Forty-Two
Sunny slumped on the ground, summoned the Endless Spring, and greedily drank some water. Since his injuries were light... well, at least compared to those received by the Fire Keepers... it was some time before the healer got to them. But, eventually, it was his turn to receive treatment.
The healer — a young man named Shim — was pale and exhausted, his soul essence clearly almost entirely depleted. Still, he managed to repair the ligament Sunny had torn while dodging the vines to a large extent. It hurt like hell, though.
Of course, this healing Ability couldn't compare to Neph's purifying white flames. But then, it was hard for anyone to compare to Neph. Sunny knew it better than anyone.
With a dark expression, he summoned the runes and glanced at the painfully familiar string of them:
Shadow Fragments: [1958/2000].
He was only forty-two fragments away from evolving into a demon. This transformation was not only going to allow him to reinforce his body and reserves of shadow essence even further, but also reward Sunny with a third shadow. Having another invaluable helper would increase his power tremendously, making him capable of stacking three augmentations on top of each other, or spreading them over between his body, his Memories, and Saint.
He was almost to two thousand fragments.
To accumulate so many in only seven months… that was an achievement worth celebrating. Very few Awakened ever fully saturated their cores, and those who did usually spent long years slowly collecting soul shards of the Nightmare Creatures they killed. Decades, even... and that was for only one core. Sunny could be proud of himself.
And yet, he didn't feel happy.
Looking lower, he concentrated on another, much shorter cluster of runes.
Master: Changing Star.
As soon as he did, new runes ignited in the air.
…Rank: Dreamer.
Class: Devil.
Soul Cores: [4/7].
Soul Fragments: [399/4000].
Seven months ago, the gap between them had nearly reached five thousand fragments. Today, it was much smaller… but that was only thanks to the Noctis coins he had sacrificed to the altar. The truth of the matter was that Sunny had been slowly shortening the gap for a long time, but now, it had started growing once more.
Not too long ago, something had happened to Neph in the Dream Realm, and as the result, the speed with which she gained soul fragments began increasing with each day. Sunny didn't know what Changing Star was doing, why she had suddenly become so much stronger, and even how she was still alive… but he knew that he was being slowly left in the dust once again.
Dismissing the runes, he gritted his teeth and looked darkly at the desolate, hellish landscape of the Shipwreck Island.
'I have to get to that Seed… that is the only way…'
Compared to all other Awakened and their rate of growth, Sunny might have been a monster. But Neph… Neph was not even human. She was the devil himself. He didn't know what else to do to surpass her.
To become stronger.
…His heavy thoughts were interrupted by the light sound of approaching steps. Looking up, Sunny saw Cassie walking over to him.
'Great. Just what I need…'
She stopped a couple of steps away and lowered her head slightly.
"Are you alright?"
Sunny grimaced, then looked away.
'What do you care?'
"I'll live."
He scowled, and then added in a slightly acrid tone:
"Your information was wrong, by the way. That thing was not weak to fire."
She tilted her head slightly.
"How did you kill it then?"
Sunny smiled crookedly.
"...With a piece of wood."
Cassie remained silent for a while, prompting him to speak:
"So… now what?"
She sighed and turned toward the distant wreck:
"All of us are tired and wounded, and there is a Crushing approaching. We will return to the Sanctuary to rest and regroup, and then come back to establish two camps — one here, and another one on a neighboring island. Then, we will start repairing the ship."
He nodded.
"Good plan, I guess. Do you really think that you can make that thing fly again, though?"
The blind girl hesitated. Eventually, she said without too much emotion:
"We have to try, at least."
Sunny studied the silhouette of the ancient ship, its hull full of breaches, its bow shattered and broken, the tree growing around its mast dead and resembling a black, twisted skeleton. Then, he shook his head.
"How long do you think it will take you?"
Cassie hesitated.
"Two, maybe three months. We will be done before autumn is over, if that is what you want to know."
He chuckled.
"You remember our deal, then. Good."
She frowned.
"Of course, I remember."
Sunny looked at the ground, then asked her coldly:
"When are we leaving for the Night Temple, then?"
Cassie lingered for a few moments, a troubled expression suddenly finding its way onto her face. Finally, she said:
"When do you want to go?"
Sunny thought about it. There were several things he still needed to do…
After a while, he shrugged.
"End of September. Everything should be ready by then. The journey to the northern edge of the Chained Isles and back shouldn't take us longer than a month. We'll be back just in time to see your flying ship rise into the air. And use it to reach the Nightmare Seed."
He lingered for a second, and then asked:
"Why do you look so uneasy, though?"
Cassie slowly shook her head.
"It's nothing. Just, the Night Temple… it's a very strange place."
Sunny frowned.
'What is that supposed to mean?'
"How so?"
She shivered.
"I'll… explain it to you later. Right now, we need to move. This island is about to enter the ascent phase."
Which meant that the Crushing was not too far ahead, as well.
Sunny sighed, then stood up. He didn't have to limp anymore, at least.
As for why Cassie had said that the second human Citadel on the Chained Isles was a weird place… he could wait for the answer. He had no need for this information right now, anyway.
Sunny was a very patient man, at least when he needed to be. Besides, he had something else on his mind.
'Forty-two shadow fragments… it's not that much."
Looking south and slightly to the east, he gripped the shaft of the Cruel Sight and stared toward the horizon with a dark expression.
'...I'll be a demon before we're back to the Sanctuary.'
