The next couple of hours were incredibly grueling. Getting out Soul Shards and doing first aid as an injured man was painful and tedious, but somehow Juno managed to work it out.
After he absorbed the shards, he addressed his coldness, setting up as large a fire as he could. Then, he drank as much water as he could to get his strength back and to increase his natural recovery. He also poured water on his wounds to both clean them and hopefully have the water affect them too.
Packing and wrapping wounds was probably the worst part. Not the wrapping, that was decent, but the packing. He hoped he never had to go through that again.
All in all, by the time Juno had finished his medical treatment, the Nameless Sun was coming up.
'Well… Time to sleep!'
And so he did.
…
Waking up, Juno found that it was still light outside. He could tell by the sun's position that it was already late in the day, maybe an hour or two before nightfall. Keeping that all in mind, Juno decided to do his daily recap.
"Day nineteen of being at the Forgotten Shore, and I have one hundred and forty Soul Fragments. One Ascended-level Memory, four Awakened ones. Finally, I got an Awakened Echo! Also, I only need 215 Awakened Beasts before I get my Monster Core! Life is so great right now…"
Life was indeed great.
He had never expected to achieve so much during his time at Bone Ridge, waiting around for Sunny, but he actually did. Maybe it was because Fate favored him or something?
'As if!'
Moving on from that comedy, Juno decided to finally take a look at his beautiful new Echo. He had gotten it through much blood, so it had better be useful. Without any further delay, Juno dove into his Soul Sea.
What greeted him was the usual sight of grey and dead. It had not changed at all since his last visit a couple of days ago, so he didn't really care about the scenery.
Looking up, Juno saw his Memories, represented as spheres of light, orbit around his dead sun. There were five of them, but he didn't really care. Instead, he looked towards the larger sphere of light that was slightly further away from his core. With a thought, he commanded it to descend.
The sphere slowly floated down and touched the grey water. As Juno drew closer, walking on the surface of the sea, its radiance slowly faded, revealing the devil contained within.
A massive, hulking, and dangerous bird greeted him. It towered above him, and getting a good look at it now, Juno wondered how he even managed to reach the neck of it. He probably slashed the very bottom, since it was like two and a half meters up.
Unlike before, however, the creature's vibe was different. Juno couldn't quite place a finger on it, so he didn't really try.
Shining runes appeared in the air around the bird.
Echo: [Spawn of the Dusk Crow]
Echo Rank: Awakened.
Echo Class: Devil.
Echo Attributes: [Dark Being], [Steely Talons].
[Dark Being] Attribute Description - "When surrounded by shadows, or better yet, darkness, your being can be molded into the shadows and darkness, as well as strengthened by them."
[Steely Talons] Attribute Description - "Your talons are incredibly tough, able to cut through flesh and steel."
Echo Abilities: [Maw of Dusk]
[Maw of Dusk] Ability Description - "This Echo can spew out an inky black fog from its mouth that makes it stronger, blinds others, lowers their senses, and inflicts extreme cold onto them."
Description - [The Cursed Dusk Crow birthed thirteen children, each beloved, each burdened with a single purpose. Whoever slays a child is marked, their fate forever drawn into the Cursed one's gaze. It is a pity, then, that the hunter who took these strings of fate into his hands is the Sun Chaser, for in culling the brood, he will become the doom of the crow itself.]
Juno stared at the runes for a long moment, then let out a low whistle.
"Thirteen crows, eh? Well, when I killed this one I didn't particularly imagine becoming both the prey and the hunter of a Cursed Tyrant..." Oh, the slaughter would be magnificent Juno realized. However, that would be far into the future. Currently, he would have to evaluate his Echo.
"Dark Being, Steely Talons, and that fog thing…" He scratched his cheek, smiling despite the ache in his arms. "You really were cheating."
Honestly, all those things, taken separately, would make the Echo amazing, but together they make it divine. [Dark Being] all by itself made Juno's skin crawl, since if the thing got stronger in shadow, then it would be absolutely deadly at night. [Steely Talons] paired beautifully with the rest of the kit, since it would allow the Awakened creature to attack and maybe kill the weaker Fallen ones.
