All the while Ray had already dosed off. He knew that while the people he was around right now, weren't necessarily the people he trusted the most, well not all of them, but they firstly wouldn't do anything to him and secondly wouldn't take his shards without a say.
Instead of dreamless sleep or nightmares, Ray found himself standing upright, the familiar, vast expanse of his Soul Sea stretching around him. He blinked, momentarily disoriented. He hadn't consciously chosen to come here; he'd simply wanted – needed – to sleep. Why had his consciousness retreated to this inner sanctum?
He looked around. It was mostly as he remembered it – a serene, endless space reflecting his inner self. High above, in the perpetual twilight sky of his soul, two stars now burned. The second star, a testament to his recently formed second Soul Core, shone steadily. Its appearance had been the last major change here, alongside the unsettling, small black spots that occasionally flickered into existence like momentary voids before vanishing again. They seemed more frequent now.
But something else was wrong. His gaze fixed on the first star, his original Core. It wasn't pristine anymore. A network of fine cracks marred its surface, like fractured glass. It wasn't shattered, but it was undeniably damaged. From these fissures, a thin, strange mist seeped sluggishly, dissipating into the vastness of his Soul Sea. When had this happened? He didn't recall seeing it damaged during his last visit. It must have occurred sometime between then and now, perhaps during the recent, intense strain.
A soft chuckle echoed behind him, startlingly close. Ray spun around.
Standing just a few paces away was... himself. Yet, not quite. This figure shared his features but seemed subtly different, more refined, perhaps sharper. It carried an air of profound stillness and seemed almost translucent, as if not entirely solid, a phantom woven from shadow and twilight. Unlike Ray's practical gear, this version wore flowing, dark robes that seemed to absorb the ambient light.
"Well, well," the robed figure said, its voice nearly a perfect echo of Ray's own, yet laced with an ancient amusement and a distinct, mocking undertone. "Look who finally decided to show up. Took you long enough to wake me, didn't it?"
Ray stared, momentarily speechless. Wake it up? What did that mean?
Then, understanding crashed over him, connecting disparate threads. The epiphany he'd had moments before collapsing – the Veil rune, the sudden comprehension of its link to his Aspect, the ability to project Oblivion outwards. It wasn't just a new trick; it was a fundamental shift. He remembered the invisible barrier he'd encountered a while ago, the frustrating wall that had seemed to limit his conscious control and training of his phasing ability.
He focused inward, sensing the flow of his own soul essence, the connection to his Aspect. The barrier was gone. Utterly vanished. He felt… lighter, unburdened, as if a heavy, unseen weight he hadn't even realized he was carrying had been lifted from his shoulders. The path forward felt clearer, more open.
The robed figure smirked, interrupting his thoughts. "Finally putting the pieces together, are we? That little stunt with the 'Veil'... that was the key. The first real step you've taken into understanding what you actually wield."
It gestured dismissively. "Don't look so shocked. You scratched the surface, broke the seal. From now on, it gets easier. It should come… more intuitive." The figure's eyes, identical yet deeper than Ray's own, seemed to pierce through him. "The more you learn, the more you embrace the Oblivion you touch, the more your very being will adapt. You'll change. You'll grow stronger. You'll become more… like me."
The figure smiled again, a slow, knowing expression that was both reassuring and deeply unsettling. Ray stood silently in his Soul Sea, facing this unexpected reflection, the cracked Core weeping mist above them, realizing his journey into the depths of his own power had just taken a profound and irreversible turn.
Stopping his thoughts again, Ray voiced the foremost question he had right now. "But, who-, or rather, what are you?"
The figure looked at him with a thoughtful look, the right hand to his chin, "Hmmn, well, you could say that I am you. But at the same time, I am not. The most concrete thing I can think of would be that I am a partial manifestation of your powers, brought forth by unlocking the powers hidden in that Tome. The soul core could also play a part in it, who knows?"
Ray continued to look at the figure, slowly growing a bit irritated, "Okay, and how does this work now, will you be able to see everything I do and just talk into my head?"
"Eh, I don think so. Only when you're inside of your soul sea should that be possible. At least, I couldn't see anything of what happened outside when I woke up here."
