Kane immediately woke up from his meditation, his eyes snapping open, and looked around, his gaze searching for Cassie. He, Nephis, and Sunny were all searching for her, their concern palpable, and they soon found Cassie stumbling precariously on the very edge of the platform, her movements disoriented. Kane and Sunny reacted instantly. While Sunny rushed to drag the blind girl back to safety, pulling her away from the dangerous precipice, Kane quickly climbed to the side of the platform, attempting to discern what exactly she had seen. But to his surprise, there was nothing there, no apparent danger, no visible threat that could have caused her distress. Kane thought, 'What did she see? What could have terrified her so much?' Sunny, meanwhile, managed to calm Cassie down, his soothing words gradually easing her panic.
Nephis, her gaze fixed on the empty space beyond the platform, asked, "Is there anything to see out there?" Kane, after a thorough scan with his heightened senses, replied, "No, nothing. The area is clear." Sunny discreetly checked Cassie, his movements swift and gentle, and confirmed, "She isn't hurt anywhere. No physical injuries." Changing Star, Nephis, looked down at Cassie. Although her face remained impassive, her usual indifferent mask firmly in place, Kane could tell that she was a bit flustered, a subtle shift in her demeanor betraying her inner turmoil. After a second or two, she asked in something that might have been her version of a calming tone, though it sounded pretty much exactly the same as usual: "Cassie? What happened?" Magically, that direct address did seem to calm the blind girl down a little. At least enough for her to speak, albeit in a quivering voice.
Cassie extended one trembling hand and pointed downwards, towards the vast, empty expanse below the platform. "Th—the head… I saw… oh gods!" she stammered, her voice filled with lingering horror. Kane, intrigued and concerned, asked, "Did she have a vision like this before? Is this a recurring thing?" Nephis, her brow furrowed in thought, replied, "I don't know. It never happened before, not to my knowledge." Now, Kane and Nephis were both confused about what to do next. Since there was no apparent danger around, they took turns trying to calm the horrified girl down, offering words of reassurance and comfort. However, after that one chilling sentence, she fell quiet and refused to speak again. Nothing seemed to help, her mind seemingly trapped in the aftermath of her terrifying vision.
After a while, Nephis sighed, a rare display of exasperation. "Let's… leave her be, for now. Maybe she just needs time to process whatever she saw." Kane was about to object, wanting to press Cassie for more information, but he quickly realized that Nephis's suggestion seemed to be the most logical choice for now. Forcing her wouldn't help. In the end, he didn't object, allowing Nephis to lead the decision. Changing Star, however, had other ideas about how to proceed. As the sun was rising and the surging sea was receding, a familiar daily phenomenon, Nephis chose to give Cassie some space, allowing her to recover in her own time. She then led Sunny and Kane to the edge of the platform, preparing for their day's journey. However, she made sure to always have the blind girl in the periphery of her vision, a subtle but constant watchfulness.
Cassie sat hugging her knees, her body curled into a tight ball. Her eyes were closed, but small tremors that periodically ran through her body betrayed that she was awake, her mind still grappling with the lingering terror of her vision. Kane kept a close watch on her, periodically checking her status with his mind-soul vision, ensuring she was not in any immediate danger.
Then, Nephis made him summon the Ultimate Defiance. After studying it for a while, examining its form and balance, she nodded in approval and took her own longsword out of the air, summoning it from her Memories. Despite its size, it was an elegant weapon, a testament to its craftsmanship. The narrow, double-edged blade was much longer than that of the Ultimate Defiance, with an incredibly sharp, symmetrical tip. The whole blade, as well as the simple cross-shaped guard and the pommel, seemed to be made out of shimmering silver and reflected the pale morning light with a cold, ethereal glow. The handle was tightly wrapped in black leather, providing a firm grip.
Putting the two swords side by side, Nephis spoke, her voice calm and instructional: "Your sword can be used with one hand, but its true potential can only be revealed when held in both. It is created primarily for cutting and thrusting, a weapon designed for decisive, powerful strikes." Then she gestured to her own sword: "My sword is a bit more versatile. It is created for both cutting and thrusting, and it has a double edge, allowing for more dynamic movements. However, the principle of wielding these two swords is effectively the same." She took the sword in both hands, placing one hand near the guard and the other near the pommel. Then, she performed a downward slash, her movements fluid and powerful. "They are both leverage-based weapons," she explained. "When held with two hands, one hand pushes," she demonstrated, pushing the sword down with the hand near the guard, "while the other hand pulls." The hand near the pommel simultaneously pulled the handle up, giving the blade a tremendous boost in speed and force. "This is how you generate force and perform powerful strikes. Now, your turn."
Kane looked up, his mind absorbing every detail, and tried to replicate her movements. At first, he didn't generate much force, his movements awkward and uncoordinated. But after the second and third attempts, he caught on, his body beginning to understand the principle of leverage. Nephis looked at him, a hint of approval in her eyes, and said, "It seems self-learning has some effects, after all. Now, do it a thousand more times." Kane's smirk froze on his face. "Are you sure?" he asked, his voice incredulous. "A thousand times?" Changing Star tilted her head, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Well… we don't have much time today," she conceded. "So, yes. Only a thousand." Kane thought, 'Only a thousand, huh? Better be worth it.' And with that, Kane started to repeat the process, swinging the sword again and again, until he had completed a thousand repetitions. Sunny, it seemed, had been instructed to do the same, as he too was practicing his movements. By the time both of them finished, their muscles aching, Cassie was finally ready to speak.
