Once they arrived at the base of the mound, Changing Star watched him climb with practiced ease.
After climbing for a few minutes, she reached the flat top.
After a quick inspection, she noticed the remains of a campfire, as well as a tent made from algae and coral protrusions for the structure. And then she looked at the small blonde girl, with eyes that seemed to stare intently at her, but then she realized the girl was indeed blind.
Ash, after placing the meat to dry after washing off the blood, watched with interest as Cassie and Nephis talked. The former was explaining to Nephis what had happened to her during the three days they had been here.
Ash looked at the sun. There were still a few hours before nightfall. If he hurried, he could reach the headless knight statue in less than three hours and return.
Using his dormant ability, he sensed Sunless's presence. He was moving constantly without straying too far from the statue.
"Cassie," he called, making Cassie fall silent.
"What's happening, Ash?"
"I'm going down."
"Huh? Why would you go down again?" asked the girl.
Ash observed how Changing Star also directed a look at him that he couldn't interpret.
Ash thought of an excuse, but his mind simply went blank, so he just spoke the truth.
"I can sense that there's someone else a few kilometers from here," he responded.
"Really?"
"Yes."
Ash looked at Changing Star, and before she could ask her question, he got ahead of her.
"It's my Aspect ability. It allows me to guide myself to anything. When I found you, I thought about searching for another human being and found him," he explained.
Nephis nodded.
"That's a very useful ability."
Ash nodded.
"Well, I'm off then. I'll be back in a few hours," he said, beginning his descent from the coral mound.
Once he reached the bottom, he began walking west, feeling the pull towards the headless knight statue. Ash wasn't sure about leaving Cassie alone with Nephis, but it was the best option for now. Nephis wouldn't do anything to Cassie.
'Why am I worrying so much?' Ash thought, frowning slightly. These feelings were disconcerting for someone like him who had tried to kill the blind girl less than three days ago.
Sighing, Ash continued on his way. Fortunately, he didn't encounter any shell scavengers. They all seemed to still be focused on the corpse of the dead creature.
Ash continued walking, occasionally turning to avoid wasting time on the corals that blocked the path.
After turning a corner, he observed a shell scavenger which immediately pounced on Ash.
Summoning his Memory, Ash engaged in a brief training session against the creature. His attacks directly damaged the soul of creatures whose will was weaker than his. After a few blows, the scavenger fell to the ground dead. After receiving confirmation of the death from the Spell's voice, he extracted the soul fragment and held it in his hand.
Leaving the corpse behind, he continued walking at a calm pace.
He advanced for another hour until the sun reached its highest point. His intuition told him that Sunless was a few dozen meters away, perhaps one or two hundred, and it was certain that he had seen him with his shadow.
Ash advanced, observing a clear opening.
After moving forward a bit, he stopped, observing a dark shadow which was in the air staring at him intently. Was it... waving?
'Seriously?' Ash thought, rolling his eyes.
Ash knew that if he said Sunless's name, it would fill the treacherous boy with suspicion, so he simply acted a little.
"A shadow? Could it be some kind of creature from this area?" he asked himself, loud enough to be heard.
"Could it be a trap?"
In his hand, the Fang of Mist appeared as he stared intently at the shadow with serious eyes.
"Actually, I'm just scouting ahead to make sure you don't stab me with that sword before you realize I'm human."
Ash turned his head toward the direction of the voice, exactly where Sunless was.
"Sunless? Why are you hiding in the shadows like some kind of weirdo?"
Ash waited a bit before hearing a response.
"To protect myself. You're the second-best Sleeper, you even have a True Name. Honestly, I'm a bit scared."
Ash rolled his eyes, dismissing the Memory.
"It's okay, you can come out. I won't attack you," said Ash, looking at the shadows of the coral.
Ash watched as Sunless came out, limping slightly.
'So he must have already encountered the injured scavenger,' Ash thought.
"What happened to you?"
"Shell scavenger," was his response.
"Did you kill it?"
"Yes." Sunless pointed to the bag made of algae and the scavenger meat.
Ash said nothing. He analyzed the pale boy, analyzing how in a decade he would become a Supreme, becoming one of the strongest of humanity.
He supposed it was ironic to a certain extent. He wondered if he told him now how to achieve supremacy and actually did it, would he become Supreme or not?
That was an interesting doubt to reflect on later.
"Ashfall, where have you been these three days?" asked Sunless, snapping him out of his internal thoughts.
"On the red hill. I landed there along with someone else."