"Regardless, let's stop talking about me," the figure spoke, before turning its head towards the small, glowing spheres surrounding the cores. "There is something that would interest you a lot more up there, maybe you should take a look at it."
Ray also directed his gaze towards the memory spheres; he then summoned his runes to take a look and see what it was talking about. A specific part of it catching his attention.
Echoes: Puppet
Well, that was something new. While he had indeed gained one or two memories over the last month, and even just now, Echoes were a whole different story. Awakened could go their whole lives without ever receiving a single one. Well, given that they would live long enough to have the chance to.
But this, this didn't seem to be a normal echo, if there was even something like that. This one… just appeared. Not coming to anything, Ray turned his attention to the runes of his newest addition.
[Puppet]
Echo Rank: Dormant
Echo class: /
Echo Attributes: [Core creation], [Imprinted Memory], [Inherited Legacy], [Trailing Evolution]
Echo description: [The most loyal retainer one could wish for. It will follow its Master till the end and will do everything in its power to defend them. The adaptable Assistant can be used and formed as the master wishes. The once most loyal helper to a being even history forgot.]
Attribute Descriptions:
- Core creation: By imbuing their essence, the owner can cause the creation of the puppet's own cores. The class of this echo will depend on the number of created cores. Each Core will bring improved performance.
- Imprinted Memory: The echo is empty. To be able to work, memories and task need to be implanted by the owner.
- Inherited Legacy: Any kind of memory will be accepted by the echo, no matter what it is. The class decides the number of memories that can be planted inside at once.
- Trailing Evolution: To complete its task, the echo will continue to grow stronger, always trailing behind the owner, to never overshadow them. It will generally follow close behind its owner.
Wow, if Ray wasn't sure before, then now he was a hundred percent certain. This was part of his Aspect Legacy. It hadn't yet revealed anything about receiving memories or any kinds of reward, which was already unusual, but till now, Ray had assumed the information contained in the tomes would be the reward, but seemingly, he was wrong and had underestimated his Aspect legacy.
Regardless, the abilities of the echo were vague, to say it nicely. Especially the third one, 'Inherited Legacy'. How far does 'any kind' count in this example… but this would be something for a different day.
---
It had been about an hour when Ray awoke. The others had already started preparing the essentials to camp here on the statue for the night. Because they hadn't known when he would wake up and traveling while he was sleeping could've been tedious, this was the only acceptable way.
In the middle of their platform, if one could even call it that, sat Cass next to Effie's bag. Most of the others were busy with one thing or another. Though, as soon as Ray began sitting up, most turned to him.
"Are you okay?" Henry, his pale friend asked.
"Yeah, I guess. At least my reserves have recovered quite a bit," Ray spoke, still slightly groggy. Sleeping was normally something very uninteresting in the dream realm because of the lack of dreams, but it seemed that Ray would always have some problems with that. After waking up a bit, he scanned the others and voiced his thoughts, "So, did we succeed?"
To answer this question, Nephis came a bit closer and held out her right hand. The next moment – without any indications or the normal weaving light – a sleek dagger appeared in her hand.
"All that trouble for this? And am I still half asleep or how did this appear so quickly?"
"It is its enchantment. It can appear instantly," Nephis spoke, offering the dagger to Ray.
Ray inspected it for a moment before giving it back to her. The enchantment was intriguing, but everything else seemed boring to him. Daggers and knifes were weapons people like assassins or extremely quick and crafty people used, unlike him who liked a more direct confrontation, aside from using his throwing knives, of course.
Which was in a way slightly amusing, seeing how his aspect allowed him to move without being able to be discovered or play around with the enemy in a fight. Still, even with this, he wouldn't suddenly change his preferred fighting style just because of his aspect.
"Well, I guess we're gonna sleep here tonight? Yay…."
By this point, Cassie stood up, and Effie seeing this walked over to get the bag, before bringing it over and throwing it to Ray's feet. "Here, we got the shards from those greedy bastards down there, technically they are yours, so…"
"Yeah, whatever, give me a third and you guys can have the rest."
"Greedy…" murmured Henry from the side, earning a pissed look from Ray.
With the shard memory now in their hands, and the day already too far gone, the group – wanted or not – began to prepare for the night on the statue's uneven surface.