Brail was resting on the cold stones, watching slowly falling flakes of snow. The view from the cave on already familiar colorful aurora, peeking from behind the heavy clouds from afar, was partially obscured by the endless white wall. He was sitting there for some time already, still pondering on several topics simultaneously, but only now his breath became more or less steady.
He was exhausted, he wanted to just drop down and fall asleep, but he couldn't. Somewhere not so far, there were several Nightmare Gates, their vile energy making his soul tremble slightly. So, the only thing he could do at the moment was calming himself down, while succumbing to his flaw.
The main theme of the unstoppable train of thoughts was of course his 'lucky' day. The siege, the chase, the kidnapping, the hunt. And then the climb.
To reach this arguably safe place, he needed to leave the lowland he fell to. Unfortunately for Brail, it wasn't just any lowland, it was basically a giant pit between the peaks, with no roads, and no tunnels leading out. In his state, Ascended needed to choose between two evils: either climb to find a good spot or stay there with hundreds of disoriented ghosts. After the Terror's death, Catchers stopped attacking him, and were just mindlessly floating around, but that didn't mean it would stay that way for long.
So he chose to climb.
The most annoying part in this short but difficult process was his state. His spine hurt as hell, his legs hurt, hands too, head and chest were burning from pain. Brail's whole body was telling him he has done fucking up.
Even worse was his skin, which felt like it was in the middle of a cutlet making process, with his front part recently pushed through a rather violent meatgrinder, while his back has already been taken off the oven.
In addition, Ascended was completely red from blood, which was slowly leaking from the open wounds. Well, now he bandaged himself up, and was resting, so it wasn't as painful and as bloody as it was before. So he needed to switch to the next line of thoughts.
His eyes trailed from the snowfall to his runes. There were a couple of new ones, but they could wait a bit, until his little recon will come back. So for now, his gaze was tracing the well-known lines of a specific description from the top of the list.
[Their souls always fade within the World.
Their shadows always travel seeking Peace.
But final breaths will always stay with you, and in return,
You'll fill withering shells with Soothing Breeze.
The pain will fade, replaced by serenity.
For final moments it's the gentlest remedy.]
The verse describing his Innate Ability, Soothing Breeze, was usually calming, but sometimes, especially times like today, it seemed very irritating. First, because no matter how much poetry the Spell was throwing at him, he rarely liked the rhymes, at least not this one. And second...
'Why those who lose to me always feel nice in the end, while I, the winner, must feel so terrible?'
Were these suffering the price for power? If yes, then he definitely paid too much for a singular Soul Fragment. Of course he took the Soul Shards too, but still. After all these hardships, his Aspect must at least grow stronger, and he didn't want to wait for the Transcendency. He wanted this theoretical power now.
Brail knew, that even if it happens, it won't be too much of a boost, but it never hurt to dream a little. His gaze dropped lower.
'Well, maybe I will be lucky, and my Aspect will grow much stronger. This would be at least something, after all this shit.'
As if feeling what her master was readying to do, ghostly cat emerged from behind the snow. A dark cloud with two blue eyes slowly floated from the entry onto the nearest rock, coalescing into the loafing critter. Zeph was calm, meaning there was no threats nearby, and they both can finally rest a bit. But before, there was one more thing they needed to do.
Full of anticipation, little spirit began to wag her long tail and raised her beautiful cosmic eyes expectantly. Brail met them and nodded, before returning to a specific line of runes.
Aspect Legacy: [Traveler's Treasures].
He opened the list, already knowing what he's about to see.
West: [Claimed].
East: [Claimed].
South: [Claim].
North: [Unearned].
He exhaled slowly and focused on the rune meaning South. The eerie whisper answered.
[Claim?]
"Yes."
[You have claimed an Aspect Legacy Path.]
[You have received a Memory: Grey Nebula.]
[You have received a Memory: Owl's Eye.]
[One of your Attributes is evolving.]
Brail decided to deal with the evolving Attribute later. He already knew what it is.
Turning to Zeph, he smiled tiredly.
"Not like I had doubts, but you were right."
Little cat stood up on all four paws, still wiggling her tail, and barely not jumping on place from excitement. The reason for that were gathering around them gusts of wind. Barely perceptible vortex quickly subsided, coming to a single spot, and soon a faintly glowing purple sphere appeared on Brail's palm, scattering of stars floating inside like miniature constellations.
Not so gentle gust of smoke swept up the cosmic sphere and carried it closer to the cat. She peered inside the Memory for several moments and then pressed her forehead against it. The same vortex, which gathered before, now erupted from the Owl's Eye, and flew around Zeph, absorbed by her little body.
