Caspian stood in the middle of the battlefield, staring at the corpses.
For a few seconds, he simply looked around with a disoriented expression. The crimson labyrinth stretched around him in crooked towers and jagged coral formations, silent except for the faint dripping of azure blood into the mud.
His Moonlight Crown Armor shimmered softly.
The lighter combat garment Velpam had formed slowly melted back into its previous shape. Plates of pale silver grew across his chest and shoulders, the elegant armor reassembling itself piece by piece until it was once again the protective shell he had grown used to.
Three Carapace Scavengers lay dead.
One without arms and head.
Two with perfectly pierced skulls.
The wounds were… precise.
Too precise.
Caspian rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
After witnessing everything Velpam had done with his own body, there were many things he wanted to say.
Questions.
Accusations.
Complaints.
But the first words that left his mouth were—
"You made us waste a lot of transcendent blood!"
Velpam's laughter immediately echoed inside his mind.
"Well" the shadow said lazily "if you hadn't been so quick to retake control, maybe I could have saved the blood in the Blood Pond in time."
Caspian frowned.
He didn't answer immediately.
Velpam waited a moment.
Then spoke again, his voice playful but curious.
"Well, murderer… what do you think?"
Caspian raised an eyebrow.
"About what?"
"Oh come on" Velpam said with exaggerated disappointment. "Don't tell me that didn't feel good."
Silence.
"Getting stronger" Velpam continued. "Doing absolutely nothing."
"Maybe you should let me take control more often."
Caspian didn't answer.
Instead, he summoned his runes.
They appeared before his eyes.
---
[Moonlight Fragments: 187]
---
Before giving control to Velpam…
He had 181.
Six fragments.
Just like that.
Just from those three kills in under two minutes.
Caspian stared at the number quietly.
Then dismissed the runes.
"I'll think about it."
Velpam chuckled.
"Oh, I'm sure you will."
A moment later, he heard movement behind the coral pillars.
Alice appeared first.
Her army followed closely behind.
The rabbit scouts jumped down from higher coral structures while the feline spearmen moved cautiously through the narrow path.
Alice stepped forward.
"Have you finished? We have to keep mov—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at the bodies.
The girl walked toward the nearest corpse slowly.
She examined the decapitated scavenger first.
Then the two others.
Her expression grew more confused with each step.
"What is this?" she muttered.
She nudged the headless scavenger with her foot.
Its arms were gone.
Its head lay several meters away.
The cuts were perfectly clean.
She tilted her head.
"Some kind of ritual kill?"
Caspian coughed awkwardly.
Alice turned toward him.
"How did you do it?"
She pointed toward the corpses.
Kicked one of the crab legs sliced in half.
"I haven't seen you use any weapons before."
Caspian hesitated.
Then shrugged.
"Oh… I was trying new things."
Alice narrowed her eyes.
"New things?"
"I can make weapons from blood."
Her eyebrows shot up.
"Oh!"
"That's cool."
Then she blinked.
"Wait… why haven't you used that before?"
Caspian scratched his cheek.
"I wanted to test my other abilities first."
Alice stared at him for a moment.
Then sighed.
"You're weird."
She turned away and started collecting the Soul Shards from the fallen scavengers.
Caspian laughted a bit.
"Alice in wonderland is going to talk about being weird haha."
"Anyway" she said "we have to keep moving."
She looked at the sky.
The gray light was already dimming.
"It's getting late."
Soon they resumed their march.
The Stargaze continued guiding them through the coral labyrinth.
The terrain slowly grew more uneven.
The coral structures became larger, taller, more chaotic.
After about an hour of travel, the compass arrow shifted again.
Caspian stopped.
In front of them rose another coral formation.
Not nearly as safe as the tower they had slept in the previous night.
But still large enough to provide some protection.
A broad natural platform sat near the top, reachable through a winding path carved between coral ridges.
They climbed it carefully.
From the top, they could see the labyrinth stretching endlessly in every direction.
Night was coming quickly.
Dark water already shimmered faintly in the distance.
This place would have to do.
Unfortunately—
They couldn't risk lighting a fire here.
The platform was too exposed.
So they ate cold crab meat in silence.
Alice eventually crawled into her sleeping bag again, clearly exhausted from controlling her army all day.
Her soldiers spread around the platform.
Within minutes, Alice was asleep.
Caspian remained awake.
The sky darkened completely.
