Sunny took out the meat they had gathered earlier, which Nephis immediately took over preparing.
Meanwhile, Cassia handed both him and Orren her water memory.
Orren drank quietly while Sunny explained everything he had discovered about the labyrinth, the coral structure, and the creatures gathered around the massive corpse.
“That would explain why we haven’t encountered any Nightmare Creatures during the day,” Nephis said after listening.
She looked toward Sunny.
“How long?” Sunny blinked.
“How long what?” Nephis stared at him without answering.
The silence stretched for several seconds, making everyone slightly uncomfortable.
“How long… until they finish consuming the carcass?” “Oh.” Sunny looked away, embarrassed that he had misunderstood.
“One more day.
Two at most.” Nephis simply nodded and returned her attention to cooking.
Once the food was ready, they ate in relative silence.
For a group that had only just met, the atmosphere was surprisingly calm.
Eventually, Cassia broke the silence.
“How about we properly introduce ourselves?” She smiled faintly.
“I’m Cassia, but you can call me Cassie.” “Neph.” The answer came immediately and without any explanation.
Orren barely managed to suppress a laugh behind his mask.
Somehow, despite knowing exactly what kind of person she was, seeing Nephis introduce herself with a single word was still amusing.
Sunny introduced himself next.
“I’m Sunless, but you can call me Sunny.” Finally, everyone looked toward Orren.
“I’m Orren.” He kept his introduction simple.
Compared to the others, his name carried no hidden meaning, no reputation, and no strange circumstances.
At least, not yet.
They spent some time comparing abilities and memories, trying to understand what each of them could actually bring to the table in this place.
Cassie tilted her head slightly as they spoke.
“I can’t see your attributes, Orren.” “That’s expected,” he replied after a short pause.
“You see, I have a weird attribute.
It makes me naturally resistant to divinations and the likes, that’s probably why I appear to be invisible to you.” He didn’t say that it was his innate ability though, as he wasn’t sure whether only Divine aspect holders had an innate ability or other ranks could have one too.
Cassie accepted the answer without pressing further.
After a brief silence, Nephis spoke.
“Why do you wear a mask?” Before Orren could answer, Sunny leaned back slightly, as if he had been waiting for the question.
“Well,” he said dramatically, “apparently he doesn’t trust me.” Orren turned his head toward him.
“Don’t twist it like that.
I just didn’t know you well enough at the time.
That’s all.” He exhaled lightly, then added, “Besides, I don’t really see the point of hiding it now.” With a thought, he dismissed the mask.
For a moment, there was silence.
Sunny was the first to break it.
“You’re a kid.” Orren blinked.
“I’m not a kid.” Cassie, unable to see anything, raised an eyebrow in Sunny’s direction.
Nephis simply observed in silence.
Sunny leaned forward slightly, clearly amused.
“Oh?
Then how old are you?” Orren hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering.
“Fifteen.” That immediately made Sunny’s grin widen.
“So you are the youngest.” Cassie remarked, while Sunny just smirked.
“I didn’t see you at the academy.” Nehpis spoke.
‘Hmm, sharp as ever.’ Orren thought.
“I wasn’t there,” he said.
“My first Nightmare ended on the day of the Winter Solstice.
I didn’t even realize what was happening.
I just went to sleep like normal, and the Spell dragged me into the Dream Realm.” The atmosphere shifted slightly after that.
Even Sunny didn’t joke for a moment.
Cassie’s voice softened.
“That must have been difficult.” “I survived,” Orren said simply, with a faint shrug and a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Cassie studied him for a moment longer.
“Being infected by the Nightmare Spell at that age… it’s unfortunate.” Orren gave a short, dry laugh.
“The Spell doesn’t really care about what’s unfortunate.
The Spell does, what the Spell wants.” No one argued with that.
After that, the conversation naturally wound down.
They agreed on watch shifts, and Nephis took the first one while Sunny stayed up talking with her in low voices near the fire.
Orren lay down without much hesitation.
For once, he didn’t stay half-alert or tense.
