Standing above the black ocean, the grimness of this bizarre region was sinking in. The world was pitch black both below and high up. This region did not have stars or even a moon leaving the sky to be a black void.
They sat huddled on the cool stone in silence, neither wanting the other to take the first watch.
'She wouldn't kill me after giving me a memory would she?'
Gwin still did not have a read on his crimson haired partner and he did not feel safe being defenseless around a cold-blooded legacy. Who knows what she might do when he was asleep.
Sleep was weighing on him however. He was still suffering from essence exhaustion albeit slightly but he really wanted to rest. Eventually he snapped out of his thinking.
'If she killed me she'd probably die too, I'm being stupid.'
Communicating in absolute darkness was impossible for Gwin so he stirred and shifted towards her. She immediately noticed his movement and tensed. Gwin stopped just short of her and held his left hand out. A rain of sparks emerged from it illuminating both of their faces in faint white light. In the short moments before it finished forming Gwin moved his hand.
{Will you take the first watch?}
He was lucky Elena was a legacy and had an extensive education, otherwise she might not have understood sign language. In the darkness that followed Elena answered him.
"Yes."
Her response was curt and aloof.
Gwin was satisfied with her answer and turned his back to her. He tried his best to get comfortable but cold stone isn't meant for sleeping on.
He awoke hours later to her shaking him.
"It is your turn."
"Hmph"
He huffed in response letting her know he heard her and took his watch. The night was silent besides the sound of crashing waves. He sat in silence focusing on his sense of smell and hearing.
With nothing better to do Gwin jumped into his soul sea. He was met with the endless expanse of crimson and the scarlet moon high in the sky. Circling it was two orbs of light. Gwin gazed at the moon basking in its comforting light before looking around his soul sea.
It was still strange to him how different his soul sea was from what he had been taught and saw in webtoons. They always talk about a bright and beautiful place. He wasn't particularly jealous though, his soul sea was beautiful in its own way if not a little lonely. Gazing around the red surface something caught his eye. There was something out there.
Gwin froze.
His soul sea was supposed to only be accessible by him, so how was there something else? Had some awful abomination infiltrated his soul? Upon a closer look he saw where it looked like the blood that made up the ground of his soul sea had flowed up and began forming…something? It looked like something that had been in the process of forming had abruptly stopped. Like a small part of something much bigger.
After deciding it must not be a threat Gwin approached and got a closer look. The sculpture stood a distance away from the moon. Gwin circled it a few times before giving up.
'What the hell is it?'
'Is this a part of having a divine aspect? A strange soul sea and some weird thing forming in it? What could have caused it? It only formed after I killed that remnant feeder, and I had killed it with my aspect. Was that it? Or was it because I got another memory?'
There would be no way to know until he killed something else but he was sure it was the former. Now that he had gotten some rest his mind could fully comprehend the ridiculousness of the situation he was in. He was trapped in an undiscovered region of the dream world with his nemesis and they were surrounded by awakened beasts. Typically a lot of a certain type of nightmare creature being nearby meant there was a tyrant nearby and since they were awakened it must be of the fallen rank.
'Sleepers aren't even supposed to be able to kill awakened nightmare creatures! And this is the second time!'
His luck was truly awful.
Actually it had been quite good. Had he been any later Elena would have died and he would have had to face that thing with its body not trapped in a narrow tunnel.
Thinking of his new kill had reminded him of his aspect.
'Finally..'
He now had a nightmare of a lower class to use [Chimera] on. It was still of the awakened rank but it was the lowest class so in theory he should be able to use it for longer, not to mention he now had a tiny bit more essence to spare along with spirit essence.
He exited his soul sea to try it out.
He thought of what he wanted and activated his aspect. The skin on his left arm reddened and turned leathery. His fingers stretched and his finger tips grew sharp chitinous blades. He held the form for a moment baffled by the alien feeling of his arm before hurriedly dismissing it. Ha had actually used his aspect without fainting! This was great news!
His mood turned sour after summoning his runes.
*****
Name: Gwin
True Name: —
Soul shards:0002/1000
Spirit essence: 0000/1000
******
'I used it all up huh. Does essence normally run out that fast?!'
He was more than a little frustrated. If only he had a weapon he wouldn't have to worry about it even though he'd be practically fighting without his aspect. Once Elena recovered he was going to be relying on her a lot. He thought about asking her for a weapon memory but knew his chances were slim to none. She had only given him this memory to spare him his dignity, giving him anything else risked losing it should he die.