Then—
He closed his eyes.
But instead of sleeping…
His consciousness slipped inward.
Into his Soul Sea.
The familiar world of moons appeared.
The Silver Moon glowed softly above the quiet ocean.
The Crimson Moon floated in the reflection.
Velpam stood beneath it, arms crossed.
He looked almost pleased.
Caspian didn't waste time.
"How did you fight like that?"
Velpam raised an eyebrow.
"That's your first question?"
"Yes."
Velpam shrugged.
"Fair enough."
He sat down casually on the dark water.
"First" he said "forget everything you think you know about fighting."
Caspian frowned but listened.
"You already know some of the things I'm about to say" Velpam continued "but hear me well."
He raised one finger.
"Mastery of combat can be divided into two aspects."
"Body."
"And mind."
He tapped the surface of the water.
"Training the body is not easy."
"But it's simple."
"All it requires is repetition and experience."
Velpam stood and walked slowly around Caspian.
"In a fight, things happen too fast to think about every detail."
"So your technique must exist in your muscles."
"In your bones."
"In your instincts."
"So deeply ingrained that your body moves before your mind even understands the situation."
He raised another finger.
"You can achieve initial results through repetition."
"Training."
"Drills."
"But eventually…"
"Only experience matters."
His crimson eyes darkened slightly.
"A thousand hours of training will never equal one real battle."
Caspian listened silently.
"Only those who survive countless battles truly gain command over their body."
Velpam stopped walking.
"Training the mind" he continued "is much harder."
"Because once you reach a certain level of skill…"
"The fight no longer happens in your muscles."
"It happens here."
He tapped Caspian's forehead.
"The outcome is often decided before the body even begins to move."
Caspian nodded slowly.
"And to master the mind" Velpam said "you must first understand the essence of combat."
He smiled slightly.
"Very few people actually do."
Velpam studied him carefully.
"Everything I just said until now…"
"Any respectable fighter could repeat word for word."
He spread his arms.
"But now let me ask you something."
He leaned closer.
"What is the essence of combat?"
Caspian frowned.
Velpam continued smiling.
"Here's a hint."
"You already know the answer."
Silence filled the Soul Sea.
Caspian thought.
Several answers came to mind.
Victory.
Defeating your enemy.
Survival.
But none of them felt right.
Velpam wouldn't ask something that obvious.
Then—
A word echoed in his memory.
The same word Velpam had used again and again.
"Murderer."
"Murderer."
"Murderer."
Caspian slowly looked up.
"The essence of combat…"
He hesitated.
"…is murder?"
Velpam's grin widened instantly.
"Bingo!"
He clapped his hands loudly.
"As expected of you, murderer."
"I knew you'd get it."
He leaned closer.
"Murder."
"That's all combat is."
He walked slowly across the dark water.
"A battle can be reduced to one simple truth."
"You want to kill your enemy."
"Your enemy wants to kill you."
Velpam shrugged.
"All winners are murderers."
His smile grew darker.
"Isn't that wonderful?"
Caspian said nothing.
"Nothing else matters" Velpam continued.
"Only being the murderer."
"The one still standing at the end."
He tapped Caspian's chest this time.
"Every action in combat has only two purposes."
"Kill your enemy."
"Or prevent your enemy from killing you."
Velpam spread his arms again.
"That clarity is what allows the mind to master combat."
He counted with his fingers.
"Repetition."
"Experience."
"Clarity."
He smiled softly.
"That's the path."
"The path, of murder."
Silence returned.
Caspian remained standing in the quiet ocean of his Soul Sea.
He thought about everything that had happened since being infected by the nightmare spell.
The Citadels.
Verdam and the tyrant.
The endless coral labyrinth.
The scavengers.
Alice and her missing arms.
Velpam's words echoed quietly in his mind.
Was he right?
Was everything truly that simple?
Was combat really just murder?
Caspian wasn't sure.
But he knew one thing.
He had already killed many creatures.
And he would have to kill many more.
Caspian felt the pull of sleep.
His consciousness slowly faded from the Soul Sea.
Velpam's voice followed him as he left.
"Sleep well, murderer."
"Tomorrow…"
"Your lessons continue."
Caspian returned to the real world.
The coral platform was quiet.
The ocean had risen below.
Alice slept peacefully inside her sleeping bag.
The guards remained alert.
Caspian closed his eyes.
And slowly—
He fell asleep.