It was hard to keep himself from falling asleep on the way but August somehow managed to struggle his way through that. Now as he was only a few metres away from the ocean, he began to prepare himself for what was coming.
Honestly, August did not have any idea of what he might find after returning to the place. It could be that some creature had come up to the surface and was trying to influence every living creature in the vicinity.
And perhaps it was a kind of creature that feeds upon the soul, or consciousness or something? Not that it matters of course. He would have to make sure to get rid of the problem in any case, only if he wanted to survive that is.
However, his speculations were proven wrong. There was no creature to be sensed here in the darkness.
As the four legged beast moved quickly within the darkness, the situation was beginning to look quite difficult for August.
The only sign that hinted he was still on the right path was that the ominous feeling he was getting from earlier– was getting stronger, more creepier in fact.
A few steps away from the ocean the beast came to halt abruptly. Refusing to take any steps further. It seemed as though it started shivering, violently shaking its head.
Well, this much was understandable. Just like humans, creatures were quick to catch on to something that might pose a threat to their life but unlike humans they weren't so stupid to confront the danger head on. It was actually surprising that the beast did not resist his control up until now and also helped him to reach here quickly.
August jumped off its back while the beast turned and vanished in a heartbeat.
August looked in the direction of it and said in a whisper, barely audible to be heard,
"Thank you friend"
Opening his eyes with determination he looked at the ocean before him. There was nothing to be seen of course, only a massive body of water with a still surface was to be sensed.
Out of all the things he had anticipated, the most difficult one had come to reality. There was no one, no monster, no creature nor a beast that was to be sensed —at the shore or even on the surface. He closed his eyes trying to perceive his surroundings better.
There might be something dwelling at the bottom but unfortunately August's senses weren't yet sharp enough to work that precisely.
Which means there was only one way to find out. He has to swim to the bottom and kill the thing which was responsible for this strange phenomenon.
Which was a major risk to take obviously, there might be countless dangers dwelling in those depths. A swarm of abominations waiting for him, or it could be a single dangerous horror powerful enough to tear him into shreds.
Not to mention he would be helpless in that situation, surrounded by water from all sides.
However, no matter how impossible the task in hand seemed to be. The probabilities were never zero. Beyond the comprehension lay a very strong yet feeble human emotion or perhaps it could be called as a reflection of one's desire to be precise …hope.
There was still hope. The most poisonous yet beautiful thing.
And August just had that chance here. He figured the creature putting his group to rest would be a type to attack mentally, judging by its behaviour as how it has not shown itself till now must mean that it cannot handle direct confrontation.
That was August's only hope of winning.
Betting on that smallest chance, August decided to take the risk and jumped in the dark ominous water. Not that he had another choice.
Night was cold, night was ruthless, night was merciless and so were the creatures born from its darkness. This was a place where night reigned above the day. The creatures of darkness could not even be considered alive, dead or creatures at all.
Besides fighting these abominable horrors August had no idea how they looked, just like the legends regarding this place suggested. No one has seen the creatures of the night.
Which was true, logically, people needed light to see anything and this place on the contrary was an eternal hell of darkness.
It honestly made no sense and so did that ocean in which August had jumped. Just like any normal oceans August had anticipated this one filled with water too, hell he saw it himself. However, inside the ocean he wasn't feeling any resistance from the water at all.
Nor did he have to throw his limbs in order to swim down. It was like as if …as if
"I am falling….aaahhhhh"
He couldn't hold but let out a scream at the situation. That's right this place was not normal, it wasn't normal at all. Then why the heck did he think there might be water in this tranquil ocean?
'Because It looked like that?'
Idiot, that's the impression he had of himself now while constantly falling down.
'What's this a mental spell?'
August wasn't sure of the situation he was in, not anymore. The only thing he was sure of was, if he kept falling at this rate, he would ultimately meet the bottom of the ocean with a force that no one would be able to tell him apart by minced meat.
Not to mention the urge to sleep was still trying to take over him. And was strong as ever. For the first time during his time at this place there was nothing to be sensed in all directions.
No creatures, no beasts, no humans, not even land. Which made August wonder where exactly he was at now.
His surroundings felt empty, like being sucked into a limitless, lightless void.
For some reason a sentence by the saint kept repeating in his mind. Previously in her mumblings she said it was night. The night was the reason.
August still had no idea what she meant by that.
However he needed to keep thinking if he wanted to keep himself from dozing off.
'Night? Night? Night?'
He, in his mind, went over all the history the saint had told him about this place.
"Night, this is the territory of night"
"Night, which came after the all forgiving Sun was betrayed by the rest of the constellations."
"There are a number of horrors here. Of course"
August kept repeating the same sentences again and again only to find anything worth keeping him alive, if not then maybe he could keep himself from sleeping a moment more.
