when I summon it, it's not here."
Upon hearing this, Cassie was left utterly shocked.
"A-Aspect legacy?! Really, an aspect legacy?! As a sleeper?! I have never heard of a sleeper getting an aspect legacy. If it is your aspect legacy, it must be a formidable echo."
The cat was already out of the bag. It was not like he could lie. Besides, he now trusted Cassie with something like this. They had built a bond after traveling together, and with it came trust.
Sunny nodded. After confirming that the shadow was not in some dark corner, they started looking for it. Sunny had reassured the two that he had actually summoned the serpent many times. He had even dismissed and re-spawned it twice. The serpent could not be found, though. Which was weird, because Sunny could feel its attribute working on him. Indeed, he could guide his shadow essence through his body as a dormant. Even though his control was rather rudimentary and the quality of the essence was bad, it was still a huge boost to his power.
He did discover the serpent later on, though. When cleaning himself with the spring water, he noticed it in the form of a tattoo on his body. The serpent was coiling around his left arm. To Sunny, his new companion in the form of a serpent tattoo looked really cool. Cassie seemed to agree as well. Nephis was indifferent, having lost her emotions.
***
The next few days were not the same, though. As soon as they moved out, Nephis forced him to hunt much more than before. Without her emotions, she was much more power hungry. Sunny could not deny the fruits of their labor. They had killed almost dozens of awakened creatures each day, and Sunny's fragment counter had become rather staggering.
[Shadow Fragments: 324/1000].
They had killed many beasts, including a couple of monsters. Turns out the carapace tribe was not the only enemy in the coral labyrinth. There were many others as well, but compared to the scavengers and the centurions, they were rather underwhelming. That was why they were mostly suppressed by them.
With Nephis dragging him around with her every time she wanted to kill something, his fragments had accumulated. She had gotten much more than he had, though.
Class: Demon.
Soul Cores: [3/7].
[Soul Fragments: 254/3000].