Chapter: 20, Wraiths
In the dimly lit cave, Sunny woke up in the embrace of reflecting shadows.
She sat up to find the others lying beside her, all unconscious. She noticed Cassie sitting beside the bonfire which was still burning. Cassie heard the sound of her waking up and said
"You're up. I just woke up a bit earlier. Btw, get ready to eat, Mark made breakfast for us." She said as she pointed beside her where the cooked meat was placed in a clean plate, covered with a tin cover. Only the dead Gods know where Mark found these in this cursed dead zone.
She rubbed her eyes and taking a piece of meat that was cooked with seasonings she asked Cassie "Where is Mark? I don't see him around, is he out for something?"
Cassie shrugged and said "He disappeared" making sunny choke on the meat. After clearing her throat, she looked at her and asked incredulously
"He disappeared? Not like he went somewhere, but vanished into thin air?"
Cassie nodded and said "Yes, he vanished into thin air. He said he will be out for something but I didn't hear his footsteps. So yes, he vanished into thin air."
Sunny looked incredulous, how could he just disappear in thin air? She remembered Effie receiving a Supreme storage memory in the third nightmare that worked the same way. But how did he get a supreme memory, as a Dreamer at that!
*
Inside [Paradise], Mark looked at the new Echoes he received. He first looked at his runes.
Name: Mark.
True Name: King of Void.
Rank: Dreamer.
Void Core: Dormant.
Void Fragments: [925/1000].
He had a pleased smile, throughout these six months, he has killed many nightmare creatures. His core was fully saturated and now he was only a few fragments away from forming his monster core. He looked below and saw the new entries
Echoes: [Nihil], [Somnius].
He thought and looked at the runes describing the first echo.
[Nihil]
Rank: -unknown-.
Tier: -unknown-
Attributes: [Absolute Erasure], [Silent Oblivion], [Unknowable].
Description: "A fragment of Nothingness, a paradox given form. It is not alive, yet it exists. It does not think, yet it acts. It has no name, yet it is nothing."
"A being of nothingness? Something like this can actually be turned into echo?" Mark exclaimed with shock.
Nothing is a force that is holding the Void being from invading the world created by the seven gods. A being from this nothingness doesn't have any physical body, so how can it become an echo?
Mark looked at the attribute descriptions.
[Absolute Erasure] Attribute Description: "Anything that touches it ceases to exist. Time, space, and energy- it consumes all without effort or intent. The only existence it recognizes is what is able to slay it."
[Silent Oblivion] Attribute Description: "Its presence is unnatural, erasing sound, light, even through itself."
[Unknowable] Attribute Description: "It cannot truly be perceived, for it is not meant to be."
"F*ck! It has this extremely op ability?" Mark was happy to see this overpowered echo. If he can use it wisely, he can clear the Crimson spire with this alone.
Mark then looked at the next echo.
[Somnius]
Rank: Transcendent.
Tier: Devil.
Attributes: [Dreamwoven Presence], [Nightmare Echo], [Sovereign of the Forgotten].
Description: "An echo of an era long past, a being woven from the threads of forgotten dreams. He does not wake, for he has never slept. Bound to the space between slumber and waking, he watches, he waits, he whispers. The fabric of reality shifts where he treads, the boundary between dream and truth unraveling in his presence."
Something shook in Mark. The term 'forgotten dreams' could only mean one thing, the forgotten god or the dream god
Mark looked at his Attributes
[Dreamwoven Presence] Attribute description: "Reality bends in his presence, as if waking and dream are one."
[Nightmare Echo] Attribute description: "He can manifest the fears of those around him, turning them into illusions so real they can kill."
[Sovereign of the Forgotten] Attribute description: "Lost knowledge, forgotten power-nothing truly fades in his presence."
"A being who can manipulate reality and dreams?" Mark clapped his hand with joy; the two echoes he received were so strong. How lucky can he get?
Suddenly he looked at the new section.
[Turn into Wraith for 50 Void fragments?]
[Y/N]
Mark didn't think and turned both of them into Wraiths.
After a strange feeling, Mark looked at the new appearance of Nihil. Nihil was a being of Nothingness, the white fog. But after turning into a Wraith, its white fog turned into pitch black. There was nothing else to change.
As he looked at Somnius, Mark was stunned. Somnius now wore a Black robe that resembled onyx and his porcelain mask turned black, looking more sinister than it was before.
There was something Mark got to know, His wraith are not bound to his void cores. Currently he only has his beast core, so having two wraith sounds illogical if he compares himself to Sunny's shadows.
So it means he can have as many wraiths as he wanted, it's a very good thing. An entire group of Wraiths not limited to seven will be unimaginably stronger than Sunny's Shadows.
Mark then got near the pile of nightmare creatures remains that he has collected up till now. He was going to create a memory for all the girls that suit them.
He selected the eye of a nightmare creature of the Ascendent rank; it was a monster with many eyes and a fungus type liquid body.
Mark was disgusted to touch its body after killing it, but he found that its eyeballs were like stone. So he picked it up.
Even though it was as sturdy as stone, it could still be used as eyes. Mark could use it to create a visual memory for Cassie.
Seven hours inside paradise is one hour outside, so he can create 6-7 memories within 6 hours.
So without any delay, Mark began to make the essence strings using his own void essence.
To be Continued…