I opened my eyes, but darkness remained. I waited a moment, and sure enough, dozens of stars started shimmering into existence.
Most were clumped up in twos, threes, and fours.
There were a few single ones, yet they shone far brighter than the others.
Oh, then there were the five brightly shining cores. A Fallen Tyrant.
I looked to the right. A Corrupted Beast.
I looked to the left. Several Fallen Devils.
I looked behind me.
Nothing.
Strange. There were dozens of strong creatures all around me. How come it was empty?
I turned my gaze to the sky, nothing impressive. A few mid-tier creatures are flying about.
I looked downwards, and my breath hitched.
My heart stopped pumping blood. My toes curled inwards. Sweat rapidly formed on my face.
What was this? What was it doing here?
A Corrupted Terror.
My gaze shot all around, making sure nothing noticed me yet.
[Vamparic dagger] manifested in my grip. Yet I didn't pour soul essence into it. Such would only make my presence larger and in turn, more threatening.
[Assassin's wear] enveloped me fully in its dark leather, diminishing my presence even further.
What sort of place was this?
How come there were dozens upon dozens of strong creatures all around me? How come they didn't fight?
An answer came immediately. There was something stronger, they were afraid of attracting its attention.
And that "it" was most likely the Corrupted Terror deep below the ground.
My mind sharpened. The fact meant several things. They wouldn't cause too much of a ruckus. Which meant fewer overwhelming attacks.
That also meant I couldn't deploy fully charged arrows.
That would surely wake up the creature deep below the ground.
In the past, I would have thought this a negative. Now? It was my advantage.
My Innate ability made sure I wouldn't be attacked on sight. And the clothing memory diminished my presence to that of a beast.
In short. As long as they didn't see me, I was a weak creature trying to join a pack. Or follow a single strong one.
A smile I didn't feel formed. I didn't have much time to reach the next core. And I might not even be able to before a nightmare seed is located.
But I had to try, I had to do my best. Gather as many fragments as possible. I had a minimum of a month.
Then it depended on the nightmare gates starting to become more frequent and stronger. And of course, it depended on Sunless the most.
He would be sent out to the fields of Antarctica. And he would need to locate a nightmare gate, with a nightmare seed.
With the correct level no less. I wasn't sure if skipping ranks was even possible. But I knew my limits, I wouldn't be able to finish the third nightmare.
And of course, I didn't have enough confidence to believe my trial would be skipped again. Although that was the ideal option.
My gaze narrowed, focusing on two cores in particular.
They were in the sky, but were not moving. And I really doubted a creature decided to levitate randomly.
Which meant one thing, it was standing still. And at such a height? It had to be a mountain.
My thoughts wandered to a specific location, but I focused. It didn't matter the place or creatures.
The goal remained the same.
Kill, collect, absorb, and repeat.
Nothing else mattered.
Nothing would get in my way.
With that, I moved.
My dark form blurred through the surrounding rocks.
I poured as little soul essence as possible into the dagger, a world expanding in my mind.
And immediately, I knew the location.
The hollow mountains.
I didn't waver, didn't pause.
I locked onto an Awakened Demon, warping right into its face.
I only muttered a low "sorry" before cleaving through its neck.
The spell announced the kill as it always did, the monotone voice now more annoying than helpful.
I let out a breath, using [Spectral] I kicked out my foot straight into the corpse of the creature. Into the soul shards, crushing them.
The Nightmare fragments counter went up by four.
I didn't need the runes to know that much.
Nor could I waste time while I could hunt.
I would need to find shelter before the terrifying mist descended.
My unfeeling gaze locked onto another creature, this one a mere Awakened Beast.
Didn't matter, it would do.
Warp carried me over, my momentum with it.
I spun in the air once, my heel descending like a cleaver on the creature's head.
There was a sickening crunch, before the spell informed of the kill.
The soul shards were crushed once again, the counter going up by two.
Something ran towards me, I didn't need [Spectral] to know.
The sound was horrendous. Like a person hasn't eaten or drunk anything in days. And just had food placed in front of them.
And the tremors? Huge.
My legs shook from each impact of the no doubt gigantic creature running towards me.
I heard a low roar, before warping to the sky.
My view was filled with three soul cores. Didn't matter.
I warped my dagger straight into one of the cores. It didn't shatter the core, it didn't have that ability yet. A weapon would need to do soul damage for such an action.
But the vital points usually surrounded the cores, and I was right.
I warp the dagger a few more times through the creature, before summoning it back into my arm.
The kill notification arrived, just as I dropped on the soul shards, crushing them.
"They aren't intelligent" was the only whisper that left my lips, before I dashed off the corpse.
My schedule would be simple. I would gain 30 or so fragments. And try to get at least five awakened soul shards into the bag.
Of course, Sunless made it very clear. That my own current growth was more important. And it seems he plans to work with me for a long while.
Which was nice. He was different. I didn't feel boredom, anger, or annoyance with him for whatever reason. Perhaps because he had a "divine" aspect as he explained to me.
In turn, I hesitantly told him that I also had a divine aspect. Of course, that was a lie. But I didn't want him to think less of me for such a thing.
I had time, I had a person to talk to. I knew what my aspect's rank meant.
I wasn't following ascension, nor desencion.
I was carving my own path, my own form of power.
And I would not stop at becoming a master.
Somewhere in time, perhaps with Sunless. Perhaps just now. Perhaps long ago. My will to survive outgrew simple "survival". I had realized, that I was special. I had a gift, or perhaps a curse. Which could not only help me, but also the world.
Sure I don't specifically care for the mundane. But do I want them dead? No!
I wasn't some revenge-driven fool!
For the first time in my life. I had a goal that wasn't selfish. It wasn't just for me, nor just for my family. Not even for Sunless.
It was for everyone.
I would become stronger. And once I completed the nightmare, I would join the Antarctica campaign.
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