[You have slain an Awakened beast: Carapace Scavenger.]
"Fww…" Asher exhaled sharply, limping toward the carcass of the fallen scavenger. Well—not really limping. His legs were mostly fine, aside from some minor muscle tears. It was his torso that was a mess, riddled with bruises, cuts, but it was still managable.
Still, he kept going. His pain tolerance was… abnormal, thanks to a tiny, tiny part in Nephis' "training sessions" back in the waking world.
He'd pushed himself too far when he swam—forcing his body to move under increased gravity, letting the force strain his muscles far beyond normal limits. Every breath ached. But he was alive.
Dropping to a crouch, he began dissecting the scavenger, peeling back its armor with practiced motions. This wasn't the first crab he'd killed. Not by a long shot. The method was always the same:
Find an injured one. Sneak up. Jump on the weak spot. Break it.
This one had been particularly pathetic—down to four legs and one claw. Practically begging to die.
With a grunt, Asher reached into the opened carcass, trying to dig out the soul shard. His expression twisted in revulsion. "Ugh, disgusting," he muttered, bile rising in his throat. "Why is it always near the intestines?"
And of course, his stone sword was dull. Completely useless for anything other than glorified hammering.
So he had to do it by hand.
"Yuck," he gagged, elbow-deep in crab guts. "Who the hell designed these things?"
The stench was vile. The texture was worse. His stomach churned with each squelch. "Ueak!"
After what felt like an eternity of gagging and digging, his fingers finally wrapped around something smooth and solid. He yanked it free with a wet squelch and held it up to the sunlight.
The soul shard shimmered—beautiful, clean, and radiant. A stark contrast to the filth he'd pulled it from.
He stared at it for a moment, catching his breath. Then, with a shrug, he crushed it in his hand.
The familiar warmth of flowing essence coursed through him.
[Your soul grows stronger.]
A faint smile tugged at his lips as he checked his runes.
[Soul Fragments: 64 / 1000]
he turned around, looking at a particular direction. His range, when it came to finding gates was absurd.
He turned his head, eyes narrowing toward a distant point on the horizon.
He could feel it.
The Gate of the Crimson Spire.
It was far—very far—but its presence tugged at something deep in his core. Asher's range for sensing Gates was absurd, borderline unnatural. Even back at the Academy, he'd been able to detect them from miles away. The stronger the Gate, the clearer the signal. Weaker ones? He barely felt them.
Then his head snapped around as a sigh escaped his lips. "Oh, come on! I didn't even finish collecting the meat yet!"
He hurriedly stuffed what he could into a makeshift sack fashioned from seaweed and scrambled away from the carcass.
Well—not away exactly. He couldn't outrun what was coming.
Instead, he climbed up onto a tall coral formation, keeping himself just out of reach. Moments later, three Carapace Scavengers scuttled into view, drawn by the scent of blood. They fell upon the corpse like starving wolves.
Asher grimaced.
Most of the time, they didn't notice him up here, but few times, he gets—
shriek—
A piercing cry ripped through the air as one of the scavengers turned its eyeless gaze toward him.
"Seriously? That's the second time today!" he groaned.
The other two followed, shrieking in unison. Cold sweat broke across Asher's brow as the creatures began skittering toward the coral he was perched on. His legs trembled despite himself. Even after killing more than a few of them, the fear never quite went away.
Especially with his flaw.
He took a deep breath, adjusted his mass to stay balanced, then leapt to a neighboring coral. The scavengers slammed against the one he'd just left, unable to comprehend that the structures weren't connected.
'Beasts..' Asher thought. Still..
He kept moving, bounding from coral to coral until the scavengers were far behind him.
"Better safe than dead," he muttered.
This method, though safer, was partly to blame for his torn muscles. Maintaining his adjusted weight for long periods took a toll. Every landing sent a sharp jolt through his joints.
Panting, he finally stopped and reached into his sack, pulling out a chunk of raw crab meat. Without hesitation, he bit into it.
It was cold, slimy, and uncomfortably chewy—but ironically, it was his only real source of hydration. The thick mucus inside was surprisingly effective at staving off dehydration.
Unfortunately, it tasted like salty, rotting snot.
He gagged, swallowed, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"God, I miss bottled water…"
He stopped dead in his tracks.
Standing before him was a colossal statue—headless, weather-worn, and gripping a massive stone sword. Even in ruin, it radiated a grim majesty. Asher stared, momentarily caught in awe.
Then he grinned.
