A frail-looking young man with pale skin and dark circles under his eyes was sitting on a rusty bench across from the police station. He was cradling a sandwich in his hands. Its bread was soft, and the white mayonnaise mixed with ketchup spread over the lettuce on top of the meat. And the meat was real... one hundred percent organic, not artificially created.
It had cost him his whole saving to buy.
But on this particular day, Sunny decided to pamper himself.
After all, his life was coming to an end.
Sunny looked at the sandwich as a divine treasure; he gulped his saliva that was going to spill out of his mouth.
He wanted to look at this beauty all of his life. Unfortunately, his life is coming to an end. So he took a bite.
And like a bomb, tastes explode in his mouth. The taste of the meat mixed with the sauce and the bread's soft texture made him nearly moan.
Tears fell from his eyes as he crunched on the sandwich.
'It's so good... Totally worth all my savings.'
As he ate the sandwich, he watched as kids and their parents walked in the park. Normally he would curse his life or throw a joke, but he was fully concentrating on tasting every part of the beauty in his hand.
It was so good actually that he felt fully awake for a second.
After a few seconds, he, with all regret, finished the sandwich.
Sighing, Sunny rose up, crossed the street, and entered the police station.
Inside, a tired-looking officer gave him a quick glance and frowned with obvious distaste.
Well, who wouldn't after seeing a frail child with crumbs over his face?
"Are you lost, boy?"
Sunny looked around with curiosity, noting reinforced armor plates on the walls and poorly hidden turret nests in the ceiling. The officer, too, looked scruffy and mean. At least police stations remain the same wherever you go.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!"
Sunny cleared his throat.
"Uh, no."
Then he scratched the back of his head and added:
"As demanded by the Third Special Directive, I am here to surrender myself as a carrier of the Nightmare Spell."
The officer's expression instantly changed from irritated to wary. He looked the young man over once again, this time with piercing intensity.
"Are you sure you are infected? When did you start showing symptoms?"
Sunny shrugged.
"A week ago?"
The officer became visibly paler.
"Shit."
Then, with a hurried motion, he pressed a button on his terminal and bellowed:
"Attention! Code Black in the lobby! I repeat! CODE BLACK!"
***
Sunny walked toward a table where a girl sat alone. The quiet girl was delicate, demure, and very pretty. Her clothes were tidy and neat. They weren't very expensive, but still rather tasteful. With her pale blond hair, big blue eyes, and exquisite face, she looked like a beautiful porcelain doll.
After making himself known as the prevert, crazy, mentally ill guy, he found a table where another outcast like him was and sat.
However, there was something wrong with her. Sunny frowned, trying to understand what exactly about the girl made him uncomfortable. After a while, he realized that her empty, expressionless stare was reminding him of Mountain King.
Startled, Sunny understood that the girl was blind. It took him a couple of seconds to compose himself.
'What a shame.'
Sunny glanced around; at every corner he saw there was a knight wearing silver steel armor with an emblem of a sword stabbed through an anvil.
"What's wrong with those knights?" he muttered.
"Umm... don't you know?"
Sunny moved his eyes to the blind girl, "Know what?"
"Uhh, two years ago, one of the heiresses of Clan Valor was killed in the academy."
Sunny frowned.
'What kind of bastard would kill the heiress of one of the strongest clans?'
Clearly the insane one, at least that's what Sunny thought.
"Did they find out who did it?"
"Nothing was confirmed by the Valor clan... but some say he is being tortured by them."
Well, that bastard deserves it.
Sunny wanted to ask more but was interrupted by a giant bear-like man.
***
Sunny stood in front of his personal pod. Today is the winter solstice, and all sleepers will be summoned to the dream realm.
He turned away from the sleeping pod and glanced down at his shadow.
"Well? Are you ready?"
The shadow shrugged and didn't answer.
Sunny sighed.
"Yeah, me too."
With that, he stepped forward and climbed into the pod.
In the vast echoing darkness, he heard:
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Sunless!]
***
In the Dream Realm, in a land swallowed by a sea of dark, a city stood above a mountain, untouched by the Dark Sea.
Inside a castle in the center of the city, a man wearing dark armor that covered his body from head to toe walked in its corridors.
The man entered a room; it was a simple bedroom with a bed, table, and chair placed next to a window, and a closet.
He unsummoned his armor and sat in the chair that was covered in the shadow of the Crimson Spire.
The man had black hair that covered his neck, his hair styled in a wolf cut. He wore a black shirt and trousers made from wool and leather boots.
It was Faraam.
He sighed and hit his forehead at the table.
After the battle that happened two years ago, he rose in ranks fast, thanks to the parasite that was inside Gunlaug's head.
The Lord of the Bright Castle had become nothing but a puppet to him, so much so that he didn't even tell anyone about the parasite, not even his friend Harus.
It seems he really cherishes his life.
He became the leader of the hunters and pathfinders after Gemma's death in battle and the right-hand man of Gunlaug.
After that, he began his search for the keys to the Crimson Spire. And after months he found out what the keys are. They were unique memories called shards, that were created by the seven heroes.
As for how he knew it, it was thanks to the leader of the Handmaidens, who has one of the shards.
Knowing what the keys are and how to get them made things a lot easier. He sent many expeditions to find these keys, and he himself searched for any clues as to where they are.
And after two years he found three, excluding the one with Seshian.
The first was in the Hollow Mountains taken by the First Lord of the Bright Castle. That is the shard he never tried to get, as it was just suicidal. Just getting there was impossible, let alone the things hiding in the mountains.
The second was in the catacombs beneath the Dark City. There he sent Athena with her cohort to find it; unfortunately, all her cohort died, with only she returning alive. He tried to persuade her to go again, but she refused completely.
He tried with other hunters, but they all failed.
The last was north of the Dark City, discovered by accident as he sent an expedition to search around the Crimson Spire.
Faraam summoned a memory from his soul, and instantly a graceful dagger with a long and slender blade appeared in his hand. It tapered to a needle-like point and had a simple cross-guard, with a handle made from glossy black wood. It seemed to be forged out of clear, misty glass. In the darkness, the ghostly stiletto was nearly invisible.
He then summoned its runes.
Memory: [Moonlight Shard]
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [When the stars were extinguished and fell, a lonely moon remained in the empty sky. With no sun to shine upon it, the moon grew dim, withered, and died. As the last remnants of moonlight were devoured by darkness, one small shard was forged into this subtle blade.]
The memory has only one enchantment, to summon the dagger instantly in his hands without delay.
That was everything that happened; he didn't know how many years he would be stuck here, but at this point he just didn't care.
The Shadow of the Crimson Spire has crushed his hope just like those who tried to escape before him.