In fact, it was a young woman.
She looked only slightly older than the five of them.
Sunny blinked.
The young woman was tall and attractive. She had hazel eyes and beautiful brown hair that was currently tied into a simple braid behind her back. Her build was extrely athletic, with perfectly defined lean muscles shifting beneath her olive skin with every movent she made. And there was... uh... a lot of skin on display, considering she only wore a surprisingly short white tunic alongside bronze greaves, vambraces, and a cuirass fitted with leather pteruges.
While Nephis was slender and graceful, and Elysia was similarly slim but far more agile in appearance, this stranger radiated pure vitality.
Everything about her seed overflowing with strength, energy, and life.
The strangest part, however, was her expression.
There was absolutely no tension on her face.
No fear.
No caution.
No signs of exhaustion.
She looked relaxed, comfortable, and genuinely happy.
In the months they had spent surviving the Forgotten Shore, Sunny had never once allowed himself to lower his guard completely.
Neither had Nephis.
Neither had Cassie.
Even Elysia, who smiled more than any of them, was always alert whenever danger might appear.
And Senrix, despite acting carefree half the ti, always kept one hand close enough to summon Crimson Engine at a mont's notice.
But this woman...
This woman looked completely content living in this cursed place.
In fact, she looked happier than Sunny had ever been in either the Dream Realm or the waking world.
As they watched, the young woman continued devouring the roasted monster at without a care in the world.
Grease and juices ran down her fingers.
She didn't seem to mind.
After finishing one piece, she casually bit into the bone itself.
Sunny's eyes widened.
Crunch.
The adamantine bone shattered between her teeth.
Closing her eyes in satisfaction, the young woman sucked out the marrow before chewing through most of the remaining bone as though it was nothing more than a piece of bread.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Chomp.
Crunch.
Finished with the rib, the woman tossed the remains toward an already enormous pile of bones beside her.
Then she loudly burped.
Without even the slightest embarrassnt.
Afterward, she imdiately reached for another piece of monster at and started eating again.
Sunny blinked several tis.
Then shifted his attention back to the others.
"What did you see?"
Nephis asked quietly.
Sunny hesitated.
Then answered.
"Well..."
He glanced toward the tower.
"It's either a very hungry human girl."
A brief pause followed.
"Or a very gluttonous demon."
Elysia nodded imdiately.
"Reasonable conclusion."
Senrix pointed toward the tower.
"Honestly, I'm leaning toward demon."
Cassie tilted her head.
"Why?"
"Because humans usually don't eat Nightmare Creature bones."
Nobody could argue with that.
Nephis stared at all three of them for a few monts before shaking her head.
Then she turned toward the others.
"Cassie, stay behind us."
The blind girl nodded.
The five cautiously approached the tower entrance, none of them entirely certain how this situation was going to develop.
In their minds, there were only two possibilities.
Either the mysterious woman was human.
Or she wasn't.
If she was a local Awakened, all of their problems would practically disappear overnight.
Any Awakened who encountered a group of Sleepers stranded in the Dream Realm would normally guide them toward the nearest human Citadel.
There were exceptions.
But most Awakened understood the importance of helping other humans survive.
If she wasn't human...
Then they were probably about to fight sothing very dangerous.
Since they couldn't determine her rank or class, there was no way to predict how difficult such a battle would be.
Unfortunately, there was only one way to find out.
Drawing a deep breath, Sunny followed Nephis into the tower.
Senrix walked on Nephis's left.
Elysia walked on her right with her bow already prepared.
Cassie followed slightly behind them.
The mont they entered the tower, the sll of roasting at imdiately reached them.
Sunny's stomach growled.
His expression darkened.
'Crap.'
Before he could react, sothing suddenly flew out of the darkness.
A bone.
Without hesitation, Senrix raised one gauntleted hand.
Crack.
The bone shattered inside the grip of Crimson Engine.
Earlier he had dismissed the greatsword configuration and transford the mory into armored gauntlets instead, allowing him to move far more freely inside enclosed spaces.
Sunny imdiately summoned Midnight Shard.
Nephis tightened her grip on Dream Blade.
Elysia quietly drew an arrow.
Unfortunately, the woman had already noticed them.
Raising her head, she revealed a wide grin.
