Lumian observed the shell scavenger for a few seconds. In that brief span, he moved instantly; the muddy ground where he had been standing a second earlier exploded from within.
Lumian appeared in front of the shell scavenger and, with a fluid motion, slashed the beast deeply, splitting much of its body into two halves.
The encounter lasted only a second.
Lumian landed on the ground before the now-dead scavenger; the voice of the spell whispered in his ear.
[You have killed an awakened beast. Shell Scavenger]
[Your core strengthens]
[You have obtained a memory: Bottomless Canteen]
Lumian nodded. Using his sword, he extracted the core before breaking it and absorbing the essence into his own core. With that, he gained 8 fragments for his monstrous core.
Searching for some algae left by the dark sea, Lumian wove a small backpack and cut several pieces of meat, placing them inside before moving on. He could sense other scavengers heading in his direction.
During the following hours, Lumian had to face several scavenger monsters.
Sometimes he encountered a lone one, and occasionally two. In those cases, he had to ambush them and kill them with a single strike at their weak point on the back.
In total, over six hours he had eliminated around fifteen scavengers, obtaining about 120 fragments for his monstrous core. Adding the 32 he already had, it totaled 152 fragments.
If Lumian continued at that pace, he would become a Monster in less than two weeks.
Lumian finally reached the knight statue as the sun began to set. On the way to the great statue, he gathered some materials to make a campfire and cook the scavenger meat.
Climbing the statue took him about twenty minutes. Sitting on its neck, he lit a fire using the utility memory he had won in a betting game, which allowed him to create fire.
Soon, several strips of nightmare beast meat were cooking over the flames.
Looking into the distance, he noticed how the scavengers slowly began to hide. Some fought each other to devour one another, while others fed on the remains of their own species. For anyone else, the sight would be unsettling; however, for Lumian, it evoked no particular emotion.
Finally, the meat was ready, and Lumian ate in silence. Taking the first bite, he felt for the first time the flavor of food… and it was bitter and rubbery, like chewing a tough piece of gum.
'My first meal with taste… and it's disgusting,' Lumian thought, displeased.
Finishing the strips of meat, he summoned the memory he had obtained.
A leather canteen appeared in his hands. Lumian drank the water, feeling it was sweet and pure, different from the water of the waking world, which had been purified several times.
After quenching his thirst, he examined the runes of the memory.
Memory: [Bottomless Canteen]
Rank: Awakened
Level: I
Type: Utility
Description: [A canteen capable of storing a large amount of potable water.]
'It's a good memory,' Lumian thought, gazing downward at the coral maze.
Lumian narrowed his eyes; his aspect activated, sharpening his senses. Hundreds of scents hit his nose at once, but among them was one he recognized clearly: it smelled like a storm.
He looked at the sun's position, noting that there were still about two hours of daylight.
He waited a few minutes until he finally saw him: light brown skin, blond hair, and something that perplexed him… he was half-naked, wearing only a Greek-style skirt around his waist.
It was Asael, who was running, chased by several scavengers. Lumian counted quickly: there were eight in total.
He decided to go down to help his acquaintance. Inside, he was glad to see a familiar face in that place forgotten by dead gods.
Descending the statue quickly and carefully not to fall, Lumian ran while summoning his sword.
It took him about a minute to reach the point where he would meet Asael.
He finally saw him. Asael, despite the situation, brightened upon seeing him.
Lumian ran toward the first shell scavenger, jumped onto its back, and stabbed its weak point, killing it instantly.
Asael took advantage of the fact that the scavengers became alert to the new threat.
'Alright, let's see if this works,' Lumian thought.
Lumian felt his voice emerge with a tone full of authority and dominance, imposing itself like a divine command upon the awakened monsters.
"Stop."
The scavengers froze in place, motionless as if paused.
"Fall."
The scavengers lowered their heads upon receiving the order.
'It really worked,' Lumian thought excitedly. But, as always, his defect erased the emotion immediately.
Asael was bewildered and stunned to see how the seven awakened beasts were bowing like loyal subordinates.
Lumian leapt onto each beast, eliminating them one by one, obtaining a good number of fragments from the kills.
"How did you do that, Lumian?" Asael asked.
Lumian looked at him, feigning a curious expression.
"Do what?"
"That," Asael said, pointing at the dead scavengers.
