Chapter 22: A night with a shadow
Sunny sat there meditating, his consciousness seeing through his shadow's eyes as it scouted the area below, Not wanting to disturb him, Hugo summoned his runes eager to inspect the new Memories he had acquired.
He had gained three new Memories which was disappointing considering how many creatures he had slain with the vortex earlier but a memory was still a memory.
Memory: [Emerald Spyglass]
Memory Rank: Dormant
Memory Tier: III
Memory Type: Utility
Memory Description: [The tears of a blind poet who loved imagination.]
Memory Enchantments: [Clear Sight], [True Vision], [False Vision]
[Clear Sight] Enchantment Description: [This spyglass can see further than eyes.]
[True Vision] Enchantment Description: [This spyglass shows the truth behind illusions.]
[False Vision] Enchantment Description: [This spyglass can show illusions only to its wielder.]
Memory: [Heart Compass]
Memory Rank: Dormant
Memory Tier: I
Memory Description: [They looked for salvation but found only their doom.]
Memory Enchantments: [Direction]
[Direction] Description: [This compass may guide its wielder to what they most desire.]
Memory: [Chitinous Corpus]
Memory Rank: Dormant
Memory Tier: I
Memory Description: [A sturdy suit of armor, like a second skin.]
Enchantments: [Chitin]
[Chitin] Description: [This corpus is sturdier than steel.]
'So, an armor weaker than [Proto-Tech Armor] and two useful utility Memories... Interesting,'
He thought before quickly summoning the [Emerald Spyglass].
A spyglass made of onyx stone riddled with runes appeared in his hand in a small shower of white sparks. It had two emeralds, one on the eyepiece and one on the objective lens both perfectly reflecting the sun's light.
'So it grants me great vision, lets me see through illusions, and can even make me see my own illusions?' Hugo was baffled by its strange but incredibly useful nature for scouting.
He briefly considered trading it to Sunny for something but quickly dismissed the idea as He still couldn't bring himself to fully trust the shadowy Sleeper just yet and the spyglass was still useful for him.
Bringing the spyglass to his eye, Hugo looked far into the distance, focusing on the terrifying coral labyrinth. Instantly, his vision magnified, the details sharpening as if he were using a modern high-powered camera from the waking world. The area was laid bare before him, exposing its treacherous terrain and more importantly the abominations hidden within it.
Most noticeable were the dozens of oversized crab creatures. They had terrifying blue carapaces and a myriad of oversized chitinous legs, What was even unnerving were their gigantic pincers, which looked capable of piercing through anything they touched.
'Definitely Awakened abominations...'
A grim expression settled on Hugo's face as a dreadful realization began to solidify in his mind, They were in an undiscovered area of the Dream Realm considering it's appearance so far does not match any of the regions conquered by human and judging by the abominations and the strange receding sea, it was most likely a death zone.
Before Hugo could summon the [Heart Compass] to try and locate a safe place, he saw Sunny's shadow slither back to its master, reattaching itself to his feet.
Sunny wore a solemn look that told Hugo everything he needed to know.
"...It's a death trap down there," Sunny said, his voice low and devoid of energy. "There are dozens of abominations walking around. The most horrible of them are these strange, oversized crabs..."
"Then we need to make a plan, But I think we should stay here for a while. We have this fish monster to eat so we can hold out for a day or two..." Hugo suggested.
Sunny raised an eyebrow. "Wow, and here I thought you'd turn into another abo- uhh, Noble Creature and try your luck down there immediately."
Hugo sat on the ground with a small, tired smile. "That was a one-time thing I did because I needed to see if there was land. Now that I know the sea itself recedes whenever it pleases, and there's a labyrinth full of those things... Well let's say I don't fancy my chances of outrunning these creatures on land. " his hand ran through his hair a little as he continued "I'm not insane, Sunny."
Sunny sighed and muttered something under his breath, just loud enough for Hugo to catch. "...Thank the dead gods he's not a complete lunatic..
."
Hugo decided to let the comment slide.