"Two to three days' worth of travel…" he muttered, eyes scanning the surroundings. He glanced up at the sun, hanging high and hot directly overhead. Not much time left.
He turned, searching the terrain—then spotted a nearby hill.
"Oh, there!"
It wasn't far. Just enough distance to kill a bit of time.
He leapt down from his perch, boots hitting the earth with a dull thud.
That's when he felt it.
A presence—subtle, but unmistakable.
"Ah…" he whispered, a slow smile curling on his lips. "How lucky am I…?"
He turned toward the sensation, eyes sharpening.
An injured Scavenger desperately trying to walk away from something.
"Three in one day."
***
"what..."
Cassie's dream... It was a strange one. Sunny scratched his head as he tried to process what it was meant. His arms were still sore from the earlier swings Nephis made him do but his mind wasn't exhausted. Yet... He couldn't help but glance at Nephis from time to time. In Cassie's previous vision, she wasn't there at the gate...
Even if Nephis had an idea, she didn't show it.
Sunny was totally and utterly lost. He couldn't even begin to decipher the hidden meaning behind the vision… if it even was one.
Her dream was just so disjointed, full of weird symbolism and vague, uncertain images, much more like a charlatan's prophecy than a vision gained through an Aspect Ability. In other words...
It was ridiculous day.
And that's how it started a ridiculous day.
Some time later, they were sitting on the western edge of the stone platform, looking at the scavengers below. Sunny's shadow was busy scouting a path to the next high landmark.
Sunny gaped at two extremely large, luminescent crystals in the distance.
His eyes widened. "Are those…"
"Yes. Shards of two transcendent soul cores." Nephis answered quickly
Transcendent… two of them… Sunny and Nephis, however, focused their gaze on two menacing 'Scavengers'. Sunny felt cold sweat running down his spine.
"What the hell are those things?"
Nephis tilted her head. "Monsters, I guess."
Sunny and Nephis watched as the two monsters approached the carcass. The scavengers were visibly afraid of them, rushing to get out of the way. They both watched with anticipation as the monsters were about to take the transcendent soul shards.
All of a sudden, a blur shot past them—a crab, darting through the terrain with impossible speed. Clutched in its pincers were two glowing soul shards… and riding on its back was a figure.
The two monsters let out an ear-piercing shriek, loud enough to echo across the battlefield—loud enough for Sunny and Nephis to hear from a distance. Both of them turned sharply, watching as the strange crab mount sped off, pursued by the enraged creatures.
Nephis narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on the fast-moving speck. "Is that… a person? On top of the scavenger?"
Her voice was tight with disbelief.
Sunny, whose vision was far keener, froze. His expression turned pale.
"…Damnation."
Nephis glanced at him, sensing the sudden shift. "Sunny? Do you know that figure?"
The crab slowly bought those crystals towards the dot. two 3-meter crabs, along with a few dozen smaller, 2-meter crabs, tried to catch up to the crab that was running away. The figure looked around and smiled at a shadow following it.
Sunny flinched.
He looked at the carapace monster and made a not-so brave smirk. "I will be taking these!" As he said that, he got the two soul shards closer to him with the help of the crabs pincers, before breaking them.
The glowing essence poured into him.
[Soul Fragments: 92 / 1000]
He grinned. "Worth it."
The chasing crabs shrieked in fury.
The crabs screeched as the figure trembled.
'What the hell? Those look so scary!'
Still, his mount moved with frightening speed—darting over coral and rock like a ghost, easily outpacing the enraged scavengers. He glanced down and muttered under his breath.
"…Fuck. I think I pissed my pants a little."
Up ahead, the ancient, headless statue loomed larger and larger. The figure shouted toward it with desperation:
"THROW A ROPE DOWN!!!"
Back atop the hill, Cassie, still shaken from her earlier nightmare, perked up at the voice. "T-That… that sounds familiar…" she whispered, but neither Sunny nor Nephis responded. Their eyes were fixed on the rapidly approaching figure.
"Sunny?" Nephis pressed. "Respond."
"I-It's… A-A-A…"
He stammered, lips trembling.
Nephis stepped in front of him. "Who is it?"
Sunny swallowed hard.
"…Asher."
___________________
[A/n: I can't believe I am saying this only after a day, but thanks for 300 collections! Extra chapter!
Next goal? 15 reviews and I'll make another extra chapter. The rest stay the same, 400 collections extra chapter, but lets aim for 125 PS per extra chapter, a bit of a challenge for you guys.]