Then he continued piling on absurd achievents in the most casual tone he could think of, as though he was listing minor inconveniences instead of life-ending experiences.
Slaying countless Awakened Nightmare Creatures in situations that should have killed him in an instant.
Being saved by a princess and a prince at the very edge of death in circumstances that still sounded ridiculous even now.
There was also the ti they sailed across the sea on a boat made entirely from the bones of an Awakened Demon that, by all known logic, should never have floated in the first place.
Then there was escaping ancient horrors whose re descriptions were enough to make most Sleepers fall silent.
And lastly, being little more than an observer in a battle between a gigantic armored man and a leviathan beneath crushing black depths where light itself ceased to exist.
At first, Caster treated it as another one of Sunny's usual jokes.
The kind that were so exaggerated that they sohow circled back around and sounded almost believable.
But Cassie's expression gradually changed.
Listening to Sunny's increasingly ridiculous list of accomplishnts, she slowly realized that he was actually describing their journey through the Labyrinth.
Elysia, anwhile, sat slightly leaned back in her chair with her arms folded across her chest.
As the list continued, she tilted her head slightly, her long pink hair shifting softly across her shoulders.
A faintly amused smile rested on her lips.
At this point, she wasn't entirely sure whether Sunny was intentionally turning their journey through the Forgotten Shore into so grand mythical epic or whether he had genuinely lost his mind sowhere along the way.
The scary part was that he wasn't even lying.
If anything, he was simplifying things.
After all, it was surprisingly easy to recognize the truth when one had personally lived through every single absurd event being described.
And unfortunately enough for everyone's sanity, Sunny was telling the truth.
They had actually lived through all of it.
Every ridiculous story.
Every impossible battle.
Every near-death experience.
Every single piece of absurdity Sunny could possibly list.
Compared to that, Caster's own story suddenly felt painfully ordinary.
Almost fragile in comparison.
He had arrived near the city walls like most newcors.
He had survived by running from Nightmare Creatures rather than fighting them.
Eventually, a hunting party from the Bright Castle had discovered him and brought him back.
His survival was still impressive by any reasonable standard.
But compared to crossing the Dark Sea on a boat made from demon bones and surviving the Labyrinth for months, it felt almost mundane.
Eventually, Caster asked when the three of them had arrived in the Dark City.
He clearly expected an answer within a reasonable tifra.
Sunny casually took a bite of food and answered:
"Two days ago."
Caster blinked.
Then blinked again.
The realization arrived slowly.
Then all at once.
His eyes widened.
"You spent two months in the Labyrinth?"
Sensing that the conversation was beginning to drift into dangerously honest territory, Sunny imdiately shifted all credit away from himself.
With the practiced instinct of soone who frequently needed to avoid revealing things, he redirected everything toward Nephis and Senrix.
According to him, the three of them would have died countless tis over if not for the two siblings carrying them through the worst horrors the Labyrinth had to offer.
Elysia imdiately gave him a sideways look.
The corners of her lips twitched.
It was the sa look she always gave him whenever he was technically telling the truth while simultaneously leaving out enough details to completely distort the story.
Sunny pretended not to notice.
Cassie quietly smiled.
The strategy worked almost perfectly.
The mont Nephis and Senrix were ntioned, Caster's entire focus sharpened.
It was as though soone had drawn a blade from its sheath.
"Lady Nephis and Lord Senrix are alive?"
His reaction was imdiate.
Too imdiate.
For a brief mont, it carried sothing that went beyond simple curiosity.
Sothing deeper.
Sothing more personal.
Elysia noticed it as well.
Her bright eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
Not out of suspicion.
Not out of hostility.
Simply observation.
The pink-haired girl quietly filed the reaction away for later consideration.
anwhile, Sunny felt a strange irritation stirring in his chest for reasons he preferred not to examine.
"Yeah. They're alive."
Cassie nodded.
"They remained outside the castle. We only had enough soul shards for three people."
Caster visibly relaxed.
At the sa ti, however, disappointnt flickered across his face when he realized neither Nephis nor Senrix had entered the Bright Castle.
When Sunny questioned his reaction, Caster sighed.
"I thought they were dead."
The dining table fell silent.
Caster looked down for a mont before continuing.
"There were eleven of us sent to the Forgotten Shore. As more ti passed, I started assuming that anyone who hadn't appeared in the castle had already died."
He paused.
"Finding out that five more survived is honestly the best news I've heard in months."
A brief silence followed.
Elysia lowered her gaze slightly.
For once, she wasn't smiling.
She understood that feeling all too well.
The Forgotten Shore had a habit of swallowing people without leaving anything behind.
No graves.
No bodies.
No final words.
Just absence.
One day soone was beside you.
The next day they were gone.
The pink-haired girl quietly stared into her drink for a few monts before looking away.
The atmosphere beca noticeably heavier.
Eventually, Sunny cleared his throat.
"So how exactly did you survive without joining Gunlaug's people?"
Caster seed grateful for the change in subject.
"My Aspect helps escape."
Sunny nodded.
That sounded annoyingly useful.
Caster explained that after participating in several hunts and selling so of the mories he had inherited from his clan, he had managed to gather enough resources to live comfortably inside the Bright Castle without imdiately joining a faction.
As a Legacy, he had entered the Dream Realm far better prepared than most Sleepers.
More training.
More knowledge.
More mories.
More resources.
Sunny imdiately felt jealous.
Elysia, on the other hand, seed more interested than envious.
She leaned forward slightly while listening.
Rather than comparing herself to Caster, she seed to be comparing thods of survival.
Everyone adapted to the Forgotten Shore differently.
Elysia had always found that fascinating.
However, one question still lingered in Sunny's mind.
Why had Gunlaug's n backed down so quickly?
Caster calmly explained that the guards Sunny had insulted occupied one of the lowest positions within the castle's hierarchy.
They possessed authority.
But very little influence.
Most of them had far less combat experience than Hunters or Pathfinders.
"They're used to intimidating people weaker than them."
Sunny nodded.
"That sounds about right."
Caster chuckled.
"I also have a few useful connections."
"A few?"
Caster smiled.
"The leader of the Headmaidens."
Even Sunny knew who that was.
The Headmaidens were one of the most respected and feared groups within the Bright Castle.
"And?"
Caster hesitated briefly.
Then continued.
"Soone close to Harus."
This ti, even Elysia's expression changed slightly.
Everyone knew that na.
Harus.
The most feared Sleeper in both the Bright Castle and the Dark City.
A man whose reputation bordered on myth.
So rumors even claid he was stronger than Gunlaug himself and only followed the Bright Lord because circumstances demanded it.
Whether those rumors were true or not, nobody seed eager to test them.
Caster shrugged.
"So they decided the situation wasn't worth escalating."
To summarize everything in the simplest way possible, his reputation alone had been enough to suppress the conflict before it could beco sothing much worse.
For a brief mont, Sunny caught a glimpse of sothing hidden beneath Caster's polite smile.
Sothing sharp.
Sothing dangerous.
Like a weapon that remained sheathed not because it couldn't cut, but because it didn't need to.
Elysia noticed it too.
Her expression remained relaxed.
Her smile remained unchanged.
Yet her eyes lingered on Caster for half a second longer than necessary.
As though she had quietly moved him into an entirely different category inside her mind.
Not just a friendly Legacy.
Not just an old classmate.
But soone worth paying attention to.
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