The giant feline stalked through dry grass. Its teeth were incredibly sharp, seemingly possessing the ability to cut through even the toughest armour. There were two fangs that were especially prominent. Their size was monstrous, nearly reaching half a metre. The hide of the beast was dazzling and looked incredibly soft to touch. Of course, for most people, even the mere act of approaching this monstrosity could be considered suicide.
And this beast was being trailed by Jay and his cohort.
The sun was bright, and the temperature was north of 35°C, and so, Jay's entire body was drenched with sweat.
They had been stalking this particular creature for almost a week without breaks, so his mood was foul.
Hot, sweaty and ill-tempered. Not a fantastic combination by any means.
And to make things worse, Luna, one of his comrades-in-arms, was not very quiet. She was chattering about all sorts of nonsense the whole time. How she was able to maintain her energy to keep yapping was a mystery to Jay. It was a miracle that they hadn't been noticed by the fearsome abomination.
Luna's eyes were dark blue and her skin was incredibly pale, which was a rarity for this island. Her figure was incredible and she was, well endowed, to say the least. if you ignored how her personality, should've been one of the beautiful, aloof ice-queen types. However, in complete contrast to her name and appearance, she was a bubbly, slightly annoying girl.
As far as Jay could tell, her Aspect was something related to the moon and fire. An unusual combination, but interesting.
There was another member of the cohort. A dark-skinned boy with eyes of pure amber. His name was Siavash, and he was inhumanely fit. He was by far the strongest in the cohort. His aspect seemed to have something to do with bravery and intelligence? He was probably awakened, not that the people of this period understood concepts like Ranks and Classes. Or perhaps they did, and it was just the people on this floating island that didn't?
As Jay was thinking, the beast finally reached its destination. A giant cave. Its resting place during the night. This cave was situated on the side opposite to where the city was on the island. The island has two sides: a side for humans and a side for Nightmare Creatures. The side that Nightmare Creatures occupied was vastly smaller than the one occupied by humans. There were many different kinds of Nightmare Creatures, with new ones continuously appearing, which shouldn't be possible, since there usually weren't any of the same kind to reproduce with. There also wasn't any connection with the world down below. Jay had once asked Siavash where the new kinds of Nightmare Creatures came from, but he didn't receive any real answer.
During this week-ish period that the cohort had been stalking this creature, they had killed various dormant creatures and even an Awakened Beast once.
Jay had actually been the one to land the killing blow on the Awakened Beast. He had even been rewarded by the Spell with a memory.
Memory: [The Regret of The Weak]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Tier: I
Memory Type: Weapon
Memory Description: [As terror descended in the form of the strong, the weak were tortured, massacred and their corpses were piled high upon the land. As the weak perished, they all recalled moments in their lives where they wished they could've done better. They prayed that the strong would receive retribution for their sins. And so, blades were forged of their regret. Yet, none of the strong fell, for the regret of the weak is naught but a whisper.]
Enchantments: [Regretful Memories]
[Regretful Memories] Description: [The blade despises those that caused regret for those it was forged from.]
It was essentially saying that it would hit harder against whatever caused the people who it was forged from regret. How useful. It can hit harder against beings from thousands of years ago. So it basically had no enchantments. Regardless, it was an Awakened memory, so Jay was using it. The weapon itself was a dagger, about half a metre in length, and was deadly sharp.
Siavash gave a carefree grin and spoke.
"Today's the day, yeah? We're going to get the brute?"
Luna nodded.
"Absolutely. Jay, are you ready?"
She was asking him since he passed of his memory as a weapon with an enchant that allowed it to be summoned back to him. The plan here was to throw it at a nearby rotting, near-dead tree and lure the creature out. Once the creature was out and gazing at the tree, the cohort was going to jump it, with Siavash as the attacker, and Luna and Jay occasionally supporting him.
Jay threw the dagger in response. A loud, cracking noise spread around the field as almost half the tree just fell off. All of them were hiding inside the tall grass, with Silvash the closest to the tree and Luna the furthest.
Jay tensed himself in anticipation of the creature. He estimated that the creature was probably an Awakened Monster, and he was hoping for an echo of it. After all, who doesn't want a large, huggable cat? Even if the cat was the nightmare-equivalent to a saber-toothed tiger.
The beast slowly walked out its cave and started approaching the cave. It's footsteps were so quiet, if he weren't there watching, Jay would've sworn it wasn't even walking.
Halfway to the tree, it stopped. And with a sudden burst of speed, it jumped at Jay, who was the closest to it at that moment.
Jay blinked in shock for a split second, before immediately trying to get away.
The beast's claws landed a metre away from his head, exactly where he had previously been.
Jay's head was spinning with confusion. Did the creature know that they were trying to trap it? Did it know they were stalking it for the past few days?
All those thoughts vanished the moment he saw the creature's teeth up close. He summoned the Regret of the Weak and just slashed mindlessly as he tried scramble away. The beast growled as it retreated slightly when the blade nicked it's neck a little.
By the time, Jay had gotten on his feet, Silvash and Luna had gotten closer to the beast. With the three of them, they formed a circle, trapping the beast and ensuring it couldn't escape.
However, Jay couldn't shake the feeling off. Was this creature a Demon or a Devil? It was probably problem he was expected to resolve in this Nightmare.
And he wasn't feeling all that confident since he had felt it's power first hand when it's paw slamming into the ground sent actual vibrations through the earth, rattling his head.
Still, he had to kill it, didn't he?