What made it truly a cheat, however, was the fog. Since this thing was a raven, it probably scooped down from the sky to kill off unsuspecting Nightmare Creatures, but if it ever had to get into a fight, it could use that close combat Ability. Honestly, the only reason Juno even stood a chance was because of his extra, extra strong senses. Just extra strong senses weren't enough!
However, the last line of the description tugged at him.
"Once a beloved child of a great being, huh?" He smiled wider, baring his teeth. "Well, now you're my beloved child. Congratulations on the downgrade!"
How bad was this thing's luck? Going from being the spawn of a Cursed Nightmare Creature to now being Juno's Echo?
He raised a hand.
"Come on down, Big Bird."
The Echo answered.
The bird tilted its head, feathers whispering softly.
"Spawn of the Dusk Crow…" Juno rubbed his chin. "Dusk Crow… Dusky."
He nodded, satisfied.
"Alright then. Dusky it is."
At the name, the Echo's eyes dimmed a shade, as if a tiny part of it just died. Sadly, Juno didn't understand human facial expressions, let alone those of birds.
"You like it that much, eh! Well… I am something of a genius, so naming you wasn't so hard."
He thought that getting less bright as something related to darkness was good.
"Okay," he said to no one in particular. "Echo acquired, bird named, life barely retained. Time for phase two of recovery: more sleep."
He willed himself out of the Soul Sea.
…
He woke later feeling only marginally less broken.
After Juno had inspected his Echo, he just drank some water and passed out again, only waking up at the light of day number twenty.
His wounds tugged and ached; the hasty packing and wrapping had held, but he was in no shape to go hunting himself.
Which was fine.
Because now he had something that could.
He honestly didn't feel too good using his Echo to hunt instead of himself, but at moments like these, beggars couldn't be choosers.
Juno sat up slowly, biting back a groan, and opened his Runes again. His gaze lingered on the Echo for a heartbeat, then he summoned it—not inside his Soul Sea this time, but into the real world.
Dusky arrived in a swirl of pale sparks and a lot of essence. Summoning such a powerful Echo would always be taxing. The Devil's presence was muted compared to last night, but it was still enough to make the air feel heavier.
Azure Carapace creaked as Juno stood.
"Alright, Dusky," he said, pointing toward the shadowed maze outside Bongo's mouth. "I am injured and tired and very handsome. You, on the other hand, are an Echo that doesn't need sleep or food."
He paused, then added more seriously:
"Go hunt. Scavengers, spiders, flowers, centipedes, if any, are crawling above. Anything Awakened is fair game. Kill them and don't bother with the shards. I want you out there hunting without a break. Don't engage with any Fallen creatures unless they are injured, you hear me?"
The bird stared at him for a heartbeat, then dipped its horned head once, almost like a bow. A moment later, its body blurred, edges softening as [Dark Being] stirred. Feathers and flesh slid into the shadows, until only a streak of deeper black rushed out of the canyon and into the crimson forest beyond.
Slowly exhaling, Juno sat back down near the fire.
He had recently needed a time to think, and such a perfect time would only come now.
Even with an Ascended weapon, a monstrous Attribute, a Divine Aspect, and now an Awakened Echo, he had been one bad angle away from drowning in Devil fog. All his tricks and advantages had still barely kept him alive.
'Still weak,' he thought.
He stared into the flames in front of him and thought back to what had always bothered him.
Natural Awakening.
He had both read about it in the novel and in the library. It was actually quite useless to read in the library, since apparently not a single scholar of the War Realm thought Natural Awakening was a good idea!
To be fair, however, Juno could see the problem. The biggest being that, to Awaken Naturally, one has to feel Soul Essence and then form a Soul Core. The problem is that those under the Nightmare Spell Awaken differently, first making the Soul Core, then the Soul Essence manipulation.