"Who else?" asked Sunless, his animated voice betraying him for a moment.
"Cassia. The girl who was last in the ranking."
The boy opened his eyes in surprise.
"The blind girl?"
"Yes. I've been taking care of her these days. It's only today that I'm exploring the place more," he explained.
Sunless nodded slightly. It wasn't hard for Ash to know that the boy was having hundreds of thoughts inside that head of his.
During the four weeks they had been instructed by Professor Julius, every now and then they had to talk and interact with each other for the practices the instructor assigned.
This, although it broke the ice between them, wasn't enough for them to be considered friends.
At best, the correct term to describe their situation was comrades.
"What are you thinking about, Sunless?" asked Ash.
"About... whether I can go with you?" he asked.
"No problem."
"Really?" he asked with some doubt in his voice.
"Yes. I came to explore and see if I find anyone else."
Sunless raised an eyebrow.
"Did you run into someone else before me?"
"Yes. Nephis, Changing Star," Ash revealed, watching as Sunless's eyes opened in surprise.
"Changing Star?"
"Do you know any other with the same True Name?"
Sunless shook his head. "No. It's just that I was a bit surprised, that's all."
"I see. Well, let's go before the sun sets," said Ash as he began walking back, followed by Sunless who stayed a few steps behind, refusing to go ahead out of distrust.
'Weirdo, everyone's a weirdo,' he thought to himself.
After changing his destination to the hill. While walking, Ash decided to start a brief chat.
"Sunless, can I ask you a question?"
"No." He heard the immediate response.
Ash said nothing, maintaining silence. For a while, they continued advancing. Ash took the correct turns, reducing the time it took him to go from the coral hill to the knight statue.
When the sun began to descend, they finally arrived at the coral hill.
"We're here, we have to climb," said Ash.
After climbing for a few minutes, they reached the top. As he climbed, Ash curiously watched how Cassie and Nephis had exchanged armors.
Nephis looked at him for a moment.
"Did you find someone else?" she asked with her characteristic calm voice.
"Yes," Ash responded as he watched Sunless reach the top a few moments later.
"Hello, I'm Sunless," he said with a somewhat nervous smile.
Nephis frowned slightly.
"The pervert?"
The smile on the boy's face vanished, replaced by an exasperated expression.
"Hey! I'm not a pervert, you know! I just... uh... said some things to some girls. It was all a misunderstanding."
Nephis looked at the boy in silence for a few seconds before finally nodding. Then she shifted her gaze to Ash.
Who was taking a soul fragment from his algae bag and giving it to Cassie.
Sunless took that moment to speak.
"I have fresh meat in my bag. Do you have water?"
Cassie, who had finally accepted consuming the soul fragment, nodded eagerly.
"Yes!"
Then she summoned a blue glass bottle with designs.
Sunny approached, carefully taking the bottle.
"It's a Memory I have. It's always full."
Sunless gave her an envious look for having such a useful Memory.
"Thanks."
The boy began to quench his thirst from the days he hadn't drunk anything.
"Is it really endless?"
"Uh... not really. If you turn it upside down and let the water flow, it would stop in half an hour. But then it will fill up again very soon."
Ash, after placing the meat to dry in the sun, set out pieces of meat to begin preparing it, taking advantage of the few hours of light left before nightfall.
"Do the scavengers come up here?" he heard Sunless ask.
"No," Ash responded, looking at the danger.
"In these three days, I've only seen one or two. It's as if the whole place were empty," he explained.
Nephis paid attention to the conversation unfolding.
"That's because they're all gathering near the place I've been spending my time lately. You should have seen it—the structure west of here. Well, actually, it's a statue."
Cassie's eyes opened wide.
"A... statue? But to survive, it should be..."
Sunless responded immediately, not letting her finish.
"Yes, it's a giant statue of a knight, at least two hundred meters tall. It's missing its head, so I hid on top of the neck. Anyway... the day we were sent here, two sea creatures fought near the statue. When the water receded, I saw a huge corpse lying there, with hundreds of scavengers slowly tearing it apart."
Upon hearing the explanation, Nephis nodded.
"That explains the absence of nightmare creatures during the day. How long?"
"How long what?"
Nephis fell silent, looking intently at Sunless for a few seconds, making everyone feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"How long... until they finish devouring the corpse?"
"Oh. One more day, two at most."
Nephis said nothing more, turning away.
Ash, after confirming the meat was ready, put out the fire just in time as the sun began to disappear over the horizon.
