Raine was standing at the edge of the crater. A part of him wanted to step back. A part of him wanted to jump down. He just stared at it, as if trying to resist those thoughts.
Below he could see a maze of crimson corals. Just as grand as the crater itself. He had to go down there. But now wasn't the time. He had to wait for a new morning so that he would get maximum time to travel before the sea flooded this whole place.
He turned to the city and walked towards it. It was evening. He entered a tall building and reached as high as he could get. He was feeling tired. And hungry. And thirsty. Maybe that was the reason for his strange mood.
Or maybe he was feeling lonely.
'Strange, it hadn't even been a full day.'
He thought he was cold, emotionless... strong. But he didn't realise that he would miss the people who were always around him. He was so used to their presence that he didn't know that he was actually relying on them.
And now he'll never see them again.
He wasn't a kid. He was a grown-up man. He knew how to deal with his emotions. But when he was in this place where there was no sign of life around him except for some creatures who were trying to kill him, he couldn't help but feel like he wanted some company.
'I should look for something to eat.'
His body wasn't feeling tired. But his mind was. He needed to sleep. But he also had to keep watch over monsters so he wouldn't die in his sleep.
He moved out. Scanned the surrounding through his 'Spirit sense'. He found what he was looking for. A lone monster. He moved towards it, summoning the lizard's tail and Coral blade.
A sword made out of red coral stone materialised in his hand. It looked weak. Like it would break the moment it hit something hard. But it was strong. He had tested it. He saw the creature feasting on something. He tossed the tail towards it.
The monster looked at the tail. It jumped at it, but still kept an eye on Raine. Raine didn't panic. This had happened before. But it all ended the same way. Even if the monster was wary of him, if he didn't approach, they wouldn't leave the tail and attack him.
His body fell to the ground. Same strategy as before. But it took longer this time. This creature was of higher rank. But it fell nonetheless. They didn't have anything to protect against this kind of thing. They had hard shell. Thick skin. Strong bodys. But they didn't have anything that could guard their mind and soul.
And a spirit was exactly that. A combination of mind and soul. Just like the physical body was made out of flesh, blood and bones, a spirit was made out of mind and soul. That's why Raine was alive in this form. That's why he could think. A spirit was a higher state of mind when you were aware of your soul.
You knew you were not the body. That was part of you. As much as your spirit, your mind, your soul and your shadow. They were all parts of you. You could control your parts.
Aspects just made it easier.
Raine finished the job.
[You have slain an Awakened Monster, Coral Beast]
[Your soul grows stronger]
He removed the sword and looked at the monster. It had thick chunks of corals growing out of its body.
'Doesn't look like something that'll taste good.'
'Do I have to look for another one?'
He looked around. His gaze landed on the unfinished meal of the creature. It looked like a fish.
'Or I can eat that.'
The fish was unfinished, its lower half untouched.
'But who cares, it's not like someone is watching me and I have to pretend to be disgusted by it.'
He was disgusted. But he was disgusted by this whole situation where he had to eat these creatures. But he knew he had to. So he did.
He thrust his sword inside the coral monster, making a wide and deep cut. He pushed his hand inside and with some difficulty, he got his hands on two glowing soul shards. He put them in his pockets.
Next he moved towards the unfinished corpse. It looked fresh, like it was caught just today. He divided it in half. But he couldn't eat that much. So he just took a chunk of it. The untouched part. He also found a soul shard inside.
He picked everything up and moved towards the same building he had found earlier.
'Should I cook this? Nah, who cares.' He bit into the meat. It was hard. So hard. Like chewing on rubber. And it tasted even more awful.
'I can't do it like this.'
He summoned his sword. Put the meat on the floor. And started cutting it like it was some vegetable. He chopped it finely. Like an onion.
'That should do it.' He picked up a handful and put it inside his mouth. And directly swallowed it.
He choked. The meat was a bit dry. It got stuck in his food pipe. He tried to force it down by swallowing a bit of saliva. It worked.
He picked another handful. This time less than before. He put it in his mouth, chewing on it a bit. Just to get the saliva mixed. It tasted disgusting. But he swallowed it too.
'This is going to be hard.'
...
After he was done with his meal, he lay down. Closing his eyes.
He was thirsty. But he didn't have water. He was feeling a bit better than before after eating but he still wanted to sleep. But he couldn't.
So he just closed his eyes, hoping to get some rest this way.
His spirit sense was active. He was continuously keeping track of monsters passing by. If someone entered this building, he could just knock them down. Or he could run away through the roof.
But he had to stay awake for that.
An hour passed. Then two. He was still lying, eyes closed. But his sense got a bit foggy. He still could feel his surroundings. But he knew that he wasn't as awake as he was before.
'Am I asleep? But I'm definitely awake. But I know I'm sleeping too.'
'Is this what they call lucid dreaming?'
He had experienced this before. But not this clearly. And not for this long. This was something new.
'So I can sleep and keep watch at the same time? That's great.'
He could still sense his surroundings, but not as clearly as before. But he didn't mind. It was all good. He just needed to rest for a bit. If something came, he could wake up anytime.
Outside, the sun had finally set. It was dark outside. And he could feel the the sea rising.
He wanted to see it. But he also didn't want to get up. So he didn't.
'Goodnight, Me.'