[Your Memory was destroyed.]
Usually such a message would bring any awakened only sadness, but Brail was smiling. He patted little spirit's head, and she opened her tired eyes.
"You need to rest now. I'll be okay, don't worry. But next time, let me at least read the description."
With this he sent his companion back to the Soul Sea, and with a quiet meow, his sleepy cat vanished from the reality, dissipating in wisps of smoke.
Explorer sighed and turned his attention to the second Memory he received, summoning it.
Small banks of dark grey fog started to appear from a thin air around his hand, quickly coalescing into a little swirling cloud. Soon the form solidified around the cloud into a pendant in a form of a chiseled head of an owl. Accessory was made from a translucent mate crystal with a light purple tint, and had a thin gray ribbon threaded through a loop. Although it was made from a crystal, it had no shine and didn't let any light through. Inside the mate glass was slowly billowing already familiar fog, but the longer Brail peered inside, the more the fog resembled a beautiful cosmic nebula.
He went back to his Memory list and focused on runes that read [Gray Nebula].
Memory Description: [Proud Offsprings of the Wind Spirit were always free to choose their path, but still were tied to his will. Most decided between serving their progenitor and becoming personal guides for lost souls. But some were striving to be truly free.
Wise Owl was one of the first, who earned his right on independence, and before his long journey, he received a sacred gift - a power over the wonderous Grey Mist, and with it, his Name.
Over the millennia of wandering through the lands consumed by Dreams, Wise Owl forget himself, and lost his path. But his Name remained, and with it, the Mist, protecting him from prying eyes, and outer threats.]
'Wow, no poetry today. Thanks, Spell, I guess.'
Though, even if this description was not so cryptic as some others, it still only hinted on what exactly his new Charm was capable of. The only thing explorer noticed for now, is that the temperature in the cave became more comfortable. He was low on essence and didn't heat up the air around, so it wasn't exactly warm in the cave before. But now the previous cold was gone, and it wasn't hot here either. It was exactly the temperature he liked.
'Interesting.'
He decided to check the active enchantments when he regains more essence. For now there was one more thing he wanted to check inside Spell's interface.
Attributes: [Wanderlust], [Secret's Seeker], [Wind's Blessed].
The first two oviously didn't change, so all he saw there were familiar silly and long-boring quatrains.
For Wanderlust in read...
[Compass, map, and telescope,
Astrolabe, sextant, and clock.
People always take so much,
Even for a smallest walk.
Unlike you. Your wanderlust is all you need.]
It was an important tool, which made him a really efficient navigator. And scout. Even if he never wanted to be one. Basically it helped him to always find a way wherever he wanted. And in time. Pity nobody in this damned caravan listened to him, when he told to act. Now they all were...
'No, we are not going there... its not the time.'
He quickly discarded the thought and swept his gaze through the second one, Seekret's Seeker. An equally simple verse, without changes, was all he saw.
[In deepest caves, or in plain sight.
In darkness, or under the light.
The secrets always hard to find.
But from your mind they cannot hide.
Dealing with them, is another question.]
This one allowed him to be a magnet for some secret places, mysteries, and so on. He always liked such things, as they were one of the most exciting things in the world, after all. And he knew how to deal with the antient riddles, puzzles, and other stuff, even before he finished his First Nightmare. So he wasn't really sure, is this Attribute was a boon granted by the Aspect, or just a bunch of stupid text, describing his passion.
Brail concentrated on the third Attribute. The one that changed.
Attribute Description: [You were blessed by Wind. You are free to walk any path, but a traveler must always remember, that is better to walk with the gale, than against it.]
Before, this Attribute was called Wind's Chosen, and initially it was Wind's Guided. Description was changing accordingly, from 'You are guided…' to 'You were chosen…' and now 'blessed'. He didn't know how exactly a long-dead Deity could do something like that, so he simply decided, that it was just Nightmare Spell's shenanigans.
Anyway, now he was sure it was the reward he might get each time after defeating someone, who once was close to the elusive Spirit of the Wind. Not changing of some runes, of course, but raising of his air-related abilities in power. And considering that all three his active abilities were based on some type of the wind manipulation, and his most powerful equipment was received by seeking related to Wind mysteries and creatures, each time this Attribute changed, it passively empowered Brail's entire arsenal.
There were many different creatures, and a whole set of secret places scattered over the Dream Realm related to the eldritch Sacred. Some, like Vulture, Owl, and Zeph herself, were his direct descendants and obviously of much more importance, than anything else, meaning the reward for walking with victory from the encounter would be higher. And quite possibly would affect his Aspect Legacy.
