Seren Pov
Seren awoke feeling ash beneath her feet. She immediately summoned the armor memory Kallen had given her—like he'd told her to do—feeling it weigh her down significantly. She nearly stumbled, but she was used to the weight of the cumbersome memory by now.
She spun around to take in her surroundings, suppressing a quiet gasp at the sight of a towering tree rising into the sky. Its branches were wide enough to cover the whole island she was on in shade.
Its leaves were the strange color of blood, and the water beyond was black as night. Contrasted against the gray sky, the tree looked vibrant and magnificent.
Suddenly, Seren felt something tugging against her [Adaptable] attribute. She hadn't needed the attribute much… or at all really.
That's strange. Is the air poisonous?
She wandered the small ashen island, finding strange nightmare creatures staring off into the distance, eyes hollow as if they weren't alive or aware.
Seren sat down on the ground, feeling a strange sense of serenity that she hadn't expected from the dream realm.
No matter. No reason to worry about it, was there?
Maybe that strange bat charm that Kallen had given her was working its magic?
She made a move toward a big as a house crab-looking creature, but her ability [Vigilance] pulsed in her mind, warning her that the act would be dangerous.
Hmm, she thought. Guess I'll head the other way.
She left for the far end of the island, and sat down, nearly resting her feet in the water before her attribute pulsed once again. Blankly, she stared off into the distance, watching the still sea.
~~~
Kallen
Kallen hadn't been able to summon his divine tool, Boon of Olympus, since receiving it. The enchantment, [Unworthy] probably meant that his enemies were unworthy to face its wrath. Or… perhaps his motivations for summoning it were unworthy.
Regardless, he focused on the Memories he actually could use.
Kallen held a small spool of iron-strong silk in his hand. He'd gotten it from killing the spider earlier; It was an awakened memory of the first tier, allowing him to use an endless supply of the Iron Spider silk, so long as he gave it time to recharge in his soul sea.
Strategies for dealing with giant spiders ran through his mind as he quickly wove his own prison.
He could engage in guerilla warfare against the spiders, but he was injured. That was a no-go for now.
And so he had decided to wrap himself up and hide as he prepared.
The Memories gifted to him by Bloodwave weren't numerous. The Saint had stressed not over-relying on them, but a few had been deemed necessary for safety's sake.
The first was seemingly a mundane bucket of water. It was a dormant Memory that could either slowly be filled up over time in the soul sea, or filled with something else and stored for later use. It would provide an easy source of water to drink, but also a way to clean wounds, and douse himself for quick water access in a pinch.
The second was a Memory called [Apple of Eden]. It was what it suggested, a plain apple that would endlessly regenerate over time. All he had to do was not eat the whole thing before he stored it again.
The third and fourth Memories were the awakened armor and khopesh. But the fifth and final Memory was perhaps the most useful of them all. It was a roll of gauze that would steadily provide a minor healing enchantment wherever it was placed. The enchantment wore off after roughly twenty-four hours, but all he needed to do was reapply it.
Kallen held the spool of iron silk in one hand and the [Mender's Gauze] in the other, eyeing the shredded mess of his forearm. The spider's leg had been carefully removed minutes ago, but still, a searing pain burned.
Blood dripped onto the nest floor, and Puddle—his ever-helpful beast—sat nearby, his paws twitching with enthusiasm.
Kallen had already treated the wound as best he could with the bucket of water, rubbing out anything potentially foreign. He'd nearly shouted through the pain.
"Alright Puddle," he finally said, holding out the gauze. "Wrap it around the wound."
The Veilray tilted its head at him. It squawked in response.
Kallen gestured at his arm. "The red part, can you cover it please?"
Puddle stared. Then, with the solemn focus of a scholar deciphering forbidden text, he snatched the gauze in his tiny mouth. Then he did nothing with it. He wagged his tail, staring at Kallen with what he thought was triumph.
"No…"
Puddle wiggled proudly, clearly convinced he'd performed a medical miracle.
"Okay, those spiders might come at any moment and I really need this around my arm, so watch." Kallen snatched the Memory from his Leviathan and mimed wrapping it around his arm. He would have done the whole thing himself if he didn't have to hold the pad of spider silk on his arm.
It'd taken a painful amount of time to weave the pad alone and this debacle was wasting whatever precious little was left.
Puddle nodded, grabbing the gauze again. This time, he reared back, winding up for a throw, and lobbed the roll at Kallen's face.
The creature blinked innocently.
"I'm bleeding you useless rat. Help me."
