In the middle of the night, a sudden impulse woke him up. Sunny opened his eyes, his mind muddled with tense apprehension. He feared that the owner of the giant tentacle had returned to finish the job.
Or maybe some other horror from the depths had sensed him and decided to eat human flesh.
However, the sea was quiet and calm. He didn't hear any anomalies around the knight's statue.
"What is it?" Sunny whispered, addressing the shadow.
The shadow silently pointed him in a particular direction.
Still caught in Cassie's warm embrace, Sunny carefully turned his head and squinted. He quickly understood why it was a good idea to wake up. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to see...
In the distance, a few kilometers away, a small orange light glowed in the darkness. Its reflections rose and fell with the movement of the waves.
It was too far away to make out any details, so Sunny just stared at it for a moment. Very soon, the light disappeared.
"Other Sleepers? A natural phenomenon? Or some monster setting a trap?"
Memories of deep-sea nightmare creatures immediately came to his mind.
Shaking his head, he tried to go back to sleep. However, this time sleep eluded him. The hunger pains were not yet unbearable, but they were slowly becoming more and more intense; the water trick was just a temporary deception for his stomach.
He felt pressure on his side. The girl was unconsciously hugging him. They were in an awkward position; he was lying on his back, she was sleeping on her side, her left arm under her head and her right arm clinging to him. In reality, the position wasn't uncomfortable.
What was noticeably uncomfortable was that she, being so close to him, was pressing her ample chest against his arm, while her head rested on his shoulder.
His heart was pounding hard, he felt nervous. He turned his head toward her, seeing that her face was covered by her golden hair.
He lifted his free arm and moved the hair away from her precious face, his gaze passing over her eyelashes, then over her small but pretty nose, until it ended at her lips.
He stared at them, stunned, for a long time. His nervousness was consumed by another kind of feeling that was unrecognizable to him, things he didn't understand.
That's when he noticed it, he felt moisture on his right side; she was drooling.
He shivered and his hand flew to his mouth to stifle his laughter.
was blessed with a truly memorable sight.
Now calm, he looked at her again, doing so for a long time until sleep caught him again.
Despite the terrible situation, he found warmth and security in her embrace.
xxx
His shadow again woke him up just in time to see the sea recede.
As soon as morning came, the pincer monsters returned from their hiding places and scurried towards the giant corpse to continue their feast.
Sunny watched them for some time and then crawled to the opposite side of the platform to take a look in the direction where he had seen the mysterious light the night before.
At a considerable distance from the headless statue, five or six kilometers away, the ground rose naturally and formed something resembling a hill. On top of that hill, a particularly enormous coral pillar rose into the sky.
From the looks of it, its upper branches were high enough to remain above the water during the night.
Several ideas rushed into Sunny's head, but in the end, only two questions were truly important.
First, could he find his way through the labyrinth and cover that distance during the day? And more importantly, should he even try to? After all, there was no indication that the source of the mysterious light was something beneficial, as opposed to something dreadful and deadly.
Not having enough information to make a decision, Sunny returned to studying the monsters. However, he sent the shadow to investigate as far into the labyrinth as the range of Shadow Control would allow, hoping to at least travel the beginning of the path that could potentially lead to that hill.
Logically speaking, he was as safe on top of the headless statue as he could probably be in this strange place. The only problem was that he was going to die from hunger soon.
But the problem was not irremediable; he could set traps and hunt a pincer monster to eat. With their enormous size, just one of them would be enough to feed him and his companion for weeks.
He could easily see that routine: hunting during the day and returning to the statue as night approached. It was probably his safest choice.
However, this way of doing things lacked a vital element: the potential for improvement. It was very suitable for keeping him and Cassie alive, but it offered no hope. If he was destined to spend the rest of his life in the small area surrounding the headless statue, devouring monsters and trembling at night for fear of being devoured by something bigger in turn...
Well, he couldn't give up and commit suicide while Cassie was still alive, he wouldn't abandon her in such a cruel way.
At least he wasn't alone in this.
That practically meant that the only option left to him was to try to reach the source of the orange light. And if Sunny was really going to try, he had to do it before the pincer monsters finished consuming the giant corpse.
That way, at least, the surrounding segment of the labyrinth was going to be free of them.
Firm in his choice, Sunny decided to leave the headless statue the next morning. He would spend the rest of the day exploring paths through the labyrinth and mentally preparing himself.
With that, he closed his eyes and focused his perception on the moving shadow, while his body recovered and rested with his head on Cassie's thighs. She said it was necessary and he was nobody to refuse.
XXX
At night, a sudden storm descended on the dark sea. Sunny was woken up by the shadow just in time to brace himself for the crushing winds and torrential rain.
The storm continued to rage for several hours. Sunny clung to the middle of the platform as best he could; his crippled state was a real problem.
Enduring its fury. More than once, a high wave crashed against the neck of the headless knight, threatening to wash him away.