August was getting the feeling that he is as good as dead if he fell asleep. Therefore he tried every trick to keep his brain working.
He created a chain of thoughts right and left, when it seemed was not making any sense. Then he created another and then another.
'There is a creature that could influence sleep, definitely. But where?'
After a short while of pressing this matter inside of his mind while battling the unnatural urge to sleep he finally reached a conclusion.
'Ocean, this ocean. It's definitely a creature in itself'
This speculation was something very close to the truth according to him. If the ocean wasn't an illusion to hide its body that was.
August had found the problem, kind-of, and now what remained was to look for any possible solutions. Surprisingly, his fall towards the bottom of the ocean was seemingly endless. The anxiety that he could hit the bottom at any second was eating him from inside.
'Night, this is a creature of the night. I can't fight it directly with my weapon. Then how? How am I supposed to?'
August had fallen into a dangerous predicament. Not only was he the one putting his life on the line, the lives of the maidens and the saint herself also depended on him.
August has to get rid of the creature but he wondered how he could fight this type of enemy.
'Only if I was a mage'
Suddenly a thought came to his mind which he was trying to suppress for a while now. August had a suspicion, or hope maybe in this place he could use magic along with the people who do not possess any core element.
This was a useless thought but a hopeful one at that. However, there was no other way to deal with an incorporeal enemy like the ocean.
He exhaled slowly and closed his eyes. August was going to try forming a spell.
— — —
"Sense"
"Feel"
"Belief"
These were the basis he was able to understand about magic in his whole life.
"Sense" does not literally suggest sensing the elements but rather to understand their reason. Only then a person could think of overwriting the consciousness governing that element.
August lowered his mental defenses well aware of what had happened last time he did that. However, this time there was no one around to get hurt, only August himself. He could die on the spot, or the echoes could rip him apart cell by cell or anything worse could very well happen beyond the bounds of his imagination.
But he still dares to try.
As soon as he did that August had expected a violent response from the echoes surrounding him but it seems as though they were reluctant to approach him even when August was in his most vulnerable state.
Lowering his mental defenses meant he could not do anything if his will would get overpowered by an element. He would lose himself at that instant. But even after those echoes had shown no signs of assaulting him, August gained a bit of confidence.
'Why is that? Because of the storyteller?'
August did have many businesses to settle with the strange hideous voices but the fact that they relieved him from his biggest life problem was also not to be ignored.
"Feel" August started to look for an element that could align with his current need. Unfortunately the elements surrounding him were all out of his league. Seems like in this territory controlled by night it weren't just only creatures that were born out of darkness.
As soon as the sun vanished, the elements which preferred lightless expanse of the conscious realm over the physical world also moved to this place. Not only that, it seems as though there were new elements that emerged out of darkness trying to fill that void the previous ones left behind.
The dark elements surrounding him were powerful enough to turn him into ash in an instant, only if he wasn't still protected by the storyteller.
That was the reason August needed to choose the element he wanted to meddle with carefully.
August understands if he makes a mistake now, even the storyteller won't be able to save him from that particular element of his choosing.
In the deep darkness populated by the elements born out of darkness, every echo was looking at him. They obviously knew a prey had entered inside their domain and was begging to be eaten.
August was sure these dark elements were bad news but he was short on time. Also it was proving difficult for him to resist sleep with his eyes closed. Therefore he was forced to open them, thereby losing his perception all at once.
In the deep darkness everything became blurry and hopeless.
However, with open eyes he managed to find something he was unable to feel with the rest of his senses.
Far in a corner, August saw a faint ray of light being suppressed by the echoes. They were slowly consuming it but even then the light was refusing to give in to the darkness. It was engaged in a continuous struggle to keep itself in existence like a ray of hope in the depth of depression.
August immediately recognised it as the light coming from the distant stars. Which made sense. Even if the Sun has ceased to exist, surely the ones trying to take its place would still be there and their influence would be there too.
August saw that glint of light as a cry for help from these lands. And being ambivalent, he was the only one who could fulfil this role.
A power which could not fully express its potential and a vessel who wasn't chosen by anyone.
They were made for each other. A complete match.
'Finally you are regretting, you damn morons'
Regret happens to be a very loathsome emotion.
Everything was finally at its right place, now all August needed to do was to take the right step.
And …he did.
'Hell with this self doubt'
August did what people around him were constantly telling him to do.
He, for once, believed in himself.
August, using the tiny ray of distant starlight as a spark —ignited a chainreaction to which mana of the surrounding became raw material and hence he successfully completed the formation of his first ever spell.
'Now I understand, if the problem is night, then the solution should be…'
A split second later, somewhere inside the night's territory something happened that possessed enough significance for all the creatures as well as the night faction to cast their attention on that particular region.
A bright thunderous bolt of lightning descended from the sky striking the ground beneath with world shattering force and blinding radiance of incandescent light.
— — — — —