Immediately after Arthur heard the Spell speak to him, he felt himself somewhere else. His first sensation was that he wasn't standing on anything; he was floating… but no. A second later he realized it. He was falling from the sky!
'Shit shit shit'
Expanding his sense of aether as fast as possible, Arthur identified two things. First, there was water everywhere around him, except for a faint platform made of some strange material. His first instinct was to reinforce his body with aether, bracing for impact, and he tried to move as close as possible to the platform, making sure to fall into the water to avoid injuring himself. He didn't know if the platform would withstand an impact from this height, and neither would his bones; even reinforced, he still hadn't tested how far he could fall without breaking something.
Moments later, Arthur hugged his body and fell straight into the water to reduce the impact. It came a few seconds later. He pierced through the water without trouble and, due to the height he'd fallen from, sank several meters down. As soon as he did, he retracted his sense of aether; a strange feeling told him it wouldn't be a good idea to keep it expanded over a large distance.
The water was cold and completely dark, devoid of any kind of light. As Arthur swam toward the surface, he opened his eyes slightly and saw that the platform he had aimed to fall beside was actually a coral hill that rose at an angle close to ninety degrees toward the surface.
Once he reached the top of the coral, Arthur expanded his sense of aether again to check for threats and, fortunately, detected nothing. He summoned his armor [Phantom Armor]. It began forming from his feet: rings of metal appeared one after another, locking together with precision and covering his ankles before climbing up his legs.
The chainmail adjusted to his body with just the right weight, flexible and firm at the same time. When it reached his torso, the links closed over his chest and back, revealing its appearance: a dark, dense mesh with no adornments, designed to protect without hindering movement. Then it spread over his shoulders and down his arms, completing itself in silence, ready for combat. Honestly, it was extremely comfortable.
After that, Arthur summoned [Dawn's Ballad], just in case. Everything around him was completely dark; no matter where he looked, there was nothing to see.
At that moment, while scanning his surroundings, his instincts began screaming at him in one particular direction. He thought it was a threat he hadn't detected and expanded his sense of aether a few meters farther. Just like before, he found nothing, but he confirmed something very curious: this place had a higher density of aether.
On one hand, that was good news. In the Walking World he barely needed to eat, and if the aether density was higher here, he'd need even less. Still, Arthur had to test a few things before jumping to conclusions. For example, during his first nightmare, when he cut into the bodies of creatures, they disintegrated into particles that his body then absorbed. He didn't know whether that was an effect of the nightmare itself or of his former aspect.
'My old aspect was called [Aether Resonance], but now it changed to [Singular Existence]. It no longer has the word aether in its name… does that mean I can consume the flesh of creatures now?'
Another thing Arthur hadn't paid attention to at the time was soul shards. He didn't consume a single one during the nightmare, yet afterward his counter showed as if he had… or at least, that's what he wanted to believe.
Letting out a sigh, Arthur thought, 'Who told me to have such a strange aspect? If Gray had bothered to explain things better, I wouldn't be worrying about this now.'
He also started noticing that with the higher aether density in the environment, his head began to hurt much faster if he expanded it too much, so he reduced it to about five meters around him. That would give him time to react, though something told him that five meters wouldn't be enough if there were higher-ranked creatures around.
Looking for somewhere to sit and wait for daylight—or at least for something to happen—Arthur began thinking about where he might be. His first theory was that he was in the Storm Sea, but he didn't remember reading anything about corals there. Maybe there were; perhaps it was an unexplored area of the Storm Sea… He doubted it, but it was possible. Either way, without more information, it was impossible to draw accurate conclusions.
The only thing Arthur could do was wait for more data. In the meantime, he decided to analyze his runes and memories again.
Name: Arthur Leywin
True Name: Paragon of Purity
Rank: Dreamer
Aether Core: Dormant
Aether Fragments: [18/1000]
'I went from seventy fragments down to eighteen over these last two weeks from using Realmheart. My theory is that each hour of use equals one fragment. It doesn't seem like much, but it adds up over time. Also, if my instincts are right, the cost depends on how powerful the attribute is.'
'That's something I really need to keep in mind. I might obtain a relic that, once deciphered, I can't even use due to its consumption. That would be a problem.'
