Resolve

The three weeks passed in a blink of an eye.

It was now the winter solstice. 

The adaptability of humanity showed itself immediately. The throne room looked as if a gruesome battle that determined the future of every human in the Forgotten Shore did not happen at all. Cleaned and repurposed. It was a morbid thought. 

Just like that, people went back to what they were good at. The artisans built and repaired. The castle guards defended the castle, and the hunters hunted. 

The time taken for the battle over the castle did not allow any nightmare creatures the chance to invade. So the castle guards went back to their regular duty. Although much less in numbers. A few sharp thorns had to be culled. With them being the only faction to have lost their leader, not everyone could accept the battle's resolution. However, two or three dissidents did not motivate the rest to take arms. Especially with the odds they had. 

The hunters enjoyed a much better transition. With Gemma still present, it was business as usual. They had lost numbers; however, with the nature of being a hunter in the Dark City, death was always on the horizon. The deaths in the battle exceeded the monthly death toll caused by the Dark City by a small margin. 

The hunters themselves perhaps enjoyed the three weeks the most. With the addition of the Dawn Shard amplifying their memories by almost a whole rank, they were capable of defeating many of the fallen nightmare creatures. The issue that they had before and that most powerful sleepers in the Dark City had was that their memories were not powerful enough to defeat fallen creatures. It took ascended memories to pierce their strong hides and skin. Only sleepers that were close to saturating their cores with particular combat-based aspects could do the job. Now that was not the case. They were culling the city in droves. And the best part was that the rewards were exponential. The more they fought, the more memories they gained. Ascended memories with powerful enchantments that made their next hunt easier and reduced their mortality rate. 

Aldric had spent his time making the most of his final stay in the Dark City. Unlike the rest of the sleepers outside of his cohort and Seishan, he knew what was waiting for them after the winter solstice. 

He spent his time training with his loyal companion. It was here that he learned about one of the advantages that his apostle had gained after its birth. Typically, an echo is only that. An echo. It would retain the mannerisms and behaviour from the moment of the original's death. While they could be guided and ordered, they were not capable of adapting or learning. However, the difference between the echo that he trained with when he first gained it and his apostle was night and day. His apostle could adapt to his fighting style. Predict and counter. As if he was fighting a real human. 

This improved the efficiency of his training by many orders of magnitude. Being punished for unnecessary movements and manoeuvres was humbling. The most valuable gain from his spars with his apostle was improving the efficacy of his battle style in longer battles. While he tried his best at keeping battles with nightmare creatures as short as possible, he needed the experience of fighting an armed opponent. For what was to come. 

Stood on the tall roof of the stone lodge in the outer settlement, Aldric and the rest of the cohort stood to see Kai off. It was time to see if any sleepers had been sent to the Forgotten Shore by the spell this solstice.

To Aldric, it made no difference. What would it matter if one person or none were sent here? But it seemed that Nephis wanted to use this to prove something. To prove to those still clinging to a future that it simply did not exist. Not on the Forgotten Shore. 

"Relax, guys, don't worry. I'll be fine."

Kai spoke as he looked towards his cohort. 

Sunny, in typical fashion, responded. 

"Just don't bring anyone as annoying as you."

Kai broke into a laugh, registering the comment as truth. 

"I'll try not to. Wish me luck."

With a nod of his head, Kai ascended into the sky. 

A small part of Aldric was envious of the ability to fly. To be untethered by the earth. But the grass wasn't always greener on the other side, and he was happy with his side. Not much could compare to the feeling of wielding literal darkness. 

He looked at the people beside him. Cassie looked worried. It seemed as the more time passed since the battle, the more stressed and bothered she looked. 

To his right side, Seishan stood tall in her regal beauty. Ever since the battle, she was not far from the cohort. Advising Nephis as well as listening to her orders. He often felt her sneaking glances at him. As if she were assessing him for something. 

His eyes went to Nephis and Sunny, who stood side by side. 

'I need one.'

It was during the battle as well as the journey back from the hollow mountains that Aldric learned just how valuable having a divine lineage was. The way that Nephis almost had an exhaustible amount of flames at her call, speaking of the potency of her soul essence as well as Sunny with his Blood Weave. Learning that he was able to fight off a parasite that birthed in his lungs, the same one that destroyed a completely healthy Gunlaug. While they may seem weak at their current level, the potency of the lineage will scale with their rank. Especially as Nephis gains more cores and ranks up, as well as Sunny gaining more parts of the forbidden lineage. 

This solidified his resolve.

This train of thought eventually led to the Tesseract. A memory beyond his and the spells comprehension. Was it even a memory? While he had an idea of its purpose, the item itself was not a lineage and so far did not bring any value at the level of something like the Sun God's legacy. 

However, it would lead him. Guide him to the unknown. The same way it guided him towards the gate below the statue. The same way it sent him to the castle for the Mantle of The Underworld. The same day he had entered the Dark City and felt that signal from the castle, he had also felt something in the southeast of the city. In the heart of the Fallen territory. 

Instinctively, he knew what it was. A challenge. A challenge outside of his knowledge. Small hints of doubt and fear began to bleed into his heart. After all, what was more fear-inducing than the unknown? When he was younger, Aldric often thought that once he passed his first nightmare, he would know everything. He would live an uneventful life but at least know what would happen next. Staying safe and valuing his life. This immature and passive plan for life was forgotten about the moment he began to live in the moment. Fighting day by day in the Forgotten Shore, not knowing which day would be your last. And it shattered the moment he found his purpose. 

'Nothing will change if nothing changes.'

If he wanted to achieve his goals. To reach an ending that he wanted outside the limits of what fate had in store. He would have to challenge himself a thousand times over. 

With eyes burning with ambition, he spoke towards the pair. 

"Nephis, let's go."

The white-haired girl turned back at the voice. Looking at Aldric, she nodded.

**********

Thanks for reading. 

What did you think? Any guesses on what this challenge is exactly?

GodOf_Luck: Soon or not. But it will.

Nefoolim: Don't worry. This train is not slowing down at all.

Take care people. Till next time.