Milo knew the name was no coincidence. As eager as he was to inspect his new Memory, he wanted to get out of there even more. This time, Milo was taking no chances. He could try his chances at just booking it back to the entrance, but that felt far too risky.
He had the [Frigid Cooler] and he had time. He could just make his own exit.
***
After days of drilling, avoiding dense materials, gathering precious metals, and a bit of rest, Milo had finally reached the surface. Greeted by the sight of a large waterfall and the shining sun, Milo inhaled deeply.
After a few seconds, he exhaled deeply. Having taken in the moment, Milo activated his thrusters, beginning a hasty descent towards the Citadel barely noticeable in the far distance. Cliffs were huddled, ruins were sprinted through. Nightmare Creatures weren't fast enough to keep up. Milo made sure that was the case.
Day became night, and Milo was still on the move. That far Citadel was ever so closer. Eventually, Milo came to a halting stop. Heat waves emitted from his thrusters as he left a trail of dirt in his stopping path.
***
Milo awoke from his pod. He steadily stepped out. The basement lights immediately lit up on their own. Milo walked over to the training area, laying down on the padded floor, and let out a sigh of relief.
"Home sweet home." He murmured. "Now it's time to check the spoil."
Memory: [Evermore]
Memory Rank: [Divine]
'...'
Memory Tier: I
Memory Type: [Weapon]
'What?! What the hell was a Divine Memory just doing in some antique closet?!'
Memory Description: "A grieving warrior watched as their unreciprocated lover scattered their own mind and soul for the sake of another that did not yet exist. She made it her life's work to preserve what she knew of him. This was her first and last attempt. A hollow shell of a conscious that will continue to change Evermore."
Enchantments: [Everlasting] [Everchanging] [Evermore]
Milo immediately attempted to summon it. Nothing appeared in his palm. Milo attempted it again.
[Are you sure]
"I'm sure."
[...So be it.]
Milo's vision immediately blackened, his entire body felt heavy. Every single nerve had been suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion.
'My essence.'
Milo immediately dismissed the Memory. All of his Soul Essence returning to his body. Milo sat up, panting heavily like he just learned how to breathe for the first time.
"Well... I don't know what I was expecting."
Milo then noticed a new set of runes right below the ones describing his assimilation options.
[Two Memories are available for assimilation, current Soul Cores unoccupied: 0]
[Memories Available: Evermore, The Prototype]
"What a sick joke... a Divine Memory that I can't even use." Milo looked back at the amount of Soul Fragments he had
Soul Fragments [1292/2000]
"Seven hundred more, then I might be able to use it."
Standing up, Milo walked upstairs. He had a lot of planning to do. A lot of calls to make, and most importantly, he needed Olivia's help.
***
Milo looked at his commanding officer with a bewildered expression. "The Second Nightmare? It's only been four months since I've been an Awakened."
His commanding officer had a stern yet pitying look on his face. "Listen, there isn't much I can do unfortunately. This order is of high priority. Normally, you would be right, but you are one of two Divine Aspect users. Something is coming up, I'm not exactly savvy about the knack but even a tool like me can know its big. The higher ups are scrambling to prepare for something. Whatever it is, they need you powerful. Of course, you'll be able to choose the cohort you go with. We will try and provide you with Memories you may need. You have built up a ton of points for making all our electronics function after all."
Milo nodded, his expression was already far off. This was unprecedented, he went from asking permission to go on an expedition to being told he had to go into the Second Nightmare.
"I don't need Memories or cohort members besides one, Olivia from the Obsidian cohort. I do need materials, and a lot of Soul Shards. Enough, enough to give me nine hundred soul fragments. Do you think you can get that for me. All of that, and three weeks of prep.
"I'll see what I can do. I will be using all your contribution points for this, though. Expect them to show up in the workshop, I'll let you know when they do. That'll be all, good luck Milo."
"That's fine and thank you, Emil."
Milo got up and left the office, it was about time he learned to make things more versatile then simple batteries by now. After all, it might as well have been do or die at this point. The Second Nightmare was something Milo was planning on doing after becoming a Demon.
Spending all of his accumulated contribution points, along with doing some hunting in the Dream Realm should give him everything he needed.
