The world was soaked in blood.
Armor and weapons, long stained red, had lost their sting, though a faint meaning still clung to them.
It meant the work had been done properly.
Eric felt the toll of sleepless days in every sluggish, dulled motion.
His body begged for rest. But the place was hostile.
Nothing looked safe to eat. The song echoed in his ears, patient and ever-present.
Falling under its spell even once had been a bleeding wound to his pride.
That would never happen again.
'We're close.'
He noted it mentally as he waited for the Echo to finish lifting the platform to the top of the plateau. Beside him, Shelly rested in a seated position, now properly clad in bluish armor made of fish scales.
Killing so many monsters had brought rewards: new equipment now reinforced the group's arsenal. On his chest, an amulet made of shark teeth was the clearest example among them.
"Get up."
Eric ordered as he noticed they were arriving. The mansion was not much farther, but there was still ground to cover.
Lowering one's guard near safety was a deadly, though common, mistake.
Shelly stood, irritated, gripping a black knife in one hand, a bone sword in the other.
"What if you just put on the helmet and sprint straight there? Is that fine? Damn it."
Shelly did not want to stay outside another minute and hoped to avoid confrontation.
"Do whatever you want," Eric replied indifferently, though it was clear he intended to eliminate the nightmare creatures in the area.
Shelly showed her displeasure in her gaze, but did not press the issue.
At the summit, a once-indistinct structure against the cliff face became clear: tombs of colored stone lined up before a maritime dragon statuette.
Below, runes carved into the earth read:
"Glorious Master of Hues, inspire your daughter's hand, Banish gray from heart and land, where art and grace still stand."
His expression grew grave as he read the words left behind by a distant people.
So many fools had devoted their lives to gods and saviors, believing they could rely on the strength of others.
All of them perished just the same, dragged down alongside their protectors.
The true, unforgivable crime of the weak was faith.
Leaving the cemetery behind, the two walked through the plateau's low vegetation for several minutes, passing the ruins of smaller yet equally colorful dwellings.
The surrounding stench nauseated sensitive noses, heavy with rot beyond putrefying flesh.
Disgust was joined by a sick urge to get closer and taste it, tightening something deep in his chest.
Creatures lunged from the darkness, but there were too few to pose a serious threat.
Reptilian beasts with many heads fell to his hammer; Shelly dealt with the remains, more confident thanks to her new protection.
Neither of them spoke, even after hours of travel. Eric valued only her Echo; Shelly saw only his power and what it could grant her.
At the end of their journey stood a colossal mansion, built from polished maritime stone and shimmering pearlescent material, the only haven for sleepers in that cursed land.
The mansion stretched amid abandoned gardens, connected by paths where servants once strolled for respite.
Statues, fountains, and massive gates stood there, each a work of art in its own right. Everything there bore the mark of a praiseworthy artisan.
They all shared a single trait: ornamented with topazes.
This display stirred a measure of respect in Eric for whoever they had been.
At last… they've arrived.
He dismissed the hammer to his Soul Sea, closed the gates behind them, and turned toward the entrance.
***
"Now then…"
Inside a thermal bathing chamber, Giovanni sat on the freshly cleaned floor, a rock in his hands.
His stock of Soul Fragments had grown far beyond what it had been when he first stepped into the Dream Realm. Enough that he felt the familiar itch to push his limits again.
Creating anything organic through transmutation was still absurdly expensive. Not impossible, just punishing. And among the things he wanted to create, one of the highest priorities was…
"I–Impossible!"
The girl's eyes shone at the miracle of creation. Giovanni sweated, afraid he'd collapse mid-transmutation, but the task was complete.
A bar of soap.
The two stared at the item in silence, as if it were a legendary material.
Against all expectations, it had worked.
Sofia clasped her hands together, biting back a laugh.
In the waking world, it would have been forgettable. Here, it might as well have been a relic.
Giovanni wanted to celebrate too, but collapsed from exhaustion after several failed attempts.
Sofia had to give her private lessons, explaining exactly what that modern marvel was made of and how it actually functioned.
"There have to be people who would kill to have this stuff in the Dream Realm, Gigi. Can you imagine making toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, and clothes? We'd be rich."
He couldn't argue with that.
It would not be difficult to trade edible and essential items he created in the future for Soul Shards or useful equipment.