---
[Hours Later]
Hugo and Sunny cooked a portion of the fish abomination and Despite the circumstances, Sunny remained suspicious constantly asking if there was some hidden cost or condition for Hugo sharing the food with him from an abomination that he killed himself.
The interaction gave Hugo a clearer grasp of Sunny's character, he was deeply paranoid individual that trusted no one which explained the strange, wary glances Hugo had received back at the academy.
Eventually, Hugo just shrugged and said, "Suit yourself. More for me." He made a show of enjoying the cooked meat, and the sight, combined with his own gnawing hunger finally broke Sunny's resistance making him devour the food in an instant, though he was still tense.
After the meal, Hugo decided to get some rest, which Sunny agreed to rather quickly , explaining that his shadow would wake them at the first sign of danger.
In the middle of the night, a sudden impulse stirred Sunny awake. He jumped to his feet, his mind instantly flooded with tense apprehension. Was it the tentacled titan from before ? Or Had some other horror from the depths come for them?
However, the sea was quiet and calm. He heard nothing abnormal around the statue.
"What is it?" he whispered to his shadow.
The shadow silently pointed a wispy limb in a particular direction.
Turning his head, Sunny squinted. He quickly understood why it had woken him. Out in the distance, a few kilometers away, a small orange light shimmered in the darkness, its reflections rising and falling with the movement of the waves. It was too far to make out any details. After a short while, the light vanished.
Sunny quickly shook Hugo awake. "Hey. Wake up. I saw something."
Hugo was alert in an instant, his hand instinctively moving toward the Omnitrix. "What? Abominations?"
"Maybe Or maybe not." Sunny quickly recounted what he had seen."the fire could be the results of a nightmare creature ability... What do you think?"
Hugo contimpliated for a moment before speaking "I think I have a way to check" making Sunny look at him suspiciously.
Hugo summoned the [Heart Compass], The beautiful golden compass appeared in his hand and he focused his intention on a single purpose: other Sleepers, or the closest one near him.
At first, the needle spun and pointed directly at Sunny, making the pale boy scowl for some reason Then, it snapped decisively in another direction, the same one where the fire had been moments before.
"...Definitely humans" Hugo stated.
"How reliable is that Memory, though?" Sunny asked, unconvinced.
"I'm not sure," Hugo admitted. "Its enchantment says it may guides me to what my heart desires O I focused on finding other Sleepers, and it pointed that way. It's the best lead we have."
Sunny shook his head. "That's not accurate enough. What if the Sleepers aren't in that area but further beyond it ? Or what if they're dead? Maybe your Memory just detected their corpses, Either way, we need to be careful considering We're not even sure where we are in the Dream Realm."
Hugo nodded, finding no flaw in Sunny's grim logic.
The two of them laid back down and attempted to return to their slumber. However, restful sleep never came. They simply sat in the oppressive silence each lost in his own thoughts until the sun finally rose again and sent the dark sea into retreat.
---
As soon as morning came, the pincer monsters crawled out from their hiding spots and rushed back to the giant carcass to continue their feast.
Sunny watched them for a time, then walked to the opposite side of the platform to look in the direction of the mysterious light while Hugo himself simply summoned his trident memory and begun thrusting it around to get a better grasp of it.
At a considerable distance, five or six kilometers away, the ground rose to form a hill. On its summit, an especially massive coral pillar speared the sky. From the looks of it, its upper branches were just high enough to stay above the water at night.
Various ideas stormed in Sunny's head, but only two questions were truly important. First, would they be able to find a path through the labyrinth and cover that distance in a single day? And more importantly should they even attempt it? The light could be a trap as easily as it could be salvation.
Not having enough information, Sunny settled back to study the monsters, sending his shadow to investigate the labyrinth's entrance.
After a while Hugo approached, after doing some scouting with his spyglass. "You're thinking of going for it, aren't you?"
"What else is there?" Sunny replied, not taking his eyes off the distant hill. "We can stay here. Hunt these things by day, hide up here at night and probably survive for a while. But to what end? Just to survive? I'd rather jump now and get it over with."
