Once the meat was ready, Ash used his sword to cut it into pieces, using some algae washed with Cassie's water bottle as plates.
After grabbing it, he waited for it to cool down a bit.
"Cassie, your hand," said Ash, looking at the blonde girl who now wore the Castaway's Mantle, while he had taken back the Mantle of the Mist, which would be of great help in battle due to its enchantments.
Cassie curiously extended her hand. A moment later, she felt something a bit heavy with a somewhat pleasant aroma. She quickly identified it as the meat from the nightmare creature Ash had hunted and prepared for her.
"Eat. I'm not the best at making grilled meat, so don't blame me for the flavor."
Cassie found herself laughing softly at the comment.
Bringing a piece of shredded meat to her mouth, Cassie chewed. The flavor wasn't entirely horrible, but not appetizing either. However, it was edible, and that was what mattered to her.
"It's not that bad," said Cassie.
...
Ash watched Cassie eat calmly. Making sure the girl didn't need anything else, he grabbed his own piece of meat and began eating.
As expected, the flavor was horrible but edible. He ate unhurriedly, observing the distance to the west where his next stop would be—the headless knight statue.
He had thought about it and immediately felt its direction.
"I wonder if..." swallowing a piece of meat, Ash thought of Sunless, wanting to go to him.
A few moments passed. For a moment, he worried that Sunless might be on the other side of the Dream Realm.
In the end, his concerns were unnecessary—he felt him. He was far away, in the direction of the headless knight statue.
Since it was the first day, he doubted Sunless would move. Besides, tonight he would confirm if Nephis was on the Forgotten Shore by looking for a campfire, and then two fires the next day. There would be a storm.
In general, he had exactly three days. The shark corpse would last about five to six days. Half that time, he would only go down to get meat, increase his soul fragment count, and strengthen his companion.
Finishing eating, Ash stood up and moved away from the edge of the red coral mound.
"Cassie," said Ash in his usual calm tone.
"What's happening?" asked the girl, looking in his direction.
"I'm going to explore the place to make it more comfortable."
"Alright," said the girl, somewhat drowsy.
"Sleep for a while. You need to rest. I'll keep watch in case something happens."
Cassie nodded, closing her eyes. Ash waited a few minutes, watching as Cassie's breathing became slower and heavier. Letting out a sigh, he fed the campfire to keep it from going out, then stood up and began exploring the area. He found algae which he dried by the fire to create an improvised mattress. At the same time, he took several protrusions and joined them with the resistant algae, forming a kind of tent that he covered with layers of algae on top.
"Not bad if I say so myself," he said, looking at his creation.
"I guess those wilderness survival shows were good for something."
Ash continued exploring the small crimson island with boredom.
After a few hours, he was simply sitting on the edge, calmly observing the crimson coral as the sun slowly began to set, painting the world in orange and pink colors.
"Ash," said a voice.
Turning his head, he saw Cassie looking for him.
"I'm here, Cassie," he said loud enough for the girl to hear him. Standing up, he walked towards the blonde girl and sat down beside her.
"I've finished building the camp."
"How did you build a camp?"
"I learned it in class. It's called Wilderness Survival. The teacher made sure I could survive many things and taught me useful stuff."
Cassie nodded.
"How long until nightfall?"
"About three or four hours. We can't leave the campfire lit," he said immediately.
"Why not?"
"It's just not a very good idea to do it at night."
Cassie, though not fully understanding, didn't argue.
Ash stood up, letting the meat cook while he quenched his thirst with the endless water bottle.
Once the meat was ready, he put out the fire.
After giving Cassie her portion, both began to dine in silence. After filling their stomachs, they stayed in silence, simply enjoying each other's presence.
When the sun disappeared, the dark sea had returned, flooding the world completely.
Ash held Cassie's hand until he guided her to the shelter. The girl lay down, mentally exhausted.
A few minutes passed until Ash yawned, but he didn't feel sleepy. Summoning his sword, he began to swing it silently to distract his mind.
Occasionally, he looked at Cassie's sleeping face with a strange expression.
He still wondered if he had truly made the best decision.
What would have happened if he had chosen to kill the blind girl? What would have occurred? What would have changed?
Ash didn't know, and that unsettled him a bit. Then he would simply push those thoughts away.
Whatever it was, he couldn't turn back now. He had made his choice and planned to take responsibility in the end.
After all, it was only until they returned to the awakened world. After that, he doubted he would run into the girl again.
'I wonder if I can get the mimic chest and those discarded puppets that Nether left in the obsidian tower,' Ash thought.
Ash felt how the wind changed as he made his final thrust. He felt something hit his head.
Looking up, he observed storm clouds as well as the sound of thunder in the distance.
'Looks like the storm has arrived.'
Dismissing his Memory, he decided to go to sleep. After an hour, the rain began, and with it, the sea's activity increased, creating waves that didn't reach where they were.
Time passed in silence. At some point, Cassie had woken up from all the noise the storm made.
