Epsilon sulked in a dimly lit corridor. It had already turned dark outside, and most of the sleepers had already retreated to their private rooms. However, the very few that did linger around managed to get a glimpse of Epsilons face. The moment they did, they turned in the other direction and ran.
'What now??'
First they were just giving him weird looks, and now they were afraid of him? These people just can't make up their minds on what to think. Honestly, so indecisive.
'Maybe sending mom here was a bad idea.. the Middle East wasn't that bad, or maybe even Australia. I guess Antarctica is an option too..'
As he pondered this, he continued down a humongous corridor. It was grand and elegant, almost as if it was ripped straight from a fairy tail. On one side, were numerous windows that glowed with the light of the moon, and on the other were an array of wooden doors that kept shut.
All of them but one at least.
It was left slightly open, allowing a faint golden light to seep out of it. A strange noise echoed repeatedly at an incoherent pattern. It sounded familiar to him, and at the same time so new.
Filled with curiosity, Nero peered inside of it, and was surprised to see that it was a Dojo. The complete opposite nature of the corridor he was currently in. But what piqued his interest the most were the two people fighting in the centre, and the numerous broken wooden swords that laid out around them.
It was an impossibly cute girl(Not that Epsilon cared), and a tough yet brazen boy, both wearing white martial art Gi's that were dripping with sweat from the amount of hours that they had spent in there.
In their hands, was a decently sized wooden sword that they repeatedly tested each other with in fierce combat. The girl suddenly released an onslaught of blows that kept the boy on defence. Every now and then he tried to push back, but he was instantly punished for it with an incredibly close finishing blow aimed at his head.
But every single time, he would move out of the way with the blade only being a millimetre away from ending him.
Despite how badly the boy seemed to be losing though, he had a calm look on his face, while the girl seemed quite frustrated.
"How are you so slimy?"
"I don't know, why are you so slow?"
Despite the playful exchange of words, the girls aggression increased a hundred fold. Not in her temper, but in her swordsmanship.
Raising her sword right above her head, she clasped it with both hands before slamming it down towards the boys skull. Even though she was a sleeper, she moved with terrifying power, as the air shook lightly from her strike.
And yet, the young boy was still unfazed, a little elated even.
Epsilons heart froze, as the boys sword struck forward with unforeseen speed, interrupting her swing before it could even be completed.
And then a few moments later, the top half of a shattered wooden sword clattered to the ground, joining many of its lookalikes in defeat.
'Wow...'
Epsilon had never seen any kind of sword play, and yet he knew that what those two just displayed, was simply breath taking. He felt inspired to go join them, but it would be awkward if he just waltzed right in. And besides, he didn't even know how to swing a sword properly! How on earth would he compete against the two of them?
'They must be legacy's...'
They both collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily as sweat trickled down their bodies even more furiously than before. The girl gasped for air, but managed to let out a short disdainful comment,
"Cheat!"
The boy also struggled to breathe, but he responded,
"How so?"
She slowly raised herself up from the floor, and glared at him,
"That Aspect of yours is a hack."
"I'm just making the most out of it."
Standing up, she walked over to the end of the room, and grabbed the last of the wooden swords that were still intact.
She pointed its tip towards the boy before declaring,
"One more time!"
Yet not even a moment later, her hand shook as the wooden blade fell to the ground. She was far too exhausted to keep going, and so was the boy. With that he said,
"Your way to enthusiastic about this.. lets just call it a day."
He carefully arose from the ground and slowly turned his head towards the door. He noted that he left it slightly open by accident, but after focusing on it for a few more seconds, his eyes widened.
'Someone was watching us?'
Epsilon ran like hell. The moment he saw that boy turn his head, he knew he was getting caught. He had already gotten into enough trouble already, what would happen to him if rumours started spreading that he was a creep? He didn't need to deal with that, especially with only 2 weeks left.
**
A short while later, Epsilon found himself in his own private room. He had received a communicator while he was with Awakened Gareth, so he used it to navigate his way back to what was supposed to be his bedroom.
It was comfy as expected. It was decently sized, had a wide bed, and even had its own private bathroom. Luxuries that he could rarely experience back in Endroll.
The first thing he did was collapse on that bed, which swallowed him in a slow, blissful embrace, and the plush mattress cradled his body like a cloud made of the softest cotton. His limbs grew heavy, melting into the blankets that wrapped around him like a cocoon of warmth, lulling him deeper into its gentle grip.
"This is the best..."
He was just about to fall asleep, but thought that he should probably take a shower first.
That was... also delightful.
Stepping back out, he sat on his bed before sighing. It was time to check that memory he earned.
Name: Epsilon
True Name: End Of The Unbound
Rank: Dreamer
Soul Core: Dormant
Soul Fragments: [17/1000]
Memories: [Seras's despair]
Focusing on the memory, more runes revealed themselves.
Memory: [Seras's despair]
Memory Rank: Divine
Memory Type: unknown
Memory description: [A child was born on the boundary between good and evil, but rather than being embraced by all, she was forsaken by both. Destined for a lifetime of loneliness, she ran away to the Hollow Mountains, but even then, she could not live in peace. After exhausting her strength trying to break free, she was slain by a demon, as well as the key to her jail. Her hatred for the world, and her last wishes, were condensed into a single drop of her blood.]
Honestly, he was scared just from looking at it. Remembering how he killed her was a blur, yet he could feel the experience still engraved on his body. He did not want to recall it.
The description too was also very strange. It was basically saying that Seras was the victim? And it was the King Of The Dark who broke into her dwelling?
'Its type is unknown too...'
There were several types of memories that could help an awakened, both in combat and in daily life. Weapon types for battle, tool types for more mundane things, or charms that gave strange enchantments.
Yet this item fell into none of those category's? Or was it that the spell didn't want to tell him?
He summoned the memory with a bit of weariness in his heart, and so violent sparks of light manifested in front of him, which slowly began to turn blood red. Once they finished, a single red drop was left floating right in front of him.
'Is that.. blood?'
But the Nightmare spell was not done. It's voice continued, almost.. fearful.
[You have acquired #@!>?'@$. Do you wish to consume it?]
'What?'
This memory could be consumed...
Epsilon pondered about it for a while. As far as he was aware, a Memory type like this was basically unheard of, and not just that, its name was censored out by the spell? Or was it that it couldn't display it? It had already told him its name which was [Seras's despair], and yet, it blocked it out again? Or was what it was blocking out something else?
Too many questions...
Memories generally weren't harmful, but there were cases were it offered self harm for great power. Just looking at the description, and at how the spell was reacting, definitely screamed that it was the latter, or perhaps something even worse.
And yet, [Judgement] seemed to think against it.
"Devour it.", was what it told him.
It saved his and Nero's life once already, so obviously it would benefit him in the future? But Epsilon couldn't help but think that there was something seriously wrong that it wasn't telling him.
Well, [Judgement] couldn't go into the specifics. Although it could say the going down a path would benefit him, if there were any hardships down it, it wouldn't alert him of them.
In the end, he quietly sent it back to his Soul Sea. He still had 2 weeks to make up his mind, so it was better to do some research, and then come back to it later rather than betting everything on his attribute.
'Don't put all your eggs in one basket... was that how the saying went?'
And just like that, he peacefully fell asleep.