Memories: [Infinite Lash], [Phantom Armor], [Dawn's Ballad]
Name: [Infinite Lash]
Memory Rank: Dormant
Memory Type: Tool
Description: [He stretched his arms until the world lost all distance. He never reached what he sought; he only learned that there is no end. This lash knows no limits. It extends like a promise that refuses to be fulfilled, like a desire that refuses to die. As long as there is something to reach, it will keep growing. And when there isn't… it will still try.]
'Okay… why does this description sound kind of romantic?'
Name: [Phantom Armor]
Memory Rank: Dormant
Memory Type: Armor
Description: [Something existed so close that the world chose to look away. Not out of fear, but denial. This armor inherits that absence. It neither protects nor threatens: it remains. And what remains too long eventually stops being seen.]
'And now this one is just sad.'
Name: [Dawn's Ballad]
Memory Rank: Dormant
Memory Type: Weapon
Description: [Dawn's Ballad accompanied King Gray from the first dawn to the last. It was not a weapon, but a steady step at his side. When his path ended, he understood it should not be given to another. He entrusted it to himself, in another time. Because ballads do not die. They only find a new voice.]
'This was Gray's first sword…'
[0/100]
'What is that counter?'
'I knew of memories with counters, but I never thought I'd obtain one. What does it mean?'
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Realmheart], [Djinn], [Former King], [Being of Aether and Flesh], [Life]
Arthur decided to take advantage of the high aether density in the environment and meditate until something happened. Taking his position, he began cycling aether throughout his body. He also started adding variation: when expelling it, sometimes he did so in a controlled manner, while other times he aimed for greater explosiveness. Something told him this might be useful in the future. On other occasions, he also tried to control the aether outside his body.
He didn't have much luck with that. Even using Realmheart, controlling ambient aether was extremely difficult. The farther it was from his body, the harder it became. For now, he could only maintain a thin barrier around himself—and even that took effort.
While Arthur meditated, the hours passed and the sun began to rise. At first, he only paid attention to the light, but then, through his sense of aether, he noticed something else: the sea was retreating.
He stood up and approached the edge of the platform to make sure his perception wasn't failing him. He watched as the water level descended slowly at first, then faster and faster with time.
As the sun climbed higher, the sea retreated even more, until other structures began to emerge above the surface. Half an hour later, there was no evidence left that a sea had ever been there.
'So I'm definitely not in the Storm Sea.'
'And that's bad, because it means I'm in a completely unexplored region of the Dream Realm.'
From the coral platform, more than two hundred meters above the ground, the labyrinth stretched beneath Arthur's feet like an open wound.
Crimson columns rose in every direction, irregular and sharp, growing over one another without any apparent order. Between them opened paths of varying widths: some wide enough to walk through without care, others so narrow they forced you to turn sideways.
From above, the paths followed no recognizable logic. They twisted, crossed, vanished from sight only to reappear farther on, sometimes returning to the same point they seemed to have left. Some sections ended abruptly against coral walls; others sank into the structure itself, turning into dark tunnels that swallowed the light.
The labyrinth wasn't flat. It rose and fell in overlapping layers, with passages hidden beneath others, as if the place had been built over itself again and again. Trying to memorize it from that height was useless; the more Arthur observed it, the more it unraveled in his mind, as though its very design rejected understanding.
While analyzing the labyrinth, Arthur understood why his instincts had screamed at him the moment he arrived in this area. Every time he looked in a specific direction, a strange sensation ran through his body. At the time, in the darkness, he hadn't noticed it—but whenever he looked west, his attention drifted without realizing it, and he ended up staring that way.
It was the map Gray had engraved into his soul. It was guiding him west. There had to be a relic in that direction.
'My first relic!'
'What will it be? Will it let me control the aether outside my body?'
Arthur couldn't help feeling excited at the promise of gaining more power, especially as a Sleeper. But that same thought pulled him back to reality and made him realize just how dangerous this mission would be.
As a Sleeper, he was completely alone in an unexplored region. He didn't know what kinds of creatures inhabited this area, nor even if the relic was really there. Maybe it was beyond the labyrinth.
'This doesn't look good.'
The creatures could be dealt with. In fact, Arthur was already seeing movement beneath him. One of the things he'd learned was how to enhance a specific sense; for example, by focusing aether into his eyes, his vision improved significantly, allowing him to identify what kinds of creatures moved within the labyrinth.
When he did so, the details became clear even at that distance. He distinguished several creatures moving through the coral corridors. Each stood about two and a half meters tall. Their bodies were supported by multiple long, segmented legs ending in curved, sharpened extensions. They moved steadily, without haste or erratic motions.
