[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Sunless!]
Sunny had expected to be plunged into the Dark Sea, but the Spell seemed to have tired of its practical jokes. Instead, he found himself standing on the circular plateau of the statue of a decapitated knight. Above him stretched the starless void of the Forgotten Shore, while below, the restless waters churned.
After a quick scan of his surroundings, Sunny spotted a massive aquatic Nightmare Creature speeding toward the platform. As if summoned by the threat, a colossal tentacle shot up from the abyss, coiling around the leviathan just as it collided with the platform, dragging it back into the inky dark.
The sight was a brutal reminder: Sunny wasn't at the top of the food chain. No matter how much his experience had grown, forces in this world could swallow him whole without hesitation.
So, he waited.
Stretching his limbs and working through a series of light exercises, he passed the time. Plans would need to be made for tomorrow. If he was starting from a new place, Cassie likely had moved as well. He would need to send his shadow scouring the labyrinth for her.
***
Soon, a pale sun began to rise above the horizon. A new day had come to the Forgotten Shore; With its arrival, the dark sea began to retreat. As the sun crested fully into the sky, the coral labyrinth and seabed beneath were revealed. Far below rested the carcass of the shark-like monstrosity from the previous night. Carapace scavengers swarmed the corpse, tearing into its flesh.
Sitting at the base of the platform, Sunny sent Gloomy down the stone wall. At the bottom, Serpent emerged from the shadow in its [Soul Beast] form. Gloomy then wrapped itself around the snake, who slithered towards the feast. An Ascended Beast, augmented by a shadow, was far stronger than mere Awakened Beasts, but Sunny willed Serpent to stay at the edges of the frenzy. Serpent could easily take down many. Probably hundreds—but not all at once.
When Sunny had fought these creatures as a Sleeper long ago, he'd killed them in a single strike, wielding an Awakened weapon. But back then, he worked in tandem with Nephis to expose their weak point: on their back at eye level, where their armor plates connected..
Serpent, however, was faster than Sunny and Neph's previous selves. The small snake slithered beneath the Carapace Scavengers, slipping behind them to strike. Mightier foes would lack such obvious vulnerabilities, demanding more direct combat. But for now, Sunny would harvest the easy Shadow Fragments off the distracted prey.
Serpent began picking off stragglers at the edges of the pack, leaping through their backs, tunneling through their bodies and diving back into the shadows. Once one fell, it moved on to the next with graceful efficiency. The cacophony of the horde's frenzy masked the executions among the fringes.
[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
[You have slain...]
[You have slain...]
[You have received...]
[You have slain...]
...
Sunny reveled in the steady influx of Shadow Fragments. As Serpent continued its rampage, a few of the beasts began to sense the predator among them. When enough of the creatures were enraged, Sunny dismissed Serpent, allowing Gloomy to slink quietly back up the statue of the Knight.
At some point, the Azure Blade was awarded to him again. The last time Sunny had killed the Scavenger that dropped the sword—during his first trip through the Forgotten Shore—the beast had already been gravely injured. Perhaps that was because it would have gotten hurt during a scuffle over food today, if the feast had been left undisturbed. Serpent had been targeting the smaller ones among the edges of the pack after all, and those would be easiest to bully away from the feast.
In total, Serpent had slain but a small number of the horde, though it still left Sunny's fragment count at nearly one hundred.
Shadow Fragments: [97/1000]
Unfortunately, Sunny couldn't afford to idle in the labyrinth, killing crabs until he became a titan. Beasts might be unintelligent, but he doubted they'd simply forget the massacre of so many of their kind. Provoking the horde further would likely be unwise, and within a few days they would disperse, slowing his hunting farther.
But it was more than that. The longer Sunny and Cassie delayed their journey to the Dark City, the more potential soldiers they would lose for the siege on the Crimson Spire. Sunny's personal strength—if he rampaged across the Forgotten Shore enough to saturate his titan core—would be more than enough to fight his way out alone. With Serpent as an Ascended Titan, not to mention Saint, the Shard Memories, and everything else he gathered along the way, he'd be ready.
But that would take time.
This morning's progress was abnormal. He'd had the perfect conditions for slaughter, yet even after all of it, he hadn't even reached a tenth of the way toward his second core.. To reach his seventh, he'd need hundreds of times more fragments. It would take ages.
If he lingered too long on the Forgotten Shore, the risk of accidental injury would only grow. With Nephis not around to heal, that was now a critical consideration. Past that, the Chain of Nightmares would fall upon Antarctica again, and the Dream Realm would devour the waking world.
Time was the enemy, as much as any Nightmare Creature or Legacy Clan. He needed to rise through the ranks faster.
So, he began. His first objective: find Cassie.
Serpent had been sent to gather food and supplies, while Gloomy scoured the coral seabed, carefully checking the elevated landmarks where Cassie might be. After combing through the most promising locations with no success, a flicker of concern began to stir within him.
...That is, until Sunny's Shadow Sense tingled, picking up the unmistakable presence of a human near the base of the statue.
She had found him first.
***
Serpent rushed up the side of the stone face, Cassie's rope Memory gently held in its maw. After anchoring the rope at the top, Cassie climbed the statue's side and joined Sunny.
Sunny quietly extended his hand backward, facing away from her. "Take my armor Memory until we can get you some clothes. You're blind, so it's better if you have it."
Cassie giggled softly and took his hand, receiving the Memory. When the Puppeteer's Shroud fully materialized around her, she called out, "You can turn around now."
Sunny turned to find a faint blush fading from Cassie's face.
"What a surprise," he said with a slight grin. "I was starting to think I wouldn't find you. Who would have expected you to be the one searching for me?"
Cassie shrugged, nonchalant. "I just followed that Ascended Echo back here. It was like a beacon to my shadow sense. The creatures on the ground couldn't sense me as long as I stayed out of the light, so it wasn't hard to get here."
Sunny nodded thoughtfully. "Good. We'll start heading west tomorrow."