"Is soone hiding in the shadows?"
Her eyes glead with amusent.
"Why don't you co out and play?"
Her voice was deep and smoky, carrying a slightly husky quality to it.
More importantly...
She was speaking the human language.
Sunny relaxed slightly.
Human.
Probably.
The woman remained seated, but he didn't miss the subtle tension hidden beneath her relaxed posture.
Every muscle in her body seed ready to explode into motion at any second.
She was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Nephis glanced toward Sunny.
Understanding imdiately, he dismissed Midnight Shard.
The others followed suit.
Even Elysia lowered her bow.
One by one, they stepped into the circle of firelight.
The woman raised an eyebrow.
"Humans?"
She looked genuinely surprised.
"Huh."
Then she smiled.
"That's unexpected."
A mont later, she rose to her feet.
The white fabric of her tunic shifted slightly as she moved.
Sunny imdiately looked sowhere else.
The woman was tall.
Very tall.
Far taller than he had initially realized.
Even Senrix, who was already taller than Nephis, looked noticeably shorter than her.
Combined with her powerful physique, bronze armor, and olive skin, she resembled so ancient warrior goddess that had stepped out of a forgotten myth.
Elysia stared upward.
Then muttered.
"That's unfair."
The woman glanced at her.
"What is?"
"Your height."
The stranger laughed.
anwhile, Sunny was desperately trying not to look directly ahead.
The woman wiped her face with one forearm before casually gesturing toward the fire.
"Co on."
She pointed toward the ground.
"Take a seat."
Despite the invitation, none of them moved imdiately.
Several awkward seconds passed.
Finally, Nephis stepped forward.
Her voice was strangely tense.
"Are you... human?"
The woman stared at her.
Then blinked.
"What else would I be?"
A brief pause followed.
"A horse?"
The tower imdiately fell silent.
Then the woman burst into laughter.
The four sighted Sleepers exchanged confused looks.
Even Cassie seed bewildered.
The woman continued laughing for several seconds before finally calming down.
"Of course I'm human."
She shook her head.
"What kind of question is that?"
Then she pointed at the ground again.
"Sit down already."
"My neck is getting tired from looking down at all of you."
Senrix imdiately sat.
"I'm convinced."
Sunny blinked.
"Convinced of what?"
"Nobody that comfortable is a Nightmare Creature."
Elysia nodded.
"Fair."
Eventually, the five settled around the fire.
The woman studied them carefully.
Then frowned.
"Haven't seen you guys around before."
Nephis nodded.
"We just arrived."
The woman looked surprised.
"Wait."
Her expression changed.
"You survived two whole months in the Labyrinth?"
The five remained silent.
A low whistle escaped her lips.
"That's impressive."
She genuinely looked impressed.
Nephis waited for her to finish before speaking again.
"I'm Nephis."
Then she gestured toward the others.
"These are my companions. Senrix, Elysia, Cassia, and Sunless."
The woman smiled brightly.
"Nice to et you."
She pointed at herself.
"I'm Effie."
Then shrugged.
"Well, that's what everyone calls ."
"I'm also a Sleeper."
Sunny frowned.
A Sleeper?
Not an Awakened?
That explained why he had never heard of her before.
Still...
There was sothing strange about her.
Leaning forward, he asked the question that had been bothering all of them.
"Are you from the castle?"
Effie nodded.
"There are people living there, right?"
For a brief mont, sothing strange flashed through her eyes.
It almost looked like pity.
"...Yeah."
She slowly nodded.
"There are people living there."
The five exchanged relieved looks.
After everything they had endured crossing the Forgotten Shore, hearing that answer felt like a massive weight being lifted from their shoulders.
Nephis spoke again.
This ti her voice was noticeably quieter.
"Can you take us there?"
Effie shrugged.
"Sure."
Then she smiled.
"No problem."
The five imdiately brightened.
Then Effie casually asked:
"Do you guys have shards?"
The excitent instantly froze.
Sunny blinked.
Soul shards?
What did soul shards have to do with entering the castle?
Was she asking for paynt?
___________________________
A/N: few things will change here but the real change will appear about chapter 65 or 70 if my plans go towards what FATE wanted it to (it usually doesn't)
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