At the front, a humanoid torso protruded, covered in thick chitinous armor. There was no visible neck; the head sat directly on the shoulders. It had two narrow eye slits and a wet-looking mouth with several mandibles constantly shifting.
Instead of hands, they had two large pincers, held partially open as they advanced. They moved through the labyrinth paths with apparent familiarity, entering and exiting passages without hesitation.
At least now Arthur knew what kind of creatures inhabited this area.
He spent some time observing their movement patterns, trying to determine whether there was any kind of hierarchy. That would've indicated the presence of a Tyrant. Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case. All the creatures appeared to be between beasts and monsters; with bad luck, maybe a demon or a devil.
When Arthur finished analyzing everything, night fell again. He decided it was a good moment to return to meditation. Tomorrow would be the time to move forward. Still, the sensation persisted: every time he looked west, his body seemed to demand that he go in that direction, as if telling him, 'Abandon everything and seek what belongs to you.'
While Arthur meditated, his thoughts began to unravel.
In a region like this, it would be logical to consider the possibility of running into another Sleeper. It wouldn't be strange; the Dream Realm doesn't discriminate when throwing people into impossible places.
But… what would be the point?
Allies are important, he knew that. In a world like this, moving alone isn't the smartest choice. Any normal Sleeper would be searching for a citadel, a civilization, any form of safety. He should be doing the same.
And yet, he wasn't.
He was in an unexplored zone, standing on a platform at the edge of a labyrinth that at night was swallowed by a dark sea, chasing a relic he didn't even know would grant him real power. He wasn't seeking refuge or stability. He was seeking power. Not because he wanted to, but because he needed to. It was the mission Gray had left him.
If he were to meet another Sleeper, would it be right to drag them down this path?
To guide them toward something they likely wouldn't even be able to use?
As far as Arthur understood, relics don't work for others. Some might not even work for him. He didn't know yet. And if this relic only responded to him, bringing someone else along would be exposing them to danger without offering anything in return. He'd be using their life as backup for his own benefit.
That went against his values.
He didn't want to advance by stepping on others or turning their survival into a tool. If someone chose this path of their own will, that would be different. But forcing it on them wouldn't be.
First, the relic.
Then, allies.
Then, a citadel.
Maybe the place he was heading toward was a citadel itself. Though that thought wasn't comforting either. An unknown citadel, with no records, could only mean two things: either there was no gateway… or there was one, but its guardian was strong enough that no one had ever returned to speak of it.
Not a reassuring thought.
But it didn't change anything.
This was the path meant for him, and him alone.
'In the end, the name of my aspect is going to be even deeper than I thought.'
That was a problem for future Arthur. For now, what mattered was how to get down without killing himself, since day had returned and that meant the sea had retreated once more.
Taking advantage of his aether-reinforced body, Arthur focused it into his arms and, with the help of Dawn's Ballad—embedding it into strategic points to pull himself along—he descended at a steady pace. It took him a few minutes to get down from the platform.
Once inside the labyrinth, Arthur turned his head west and began to walk.
One thing he had noticed before descending was that toward the west, the labyrinth only extended a few more kilometers before giving way to an empty hill, as if this section were sunken compared to the rest. In any other direction, the labyrinth continued endlessly. That reinforced his decision to head west. He also noticed a couple of platforms that remained above sea level during the night.
'If I move quickly and my calculations are right, I could be out of the labyrinth in a week.'
The first thing Arthur did when he started moving was expand his sense of aether from wall to wall. It was only a few meters, something that, even with the high aether density in the environment, didn't cause him discomfort. It didn't take long before he encountered one of the creatures he'd seen from the platform.
He detected it a few meters ahead of him. It hadn't detected him yet, so he took the opportunity to hide in a naturally formed hollow in one of the labyrinth's walls. It wasn't very large, but it was perfect for a crouched person to fit without trouble. As the creature drew closer, Arthur reduced his sense of aether to avoid detection. He still didn't know whether that depended on the creature's class or rank.
When it was close enough, Arthur confirmed everything he'd observed from above. It was much taller than him, much broader, and its presence made it clear it wasn't Dormant. It was Awakened.
'First time fighting an Awakened nightmare creature.'
Summoning Dawn's Ballad in his right hand and reinforcing his body with aether—especially his legs—Arthur waited until it turned its back to him. With a burst of speed, he swung the sword toward its joints to limit its mobility. His intention was to sever two before it reacted, but it moved the instant it felt the blade.