With pretty much every muscle in his body sore, Kane walked over to the girls and fell onto the ground, his body collapsing from exhaustion. After catching his breath, he looked at Cassie, his expression filled with concern. "Cassie? Do you feel better now?" Several seconds later, the blind girl slowly nodded, her movements still a little hesitant. 'That's a relief,' Kane thought, a small measure of comfort settling within him. He shifted, hesitating for a bit. Cassie didn't look too well. Her face was still very pale, with a distant, dazed expression on it, as if her mind was still somewhere else. Her body, at least, was no longer trembling. Kane wasn't very good at talking to people due to his rash nature, let alone placating them. He wasn't sure what to say, how to offer comfort in a meaningful way. He cast a gaze at Nephis and sighed inwardly. Who knew that one day he would turn out to be the most sociable person for as far as the eye could see? What a joke.
Sunny, ever practical, asked, "Can I have some water, Cassie?" Cassie turned to him and scowled, as though confused by the question, her mind still somewhat in a fog. Then, she suddenly gasped and opened her eyes wide, a flicker of realization in their depths. "Oh! Oh, sorry. Yes, of course…" She summoned the limitless water bottle from her Memory and offered it to Sunny. He took it with a grateful smile and greedily drank a few gulps before giving the bottle to Kane and Nephis. Eventually, it returned to Cassie. "You drink some too," Kane said gently, encouraging her. After she did, Kane awkwardly patted the blind girl on the head with care, a gesture of comfort. "Everything seems to be fine now. Uh… did you dream of another vision? You can tell us. If you want."
Cassie hesitated for a bit before saying, "I… don't know. Maybe it was just a nightmare." Kane, Sunny, and Nephis exchanged glances. They had doubted that what Cassie saw was a simple nightmare. After all, people usually did not dream in the Dream Realm; dreams were a rarity, often imbued with prophetic meaning. The blind girl, meanwhile, continued, "I don't really remember. It's all in fragments, disjointed pieces of a terrifying puzzle." Kane thought for a moment and said, "You can take your time, Cassie. Let us know when you're ready, when you remember more." Cassia sighed and tentatively nodded, seemingly grateful for the understanding. After a long pause, she finally found the courage to speak, her voice low and filled with a chilling solemnity:
"At first, I saw a… a boundless darkness locked behind seven seals. Something vast and ancient was churning in the darkness, a primordial force that threatened to consume everything. I felt like if I directly saw it, if I truly comprehended its nature, I would lose my mind, my sanity would shatter into a thousand pieces. As I watched, terrified, the seals broke one after another, each one shattering with a deafening crack, until only one remained. And then that final seal broke, too." She trembled a little, the memory clearly still vivid and terrifying. "After that… I don't know. It was as though my mind shattered into a thousand shards, each shard reflecting its own image, its own terrifying truth. Most of them were dark and scary, filled with images of despair and destruction. Some I have already forgotten, thankfully. The other…" Cassie fell silent, remembering, her gaze distant, lost in the depths of her vision.
"I saw the human castle again. Only this time, it was at night. There was a lonely star burning in the black skies, a single point of light in the overwhelming darkness, and under its ominous light, the castle was suddenly consumed by fire, with rivers of blood flowing down its halls, staining the stone crimson. There was a man in black, wearing a crown, and staring angrily at the star, his face covered in blood, his eyes filled with a chilling rage. I saw a corpse in golden armor, sitting on a throne, lifeless and regal; a woman with a bronze spear drowning in a tide of monsters, her struggles futile; an archer trying desperately to pierce the falling sky with his arrows, his efforts in vain." Finally, she looked up, her face full of horror, her eyes wide and unseeing. "In the end, I saw a colossal, terrifying crimson spire, piercing the heavens. At its base, seven severed heads were guarding seven locks, their eyes hollow and lifeless. And at the very top, a… a dying angel was being consumed by hungry shadows, its light fading, but there was also a man in black, desperately trying to stop the chaos, to prevent the inevitable destruction. When I saw the angel bleed, I suddenly felt as though… as though something so precious that it can't be described with words was taken from me, something vital torn from my very soul." Her voice became quieter, fading into a whisper. "Then, I felt so much sorrow, so much pain, and so much rage that what little remained of my sanity seemed to disappear. That was when I woke up… I think."
Kane was oblivious to the deeper meaning of Cassie's vision, his mind struggling to comprehend the fragmented images and cryptic descriptions. He had no clue, thinking, 'Dying angel… Hungry shadows… Man in black… What type of vision is this? Why is it sounding familiar? Have I heard something like this before?' He looked at Nephis and Sunny. Sunny seemed to be as clueless as he was, his expression a mixture of confusion and bewilderment. Nephis, as usual, maintained her calm demeanor, her face betraying no emotion. But Kane didn't know that Cassie's terrifying vision was going to change his future dramatically, setting him on a path he could never have foreseen.
------------------------------------
The female lead for our MC,Here some Final contenders after some votes.Kindly Vote
1.Cassie
2.Morgan
3.Audrey Hall
----------------------------------------