"It's my aspect."
"Help me with the cores before it gets too late," Lumian requested.
Asael, still bewildered, agreed. He helped Lumian extract the fragments from the scavengers. Lumian also took more meat, since it was never enough… even if it tasted like an old, slimy tire to him.
Both sleepers climbed the headless knight statue silently for several minutes until they reached the top.
Lumian lit the fire with the utility memory and began cooking the meat. He felt Asael's intense stare.
"Well… will you explain what your aspect is?" he finally asked.
Lumian raised an eyebrow; his feigned amused expression became evident.
"Asael, do you think revealing my aspect is that easy when I don't know yours?"
In the month and a half they had known each other, Lumian had never asked about his aspect, since he also didn't want to reveal his own. But given the situation, it was inevitable.
Asael sighed, running a hand behind his neck.
"Well, alright. My aspect is that I'm stronger under the sky," he casually revealed.
Lumian's breath caught at such a useful aspect. In simple terms: as long as he wasn't under a roof, Asael would be constantly strong.
Lumian's eyes widened in surprise, though it vanished instantly.
'If he was already that strong at the academy, where he wasn't under the sky, how strong is he in an open place like this?' he wondered.
Without a doubt, Asael was a monster in physical potential. Of course, he himself was also a monster in his own way, and they didn't know much about Eva either… but Lumian sensed that her aspect would also be powerful or incredibly useful.
He trusted his intuition, and enhanced by his aspect, it became a 70% certainty.
Lumian snapped back from his thoughts.
"And what's yours?" Asael asked.
"Domination."
"Domination?"
"It allows me to give orders to monsters that are weaker than me," he explained.
Asael nodded several times.
"I see… so that's what happened. It's incredible to be able to control monsters."
"Only the weak ones," Lumian clarified.
"By the way… why are you only wearing a loincloth? I thought you'd have at least some armor."
Asael looked away.
"That's my defect," he revealed.
Lumian's eyes widened.
"You can't use armor?"
"In general, nothing that counts as defense: armors, shields, that sort of thing."
Lumian frowned. Asael's defect was extremely dangerous: in a place like that, lacking armor was basically guaranteeing instant death.
"I see… that must be difficult," he said, feigning sympathy.
Asael nodded.
"It is. Until I get some clothing, I won't be able to… well, be dressed."
"Here," Lumian said, handing him the cooked scavenger meat. Asael ate it, grimacing at the awful taste, but still eating it.
Lumian fell silent for a while, sorting out his thoughts. He needed to accomplish several things on the Forgotten Shore. He needed to confirm whether he could alter, even slightly, destiny.
To him, all this was an experiment. He estimated he had about a year: besiege the Crimson Spire, seal the dark sea, obtain Weaver's blood tissue, acquire the Weaver's mask, kill a Terror… and finally return to the waking world as an Awakened.
If he managed to form a retinue of Demon-rank and Fallen-rank monsters, he could go to the Chained Isles to continue creating his army and challenge the second nightmare to become a Master.
Lumian estimated it would take him at least two or three years to take his second nightmare. Fortunately, he didn't possess the Destined attribute, which constantly sent devastating trials in unimaginable ways.
"Hey, Asael," Lumian called, making the sleeper look at him.
"Yes?"
"Would you help me gather memories and form an army for a war?"
Asael blinked, confused.
"What do you have in mind?" he asked as a smile formed on his face.
"Not much, really. Just form an army, kill a lord of a ruined city, create an even bigger army, fight nightmare creatures, kill a Terror, experiment with destiny, and maybe drink some tea…"
Lumian paused.
"Well… maybe the tea comes first."
Asael looked at his friend as if he were insane. Everything he said sounded ridiculous. But Asael liked crazy ideas… and this was the craziest of all.
"Oh, sure. Why not? Sounds exciting."
His smile was bright,full of confidence.
"We could die, you know?"
"What's life without a little risk of death?" Asael replied. "I'm in."
'Honestly, I didn't expect him to accept so quickly… but I guess it's good to have someone like him,' Lumian thought.
"Oh, right, here. It's water," Lumian said, summoning the memory. Asael took large gulps, feeling life return to him after almost a day without drinking.
"Thank you," Asael said with a sigh of relief, returning the leather canteen.
Lumian dismissed the memory.