[A/N: This is for 500 PS, so thank you for the support! I appreciate it! A lot!]
"Ymmmm!" Asher moaned, biting into yet another chunk of roasted crab meat as the campfire crackled beside him.
It wasn't night yet, so they could risk a fire.
He looked at Sunny, pointing his half-eaten crab meat, "Stop looking so stupid." Sunny's expression twitched. "Are you looking for a fight?"
Asher grinned. "No.. Not particularly..."
The began to eat in silence again.
Cassie took small bites in her meat, While Sunny didn't hold back in his. Mostly afraid that Asher was going to still his fill.
Nephis ate like princess. That's it. No other description.
Asher would rather not stare at Neph for too long.
'Neph...'
Suddenly, Asher froze mid-bite, his eyes wide. "Guys! I just realized something!"
Sunny immediately choked, sputtering crab meat into the fire as Cassie stopped eating in with concern. Nephis whipped out her dream blade, scanning her back for any nightmare creature.
"What is it?!" Cassie asked, worried.
Asher, completely ignoring Sunny dying and Nephis sweating as he said, raising his hand. "I am the only one in the group with no nickname!"
'I wanted the author say "thick silence fell over the group" But Sunny was actively dying and wheezing so it wasn't exactly silent.' Asher frowned as he thought.
"What the *coughs* hell!"
Nephis blinked, dismissing her sword without a word. Cassie chuckled a bit. "Well yes, he doesn't."
"See?!" Asher waved his half-eaten crab leg like it was a wand. "Cassia gets 'Cassie.' Sunless gets 'Sunny.' Nephis gets 'Neph.' But me? Nothing! Nothing!" He slumped dramatically.
Sunny's eyes were widened. His jaw dropped. He faced Cassie and Neph, pointing at the idiot in the group. "I'm sorry, but can we talking about how this bastard was talking about wanting a nickname while the person in front of him was choking?!"
Asher wanted to roll his eyes. "Come on stop being dramatic, you weren't choking 'to death'."
Sunny' jaw remained slack.
Cassie and Nephis exchanged glances before falling into deep thought. Then Nephis raised a hand, her tone cold and decisive. "How about… Ashe?"
Asher squinted at her, clearly insulted. "You think I'm a girl?"
Nephis gave him a flat stare. "You act like one."
Asher frowned, "Then I guess you're a man."
Nephis froze mid-chew, her spoon hovering in the air. She made a face akin to someone who got punched in the gut. Sunny, now terrified of choking again, set his plate down and mumbled, "Yeah, I'm done eating for tonight."
Cassie lifted her finger up, "Isn't 'Ash' good? Like it's simple."
Asher nodded, finally satisfied. "Alright, Ash it is. You guys can call me Ash now."
Everyone gave varying levels of agreement—Sunny muttered something about still being alive, Nephis stayed silent to avoid further insults, and Cassie just smiled.
"With that out of the way." Nephis looked at the rest, "Let's move at dawn, the monster we encountered earlier today might come back."
No one rejected the idea.
"Tomorrow morning… to the west!" Asher declared, standing and pointing his crab leg toward the sunset.
Nephis didn't even look up. "Asher, that's east."
Asher blinked, lowering the crab leg. "…Oh."
Cassie's shoulders started shaking as Sunny facepalmed. Nephis, as usual, said nothing, but the subtle twitch in her eye said plenty.
"Tomorrow morning… to the correct west!" Asher corrected himself with a grin, standing up proudly like he hadn't just ruined the moment.
"God help us," Sunny muttered.
Asher pointed the crab leg at Sunny, "But the gods are dead!"
________________
Weeks later...
[Your soul grows stronger...]
"Ahh… sweet Copium…"
Essense seeped into him once more.
This feeling was one of the few pleasures in life he had. . "Ash! You idiot! Those centipedes will melt your face off if you stand there doing nothing!" Sunny held a golden rope tightly while his Echo ran through the crowd of centipedies.
"Wait! Guys! Don't leave me behind!" Asher screeched, frantically stuffing his arms with soul shards and a few sacks of oil. Using his Apsect, the sacks slowly floated to the echo, Asher grinned.
"SHKKK!" a centipede screeched, causing Asher to flinch.
"Uek!"
A sword whistled past him, hitting the centipede square on the head. OF course, the centipede didn't die but it was enough to slow it down.
Asher took the chance, looking up, he saw Nephis throw the golden rope, reducing his weight, he pulled himself up quickly.
Asher heaved a sigh of relief upon his feet touching the echo. Only to feel a sharp bonk landing on the back of his head soon after.
"Ow!"
"Bastard! I told you not to do that stupid trick again! We lost ten soul shards because of your idiotic antics last time!" Sunny roared, before clutching his head. "10 soul shards!"
Asher, rubbing his head, stuck his tongue out. "That was because I couldn't control my aspect well—"
"You still can't!" Sunny interrupted, looking at Asher's neck. He clicked his tongue. "Tsk. Useless bastard doesn't even have a collar to hold onto."
Asher grimaced, "Huh?! Neither do you!"
"I atleast have something to clutch onto! You're wearing a damned skintight bodysuit!"
Nephis glanced back, releasing a sigh, and shook her head.
Cassie giggled softly.
"I'm starting to get tired of their nonsense," Nephis muttered, adjusting the starlight legion armor on her shoulders.
"But you have to admit, it's impressive. Even in the middle of this death zone, those two have stayed exactly the same since the academy," Cassie said, smiling.
Nephis nodded solemnly. "Yes, like cockroaches. Immune to change…"
"Nephis!" Sunny called from behind. "We're smack in the middle of Flat Hill and Bone Ridge. Do we head back or push on to the Ridge?"
Nephis paused for a moment, then made her decision. "We push to Bone Ridge." Jumping down the echo. Everyone except Cassie followed suit.
It was too crowded.
"Hey! What about my opinion?" Asher piped up indignantly.
"It doesn't matter," Sunny didn't bother looking back, sending his shadow forward.
Asher grumbled, muttering something about democracy and unfair treatment while kicking at a rock on the ground. Except… the rock stopped falling. It started to float instead.
Now spinning around Asher like a tiny moon, the stone occasionally veered off course to smack Sunny in the back of the head.
"Will you stop that?!" Sunny growled.
Asher grinned. He found something fun.
"No!"
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[A/N: From here, the story will be a bit faster in pace and not to mention, crazyyyy]