His grip was poor due to his posture and the lack of resistance from one leg.
Fortunately, Cassie was there to hold him, several times a wave almost knocked him off the platform but she wouldn't let him fall.
Throughout the storm, he discovered that his wound had healed quickly; he wouldn't be able to run again but at least he could limp if that's some kind of progress.
In the morning, when the storm finally dissipated, all his muscles ached and his leg itched; the saltwater caused a burning sensation in his wound.
But there was no time to lose.
Now they faced a problem that he was unconsciously avoiding.
How were they supposed to get down from the statue?
He had a useless leg and additionally, he also had to get Cassie down.
It didn't matter if he had thought deeply about a plan or if he was thinking of a rushed action plan right now, there was only one option to get down right now.
"We have to have faith that it will work," he said with resignation.
Sunny had to once again be grateful for the Wilderness Survival classes, as they had also taught him the basics of rock climbing. Professor Julius was adamant about giving his students an intensive course on all possible forms of traversal. In addition, Sunny had already explored the optimal path down and memorized the best grips and handholds with the help of his shadow.
He had to guide Cassie verbally; fortunately, she also learned basic climbing with him.
On the way down, he had no choice but to rely mainly on his hands to descend carefully. Surprisingly, his companion didn't have much trouble getting down; apparently, he was the one who couldn't keep up.
Soon, their feet finally touched the ground.
Now, even if his plan ended in failure, at least he was going to fall doing something he had decided to do.
Trying and failing was better than not trying at all.
Once on the ground, Sunny prepared himself for a conversation he believed would be somewhat awkward.
"Cassie, I'm going to need you to give me my armor back."
To his relief, she seemed to be prepared to let go of her only piece of clothing and didn't argue the matter.
"...Okay, come closer..." she said.
Discarding the Memory, the armor that covered her body turned into sparks and disappeared into the air, leaving all her delicate skin completely exposed.
I looked down, respecting her privacy. I approached and we held hands to begin the transfer.
Moments later, I already had the Puppeteer's Shroud covering me.
Cassie covered herself as best she could with her hands; her face was red and her expression showed how embarrassed she was. She had no other option but to resign herself.
He felt bad seeing her like that. "Do you remember that they taught us to make clothes?" he tried to cheer her up.
"We can gather seaweed and work on making you clothes." He used the friendliest tone that could come from him.
She nodded, I saw her sigh and slowly stop covering herself with her hands. I instinctively looked away.
She came closer and clung to me; now it was his turn to be shy.
Before he could say anything, she said:
"You're going to need support to walk, aren't you?" She was still blushing, but her shyness had vanished.
"Yes." he answered instantly.
I bit my lip in anguish; the journey suddenly became really complicated.
The black mud was deep enough to slow him down, but not to the point of being afraid of it. With some practice, Sunny was soon able to limp at an acceptable speed. What's more, as long as he stuck to the shadows, his steps were light and silent, producing no mud-muffling noises.
This time he didn't hold Cassie's hand; instead, she held him, she was his support for his injured side.
The shadow went ahead of him, finding no obstacles. Sometimes it would climb high to explore the direction of different paths, which allowed Sunny to choose the optimal route most of the time. However, he still had to backtrack once or twice a considerable distance, ending up in a dead end or on a path that went in the wrong direction.
Despite that, everything seemed to be going well.
Because things were going so well, he let his guard down a little; even though his progress wasn't the fastest, they had already crossed a good patch of land. He turned toward Cassie to appreciate her a little.
That's why, when the mud in front of him began to move, he was a fraction of a second late to react.
In the next moment, a huge claw shot out of the ground and cut through the air, threatening to cut them in half.
'Shit!'
This was the only thought in Sunny's head as he pushed Cassie and at the same time threw himself backward.
He fell clumsily backward, allowing the claw to snap shut right in front of his face with a loud 'clack.' The jagged, chitinous blades were so close that he could clearly see chunks of mud stuck to their surface.
Sunny landed on his back, narrowly avoiding the unexpected blow. The good thing was that he managed to avoid being injured or even killed. The bad thing was that he was lying on the ground, unable to quickly create distance between himself and the attacker, and to top it all off, Cassie was in the middle of all this.
He heard Cassie's voice scream, but he couldn't concentrate on what she said.
The huge claw was still hovering over him.
Just as Sunny realized this, he desperately rolled to the side. The next moment, the claw lunged downward, causing small tremors in the mud. If it weren't for his quick reaction, Sunny's chest would have been crushed by that blow.
Using the small window of time, he shouted:
"Cassie, get away now!"
He was starting to get up when the claw slid to the side. Fortunately, Sunny was ready: instead of trying to dodge or block the attack, he went with it, letting the claw collide with his outstretched hands and cushioning the blow.
His arms screamed in pain, he tried to resist, but his legs gave way and he was sent flying.