Milo kept ideas running in his head as he drove home.
'Sturdy bodies, sturdy weapons, assistance in soul essence regeneration, healing Memories.'
Milo needed a healing Memory, that was the only thing he couldn't skimp or cheap out on.
Pulling into his driveway, Milo hastily made his way to the forge in his basement, he had a lot to do.
***
Three weeks later, Milo found himself thoroughly checking through his Memories.
Memories: [Dreamer's Hope] [Metal Shell] [The Prototype] [Frigid Cooler] [Proof of Cooperation Lite] [Evermore] [V1] [V2] [V3] [Foreman's Hammer] [Feather of Ash]
Along with that, were the lines Milo had been hoping for most
[Five Memories are available for assimilation, current Soul Cores unoccupied: 1]
[Memories available: The Prototype, V1, V2, V3, Evermore]
'Assimilate Evermore'
[Are you sure?]
'Yes'
[So be it.]
Unlike before, when Milo felt nothing when assimilating the [Mobile Suit], Milo felt the weight of the world crash down on his body. It went deeper then just body, his very soul was being shook once again.
Milo entered his Soul Sea, and upon looking up, his jaw dropped. The third soul core in his body, the one housing [Evermore] was nearly touching the sea. Milo exited his Soul Sea, at the same time the Spell spoke to him.
[Assimilated Memory is too powerful, limiting Memory]
'Huh?'
[...Memory power limited]
Milo felt the weight pushing him down disappear. The first thing he did was take some much needed breaths, then he immediately summoned [Evermore].
The first noticeable change was that his Soul Essence wasn't immediately emptied. Milo looked at the freshly summoned container in his hand. The once dull gold handle was now a shiny silver, the grooves at either end of the handle glowed with a digital blue hue.
Milo then looked deeper, at its weave. He immediately grimaced, not at the beauty or infinitely complex composition of it, but rather at the opposite. The weave was ugly and terribly crude, half of the strings fed back into themselves creating a loop of energy that seemed to just do nothing but was essence. The weaving of two enchantments were locked off, however despite the lack of essence in the strings Milo cold still see the flawed weaving within.
Milo recalled the description of the Memory.
"This was her first and last attempt. That much is obvious."
Milo now understood why the Spell considered this thing so powerful, its own weave seemed to try and convince itself of that.
Milo sighed, it was still a Divine Memory, it was still probably much more powerful then anything Milo had on hand.
Milo checked its runes, perhaps the spell could make more sense of this now.
Memory: [Evermore]
Memory Rank: [Awakened]
Memory Tier: I
Memory Type: [Weapon]
Enchantments: [X] [Everchanging] [X]
[Everchanging] Enchantment Description: [This Memory is free to change its form according to the user's will. A mind of its own within the weapon seems to pick what it thinks is the best fit.]
'Ah, great. I already have something like that...'
Milo suddenly felt underprepared for the huge challenge up ahead.
Yet, despite it all, he entered his pod. He couldn't leave his escort and friend hanging after all.
***
The journey to the designated Nightmare Seed was a rather quiet one. Their guide was Song Seishan, who volunteered because she knew the two.
[You have slain a Dormant Monster, Green-tipped Fox]
Milo flicked the blood off his prosthetic as it reverted to his basic form.
Seishan licked the blood off her lips, she looked back towards the entrance to a small ruin. Fighting against the Call during that entire fight was no pleasant experience.
"The Seed is just beyond their, this is my stop. Please do come back alive, Ravenheart has been expanding since the government sold us your creations. Perhaps... hold back on the weapons and develop some pleasantries yes? Why not just come to Clan Song matter of fact, integration through marriage is very common. The offer is up for you as well, Olivia."
"...I'll think about the offer, safe travels Seishan."
"Just make sure he's hot, stay safe Seishan."
"Goodbye, you two."
Seishan walked off into the dark, leaving Milo and Olivia standing before the entrance of the Seed. Milo took in a deep breath, Olivia did the same. Milo felt the Call goading him to challenge the Seed, and he would happily oblige. Together, the two entered the Seed.
[Awakened! Prepare for your Second Trial…]
[Three brave ones... welcome to the Nightmare!]
'Three? There's only two of us!'