He simply slept.
Not because he felt safe but because, for the first time in a long while, exhaustion was enough to win.
……..
“…up.” “Hmm?” “Wake up.” Sunny’s voice cut through the fog of sleep again, followed by a firm nudge against Orren’s side.
Orren groaned and rolled slightly.
“Just five more minutes…” “Dammit,” Sunny muttered.
“You’re not at home.” That finally got a reaction.
Orren blinked his eyes open, slow and reluctant, then sat up with a long yawn and stretched his arms as if nothing in the world was trying to kill him.
“Ah… that was actually a good sleep.” Apparently, no one had bothered waking him earlier.
The others had already discussed their next move, and even Cassie’s vision had come and gone while he slept through all of it.
Sunny pointed ahead as Orren began eating something from their supplies.
“We’re moving west.” Orren chewed for a moment before answering.
“Why west?” “Cassie had a vision,” Sunny replied flatly.
“There’s a human settlement in that direction.” Orren smirked slightly.
“So I risk my life and the first thing I miss is strategy meetings?” Sunny’s expression tightened.
“You can start attending them if you stop sleeping like a corpse.” “Just because you know I am younger than you, doesn’t change anything.
You are still the same height as me.” Orren shot back with a smirk.
While Sunny clicked his tongue, Cassie let out a small amused smile behind them, while Nephis remained as unreadable as ever.
They soon resumed traveling, following Sunny’s guidance back through the coral labyrinth toward the statue.
That was when they encountered the scavengers.
Six of them.
The group stopped immediately.
The creatures shifted in the distance, low and tense, their attention already drawn toward the movement.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Sunny broke the silence first.
“We should find another route.” Even Cassie looked uneasy.
She had already seen what even a couple of scavengers could do.
Nephis had struggled against far fewer on the first night, and that fight had nearly gone wrong.
Orren, however, stepped forward slightly.
“I say we fight them.” The reaction was immediate.
“Are you insane?” Sunny snapped.
Cassie instinctively tensed at the idea, her hand tightening slightly on the makeshift grip she used to orient herself.
Even Nephis turned her gaze fully toward Orren, studying him in silence.
“Explain,” she said simply.
Orren glanced toward the scavengers, then back at them.
“If the two of you fight together,” he said, “you can handle two of them, right?” Nephis considered it briefly.
“Yes.” Sunny nodded.
“Probably.” “But you are not saying that you will take on the rest of the four scavengers on your own, are you?” Sunny asked, skeptically.
“That’s exactly what I mean.
I am confident that I can take two of them down on my own and in case you haven’t noticed it by now, Draco is an awakened monster, he should also be able to take on two of them.” That got a reaction out of everyone.
That statement alone made the atmosphere shift.
Even Sunny paused.
To slay an awakened monster in the first nightmare as a dreamer was certainly a great achievement not many could claim to have done.
Orren raised a hand slightly before the objections could form.
“And it’s not like I am saying I don’t need your help or anything.
The moment you are done taking down the two of them join me immediately.
Even if I fail to take them down by then, I am a hundred percent sure I won’t die.” He explained.
Orren had no intention of wandering for hours running from these beasts.
He knew they would have to fight sooner or later.
While Sunny was having a hard time believing his ears, Nephis said: “Alright.
Let’s go with your plan.” Sunny exhaled sharply.
“They have gone mad.” But Nephis was already looking toward the battlefield.
“…Alright,” she said.
That was enough.
Plans were made quickly after that.
Sunny would draw off two scavengers using his shadow, isolating them from the group.
The rest would engage immediately once the separation was complete.
Cassie was guided to a sheltered position near the coral wall, partially hidden from view.
Draco stayed nearby, low and still, like a coiled weapon waiting to be released.
Nephis glanced once at Orren before turning away.
“Don’t die.” Then she moved.
Orren watched them go, exhaling slowly.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured under his breath.
“I didn’t come this far just to lose here.” The scavengers were already turning toward them.
And the hunt began.
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