"Great idea, Sofi…" he murmured from the floor.
"Do you… Think you can handle one more little thing? Maybe a sponge?" she asked innocently.
Giovanni felt his blood run cold, fearing for his life.
"You'd drain me dry… so no."
With his eyes closed, his seismic sense, now extending nearly six hundred meters, detected two familiar silhouettes approaching the mansion.
They finally showed up! His frail body rose with renewed strength.
"Eric and Shelly are coming! We have to welcome them!"
He was already at the chamber's door when Sofia tugged nervously at his sleeve.
"C–Can you introduce me to them? For… convenience, of course."
"Relax… they're not that bad."
***
The pair of friends waited patiently at the entrance for the rest of the team, murmuring the occasional comment to one another.
The great doors opened, revealing a towering young man who intimidated with a mere glance and a thin, exhausted woman who looked like a feral beast.
Sofia camouflaged herself behind Giovanni, pretending she was not there.
"It's good to see you made it safely. Welcome to our base of operations!" the boy opened his arms, presenting the place, now completely free of blood and debris from recent battles.
"This place… is really big." Shelly tried to keep her swagger. But she could not hide her pleasure at realizing she would have an entire mansion to herself.
Eric ignored the welcome and walked to the nearest wall, leaning against it in silence.
"Alright, now's a good time to introduce everyone. First, this is Sofia, my best friend from the academy. That's Shelly, our super-fast and very reliable assassin, and that's Eric, the team's giant and very friendly guy."
Sofia raised her hand, giving the two a thumbs-up.
"Is she stupid? Why is she hiding?" Shelly's sharp words were the trigger that the other girl had feared.
"To spare my eyes from having to look at your malnourished face." Sofia's voice had taken on an acidic edge, laced with disdain.
Giovanni went pale, ready to intervene in a potential fight. Shelly's expression turned hostile as she tightened her grip on the knife's hilt.
"Say that to my face again, bitch." Shelly stepped forward, a dangerous smile on her lips.
Sofia stepped out from behind her friend, looking at the other girl with contempt.
"Ask nicely and I will, mutt."
Giovanni knew where this was headed.
Shelly's aggression would only feed Sofia's flaw.
Deciding to intervene before it escalated further, he pulled Sofia back and covered her mouth with his hand, laughing nervously.
"Alright! Alright! No friendly fire." Sofia struggled in his grip, trying to say something that, for the sake of their coexistence, should not leave her mouth. Her face turned red, her head practically a chimney.
"Tell her that, damn it! I'm not taking insults from an ungrateful nerd." Shelly stopped advancing, but, being insulted by the girl, she had lent her precious weapon to hit a nerve.
Off to the side, Eric appeared to be meditating, ignoring the commotion.
"She doesn't mean to say those things! It's her flaw! Just… please try to be gentler when talking to her?" It was hard to imagine the other girl without her filthy, rude mouth, but it was the only way to avoid further trouble.
When Shelly heard about the flaw, her expression wavered between anger and confusion, unsure whether to believe it.
"But… whatever. Screw this, I'm going to rest." Shelly sighed irritably and walked past them, heading for the first room with a soft bed.
When the grumpy girl disappeared, Giovanni released Sofia, who was gasping for air.
"What a disaster…" she said, deflated by the failed first interaction. The boy patted her back a few times and turned to the giant.
"After you rest, stop by the kitchen, okay? We managed to kill some lizards in here, and I think they're edible."
Eric opened his eyes at the mention of food.
"Understood. Your ability to analyze the function of things is accurate, correct?" The mention of her powers revived some of Sofia's spirit.
"Exactly! You won't find anyone better than me here!" She puffed out her chest confidently.
"I will requisition your assistance later, with some new memories," he concluded, satisfied.
Sofia first offered her hand for a handshake, changed her mind midway into a thumbs-up, then ended up bowing before running off, wanting to bury her head in some hole.
The two watched it side by side, in an uncomfortable silence.
***
Later, after tempers had cooled, the four sleepers gathered in the mansion's meeting room. A map covered the table, representing the region where the group was trapped.
Most of it was empty, marked only by simple drawings representing the local biome, based on Sofia's observations over the days.
Giovanni and Sofia sat side by side, while Eric sat alone on the opposite end.