"Damn it."
He tried to cushion his fall, but by not being able to properly deflect the force of the blow, he lost control.
He flew a couple of meters and crashed into some corals, going through them.
Pieces of coral were stuck in his face; fortunately, his armor protected him from the wounds but not from the pain.
He lost his breath, taking gasps of air trying to recover it.
Sunny tried to get up, or at least be able to see where that damned giant crab was.
He looked up, trying to assess the situation.
He had flown a few meters.
His splint came undone and its materials were scattered. Cassie's golden rope was fortunately nearby, he grabbed it quickly.
He dismissed and re-summoned the light Memory in his hands. Even though it had no real use in combat, it was still a Memory of a level to be taken into account, therefore, it wouldn't break easily; at least he could deliver a powerful blow if he got the chance.
The attacker had finally shown itself. It burrowed out from under the mud, casting a vast shadow. Its tiny eyes were filled with rage, hunger, and malice.
It was one of the pincer monsters he had spent so much time observing. As it rose over him to almost three meters tall, the bulky creature moved its mandibles and produced a jarring, high-pitched screech.
"Why don't you devour the giant corpse with the rest of your friends, you crab bastard?!"
However, the answer to Sunny's indignant plea was quite obvious. The monster seemed to be in pretty bad shape: half of its eight scythe-shaped legs were broken and there were cracks in its thick shell, each oozing with viscous blue blood. In addition, it was missing one of its two pincer arms, which seemed to have been torn off completely at the shoulder.
If it weren't for this pathetic state, the creature would have had no need to hide in the mud, hoping to catch easy prey. It could have followed the other monsters and joined the feast. Sunny was unlucky to run straight into its ambush.
But reflecting on his luck could wait for later — right now, Sunny had something much more pressing to do. That is, try to survive.
"Get back here!" he ordered the shadow and jumped to the side.
Analyzing his surroundings, he noticed a long, smooth, and sharp bone left by an unknown creature that was sticking to the buried mud a few meters away; that would be his weapon.
He had to manipulate the fight to have a chance to get close to his ace in the hole.
took one last look around, his companion was a few meters to his right, he saw her trembling.
shook off the worry he felt for her; first he had to deal with that damned thing.
The abomination shot forward at a speed Sunny didn't anticipate.
Even so, he had a plan.
The creature charged at him; he gritted his teeth, enduring the pain in his leg.
The creature launched its claw at him like a guillotine towards his head.
He evaded the lethal attack by charging against it, using the Ascended staff to deliver a powerful blow where he thought its brain was.
The blow managed to stun the creature long enough.
He managed to climb on top of it in just a couple of seconds.
The giant crab recovered and instinctively began to thrash to get the invader off it.
Sunny was expecting this.
Using Cassie's golden rope, he made a quick knot over the crustacean's eyes, brought them together, and pulled them.
Making it shoot forward.
"Whoah!" Sunny yelled from the speed and lack of stability.
When he managed to stabilize his center of gravity, he pulled the rope and directed the creature toward a dense wall of corals.
Before crashing at full speed, he jumped off it and rolled on the ground.
The fall was not graceful; it hurt him considerably, but he would complain later. For now, he just had to grit his teeth and keep going.
Fortunately, he fell where he wanted.
He bent down and grabbed the bone, pulling it out with a strong tug.
The bone was almost a meter and a half long and ended in a narrow, sharp point. It was almost like a spear. The problem was that, even with the added length of this improvised spear, Sunny's attack range was still shorter than the monster's. He also doubted it would be able to pierce the hard shell.
Using the bone as support, he leaned on it, he would take the moment to recover even if it was just a little.
His rest lasted less than he thought. The now furious crab charged again with more force.
Sunny smiled, his plan had worked.
The crustacean had a large crack in its head, blue blood could be seen dripping from its head to the ground and what he swore was its flesh.
His shadow wrapped around the bone; Sunny prepared for the exchange, he would try to end this in a single blow.
If he failed, there would be a lot of problems; he could only make one move due to the state of his body, but it was more than enough.
Standing, he waited, staring at it as it approached at full speed.
Luckily for his plan, the creature's intelligence played an important role; it repeated the same attack it made at the beginning, exactly the same.
The creature launched its pincer, straight towards him.
And in turn, he also charged in the same way. Why would he change strategy if doing the same thing would work?
The difference was that he had his now powerful bone weapon.
He jumped and delivered a slash from behind his head, landing the lethal blow squarely on its exposed skull.
The speed at which the crab was going was key to this, since due to the impact, the bone ended up digging even deeper into its brain.
Sunny fell to the ground, landing on his back. He groaned and breathed hoarsely and painfully.
The creature convulsed before yielding to the embrace of death.
Sunny groaned and breathed hoarsely and painfully.
[You have killed an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
[You have received a Memory: Azure Blade.]
[... Your shadow grows stronger.]