My head hurt.
Something wet was trickling down my forehead.
I had yet to open my eyes, even opening them felt heavy.
I felt like I was getting dragged by the arm, my body was sliding through something sticky.
I did not know what was happening, I felt weirded out.
After some while, I found the strength to open my eyes. I was surrounded by... red?
The "trees" were made of something resembling coral, growing chaotically into each other and stretching toward the sky.
They were colossal in size, with irregular protrusions entwining and merging together, looking monumental and eerie in the black and red reality of the sunlit void.
I was indeed being dragged, something was gripping my arm as it slid me through the mud.
As I slowly turned my head to see who it was, I was surprised.
The one who was dragging me was none other than Lee. Although he looked different in a sense.
His body was covered with a silver armor that covered all his body and left no gapes. The shoulders were bulky and something that resembled ice protruded from the chest of the armor.
The pristine armor was.. covered in web like cracks and azure liquid. One of his arms hung limply by his side. His breathing was heavy and he looked very exhausted.
It didn't take long to notice I was practically naked. Only a makeshift seaweed wrap covered my chest and lower body
Seeing the yellow sparks shimmer around my body, Lee let go of my arm and bent down to look at me with a hint of worry in his eyes.
"Hey.. you finally awake?"
My head hurt very much as I tried to sit up. I felt some liquid stain my face, as I brought my hand to clean it off, I saw that my hand was stained with my blood.
I looked at Lee, who simply shrugged.
"I found you on a hill, you must have hit your head when you came here. The rock that you had landed on was bloody."
"I see."
I got up, my legs felt a bit wobbly but I endured. Looking around, I did not recognize where we are.
"Where are we?"
"I don't know. I never read about a region like this. It is most likely unexplored."
I ran my hand through my hair.
"So, a death zone."
Lee nodded.
'Great. Just what we needed.'
I looked at Lee once again.
"What happened to you?"
"While you were sleeping I got jumped by five awakened beasts."
It was not my time to give him a weird look.
"And you defeated them all?"
He nodded. "Lets move. We need to find a hill, when it becomes night a sea rises." Without waiting he started to move.
I followed him, at first I stumbled due to my headache, but I kept my balance.
A sea? What kind of a region was this?
"What about the sea?"
"The things that it has living inside it, you would not want to face them."
Our steps made some weird sounds as we walked in the mud.
"Anything else?"
"This part of the region seems to be filled with creatures named Carapace Scavenger. They are not very powerful if you fight them on a one on one battle. Their weakness are the gaps between their limbs."
"I see.. you have done your research."
***
Soon we encountered a tall hill in the distance. Without much difficulty, we climbed onto it.
Lee summoned a memory that looked like a bag, and got out some meat from it.
"Lets set up a fire before it gets dark. The creatures under the water are attracted to it."
With that, I helped him set up the fire. Taking the meat he had gathered from the scavengers, I cooked them. After deeming them edible, I put out the fire. Lending Lee his share of meat.
He immediately began munching on the meat like a hungry wolf like he did back in the academy.
'What kind of legacy eats like that?'
Sensing my gaze, Lee looked up and tilted his head. As if asking what I was looking at.
Not giving him any answers, I started to eat my share. I did not know how much I needed to eat, so I ate what a 'normal' person would consider much.
Soon after we finished our meal, the sun touched the horizon.
A few minutes later, the first streams of black water appeared in the labyrinth. Their volume quickly grew, and soon an apocalyptic flood devoured everything around. The sea was returning with the approach of the night.
"Damn!"
Lee gave me the side eye. Which I responded with a roll of my eyes.
"What, never have cursed before?"
"Should we share what abilities and Memories we have at our disposal?" Lee changed the conversation rather quickly. "I will start."
I nodded.
"My attributes give me a boost in strength and my analytical skills. I have a strong affiliation to divinity. I have five memories:"
He pointed to his amor.
"This is my mothers aspect legacy relic. It is a transcendent armor."
My mouth fell agape. However Lee ignored it.
"I have a sword of the ascended rank, a crossbow of the awakened rank, a lantern and a storage memory which can keep stuff inside even if its dismissed."
"As for my ability, It gives my body a metal like quality and an endurance boost."
A silence followed after Lee finished. I snapped out of my thoughts when he coughed.
"Oh.. you are packed."
Lee simply nodded.
"I suppose it is my turn now... I think I have an affinity to time? And also slight affinity to divinity. My attributes give me a boost in speed."
I kept the [Eye of ???] attribute to myself.
"I have three memories: This armor, an ascended charm of the fourth tier, and a short sword of the awakened rank."
"My ability increases my speed. And I am more powerful in places where light is less prominent."
It was Lee's turn to be quiet.
"You have killed a Fallen Devil..?"
I just winked at him, but he never saw it. It was finally dark around us.
And as it turns out, I could see in the dark. It was most likely from my weird attribute.
Seeing that did not answer him, Lee sighed.
"You take a rest. I will watch over you."
He did not even protest as he summoned his bag and put it under his head to sleep.
***
I felt something shake me.
"Get up. Did you seriously fall asleep when you told me you were going to watch over?"
Lee was standing near me as he shook me awake. Last night I had fallen asleep without even realizing it.
With a yawn I sat up, not bothering to apologize to him as I waved him away. I felt his glare on the back of my head, but I ignored it and focused on the scenery in front of me.
It seems this place was something like a labyrinth with dangerous beings crawling inside it.
As I was focused on the labyrinth, I heard Lee call out to me. He had poured five awakened soul cores onto the ground.
"Take four, my soul is halfway saturated."
'Rich prick.'
[Your soul grows stronger..]
[Your soul grows stronger..]
[Your soul grows stronger..]
[Your soul grows stronger..]
I summoned my runes to check.
Soul Fragments: [265/1000]
'So each awakened soul core gives ten fragments'
I nodded. 'Neat.'
"We should analyze the labyrinth first from up here. Then we can go down and kill some scavengers to gather meat and soul cores to get stronger."
I nodded. And for the next hour, Lee and I examined the labyrinth of red from up the hill.
It was now time to go down and hunt some beasts.