The first joint gave way after some resistance, and the creature lost a leg. Almost immediately, it turned around with impressive speed and swung both pincers at him. Through his sense of aether, Arthur dodged both attacks by leaping to the left and, reinforcing his legs, launched himself toward the joint of its front right leg, on the opposite side of its pincers.
Again, he felt resistance, but after reinforcing his arms, the joint gave way. Now the creature had lost two of its original eight legs. However, that only made it more dangerous. It entered a frenzy and began attacking with greater ferocity, even using the weight of its body to try to crush him.
That was when Arthur summoned [Infinite Lash] in his left hand. Just as he had done with the chimeras, he wrapped the whip around the junction where one of its pincers connected to its body, a point it couldn't cut even if it tried. He commanded the lash to shorten and, reinforcing his legs, launched himself forward, passing beneath one of the pincers. Seconds later, that would've been where his head was.
Using the creature's inertia and movement, Arthur managed to position himself on its back. As he analyzed it, he detected a weak point: a slightly sunken, discolored cavity in its armor, roughly where the eyes would be. Several plates converged there, and the chitin was noticeably thinner.
Shortening the whip once more, Arthur drove Dawn's Ballad straight into that spot. With a dry crack, the chitin shattered and the sword's tip sank deep into the scavenger's body.
The monster shuddered, then collapsed heavily to the ground.
[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
[Your Aether grows stronger.]
Arthur landed a few meters away from the corpse and immediately went on guard, expanding his sense of aether to check if any other creatures had heard the fight. Fortunately, there were none nearby. Only then did he approach the fallen scavenger. It was time to see how things worked now.
First, he checked the fragments gained.
[Aether Fragments: 22/1000]
'Huh, I went from 18 to 22? I thought it would be 20…'
Arthur approached the corpse and began cutting into the flesh, not out of necessity, but to search for the soul shard. When he opened the place where it should've been, he found nothing.
'Is that even possible?'
He kept searching, thinking it might be elsewhere, but after several minutes it became clear there wasn't one. Then he understood.
When he killed it, he absorbed the soul shard instantly. That was why he'd gained more fragments. The problem was obvious.
'If I absorb every soul shard from the creatures I kill, it'll be impossible to store them and sell them later.'
'That's bad.'
'What happens when my core gets saturated? Will I keep absorbing them, or will it stop?'
Another problem for future Arthur. Great.
After standing literally on top of the scavenger's corpse thinking about all that, Arthur resumed his march. He couldn't afford to waste time if he wanted to reach the next platform before nightfall and the sea returned.
The next platform was several kilometers away, and he didn't know how many more scavengers he'd encounter along the way. It also wasn't sensible to assume they were the only creatures in the labyrinth.
Over the days, Arthur finally reached the edge of the labyrinth. Behind him, it stretched almost endlessly. The journey to the hill marking its boundary wasn't easy, but it wasn't especially difficult either. He ran into a few more scavengers, though they were less frequent near the edge. On average, he fought about five per day during that week, always at different times. He never had to face two at once, and some were already injured.
[Aether Fragments: 162/1000]
Looking at the counter, it was still hard to believe how quickly he could obtain fragments. On one hand, it was encouraging; on the other, he remembered that every time he used Realmheart, he ended up spending them. Also, he was almost certain that attribute consumed the fewest fragments. He needed to saturate his core as soon as possible.
[Dawn's Ballad]
[35/100]
That wasn't the only thing Arthur noticed. When he checked his status more carefully, he realized that Dawn's Ballad's counter had grown as well. It wasn't slow, either—far from it. He was already at 35 out of 100. Considering the number of creatures he had killed over the week, the connection was obvious.
So that's what it tracks… kills.
He didn't know what would happen when it reached one hundred, but he was sure that's when he'd find out what that counter truly meant.
Arthur considered staying longer in the labyrinth to keep accumulating fragments, but he dismissed the idea. He wanted to reach the relic as soon as possible. He'd already spent a week there and, aside from the fragments and Dawn's Ballad's counter, he felt like he hadn't progressed much.
His aether control had improved, but that wouldn't matter if he didn't grow stronger overall. And he could only achieve that in two ways: with the relic, or by finding a gateway and awakening. His plan was to obtain both.
Arthur looked at the labyrinth one last time, bid it farewell, and began walking toward whatever awaited him on the other side.