“How are things going there?"
The Night Garden had moved past the battle on the bridge and was now sailing around an unknown island. The deafening cannonade had ceased, and only the distant echoes of the fierce battle were breaking the tense silence.
Sunny was on the bow of the living ship, accompanied by Naeve and Jet. Giving the latter a brief look, he sighed.
"Better than expected, worse than I would have wanted."
Despite his best efforts, the Shadow Legion was still suffering casualties. If there was a consolation, though, it was that for every shade that was vanquished, several immortals were infected by the Dream Curse — the asures Sunny had taken and the fortifications he had built were doing their job.
He could not tell if this was enough, though. It seed like he would be able to conquer the three islands in due ti while suffering relatively few losses, but would that rate of attrition be acceptable in the long term? There was no way to tell, yet, since the battle for the Eternal City was only starting. Sunny closed his eyes and rubbed his face, feeling as if his mind was on the verge of lting.
"..As I ntioned already, I have established fortified strongholds on each of the three islands, for now. Currently, the locals are laying siege to them. Once that chaos subsides a little, I will probably try to accomplish a few secondary goals to gain more advantages."
Jet raised an eyebrow.
"Secondary goals? Like what?"
He hesitated for a few seconds.
“I was thinking of trying to destroy one of the bridges. I'll need to find out what hides in the water, as well. The Eternal City used to drift in space, too, so I am sure that there is so kind of underground communications here. I'll need to explore them to see if there are tunnels that can be used to move around the islands rapidly. Oh, but most of all..."
Sunny turned his head slightly, looking north.
"When we were approaching the city, I noticed a building that glanced like it might be an armory. It will be great to go ona small excursion and see if I can arm my shades better there.’
After a short silence, Naeve suddenly said in a neutral tone:
"I don't think that you'll find weapons in that building”
Sunny looked at him steadily.
"Why?"
Naeve lingered for a bit, then shrugged. "The locals don't seem like militant people.” Sunny blinked a couple of tis. He was currently engaged in three distressing battles with swarms of rabid locals, so how were they not militant?
On the other hand, he sowhat understood what Naeve ant.
The Saint of Night still explained himself, though. Find the newest release on novel·fiɾe·net
“From what I've seen, this place was ant to be a sanctuary. A place of peace and prosperity where even death held no power. In other words, the people living here were not supposed to suffer... plus, didn't you ntion that the Eternal City used to exist in space? An armory suggests the existence of a military force and a need for
weapons. Who would the inhabitants of the Eternal City even fight in space?"
Sunny stared at him silently.
Naeve... was making a lot of sense.
To his disappointnt.
Jet spoke at that mont:
"Still, that does not an that there are no weapons in the Eternal City."
When Sunny looked at her with a silent question in his eyes, he smiled and shrugged.
“Well, think about it. If weapons were not used for war, then why would they be used?"
He tilted his head a little.
Was that a trick question? Where did people wield weapons except for the battlefield? Training schools? Or...
His eyes glistened a little.
"Sports?"
Jet nodded.
"Yeah. People might beco immortal, but so things never change."
Sunny hesitated for a mont.
Indeed, all he had to do to co up with this answer was ask himself where he had used weapons most often outside the usual battles. And the answer was simple — it was in the Dreamscape.
People were wired to enjoy conflict and competition, so sports thrived even in wartorn societies, but especially so in those that experienced long periods of peace.
In the waking world, the most popular sport was dueling, and since battles between Awakened were too perilous, it mostly took place in the Dreamscape. Sunny knew better than most how popular these duels were, since he had suffered a lot of unintentional fa as Mongrel.
The sa could be said about all cultures throughout Earth's history. The Dream Realm had not been an exception, either. The immortals of the Eternal City would have been even more susceptible to the excitent offered by sports competitions, since they could not even kill each other. War had been impossible here — or at least aningless — but the deeply rooted need to experience strife all people shared would have remained.
"But how am I supposed to find where... where sports competitions..."
Sunny fell silent.
‘Wait a minute:
Hadn't he already found one such place? “The Hippodro?"
Jet nodded.
“Chariot races were quite popular in ancient tis. I would imagine sothing similar would have been happening here, as well, considering your description of the local hippodro. Of course, the races themselves would have been different — with not only people, but also Beasts and Monsters participating, and everyone in the arena being immortal... gods, I would have bought a ticket if I could"
Sunny stared at her for a mont.
Instead of answering, he simply commanded his incarnation in the Hippodro to separate itself from Saint, assu a tangible form, and descend to the floor of the arena. Sunny extended his shadow sense into the ground, and imdiately sensed hollow spaces there.
There was a whole network of service spaces under the Hippodro: rooms for the athletes, stables, training halls, lounges...
And equipnt storages, as well.
Once Sunny sensed what was hidden inside, his eyes glistened.
"Ah..."
He lingered for a bit, then looked at Jet with a bright smile.
"I think I've found the first part of that treasure."
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