The storm continued throughout the night. Once morning arrived, the storm stopped, and the dark sea had receded. Ash lit the campfire and began to cook the remaining meat they had left. Soon he would have to go down to hunt another scavenger.
Two full days had passed, and he had to move. He could still sense Sunny at the same distance and, at the other end, Changing Star, who seemed to be moving.
"Hey Cassie. I'm going to have to go down again to get more food, and also explore a bit."
Cassie chewed her meat and then swallowed.
"Are you sure about going down again?" she asked with a bit of fear, remembering the previous time.
"I'll be fine. I won't die that easily, you know?"
Cassie looked at him for a few moments.
"Be careful."
"I will," said Ash, beginning to walk away before stopping.
"Cassie," he said, making the girl look at him.
"Yes?"
"No. It's nothing, forget it." Ash said, continuing on his way.
Once he reached the edge, he began to descend carefully. Once his legs touched the ground, he observed the remains of the scavenger he had killed two days ago.
Ash began to walk east from his original position, where Changing Star was. He calculated it would take him at least ten or twenty minutes to run into her.
Ash advanced through the red colors. On his journey, he encountered two stray wandering scavengers that he eliminated, reaching one hundred soul fragments. After taking the cores as well as large chunks of meat, he continued advancing.
Time slowly passed until he finally reached a small clearing without the endless corals. Looking over the coral, he observed the coral mound where Cassie was.
Paying attention to the path ahead, he observed someone walking through the mud.
The figure's hair was short, silver-colored, and their skin pale. Their beauty was considerable for anyone who saw them. The figure wore a simple tunic, leather sandals, and a blue cloak like ocean waves.
Of course, this figure was none other than Changing Star of the Immortal Flame Clan.
Until now, Ash had had one or another encounter with her. Since they had fought against her at the Academy, he hadn't faced her again or even given the girl a second glance.
Ash mentally calculated his chances of eliminating her, but in the end, he pushed that thought to the deepest part of his mind.
Ash observed how Nephis remained on guard, analyzing him to know if he was a threat to her life, if he had been sent to kill her, or if he was simply a Sleeper thrown into this inhospitable place.
The scene was quite strange. Both remained in analytical silence. It wasn't that they couldn't speak, but rather that neither was the best when it came to social skills.
They stood in silence for almost a minute, staring at each other intently.
Finally, it was Nephis who decided to break the ice.
"I know you. You were in my class."
"Yes," Ash responded.
"My name is Ashfall," he added after a brief pause.
Nephis's eyes opened slightly.
"You were the other student with a True Name besides me."
Ash nodded his head.
"A pleasure. Nephis, right?" he asked.
The girl nodded.
"Are you alone?" asked Nephis, her eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion.
"No. There's someone else with me, but for certain reasons, she didn't come with me."
Nephis didn't react, or if she did, she hid it quite well.
"Before you get the wrong idea, she's alive and safe."
"Then why isn't she with you?"
"She's blind," he responded instantly, making Nephis open her eyes. Then she looked at the rough bag made of algae containing scavenger meat.
"As you can see, I'm gathering supplies to eat. We have a camp on that coral mound," he said, pointing to the enormous mound a kilometer away.
"If you want, you can come with me."
Nephis said nothing, clearly weighing her actions, but after a few seconds, she nodded.
"Lead the way."
Turning around, Ash began to walk back to the coral mound, returning the way he had come.
After about 15 minutes of walking, they arrived at the base of the coral mound, where he began to climb until reaching the top.
Once Ash reached the top, he set down what he had brought and looked at Cassie, who turned in his direction.
"Ash, you're back already?"
"Yes. You won't believe it, but I ran into someone else."
Cassie's face lit up.
"Really?"
"Yes," he said, looking at Nephis, who had finished climbing and was observing her surroundings with curiosity before her eyes landed on the blind, golden-haired girl with a bit of pity on her face.
"Who came with you?" asked Cassie.
"I'm Nephis," said the girl simply.
Cassie's eyes widened a bit in surprise.
"Y-you're the number one in the school ranking," she said with surprise in her voice.
"Yes." Changing Star's voice was flat.
From the algae bag, Ash took out the three soul fragments.
"Cassie, take these and consume them."
"No," said the girl, confusing Ash.
"Why not?"
"I can't do it. I feel like it would be abusing your help. You have to do it—after all, you risked yourself to help me."
"Don't worry, I can get fragments later. Now just do it. You need to become strong too," Ash expressed.
After a brief back and forth, Cassie consumed the three soul fragments. All of this was watched by Nephis in silence.
Ash looked at Cassie.
"I'll light the fire," he said, walking towards the tent and grabbing two limestone rocks to do so.
Cassie looked in the direction where she thought Nephis was.
"I'm Cassia, but you can call me Cassie," she said.
Nephis blinked a few times before nodding, then remembered the girl was blind.
"Call me Neph." With that, Changing Star approached the girl, observing as the other Sleeper, after a few minutes, lit the campfire, then spread out the pieces of meat to dry in the sun, and then looked towards the west.