Grumbling, Kallen mumbled something about his Veilray being fired and then gave up and wrapped the damn thing himself. It was an agonizing process without any help or anything to reliably hold the cloth or the silk pad on his arm. Eventually, he was able to—after several attempts—tie a few strands of silk around the bandage with one hand, holding it in place.
It would have been nice to have more of the magical bandage to wrap the rest of his wounds since he'd been lacerated to hell, but there wasn't enough in the roll. He was nearly out once he finished with his arm.
And I hadn't even used that much…
The next order of business was to fix his cocoon. He wasn't actually going to hide in it, but it would be implicating if more spiders came and saw a cocoon torn to shreds next to the corpse of one of their friends.
Kallen's plan probably wouldn't work in that case.
And so once he was finished fixing the cocoon and he'd run out of silk in the spool, he moved to step 2 of the plan. Hide.
Kallen and Puddle moved to the corner of the corridor, directly opposite to the one and only entrance. The two of them began to weave a convincing illusion that the wall they were up against extended just a few feet in front, which would effectively conceal them from sight.
The hard part was smell and movement.
Spiders had olfactory organs on their legs that allow them to smell and taste. This helped them detect chemicals in the air, effectively smelling and tasting whatever was in the room.
Puddle and Kallen crouched in the corner, the Veilray's body pressed against his leg as they worked. The wall in front of them was believable enough, assuming the beasts didn't get too close.
"Now for the hard part."
As it turned out, Veilrays could mask more than just sight. Their illusions could dampen sound, distort heat signatures, and if Kallen's hunch was right, even mask scent.
The problem was, that his Leviathan was still just a dormant beast. Its illusions were about as subtle as a hammer to the face. Which was where Kallen came in.
With his human intelligence guiding them, everything should work out just fine.
~~~
Seren Pov
Seren had angered the big as a house crab on the island. She was perched atop the shoulder of the echo Kallen had given her: the Elder Gargoyle.
Kallen had not only given her the echo but also his awakened sword. She could feel the thread of connection she'd placed on him, telling her he was alive and possibly in the same area of the dream realm, but he was so far away and it was so faint that she could only tell the general direction he was in.
Kallen was west. Very far west.
Seren had merely wanted to talk to the crab nightmare creature—unsure as to why she'd become so placid over the past few days.
It had probably started when she had eaten one of the golden fruits hanging from the towering tree. The problem was, she couldn't stop eating them.
Her powerful echo was useless during the daytime when the black waters would retreat and reveal a hulking jungle of red coral and nightmarish monsters that hid in the depths. It would turn to stone, becoming as useless as one might expect. But during the night, the true power of an Awakened Terror was unleashed.
Even the demon crab was afraid of it.
Seren connected her Starlight's Tether ability to her Gargoyle. She dismounted the creature and hunkered down into the soft ash of her island's surface, covering herself so that only her eyes were present.
She wouldn't be able to get close enough to apply the inverse of her Starlight Tether on the crab monster to weaken it, but she didn't think she'd really need to anyway.
Then she gave the command.
With a mighty beat of its wings, the Elder Gargoyle ascended into the air, hovering for a second or two as it locked onto its target.
Seren saw the crab creature whip around as if sensing her echo, but it hesitated when the two of them locked eyes.
The Elder Gargoyle then folded its wings in on itself and shot down, spiraling its way to the ground. The crab monster didn't stand a chance.
Their fight wasn't over immediately. It didn't end in one blow, or two blows, or even three blows. But the Gargoyle was too powerful, too fast, and too deadly. Every strike from its dangerous halberd took something from its opponent. Whether it was a leg or a scythe-like appendage, the crab couldn't keep up.
It only took a minute for the spell to whisper in her mind.
[You have Slain an Awakened Demon: Carapace Demon].
[You have received a Memory: Midnight Shard].
Seren summoned the Memory after a short moment, nearly forgetting what she had intended to do. In the back of her mind, her [Adaptability] attribute churned continuously, fighting against some unseen threat.
The Midnight Shard fell into her hands, nearly toppling her over when it did.
It was no secret that Memories shaped themselves to their wielder, however, the Midnight Shard was obviously meant to be a larger weapon independent of that fact.
She dismissed it with a shake of her head. She'd probably give it to Kallen when she found him.
Seren frowned as the Elder Gargoyle came marching over to her. It seemed distressed, which confused her because she was pretty sure echoes couldn't exhibit such a trait. Maybe it was due to its status as a terror that gave it the enhanced intelligence that high-class nightmare creatures possessed.
She shrugged and approached it.
Then suddenly, she was swept off her feet, and grabbed by the powerful hand of the Gargoyle. A surprised yelp left her lips as it shot off into the air, heading directly opposite the direction her brother was in.