Hugo was silent for a moment, understanding the sentiment. A life of constant, fearful survival wasn't a life at all. "So, the light it is," he said. "We'll need to move before they finish that carcass you told me about"
"We?" Sunny finally turned to look at him, his expression unreadable.
Hugo met his gaze steadily. "Unless you'd prefer to navigate a death labyrinth full of Awakened crabs alone? My transformations might come in handy And frankly, staying here alone sounds just as suicidal."
Sunny studied him for a long moment, the gears of paranoia and pragmatism turning in his head. Finally, he gave a curt nod. "Fine."
Hugo sighed a little 'am I really that untrustworthy? it's not like I'm a nightmare cre-' he paused for a moment 'wait is it because I can turn into other creatures? is sunny racist?'
The idea was slowly creeping into his head considering both sunny himself and his shadow seemed to deslike him.
Unknown to Hugo's internal thoughs , Sunny decided they would leave the headless statue the next morning so the rest of the day using his shadow shadow to explore paths and prepare.
---
That night, a sudden storm descended upon the dark sea. Sunny's shadow stirred him awake in time to brace for the crushing winds and pelting rain.
"Storm! Hugo, get up!" Sunny shouted over the gale.
Usually, rain put him in a foul mood, but now he was too thirsty to care. Crouching low to avoid being blown off the platform, he cupped his hands and waited for them to fill with rainwater before drinking greedily.
Hugo, now awake, did the same, his [Proto-Tech Armor] shedding the heavy droplets of water
"Fresh water! We should try to collect more!" Sunny yelled, looking for anything that could hold it which made Hugo a bit uncomfortable but there wasn't much he could do.
Strikes of lightning illuminated the churning sea. For a brief moment, a wide grin was visible on Sunny's face amidst the chaos. The storm raged for hours. They crouched in the middle of the platform, enduring its fury. More than once, a tall wave crashed over the knight's neck, threatening to wash them away. Both of them held tight to the deep grooves in the stone, clinging on for their lives.
By morning, when the storm finally dissipated, every muscle in their bodies was sore and aching.
But there was no time to waste.
As soon as the pincer monsters returned to the carcass, the two Sleepers moved to the edge of the platform.
"Ready?" Hugo asked, his voice tight.
"No," sunny answered honestly. "But let's go."
With that, they slid over the edge and began to nimbly climb down. Sunny, with his shadow-scouted route, took the lead, with Hugo following behind carefully. Despite the danger, Sunny felt his mood improve. Passivity did not suit him. Now, even if his plan ended in failure, at least he was going down doing something he had decided to do.
Trying and failing was better than not trying at all.
Beside having a Shapeshifting monster was definitely a Huge moral boost.
The black mud at the bottom was deep and tried to suck at their boots, but it wasn't as bad as they had feared. With some practice, they were soon able to move at an acceptable speed. As long as they stuck to the shadows, their steps were light and silent.
They headed for one of the paths that was supposed to lead to the distant hill and entered the cool, oppressive shade of the crimson labyrinth.
Immediately, a strange feeling enveloped them. It was as if the world beyond the labyrinth had ceased to exist, leaving only its twisting, dark paths.
'This thing seems endless,' Hugo thought, a shiver running down his spine.
Shaking his head, Sunny sent the shadow to scout ahead. Their lives now depended on reaching the distant hill before the sun set and the dark sea returned in an unstoppable, drowning flood.
The shadow moved ahead, initially meeting no resistance. It would sometimes climb high to scout the direction of different paths, allowing them to choose the optimal route. However, they still had to backtrack a couple of times after finding a dead-end or a path leading in the wrong direction.
Despite the tension, everything seemed to be going smoothly. Their guard, ever so slightly, began to lower. Sunny, confident in his preparations and his shadow, began to assume that maybe, just maybe, they would make it.
That arrogance was their mistake.
Hugo was just about to suggest a short rest when the mud directly in front of Sunny erupted.