Shelly chose to observe from afar, leaning against the entrance.
"Now that we're all together, it's a good time to explain one of my abilities in more detail. It can help us escape this terrible place." The gentle boy's words drew all eyes to him.
None of them had reason to doubt him, so they waited silently for him to continue.
"I can see a light when I close my eyes. It serves as a guide for me, in a way. In deadly situations or when I'm lost, it's usually what I rely on."
"A strange ability," Eric said, his tone stripped of dismissal, edged instead with intrigue. "You assume it could show us the path to enter the floating castle?"
Giovanni hesitated, considering his past experiences. Taken literally, yes, but he doubted it was that straightforward.
"I believe it will guide us to where we need to be, at the right moment. This place is far too large to explore and twice as dangerous. We need to focus our efforts on what is most likely to succeed."
Shelly, who had been carving the wall with her knife to relieve boredom, commented casually, "And where exactly is your light pointing right now? Because if we're going into one of those infested ruins, I'm out."
Sofia pointed to the top of the map, where the castle's north should be.
Drawings of massive waterfalls marked the parchment, representing that area's biome. "We're pretty sure it's here, so when we get close, we'd just need to look for something meaningful in the area."
Shelly still did not look convinced, though she seemed less inclined to abandon the plan outright. "Crossing the crater would still be hard. Are we going around the cliff again?"
None of them wanted to repeat the days of fighting to the brink of death, but crossing on foot would only recreate the problem they had with the ivory trees on a much larger scale.
"There are other fissures along the crater's walls besides the one we came through. If we tried to go over the top, the path would end abruptly, and we'd have to descend anyway." Eric pointed out the flaw in the idea.
Giovanni had entertained the same idea. The realization that it would not work left him deeply disappointed.
Eric tapped his finger against the table again, thoughtful. "I assume both of you already have an idea."
"More or less. What I'd suggest is that we use this time to prepare for our expedition to the waterfalls."
Sofia nervously marked points near the plateau where the mansion stood.
"Giovanni and I thought about launching attacks on areas populated by groups of nightmare creatures to accumulate Soul Shards… new weapons, Echoes! All while collecting whatever we can from edible creatures. Gigi can create salt, so preserving them wouldn't be difficult."
She then pointed at the giant.
"I was also told you have a helmet that makes people invisible, right? If Giovanni used that in combination with his Aspect, he could go out alone to explore, mapping a safe route… or something close to it, ahead of time."
"Then, once the route was set, we'd depart stronger than ever and with supplies for several days." She finished with an eager smile.
It would also be a golden opportunity to hone new abilities. Giovanni urgently sought to refine his air transmutation for use in combat.
"Decent. But the melody remains a problem for the two of us," Eric said, looking at Giovanni, his gaze extending to Sofia as well.
The giant had not failed to notice the suspicious detail that the girl had also stayed awake.
"How did you resist the song? Giovanni claimed it was the effect of one of his attributes; is that the case for you as well?"
Since the two could mysteriously share memories and were now the only ones unaffected by the ancient terror… something was clearly going on.
Sofia swallowed hard, struggling to control her nerves. She doubted she could deceive a Legacy.
Giovanni also remained silent.
"My helmet, which you mentioned, is part of my Aspect Legacy. I am willing to share it if necessary, but I also demand clarity."
Shelly stopped playing with the wall and grew more serious. Both of their faces were exhausted, days without sleep.
If they treated the song like other curses or poisons, the more time might pass, the stronger and harder to resist it would become.
Falling asleep a second time could mean the last.
At the same time...
There was a reason Giovanni had kept the true nature of his innate ability hidden until now.
He feared it as well.
Omar's words had left an irreparable mark.
No one would ever wish to become a slave.
The boy himself did not know the limits or the dangers to which those connected to him would be exposed, and so, offering that bond to others in their moment of greatest need felt tainted.
Even though it had saved Sofia, he still found himself constantly dwelling on the decision he had made before entering the Dream Realm.
There was still time; they could find a cure soon after the two became vassals, and everything would have been for nothing.
Giovanni took a deep breath, feeling the weight of their expectations and suspicion. Dodging the issue would only lead to tragedy.
He needed to find a solution to save everyone.
Gathering his resolve, he opened his mouth.
And made an offer.