Two menacing figures were spotted atop the walls of the Bright Castle. The smaller figure was clad in a shadow grey futuristic armor, two digital blue slits appeared on either side of their angular visored helmet. There was also a sheathed blade draped under a baggy cape at their side. The figure was currently squatting on their knees as they overlooked the Bright Castle.
The other was a daunting and slender knight. While the shorter figure had a vague and bulky armor that didn't allow one to pier what gender they were, the knight was unmistakably female. A stone great sword was sheathed on her back. She was standing with a composed stance.
If anyone didn't know any better, they would assume that the two figures were attempting to look cool and "aura farm" to anyone who saw the two on the walls of the castle.
Milo let out a soft sight, it had been five months since Eva and he were transported to that place, and met a daunting figure there. It was safe to say that Milo was happy to see other people.
Eva looked down on the castle with an unreadable expression on her stoic face.
"Lets go"
"Right, of course"
---
Milo found himself shaken awake by Eva, his lungs were filled with salty water, after coughing up the water. He looked around to see just where in the hell they were. The sound of running water was constant in the background, an impossible blue light peered in from cracks of what seemed to be some sort of ancient temple. The blue light suggested a moon, which meant that they were no longer in the clutches of the Forgotten Shore. Milo prayed that the blue light wasn't artificial.
It was only then did the memories of what happened on the Soul Devouring Tree come slamming back into Milo with a vengeance, Milo found himself kneeling on the ground, struggling to not vomit as tears threatened to spill out of his eyes. He felt disgusted at just how powerless he was against it.
"Eva... I'm sorry. I'm so sorr-"
"I don't need your apologies, there was nothing you could do. Now get up and lets figure it out a way out of this place"
Milo ignored the spite stirring in his chest. The fact of the matter was he couldn't do anything, and he hated it. Eva was really only pouring salt on the wound, not that she knew it though. So he would let it slide.
"You're right"
Milo stood up, looking around the room they were in. There were multiple lines tracing the walls of the desolate temple. Dark green overgrowth had veiled them from view. With a sigh, Milo willed his prosthetic to turn into a makeshift torch, which was a very weird sensation out of everything that Milo had turned his prosthetic into.
As Milo and Eva followed the lines, he noted that the lines looked awfully a lot like the traces of a computer chip, which only left the question of what the hell it was doing in the Dream Realm. Even in Milo's first nightmare, the technology that had made up himself was more like crude spelltech then anything else. The core that had been implanted within him was golden on the outside, Milo had no doubt that there was something else within the core, but beyond that it wasn't anything that constituted the use of chips.
"Did you notice... the lines look like the traces of a computer chip"
"Computer chips can leave traces?"
Milo snorted "N-no Eva, its like those little lines that are physically on the chip"
"Oh... I see" Eva seemed very interested in the wall opposite of Milo
Milo shook his head and looked forward. After a few minutes of walking the duo had reached an arch opening. Milo moved forward wearily, the faint orange light revealed the hand of a skeleton. Clutched within it was a golden accented silver orb, a faint grey crystal within it. Milo reached downwards and plucked it from the skeletons hands. The grey crystal then slightly shined with a radiant white, and the Spell spoke
[You have received a Memory: Workshop Key]
'Eh?'
Milo didn't have much more time to ponder as a thunderous boom resided throughout the room. Dust flew into the duo's faces, however even through the dust, Milo could see two crimson flames in the center of the room. As the dust settled, Milo slightly shivered at just what was in front of him. A mechanical construct of some kind was mangled and ripped apart, an ethereal blue liquid leaking from multiple severed parts of it's body. Whatever was powering the thing had begun to weakly whirr, like the final breath of a dying creature.
On top of the destroyed construct was a battered onyx knight. The knight was kneeling on the constructs chest. Sword dove deep into the chest, the knight stood up, the more Milo looked at the knight, the more he felt a sense of awe stir within his chest. The knight looked like a marble statue brought to life beneath the armor. Then Milo looked at the armor, then looked at Eva
'They look identical'
Pierced through the knight's sword was a golden core with a faint blue energy residing from within it. Milo recognized it as the same one from his First Nightmare.
'I managed to kill an Awakened Tyrant with that core within me... and the knight just managed to kill it'
Milo wasn't exactly looking forward to fighting the knight. Yet his mind was already racing with plans on how to kill the damn thing.
That was until the knight looked up at Eva, and some positive emotion seemed to burn within its eyes. Then it turned to Milo, and that positive emotion turned into a seething disdain.
'What in the world just happened?'
The once again planted its sword down into the construct. In the next second, it appeared before Milo
'Huh?'
Milo felt a powerful force blow into his stomach. The knight had gut punched Milo, and it sent him flying, bouncing without grace and grinding to a pitiful stop several meters away. Looking up, Eva was already upon the knight, punching its marble armor with urgency. The knight simply shoved her away, and glared at Milo.
