Kiiiek!
Whoosh!
Slash!
I whistled a tune, watching as my Echo massacred the spiders, which were simple Dormant beasts. Since they were much weaker than me, I couldn't kill them, but my Echo could.
It was a method I'd discovered to circumvent my Flaw. I could kill weaker things through others. The problem would be if I had no other way to kill something. For example, if I were sealed and needed to kill something weaker to escape, it would be impossible.
"I need a Weaver's mask," I murmured quietly.
In the history, it was mentioned that there were two masks. The first one, Sunny found because he was destined to be and was Weaver's puppet. But the location of the second was unknown.
Maybe it's in the Kingdom of Death?
That's the most likely, but I won't go to that place unless I become a supreme being. I won't set foot there.
After the last spider was destroyed, I continued forward, lost in my thoughts.
Finally, crossing the main passage, I arrived at a completely different area. It was a spacious underground area, like a subterranean city.
I could see hundreds, no, better said, thousands upon thousands of bones scattered everywhere. Some were entangled in cobwebs, others were on macabre bone trees. In the center, where I deduced the queen's place would be, it was empty after she died along with her brood.
I couldn't sense any living being within a kilometer radius, so I made a leap, arriving at the ancient city.
On the ceiling were luminous crystals that gave clarity to the entire space. Moreover, even if there were no light, I could see clearly thanks to my Darkness attribute, which granted me night vision.
The city was ancient; of that, there was no doubt. The houses were half-collapsed from time, some had simply crumbled, leaving parts still standing.
The sight of the skulls scattered here and there was a bit disconcerting.
Taking another Spatial Leap, I appeared at what had been the spider queen's nest. It was a huge crater, as if a great impact had occurred.
Inside, there was a large web with desiccated nightmare creatures wrapped in spider silk cocoons.
Using my Shapeshifter memory, I imagined a torch, which I lit with my Fire attribute. Thanks to essence, I could use attributes freely.
The only downside was the essence cost. I wasn't good at controlling it, so I spent quite a bit of essence.
I burned the webs, watching them burn for a while until they collapsed and were consumed.
As the spider webs disappeared, I observed with curiosity that there was a new path.
Advancing where the spider web had been, I saw many soul fragments scattered on the ground, belonging to the monsters the spiders had devoured over the years.
Using the Greedy Pouch, I collected the free fragments. After a few hours, I had collected about 5000 fragments, and there were no more left.
From the pouch, I took out some abomination meat, a bit of wood, and the water bucket.
Preparing the meat, I let it cook while giving myself a quick bath, washing off the blood and grime from my body.
When I finished, I felt clean.
Eating the monster meat, I continued my exploration adventure.
I continued along the new path, seeing more bones and ruins until I took several consecutive leaps, arriving at a different area. It was a rocky, elevated zone.
Stopping, I observed the ruins from above. It was a city, as I had guessed initially, and it was similar to the city above.
My gaze settled on the elevation where I stood.
It was truly enormous and massive, like a great, imposing mountain.
"Could it be possible?" I wondered thoughtfully.
The mountain and the mountain above... could they be the same?
And if that were true, then there would be a city on top of a city.
What kind of lunatic does that?
"This is really strange."
[You have slain a Corrupt Beast, Terracotta Walker]
[You have obtained a memory]
Oh, right, I forgot to dismiss the wolf, I thought to myself.
Summoning the memory, I observed it curiously.
It was a large sword made of smooth, light brown stone.
Memory: Stone Sword
Memory Rank:Awakened.
Memory Level:VI
Type:Weapon.
Memory Description:[When the enormous fire rocks fell from the firmament, they struck the upper city, destroying and burying the lower city beneath the earth.]
'I guess the upper city refers to the ruined city above, and the huge holes like this one. What kind of power was used to destroy an entire city?' I thought curiously.
Even if they used meteors, they would need several really large ones to cause such devastation.
Memory Enchantments: [Earth Spikes] [Stone Armor]
[Earth Spikes] Enchantment Description: [When this memory is thrust into the ground, it can raise earth spikes to impale enemies.]
[Stone Armor] Enchantment Description: [This enchantment creates a resistant armor of hard rock, difficult to pierce.]
"An offensive and a defensive enchantment. Not bad for a sixth-level Awakened memory."
Dismissing the memory, I took several consecutive leaps until I reached what I assumed was an ancient castle. Unfortunately, it was largely destroyed.
"Maybe there's something I can salvage?" I asked myself.
Appearing inside the ruined castle, I passed fallen columns, enormous rocks, and similar things.
Reaching the first room, I opened it, seeing nothing special or useful, so I left.
I reached another room, and it was more of the same.
Some time passed until I reached what I assumed was the castle's main bedroom. Opening the doors, I found significant differences.
The room was very spacious. In the middle was a large bed in perfect condition, without a single speck of dust, unlike the rest of the room.
There was a wardrobe, which I opened, seeing women's clothes like dresses and such. The garments were in impeccable condition.
Walking to a desk, I opened the drawers, finding nothing.
There were even the remains of a kind of diary, but it was completely destroyed by time.
"This must be the room of a queen or at least a princess," I reflected, sitting on the incredibly comfortable bed.
It was the most comfortable bed I had ever felt.
I lay on my back, feeling relaxed, and it had a rather pleasant smell.
"Alright, I'm taking it," I smiled, summoning the Greedy Pouch, which widened enough to fit the entire bed. I also took the wardrobe and the fine desk.
After completely emptying the room, I left.
Finding nothing else useful in the castle to my disappointment, I returned outside.
Returning to the ruins, I explored for a while longer, encountering the occasional nightmare creature of Beast and Monster rank. I killed the Monsters, and the Beasts were easily eliminated by my Echo.
I didn't obtain any memories or new Echoes.
While traveling through the ruins, I arrived at what I assumed was an ancient area. There was a church similar to the one in the upper ruins. This one was also destroyed, but unlike the previous one, this one was entirely so.
I could feel something strange emanating from that place, like a kind of call.
[Do you wish to challenge the Nightmare Seed?]
The Spell's voice whispered in my head, making me jump backward.
"No."
I immediately rejected it, moving as far away as I could.
'It's an immature seed,' I thought with a sigh.
"No, better not take it for now. Although it might be my only way to kill that Great Demon. As an Ascendant with seven soul cores, I'd have better chances."
I looked at the church, doubting whether to enter or not, but in the end, I decided not to for now. I needed to prepare beforehand.
"A soldier forewarned is worth two," I suppose.
Moving away from the area, I summoned my Echo and ordered it to get us out of this place.
After about two hours, we reached the entrance to the great sinkhole. Using Spatial Leap several times, I reached the top of the hole and returned to the church.
It was quite late at night.
Upon returning, I summoned the Greedy Pouch and crushed the soul fragments to become a Titan.
After about 30 minutes, I had succeeded.
Name: Ariel
True Name:Banished from Heaven.
Rank:Awakened.
Class:Titan
Soul Cores:[7/7]
Aspect Ability:[Spatial Leap]
Aspect:[Spatial Control]
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Legacy: [1/7]
---
At that point, I stopped looking at the runes. Now I was an Awakened Titan, someone who could fight Saints and defeat some, except for those truly experienced in combat.
"Curious, the soul fragments have disappeared. I guess it doesn't make sense now that I've completed them," I said, lying down on the bed.
Yawning, I closed my eyes and began to sleep, in a dreamless sleep.