In the vast expanse of the endless dark ocean, five Sleepers were sailing on a makeshift boat made from rough wood and a few massive bones.
Above them floated a lantern that shone with gentle golden radiance, illuminating the small vessel amidst the endless darkness.
The sea around them was eerily calm.
"So, how long will it take us to cross these waters?"
Elysia asked as she looked ahead, trying to spot a landmass sowhere on the horizon.
Sadly, no matter how hard she looked, she found nothing but endless black water stretching in every direction.
"Probably a few more hours."
Senrix comnted casually.
He was still resting. The injuries he had sustained and the amount of blood he had lost from overusing Crimson Engine were not sothing to joke about.
It had been a day since they fought each other after Senrix lost control.
Fortunately, he had only remained unconscious for a few hours afterward.
By the ti he woke up, the others were still working on the boat.
He had imdiately joined them, helping reinforce the vessel using the bones of the Carapace Demon they had slain.
Thankfully, the Soul Devouring Tree seed greatly weakened after the area around it had been devastated during Senrix's rampage.
"And how exactly did you know that?"
Sunny asked suspiciously while scanning the dark waters around them.
He was constantly keeping watch for Nightmare Creatures that might attack from beneath the waves.
"Instinct."
Senrix answered without hesitation.
His crimson eyes lazily shifted toward Sunny.
Sunny simply stared at him.
For a few seconds, neither spoke.
Then:
"You motherfu—"
"Shut your mouth, Sunny."
Elysia interrupted imdiately.
She grabbed his shoulder and squeezed with surprising force.
Sunny winced.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"Preventative asures."
Sunny looked offended.
Nephis continued rowing without even looking in their direction.
"Don't move too much."
The mont Nephis spoke, Sunny imdiately quieted down and returned to sitting in the corner of the boat.
For so reason, whenever Nephis told him to do sothing, he felt an overwhelming urge to listen.
He honestly had no idea why.
Elysia noticed this and rolled her eyes.
Cassie smiled softly before speaking.
"What if we talk about ourselves? We haven't really done that, have we?"
Her voice imdiately drew everyone's attention.
The other four Sleepers nodded.
They had traveled together for weeks, perhaps even over a month by now, yet they still knew surprisingly little about each other's lives.
"I'll start first."
Cassie adjusted her posture slightly before continuing.
"My na is Cassia. I had a fairly normal background before Awakening. The only interesting thing about was that I was very talented with a rapier."
A small smile appeared on her face.
"In my First Nightmare, I faced an Awakened monster. I couldn't defeat it directly, so I managed to lure it into a trap and kill it that way."
She paused for a mont to catch her breath before continuing.
"I'm also able to see the enchantnts of mories due to... special reasons. And recently, my prophetic visions have beco more frequent than what I originally told all of you."
"Really? That's an incredibly useful ability, Cas."
Elysia comnted imdiately, genuine interest filling her voice.
She was especially happy because she finally found soone capable of telling her exactly what her mories did.
Hunter's Gear had been easy enough to understand.
Zenith Shroud, however, remained a complete mystery.
"Is that not normal?"
Senrix suddenly asked.
Everyone looked at him.
"I can see mory enchantnts too."
Silence.
Sunny slowly turned his head.
"You can what?"
Senrix blinked.
"I can see enchantnts."
His confusion seed completely genuine.
Most of his knowledge about mories ca from his father, and Broken Sword had never exactly been known for giving long lectures.
As far as Senrix understood, every mory had a purpose.
That was about it.
Sunny stared at him for several seconds.
Then he sighed.
"Now you can see enchantnts too. What's next? Your father is actually alive sowhere and just hiding?"
Senrix's expression twitched slightly.
"Father is not confird to be dead."
His voice remained calm.
"So you can freely theorize that he's still alive. If he were dead, we would have known imdiately."
That wasn't entirely the truth.
But neither was it a lie.
The likelihood of Broken Sword—Nero—still being alive was surprisingly high.
Honestly, Senrix was more confused about why the man hadn't visited them yet.
One of their aunts, Ki Song, had once told him what happened.
According to her, the Dreamspawn and the head of Clan Valor had attempted to assassinate Nero shortly after he completed his Fourth Nightmare.
They had even pressured Ki Song and Deter into joining the attempt.
Ki Song had little choice at the ti.
The other two were already Sovereigns and considerably stronger than her despite her own rank.
Later, she told Senrix that the assassination ultimately failed.
Nero managed to destroy one of Anvil's Transcendent mories and imdiately fled.
None of them were able to catch him.
His Ascended Ability allowed him to deceive perception itself.
After that, he simply disappeared.
" next!"
Elysia raised her hand dramatically.
"My na is Elysia Valor, daughter of Anvil Valor and official outcast of Clan Valor."
Sunny imdiately snorted.
"Princess."
"Forr princess," Elysia corrected.
"I was banished from the clan."
She stretched slightly before continuing.
"My First Nightmare involved two kingdoms preparing to go to war. Instead of letting them kill each other, I made a deal with the monarch of the other kingdom that allowed both armies to avoid conflict."
Elysia continued.
"Later, an Awakened Tyrant attacked one of the kingdoms. So and that kingdom's army fought against the Tyrant while the other kingdom's army held back the monster horde."
'Yep, divine aspect'
He hadn't been exactly the one to kill the awakened tyrant too, and yet he still gained a divine aspect, if she does not have one it only ant that he is a lucky guy.
"How long did that Nightmare last?"
Sunny asked curiously.
"About a month. Maybe two."
Sunny nodded.
That was long.
Very long.
But considering everything she had described, it sounded reasonable.
"My abilities are mostly what I already told you before."
Elysia continued.
"Although I do have an Attribute that makes my ego stronger the more people know my na."
Senrix imdiately frowned.
"Huh?"
He genuinely looked confused.
"Isn't having a stronger ego a bad thing?"
Elysia answered almost imdiately.
"Usually, yes."
She pointed at herself.
"But my Aspect makes my ego a bigger part of who I am."
Understanding slowly dawned on the others.
"So for , having a stronger ego is actually beneficial."
The four other Sleepers nodded.
That made sense.
At least as much sense as anything involving her could.
Nephis continued rowing quietly.
She hadn't spoken much throughout the conversation.
But despite her silence, it was obvious she had been listening to every word.
anwhile, the small boat continued drifting across the endless dark sea beneath the warm golden glow of the Soul Lantern.
A/N: more of a testing chapter than anything, how was the writing quality xeleray? Is it still like ai connected?
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