"Ah... this is just sexist"
Milo allowed his prosthetic to change into a sword, the knight seemed to glean this, and appeared at where its sword used to be. Then the ruby flames beneath its visor flickered with confusion.
Eva was now standing beside Milo, a stone Claymore in her hand. Her armor which had only been partially summoned before was now fully summoned. The granite armor gleamed under the pale moonlight that was leaking in from the collapsed roof.
The knight stared at the two for a bit. Amusement shone in its eyes as it suddenly surged forward Milo and Eva swung their swords, and a clang resided throughout the room. The knight had stopped both their attacks, each sword was in one hand. The knight threw Milo's arm back first, and used its now free hand to throw a jab at Eva.
Eva ducked under the jab an threw a sidewards slash at the knights torso which it simply dashed back from. Having regained his bearings Milo joined Eva's side.
The knight simply raised its hands up in a fighting position, causing Milo to let out an exasperated groan. Eva then silently muttered under her breath
"Of course it can fucking throw hands, why wouldn't it be able to"
Milo and Eva charged forward. Their attacks were coordinated, after all the two had spent weeks fighting against the Carapace Scavengers side by side. They no longer had a need to coordinate with words, they simply flowed together.
Any cracks that the two had within their defense was filled by each other, by all means any enemy would have been woefully overwhelmed in this circumstance. And yet...
'The knight just won't budge'
The knight masterfully defended each of their blows, any attacks that it could not dodge were blocked, and it got its licks in where it could. However, slowly but surely, Milo and Eva were gaining an edge. Their teamwork was allowing them to turn dodges into blocks, and blocks into desperate blocks.
Milo allowed his prosthetic to return to its original form, and a thruster appeared at the tip of his elbow, a loud roar emitted from the thruster, and Milo surged forward with speed his body could not possibly possess.
Eva also moved forward, a grin beneath her helmeted face. If this didn't work, then frankly she had no idea what would.
Milo started off this assault with a powerful blow to the knights side, the knight brought down its hand to block, which left it open to Eva's swing at its head. The knight recoiled as its own sword left a deep scratch on its helmet. It didn't have time to recover as Milo was already kicking at the other side of its head. Eva then slashed at the center of its chest. Milo followed up with a devastating upper cut to its helmet from down below, his thruster delivering a powerful blow along with sending him a couple meters in the air. Eva then swept the knights legs. However, the knight didn't budge. What sounded like the large roar of an engine rained from above.
'Uh oh'
Eva jumped out of the way, before the knight could move to pursue, a thundering impact came crashing above its head. The sound of shattering steel resounding throughout the palely lit room. Once the view was clear, Milo's prosthetic was basically wrecked from the elbow down. compacted to bits as the joints on his knuckle had reached his inner elbow.
The knight itself was in no good position either. He was laying on the ground. His once battered helmet now completely shattered, the obsidian pieces laying beside the ground next to him. The flames flickered with fleeing echoes of life. Eva brought the sword down upon his neck. The knights head and neck separated with a loud crack
[You have slain an Awakened Demon: Marble Saint].
[You have received a Memory: Stone Blade]
---
Milo sat on the destroyed construct. Staring at the now pried open core that the knight had left on its sword. After a lot of hits from Carmen's Hammer, and more time spent in Eva's embrace, his prosthetic was back at full force, he was thankful that it had managed to do serious damage to the Saint as to successfully cripple it.
Milo took out the radiant soul shard within the core, and crushed it within his hands.
[Your soul has advanced].
Milo then looked over at Coil, the serpent had already devoured the remnants of the Marble Saint. Milo was rather pleased with the process, the only sad part was that he had not yet received an armor Memory. However, that might soon change.
Milo summoned the Workshop Key he had received, and tossed it over to Eva. Catching it, Eva inserted it into an open slot that was within a large stone wall. Milo heaved himself off the construct and walked over as the walls chiseled accents glowed with a faint blue energy. Dirt fell from the top of the wall as the ancient stones struggled to shift to the side.
Within the stone wall was what could only be described as a blacksmiths wet dream. Multiple workstations were lit up by a bright blue lantern, however, Milo brushed past all of them. Eva moved to follow him, however she looked at a chisel, and quickly pocketed it for herself.
Milo was oblivious to Eva's antics, something else had caught his attention. Within the room had resided a futuristic grey armor, sat up against the wall. Milo reached forward and grabbed the lifeless helmet. It felt like a screen to the touch. The excited grin on his face quickly turned into disappointment as the armor disappeared into countless white sparks.
'Oh come on!'
Was it some kind of security system to prevent anyone from taking the armor that it didn't belong to? Just as Milo was about to scream a curse, the Spell spoke
[You have received an Attribute]
Milo wasted no time pulling up his runes. Within them he checked his attributes
Attributes: [Prosthesis of Valor] [Iron Logic] [Apostle]
'Right, already had these'
The fourth one though. Left Milo absolutely elated.
[Carmen's Masterpiece]