That simple reason had dissuaded any research into how Sleepers could Awaken. Additionally, no one cared to research how mundanes could Awaken without the Nightmare Spell, for what reason Juno didn't know.
'Probably those damned Sovereigns.'
Juno was about to poke the flames, but he stopped as a delightful sound reached his ears.
[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
[Your desire sharpens]
Dusky had seemed to have found its first prey.
Juno poked the fire with a bit of bone, sending a small spray of sparks up into the dim air.
"Good bird," he murmured, as the lingering echo of the notification faded. One Scavenger down. More to come.
The brief flash of satisfaction eased away, and his thoughts slid back to the same, stubborn knot.
He needed to find a way to Awaken Naturally. From what he knew from the novel, there were more ways to Awaken than just forming a Soul Core, since sometimes that was not enough.
The person would have to undergo enlightenment.
Such a thing was, obviously, not simple. Juno remembered it as described: many years of self-discovery, or a moment of life and death in which some people awaken.
What great options.
'But… what if there is more?'
Juno was no human, that was obvious. He was part Nightmare Creature, so his Path of Ascension should be just a tiny bit different.
It would all rely on his Devil Core.
Jumping up, Juno started to pace around his camp whilst talking to himself. He had just caught a brain wave, and he was going to ride it out to its completion.
"Once an abomination becomes a Devil, they get supernatural powers, pretty much unlocking their first Aspect Ability. At the same time, a new Soul Core is formed. What if I combine that part of my nature and my human part?
One would think that is impossible, but I could see it working. I would already have Soul Cores, so by human standards, I can slightly manipulate Soul Essence. It is obviously not enough to Awaken naturally, but what if there are more Soul Cores?"
[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
[Your desire sharpens]
"Divine Aspects are different from other Aspects since they allow the users to get more Soul Cores, which then grants them a higher quantity of Soul Essence. If I don't have the skill to guide and use Soul Essence as humans of the past did, I can brute force it!
Whilst having my Monster and Demon Soul Cores, I can start to brute force my Soul Essence paths open and start commanding Soul Essence. Normally, that would be enough to Awaken Immediately, but not for me. I would have to wait until I have already formed a Devil Core to properly Awaken!
But the question is, how should I feel my Soul Essence? It is hard to get a grasp on it, even when there is a lot of it…"
[You have slain an Awakened Monster, Carapace Centurion.]
[Your desire sharpens]
"That's it! Exactly during the formation of my Devil Core! I can calculate the exact amount of Soul Fragments I would need to form the fourth core, and backlog all the Soul Shards I would get and absorb them all in one sitting! Obviously, I would have to get at least a small handle on Soul Essence manipulation whilst already having my Monster and Demon cores to be able to do this, so meditation during those times would be the best option!
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then, right as the Devil Core is being formed and the Nightmare side of me is hopefully getting some new unnatural powers, I awaken!"
[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Iron Spider.]
[Your desire sharpens]
Juno cut himself off mid‑pace.
For once, the roaring in his head wasn't just his Flaw pushing him toward something stupid. This felt…aligned. Solid. Like each sentence had clicked into place around a core he couldn't quite see yet.
He nodded to himself, slow at first, then faster.
"Oh, I'm a genius," he said, delighted. "An actually terrifying genius."
So what if the confirmation came from his Innate Ability? It was his Ability at the end of the day!
He even lifted his hands to give himself a standing ovation, then hissed and dropped them when pain lanced up both forearms.
"Right. Holes in the arms. No clapping."
Another pair of runes flashed across his vision.
[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Iron Spider.]
[Your desire sharpens.]
Dusky was out there working hard. Within less than two hours, he had gotten five whole kills. It was slightly terrifying!
'That fifth kill puts me at 150 Soul Fragments!'
A plan for Natural Awakening, an Echo hunting for him (soon with him), and nearly one‑fifth of the way to his next Core.
Letting out a mad cackle of laughter, Juno's desires flared up. Ever since he had come to the world of Shadow Slave, it had been nothing but a blast, and this moment was definitely the crown jewel of his time here!