23: Following in silence
POV of ???
The first day in this crimson labyrinth, flooded by an ocean every night, proved troublesome. My aspect ability, which had been a source of confidence until now, didn't work with certain beings of unique perception. I managed to escape from that thing that chased me until I found a small coral sticking out of the water, and I climbed onto it with difficulty.
What was curious was that I encountered an individual who had left a strong impression on me at the academy. This boy had already killed some kind of mutated crab that inhabited the coral, a place no larger than ten square meters with an irregular surface.
The boy was eating the crab meat. I didn't bother him or announce my presence; I preferred to observe and see how far he would go.
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The second day, the boy decided to descend from the coral and explore the labyrinth. He encountered those crabs several times, which seemed to be awake beasts. He was surprisingly strong for a sleeper.
After hours of exploration and battles, he had killed four crabs and ventured a kilometer to the south. That night, a storm hit us, and two more crabs climbed onto the coral, trying to kill the boy. He defended himself bravely, but he wouldn't have survived alone. I helped by hitting one crab in the back of its head, where I discovered it was one of its weak points after studying the corpses the boy had left in his wake.
With my help momentarily distracting one of them, he was able to deal with one and then immediately went for the other, which had no chance with its injured head and the boy's furious attack, which smashed its chitin.
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On the third day, I was hungry, so I decided to stay behind while the boy explored. I ate some of the leftover crab meat and drank water from my memory, which can hold up to ten liters and refilled each time I returned to my soul.
After several hours, the boy returned very wounded, with cuts on both arms, and one of his fists seemed broken. I assumed he had faced more than he could handle due to overconfidence; after all, he believed he had killed those two crabs by himself. Anyway, this day passed quickly.
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On the fourth day, the boy decided to explore eastward, as the south seemed too crowded with crabs. Early in the morning, he descended and began to explore to the east. He fought four crabs in total and almost died trapped by a claw in his fourth fight. Apparently, he realized he had been lucky that night and was now more cautious when facing the crabs.
We managed to find, a few kilometers away, a rock that seemed high enough to spend the night, but it was too far, so the boy decided to return to his coral for today. Another quiet night. I'm surprised there aren't fights every night, but I'm not complaining; I like the peace.
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On the fifth day, the boy descended from the coral and set out on his little adventure towards the high rock to the east of his coral. Two scavengers got in his way. He couldn't avoid them and had to fight. He hadn't received any memories from his prey yet, so he fought with his semi-healed fist and his brutal strength.
The boy dodged four claws falling from the sky with his monstrous speed and kicked the joint area where the claws connected to the scavenger's torso. The second scavenger lunged at him, and although he couldn't dodge the blow, he shielded himself with both arms, and one of them broke from the creature's brutal force.
I decided it was time to help and summoned my transcendent sword, a memory I obtained from facing a cursed sleeping terror. That's beside the point. Knowing that this move could reveal me to the sleeper still following, I moved behind a crab out of its line of sight and plunged my sword into the beast's head.
[You have slain an awakened beast, scavenger of shell]
[Your soul grows stronger]
So its name was shell scavenger, good. It also seems that my attribute is doing its job well; I'll look into my runes later.
The boy seemed to have noticed the change in the scavenger that stood still and then fell. His eyes widened in surprise, but it didn't last long, as he had his own scavenger to deal with. The scavenger threw its only functional claw at the boy. The latter managed to dodge it and jumped onto the scavenger's head, which tried to bite him, but before it could close its jaws, the boy kicked it, breaking its small head.
Thus, the boy fell to the ground exhausted. After a few seconds, he got up and went to check what had happened to the other scavenger. His eyes widened in a state of confusion and fear. What he saw was that the beast's head had been pierced by something sharp that left a clean cut through its skull, killing it instantly.
He looked around, but it was impossible for him to know that I was by his side, smiling at his amusing reaction. Nevertheless, the boy continued his way to the high rock and managed to reach it without another fight. He climbed the steep rock with difficulty due to his wounds, but he made it to the top.
There was the corpse of a scavenger. The boy looked suspiciously at the dead creature and studied the rock. I did the same. Apparently, someone else had been here not too long ago, one or two days at most. They fought the scavenger with their hands, as the beast's shell was dented in several places and the deepest holes were made in the connection between its joints. Someone as strong as this boy, at least. I wonder where they went.
...
We spent the day on that rock, and while he slept during the day to rest his injured body, I took the opportunity to drink some water and eat scavenger meat. When night fell, the boy woke up and stood guard. He had to watch his territory in the middle of the night in case any creature tried to invade it.
...
The night passed, and on the sixth day, we moved eastward again. It seemed that the difficulty in that direction was less than to the south, so the boy kept exploring and memorizing a path to the rock. After several more hours, he encountered another scavenger, which he faced and defeated without needing my intervention. I'd like to absorb all the soul cores, but I'll have to wait for this boy to find his way back or die, whichever comes first.
Upon returning to our coral, it was almost dusk. The boy made a fire and ate some cooked meat, then waited for nightfall and kept watch all night. Nothing happened, no fights or horrors trying to eat him.
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Day 7
Today was a boring day. The boy apparently wanted to fully recover before embarking on his journey to the rock. He already had a very advanced memorized path and only lacked half a kilometer to reach it, so tomorrow morning he would set out for the rock. The day passed quietly. He ate, rested from so many sleepless nights, so he slept for over five hours.
When it was already night, a scavenger injured by the waves climbed onto the coral. The boy killed it quickly and absorbed its core. After that, honestly, nothing happened. The whole night was boring, so I fell asleep with my ability activated.
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Day 8
I woke up to the sound of the waves of the black sea receding and saw the boy watching attentively and almost in perfect condition. After about thirty minutes of continuous sound of the water receding, we both descended from the coral and headed towards the rock.