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Next morning, Raine woke up with a loud yawn. He had slept all night long without getting disturbed by a single monster.
It wasn't the best sleep he ever had considering he was half awake throughout the night. But it was still better than nothing.
'So today we are heading to the Labyrinth down below.' he thought as he walked out of the building.
'Should I look for something to eat? No, there will be plenty of monsters along the way. And i don't feel hungry at all. As if the food haven't moved down my stomach at all.'
So he left the city, heading towards the crater.
'So, which direction should I pick? In novel they move towards west. But how would I know which direction is west?'
The sun didn't work here like in waking world, it rose and set in same direction, atop the crimson spire.
Not to mention even if he knew where west was, what if he already was in western direction of dark city. That would only take him further away from it.
'The dark city should be closer to the crimson spire so i should move towards the sun.'
He began his journey. Holding a Lizard's tail in one hand just in case the Labyrinth hid some sneaky monsters.
He travelled non stop, taking paths where he would encounter less monsters. He killed a carapace scavenger. Then two. Then five.
On his fifth kill, he received another Memory.
He checked the runes.
Name : Raine
Rank : Dreamer
Soul fragments 940/1000
Memories: [Lizard's tail], [Coral Blade], [Azure Blade]
'Hey, aren't you a familiar one!'
He summoned the runes.
Memory : Azure Blade
Memory type : Weapon
Memory Description : [On this forgotten shore, only steel remembers.]
He summoned the blade.
"well well well, aren't you quite beautiful?" He said looking at the beautiful Azure steel blade. It was a single edged sword with beautiful patterns along the blade. If closely watched, you could see sparks flowing inside the steel.
"Well, i finally left behind the stone age, that for sure."
He continued. Moving throughout the day. He had killed around 20 more scavengers. Gotten about 30 soul shards. But didn't receive any memory.
"Maybe it's still angry at me." He mumbled.
'I should look for a high place. It's about to be night.'
He climbed a coral, then looked for a higher one. He found one which has water marks only till halfway. He moved towards it and climbed the coral.
He looked up in the sky.
'Hope i won't get attacked by something from above.'
There was still time before the dawn, so he pulled out all the soul shards and started to crush and consume them one after another.
After done with that he summoned his runes.
Soul Fragments: 970/1000
'This is manageable.'
He thought he had given himself a good flaw. Something challenging. But it wasn't looking challenging to him anymore.
Or maybe his aspect was just that good against these monsters that he got almost everything he had to spend.
'No, if not for those five hollows, i would be having a hard time knocking anything out.'
The sun set. The scavengers fled. The sea rose. Followed by intense darkness. No stars in the sky. Absolute darkness.
Raine wasn't used to this. He wasn't used to hearing mighty water waves in complete darkness. He wasn't used to sensing all the terrifying creatures lurking in water. He couldn't sleep.
He was about ten meters above the water surface. But that didn't brought any relief. He had managed to sleep the night before. Because he was surrounded by walls. Walls provided a sense of security. But now? He was in the open, surrounded by darkness and horrors from all sides.
Somewhere far from him, a creature surfaced and splashed water in all directions.
Somewhere else a creature screeched. Raine summoned his sword. It materialised with sparkling light.
He got afraid.
'No, no, no. Did someone saw those lights? What do I do now? Should I leave this place?'
But there was nothing around him, if he wanted to leave he had to go into water which he definitely wasn't willing. Not to mention he couldn't see anything.
So he stayed put. He wanted to summon his other sword too, but didn't. Too afraid of those sparks.
So he did nothing, throughout the night. He just lay there holding his faintly glowing sword close for any sense of security. Hearing powerful sounds made by horrifying creatures.
Until the morning. When light brought hope. When light brought relief. And security. He saw the light filled sky with gratitude. As if it had saved him. From all the horrors who would have consumed him otherwise.
He got up. Seeing the dark sea retreat. Leaving behind corpses. Giant corpses. He shuddered seeing them. Some scavengers were already on the corpses as if it was daily occurrence.
Suddenly a dread rose within him.
'What if I die just like them? What will I do if I die? What will happen to me?'
He sat down and lay on his back. Watching the gray sky.
'Was this worth it? had I made a mistake by coming here?'
But then he remembered. The emptiness. What he had suffered before coming here. Always wanting something to happen. Something good, something bad. Just anything. How many times in bed he had wished for end? How many times he had wanted to go back to his past? To feel something again. How many times he hoped for a miracle that never came?'
"This is not a mistake. This is life. This is how a life should be. And I will live it. I WILL MAKE SURE I LIVE IT. THROUGH ALL THIS HORROR, I WILL LIVE. I WILL LIVE." He had goten up halfway, and was shouting at the sky.
"And even if I die.... It will be worth it. It will be worth this rollercoaster of emotions that i felt just in a single day.'
"It's definitely not a mistake."
He jump down from the coral.
.