In the next moment, a massive, steel-blue pincer shot out of the ground and tore through the air, its crushing edges aiming to cut the shadow user's body in half.
–––
A flash of blue light resonated through the labyrinth ground as the giant pincer was suddenly blocked by something.
A gigantic tentacled green arm belonging to a certain mean looking octopus creature.
Hugo snarled as he summoned his trident which adjusted it's size to fit him, sunny which was next him immediately backed away keeping a safe distance.
Hugo shot forward, using the trident to cut the giant crab.
His first thrust went through the armored chitin but suddenly stuck there refusing to leave, then taking the opportunity the abomination used it's other pincer and brought it down intending to crush Hugo.
Thankfully Hugo was a little bigger then it when in vilgax form and managed to hold it off.
"a little help in here!" he shouted, his voice more like a violent command in his current form.
Sunny shifted slightly, unsure what to do but then His eyes darted around noitcing a long, smooth, sharp bone left behind by some unknown creature sticking from the mud.
Sunny immediately rushed forward catching the sharp bones, at the same time Hugo saturated his body with essence overpowering the crab creature and driving his trident deep within it's right pincer, slicing it off instantly.
Moment later sunny leaped from a small hill on the ground, landing above the giant crab and stabbed it into eyes, the creature struggled and desperately fought for its life but alas, the treacherous shadow kept impaling the creature while a vile shapeshifter held it down in place.
Not long after, it's body finally went still and sunny heard the voice of the spell in his ears.
[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
[You have received a Memory: Azure Blade.]
[... Your shadow grows stronger.]
Hugo pulled the trident away from its body violently, before looking at sunny who was gasping for air.
"did you get anything?"
Sunny nodded "i got a memory..." he stopped for a moment looking into the air which made Hugo realize he was reading it's runes.
'well I hope he got something good...'
He thought before looking at the abomination body...
'should i?'
He looked at the crab like creature unsure if he should imprint it.
Some weeks ago he would have imprinted it instantly but now after some thinking last night, he was not sure anymore.
He had 10 essence imprint slots and he currently has three Transformations, one is a support, one is a tank and the other is a perfect underwater combatant which were all good for now but he did not know if he would be able to replace an imprint once it's imprinted, meaning the 10 imprints he receives now could be the the only creatures he could transforms into before he awakens.
The current crab creature did not offer anything that his vilgax form did not, infact his vilagax form was better in the sense that it was more humonioed.
Eventually Hugo decided not to imprint it, saving the remaining seven slots for more powerful creatures.
Although he still took the soul shard inside...
He was about to crush it and absorp it but then he looked at sunny and hesitate for a moment which was a bit bizzare considering his current persona desliked hesitation.
"... You killed it, it's yours" he extended the shard towards sunny who had summoned a weapon —likely the blade he got from the creat—, sunny however shook his head.
"keep it, I got a memory so I'm not too concerned besides you're the main damage dealer between the two of us so naturally it would make more sense if you strengthen yourself more then me. "
Hugo once again found no flaw in Sunny's silver tongue yet he still felt like the shadow was not telling him the entire truth...
'a soul shard is a soul shard...' he reminded himself deciding becoming as paranoid as sunny was not his ideal character.
Hugo crushed the shard brining his soul shard counter to a measley [4/1000].
–––
After their first real fight as a due, sunny and Hugo —who was still transformed — walked through the labyrinth intending to advance a little bit before they return to the statue.
Sunny was using his shadow to scout while Hugo kept his focus utilizing his sharp instincts to detect anything that slips past sunny.
Their morals was far better then they were yesterday considering they managed to take down an awakened beast without any injuries, more importantly they both now possessed weapons of the awakened rank which increased their chances of survival.
Suddenly sunny stopped in his tracks causing Hugo to halt behind him, the treacherous shadow had a shocked expression on his face as he if had just seen the most repulsing creature.
Hugo tensed slightly before asking "what is it?"
Sunny turned towards him with a petrified expression "others sleepers... Girls..."
Hugo looked at him strangely before thinking
'is this fool a misogynist as well? In this day and age?'