"The meat is ready," said Ash, looking at his three companions.
The four sat down and began to eat the meat, occasionally passing the crystal bottle around.
After eating, night had returned, bringing the dark night and the dark sea, leaving everything in absolute silence.
Ash curiously observed everyone's expressions. Nephis had a lost, lonely, and scared look, unlike her always calm and stoic face she showed during the day.
Cassie had a surprisingly calm expression; apparently having more people with her made her more animated than when it was just the two of them.
Then he observed Sunless's face, which was calm given the situation.
"How about we introduce ourselves formally? I'm Cassie."
"Neph."
"I'm Sunless. But you can call me Sunny."
Finally, it was Ash's turn.
"I'm Ashfall. But you can call me Ash."
A few moments of silence passed until Sunny spoke.
"Since we're going to depend on each other, should we share our abilities and the Memories we have at our disposal?" he offered.
Ash looked at Sunny in silence; his expression didn't change at all.
"I'll start," said Sunny, both to show his sincerity and to reveal information about himself in a controlled manner.
"My attributes give me an affinity with shadows. I also have a slight affiliation with divinity. Finally, I'm prone to finding myself in improbable situations."
Ash looked at Cassie, who nodded.
"You're telling the truth. Not that we doubted your honesty!" she said quickly.
Sunny cleared his throat to calm his slight nervousness.
"Really? That's good to know. But... why are you so sure I'm being honest?"
Cassie shifted a bit at the question.
"Because of my ability. I can see people's attributes. Sometimes I also receive visions. They could be of the future or the past. That's what I think; it's only happened a couple of times."
There were a few moments of silence until Sunny spoke again.
"That's a good ability. Speaking of my abilities: Mine is a shadow that can move at will and explore. It can't affect the material world, but we share sight and hearing. That way I can detect danger before encountering it. The shadow is fast and stealthy, can go anywhere, and is almost impossible to notice. I can also see in the dark."
Ash watched with slight amusement in his eyes as Nephis turned her head in the boy's direction while Cassie paled slightly and raised her hands to cover her chest.
'Does she know that night vision isn't X-ray vision?' Ash thought, slightly amused.
Ash stopped paying attention to that point and simply looked west. He could still feel the portal a great distance from his position.
After Sunny finished explaining what he had and his abilities, it was Changing Star's turn.
She explained her attributes as well as her Memories, mentioning that she had two: her sword and the armor she had exchanged with Cassie for greater protection.
She also spoke about her healing ability.
Then it was Cassie's turn.
"Is it my turn? Uh... my attributes aren't anything special. I guess affinity with revelations and destiny. My ability is like I told you before. It's not very useful. About my Memories, I have four: the bottle, a wooden staff that generates wind, a resistant golden rope that can extend several times its original size, and armor. Actually, the armor came from Ash, but uh... I exchanged it for Neph's, which has a very powerful protective amulet," she explained.
"I used to be a pretty good fencer. Now I can't really fight."
Sunny nodded, then looked at Ash.
"I guess it's my turn now," said Ash, falling silent to organize his thoughts.
"My attributes give me a strong affinity with mist and nothingness. I also have a slight affiliation with divinity, shadows, and souls..." Ash paused.
"As for my ability. It can guide me towards where I want to go. Like a GPS. There's no limit in terms of distance or towards the place I want to go."
Sunny blinked.
"Is there any limitation on where you want to go, or is it general?" he asked.
"General. An example of this is that I can sense the direction of a gate that would take us back to the awakened world," he responded, making Sunny and Nephis open their eyes at this.
"Really?"
"Yes. Although it tells me the direction, it doesn't show the obstacles or dangers along the way."
"That's a very useful ability," said Sunny honestly, with some envy. Nephis nodded, sharing the opinion.
"Anyway, as for my Memories, I have three. There's this armor I'm wearing that I obtained in my first nightmare, a sharp sword, and a bow, although I don't use it because I don't have arrows," he finished explaining.
After a while, Sunny spoke.
"Alright. That's good. I think we have enough tools to survive, as long as we use them correctly. I guess it's time to sleep."
"Okay. I'll... take the first watch."
"Actually, my shadow doesn't sleep. It can wake us if something happens."
"I'll take the first watch," said Nephis.
Ash yawned. For almost two days he hadn't been able to sleep, and now he felt the accumulated exhaustion in his body.
He simply lay down on his back, listening to the sound of the sea, then closed his eyes and began to sleep.