Elizabeth had been training for hours before she finally stopped, not because she was tired, but simply because she chose to. Strangely, she felt no trace of exhaustion. Energy still coursed through her, steady and persistent, as though she could have trained for hours more and remained the same for a long while.
She didn't understand why. Not yet. But she was starting to suspect it had something to do with her aspect. It was still the only thing she didn't fully understand, how it worked, why her body had barely worked up a sweat, or why she wasn't exhausted after drills that would normally have left her drained. She couldn't tell.
She also stopped her training simply because the light was fading. She couldn't determine the exact time, but the dying sunlight told her enough. She wanted to reach the city before it grew too dim. Although she was still clumsy and not completely at her best, she felt she could manage now, and if things went badly, she was confident she could at least run away.
So, without further delay, she started walking toward the city, her dagger in hand. Half her mind stayed alert, analyzing every sound and looking for any flicker of movement, while the other half wandered, observing her surroundings. The golden ship was truly impressive, shimmering even in the fading light, and she doubted she would tire of looking at it anytime soon.
Her attention drifted to the massive obsidian pillars rising in the distance, the chains linked to them swaying slowly as the ship moved. She thought of the giant she had seen bound to it and felt a cold chill run down her spine.
Tessie had once told her in one of her lectures on the nightmare spell, that when nightmares begin, they tend to reveal key points, fragments of information related to the trial itself. Elizabeth was certain what she had witnessed mattered, although she didn't know which part was important. Too many things had happened at once. The desert turning into an ocean, the blinding light, the gigantic titan bound by the ship's golden chains.
If she wanted to end her nightmare, those were the clues she needed to understand.
'The nightmare spell isn't asking me to kill that thing… right?' she wondered.
If her true objective was to kill that monster, things would become complicated. Still, she didn't believe it was impossible. If there was one thing the spell made clear, it was its fairness, at least that was what people said about it. Every trial it sent people into was fair and solvable. If her nightmare's goal truly was to kill that giant, then there had to be a way to do it. She simply had to figure out how.
Fairness didn't make the nightmare any easier, though. People still died. It was still a trial at the end of the day.
She walked for hours until she finally reached the outskirts of the city. From afar, she had thought the distance was only a few minutes' walk, but that was not the case. The city was so vast and big that it had deceived her perception of distance entirely.
'Do I have to explore the whole city before I find clues about my nightmare?' she wondered. She hoped not. There was never exactly a time limit to nightmares. She could take as long as she needed, and whether she survived was up to her. Still, spending an enormous amount of time wandering through the city felt like a tedious task she didn't want to undertake.
The moment she crossed the city line, she heard it.
A song.
The melody was beautiful. Achingly so, yet something about it felt wrong. The sound didn't enter through her ears. Instead, it flowed directly into her thoughts, weaving through her mind like a whisper.
The music suddenly stopped, or rather, it continued, but she tuned it out. She was already on high alert. The melody was strangely distracting. Her dagger rose slightly as she moved deeper into the city.
She had noticed overgrown plants around the ship earlier, but now that she was inside the city, the abandonment was unmistakable. Vines crawled across pristine streets. The buildings stood intact and untouched, yet utterly empty. There wasn't a soul in sight.
From the architecture alone, she knew this must have once been an important city. For people to leave a place like this behind, something significant must have happened.
Several theories surfaced in her mind. Perhaps the people who built the ship had reached their destination and simply left it behind, although that didn't explain why the ship itself had been abandoned, this ship had to be important. Or perhaps something had chased them away. Or worse, something had slaughtered them all.
She found herself leaning toward the last option, grim as it was. Was it wise to enter a place where a nightmare creature capable of wiping out an entire civilization might still be waiting?
Maybe her nightmare trial was actually to find a safe way off the ship. But knowing what lay in the ocean, she would rather not attempt that yet.
All of it remained speculation. She had no solid evidence to support any of her theories.
She walked for several more hours. Eventually, the sun dipped beneath the horizon, and she was plunged into darkness, or she would have been if not for the golden glow illuminating the city.
"And here I thought the city couldn't get any more beautiful," she murmured. At night, it was even more magnificent.
She continued walking. It was still strange that despite hours of walking, her body showed no signs of exhaustion. She was certain it had something to do with her aspect. Perhaps her aspect was a passive one, and this was one of its passive effects. If so, what condition made it activate?
Before she could dwell on the thought, the alert part of her mind sharpened. Something had changed. The music in the background had grown louder, and it sounded close.
'Have I been walking toward the music subconsciously?... Wait, why had I dismissed the fact that I heard music in the first place?' Earlier, she had heard the sound. It had been soft enough to ignore, sure, but why would she? As far as she knew, she was the only one on the ship, yet she had overlooked the fact that she had heard music.
A cold shiver ran down her spine.
How could she have been that careless? She was not the type to make such a mistake.
She narrowed her eyes slightly in suspicion. There was definitely something wrong with the music. Since she was close, she decided to investigate. It might even be the clue she needed to end her nightmare.
As she approached, the song changed. Its beautiful melody twisted into something dark and ominous. She made a mental note of the strange shift as she moved closer. The nearer she got, the darker the tone became. Finally, when she was one turn away, she heard a voice.
"Oh, free me from this mortal shell of mine. Let me be in your embrace. Oh mother, why do you hate me so?"
The voice sounded odd. It followed the melody's rhythm, although it felt unnatural.
"So I'm not alone after all," she thought, though she doubted it was human. Like the song, she didn't hear the voice with her ears. It echoed directly in her mind.
She approached cautiously. When she reached the final corner, she took a deep breath. Her mind shifted into battle mode, prepared for whatever waited. She exhaled and peeked around the corner.
Her eyes widened at the sight.
"What… in tarnation is that?"