After resting the night , the three of them woke up rather late in the morning. Fortunately it was one of the days Levi could sleep , so he had decided to take full advantage of it.
By the time he opened his eyes , he saw Shashi sitting down near his bed in front of him. When she saw him opening his eyes , a cheeky smile appeared on her face.
"Morning. You looked quite comfortable while sleeping so I didn't want to wake you up."
Levi rubbed his eyes as he sat up on the bed , summoning his cloak while he was at it to cover his bare torso.
"..Morning.. I understand you did not want to wake me up.. but why were you waiting for me to wake up..?"
"Nephis is making breakfast , we don't have much food tho. We will most likely go hunting this afternoon , or maybe trade around."
"I see.. so you have already planned out the whole day while I was asleep.. how productive."
Shashi looked at Levi with a curious gaze.
"You always wake up early , were you that tired?"
Levi stared at her for a few seconds , she was being quite chatty today. He had thought questioning each other would take a few days , however the show of distrust was already showing itself.
"Yeah , I suppose I was tired."
Levi got up , stretching out a bit. Shashi followed his actions as she got up herself. Levi was about to walk past her when she grabbed his shoulder.
'..Well , shit.'
A bit of coldness crept up to Levi's expression. Currently he was doubting the bond they had , hell.. it hadn't even been a full day since the groups support pillars left , why were they...
Levi's thought were cut off when he turned his face to look at Shashi , there was a hint of worry in her gaze.
"Blood loss is getting to you isn't it? You shouldn't have let me have so much of it."
'Oh...'
Levi.. felt kind of embarrassed. It seems he was the one who was being paranoid.
"You.. shouldn't worry , I am alright."
She scoffed and let go of his shoulder.
"Whatever you say.."
They walked to the room , which was most likely the dining room. It had a round table in the middle and some chairs. Nephis was already serving the food.
"Good morning Neph."
"Morning." She gave him a smile.
'Hmm.. four out of ten. Not bad for a greeting , too awkward though. She gives the others better greetings. Why am I even rating her..?'
It seems he was already missing his short friend that he was taking up his habits of rating Nephis's habits.
They all sat around the table and ate in silence. It seemed Nephis had also brought some water , Levi drank greedily from it. The food was delicious too , he could not lie Nephis was a great cook. After eating their food , they soon got to discussing about how they would spend the day. The trio established that they would gather information around first , then they would go look for food when they needed something to eat.
Soon , they ventured off into the slums.
***
The sun was setting as Levi walked back to their lodge, he had spent his day trying to mingle with the people around. Well not mingle , he was trying to gather information. And in the end he hadn't gotten much information out of people. What was he going to tell the girls..?
Soon , he knocked on the door and then entered it. Walking to the living room , he saw that Nephis and Shashi were sitting around the lantern on their makeshift beds.
"Welcome back." Nephis said as she looked at him.
"Thank you." Levi replied as he took a seat on his bed.
"Want something to eat? We didn't wait for you since you came rather late. Shashi was dying ut of hunger."
Shashi scowled.
'Really? How kind of you two..'
"No.. some people offered me to eat with them , so... I am not hungry."
"I see.."
An awkward silence fell over the trio , however Nephis broke it.
"So , lets go over the things we have gathered today. Levi you go first.."
Levi folded his legs.
"Unfortunately I didn't get very useful info. The people around really like to chat but they never told me about important things. I only heard that Gunlaug.. or whatever his name was , has a high class armor memory , perhaps that is why Effie called him immortal. Additionally I heard the lieutenants there are also very powerful."
After Levi was done , Shashi also went over the information she had gathered. She mostly told them about the dark city and how the castle operated. Soon it was Nephis's turn.
"There is Gateway here , after all."
Something exploded in Levi's mind.
'Eh..?'
They both stared at her with wide eyes , getting over his shock , Levi asked her hurriedly.
"Why.. why hasn't anyone left then..?"
Nephis looked at the window, remained silent for a few moments, and then answered in a flat tone:
"Where do you think? It's in the Crimson Spire, of course."
***
The Crimson Spire ... that eerie and everpresent shadow that had hunted him all this time. The cyclopean tower that stood at the center of the Labyrinth, or maybe was the source of it, emanating a harrowing sense of foreboding.
The background for the last part of Cassie's vision.
Of course, the damn Gateway just had to be in that damn spire!
This was unwelcomed, but not unexpected news. After all, Inspector Rock did warn them that, should they ever find themselves in a region of the Dream Realm without an established human Citadel, they should look for the Gateway either around or inside the most prominent landmark there.
The Crimson Spire loomed over the entire Forgotten Shore like an axis connecting heaven to earth. It was hard to imagine anything more prominent.
Glancing at Nephis, Shashi asked darkly:
"So what is inside the Spire? I gather that it's not something pleasant. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a thousand Sleepers choosing to live in a city full of vicious monsters instead of going there."
Changing Star nodded. Without changing her expression, she looked away and answered:
"A Fallen Terror."
Levi's heart skipped a beat.
A Fallen Terror - the Nightmare Creature one whole class above the dreaded tyrants, with six mighty soul cores providing it with profane power - would certainly do the trick.
"So, going there is suicide."
No amount of Sleepers could ever hope to defeat a Fallen Terror. The possibility of surviving such an encounter, let alone emerging victorious, was zero.
Impossible.
A wave of silence filled the room , this one was not awkward like the other ones. Because currently everyone was thinking about different things..
Three people who had gained their True Names during their first nightmare.. three people who had scored the highest places in the student ranking. They were sitting in a circle around a lantern , stuck in hell with no way out.
Levi let out a sigh as he leaned his back on the wall.
The silence was broken by Nephis's curious tone.
"Where did you learn how to fight? You are very good in hand to hand combat.."
The question was directed at Levi.. He was a bit surprised to say the least. He did not think that she would try to make conversation.
"I... well as you know every school teaches you how to hold your own in a fight , be it swordsmanship , archery or martial arts.. I was taught basics of multiple arts.. and additionally outskirts is not really a safe place. So fights would break out in streets often , you could say I gained experience by brawling people in streets I guess."
As Levi finished talking about his experiences , he noticed that the two women were staring at him as if they had seen an elephant.
"uh.. why are you staring at me like that..?"
Shashi spoke up first:
"You joined street fights then..? You didn't look like the type to get into fights.."
"Well , you were not really given a choice. It was either get robbed or run away. And usually running away was not a good option.."
"I see.."
The rest of the night was them talking amongst each other , trying to learn more. Levi was glad that they were trying to establish some bonds too. After all they needed to stop on relying on Cassie and Sunny to keep the group in tact. Not having any bonds were better than having bonds that were half-assed.
After a long pleasant conversation , even if they were quite reluctant to , they decided that it would be best if they got some rest. With that everyone laid on their respective beds and slept the night peacefully.