'Just like this time. I even got so lucky, so the thing found me itself. Hah, that's the first.'
Still, even beside his Aspect Legacy, it was worth to explore any possibility to get stronger. And with the guidance of his Aspect it was easier to do. It wasn't set in stone, what exactly he will get, but Brail was sure it always will be worth his efforts to search for a new secret or creature, even if relation to the Spirit was vague and distant.
Take for example his Transcendent armor. It has nothing to do with his Aspect Legacy, but it looks and works exactly as would part of Wind's heritage do. And it worked perfectly for him.
So each time he found even the tiniest hint that something, somewhere may be related to this Lesser Deity or his long-lost world, he would rush off to explore. Thanks to his other attributes, he never got lost, always find his way to the mystery, and always had much better chances of solving it, than any other human being he ever knew.
His train of thoughts started turning in the wrong direction. He knew it but couldn't stop.
The last time he found a concrete evidence in one of the research papers, that the newfound temple complex is related to Wind's realm, he decided it was time to change places. He wanted to find other remnants, other relics. And to do that he needed to cross the Hollow Mountains.
That was why he was pissing off his previous commander, so she would let him go to the North Division.
'Shit, why now…'
He found nothing in the end, and after his research failed, he had no arguments against moving with his group. And his entire group was rerouted from the region. Several cohorts ended up in the frozen wastelands. Including his one.
'Stop.'
Before that, was the Burned Forest, where he met the last two cohort members.
'Stop.'
Before the Forest was the Starless Shore, where he met the first two and befriended them.
'Please.'
Lith and Milly.
'Stop.'
His gaze, he was preventing from falling down for the last hour, finally found a way to his wrist. To the gilded bracelet, lacking a specific part.
'What will I tell Milly…'
His flaw transited again, catching him off guard.
And he was very glad, nobody else was in this cave.
***
He was very glad nobody else was in this room.
Because if they had been, Lith most likely would try to bash one's head in the wall. Maybe several times.
He was very angry. Again.
And the reason for that was the same. Again.
"Fuck."
Sound of splintered wood boomed from the small building. That was another table gone, this one with the paper map of the local terrain. The map was all in the red marks, their group left during the last meeting. The meeting concluded quickly, but they already decided a course of actions.
They will leave their temporary camp as soon as the last several mechanics will conduct the repair of the MWPs. They won't search for Brail, won't even wait for him.
The reason was simple. His friend was most likely dead.
If he was, there was no point to think about going after him.
If he wasn't, he had much-much better chances to find them instead. So again, there was no point to search.
And they could not afford to wait for long. So there is that.
Lith understood that it was almost flawless logic, and the best one in their situation.
He also understood that he can't just leave the remnants of the military convoy. Because this would quite possibly lead to their deaths. And because he has no chances of navigating through the region he never was in, with so many horrors around. Not even talking about searching for someone.
But this meant he will just abandon his friend.
That he will chose not to act.
This was betrayal. This was inaction.
And he was the man of action.
So this angered him. Hard.
He looked through the cracked window on the people outside. They were so few now. Not even close to how many they were before all this shit happened. Soldiers were running around the camp, doing something, preparing. They had only several hours before another departure, after all.
During their short break under the giant stop sign, in the form of the fallen piece of the mountain, they decided to find another safe route and wasted no time. They drove off the labyrinth, bypassing empty vehicles, founding nobody inside, and headed in the mountains again. Not exactly north, but still in the direction of the canyon.
They wasted several hours wandering through the narrow pass, thankfully not encountering many abominations, before finding the bridge across the giant gorge. After crossing the bridge, they drove for an hour more, and found a small, completely empty military outpost. That was their place to camp for a while, to repair their tech, to decide how to move forward.
And they already decided.
Terrain in front of them was completely destroyed. Not just several landslides here, and couple of crushed peaks there. Completely destroyed.
The good part was that there were new paths through the mountains, and most likely with a few to none Nightmare Creatures along them. The bad part was that they didn't know exactly how to cross the range, only the direction of where the damned volcano city was. And the direction now was enough. So, soon they will sit in their carriers and drive to the mountains again.
He didn't want to go, but staying behind right now was the most idiotic decision he could think of. And he wasn't an idiot. So he will go with them. He will protect them further. So when Brail finds them, he will show that everyone under his protection made it out of the mess.
Settling his mind, he glanced on the partially cracked bracelet, held himself from destroying another part of furniture, took the map and walked outside.
Soon, the maintenance concluded, they loaded in vehicles, and moved up the slope.
The earth trembled again, but without a good sensor, they couldn't figure out, where the earthquake came from.
Only that it wasn't natural.