Cassius's dimly glowing eyes sparked slightly before he returned to glancing over his System Notifications.
[Your 'Mythic Phoenix Bloodline (EX)' has progressed to 37.8% proficiency rate!]
[Growth Weapon 'Devil Blade Lilith' has advanced from the 'SS ' Rank to the 'SS ' Rank!]
|Lilith's Attack 70,000|
[Slayer Weapon 'Mora, Rivers of Blood' has advanced by leaps and bounds, going from 'Middle-Rank 3' → 'Peak-Rank 3']
Slayer Weapons—much like how a Slayer advanced—did so by absorbing essence. In this case, it was Blood Essence. With it, they could progress down a path that was essentially a one-to-one copy of a Nightmare's progression path.
Nightmares—oddly enough—devoured each other and other living beings to beco stronger. They, too, absorbed Blood Essence. This created a strange, almost synchronized cycle between Man, Slayer Weapon, and Nightmare. Each one was, in so way or another, intrinsically connected to the others.
OOOM…
As the energy gathered from several different advancents settled down, Cassius and his two precious partners felt a newfound level of strength inside them. Yet, with all their unique personalities being rather cold, none displayed much excitent over this mass leveling spree.
"Speaking of leveling," Cassius said plainly, "I've been sitting at Lvl 99 for a while now. Perhaps it's about ti I return to Earth and grind out that last level. Then I'll be able to take the Job Class Advancent Quest."
Following through with that thought, he stepped over the dried-up corpses of countless giant Nightmares. Blood from the strongest of them still poured down on him from above, but he paid it no mind. Lonely—almost distorted—steps softly echoed through the Boundless Gorge as a man who had fought his way through untold levels of torture began his return trip ho.
However, deep within the Boundless Gorge—millions of ters in—several shadowy mountains began to rustle. They were each the size of entire planets and numbered above 5.
"He's not going further…" an ancient, raspy, and cryptic voice echoed off the walls of an insurmountably large black chamber located at the very end of the Gorge. "If he leaves now, then…"
"Worrying is pointless," said another equally ancient voice. "The destined Dreamwalker will not be able to resist the temptations this place has to offer. And when the ti finally cos, we'll finally rid ourselves of the shackles that tie us to this cage. An eternal cycle. It's close to being broken."
A third shadowy mountain stopped rustling. "What of the Transcendent Class Slayers?" it eventually asked.
"The Azure Archipelago is our entry point, and as such, the Transcendent Class Slayers know nothing of what we plan to do," said the first shadowy mountain. "And when they ultimately do, it will already be far too late, for we'll have most of our power back. Even the strongest among them won't be capable of preventing us from escaping this cage."
A fourth and fifth shadowy mountain fluctuated harder than before as they pondered this matter.
"What about the Darkdoms and the Nightmare Kings? They were treasonous enough to trap us here once—you don't think they'll do it again and ensure we stay locked away for good?"
The fourth shadowy mountain posed the question, and the second shadowy mountain responded:
"It has been so many eons since our entrapnt that those youngling traitors no longer even send guards to these discarded wildernesses on the edge of the Dinsion. This barren land filled with mindless Nightmare spawn—the Forgotten Shores—is a place that lives up to its na. Forgotten. Only we remain here, the fossils washed up and buried in the sands beneath the soles of traitors. The Darkdoms and Nightmare Kings likely no longer even rember this place exists. In their minds, we are not threats to their reign—we are just another fragnt of the forgotten—relics of a ti predating the Great Eclipse."
Oppressive silence lingered for the longest while, until, eventually, the oldest and wisest among them spoke again:
"The Dreamwalker is our salvation," said the first shadowy mountain. "He'll be the key that finally allows us to leave… And to that end, he must… die."
"He must die," all the shadowy mountains chanted in unison. "For the sake of the eternally trapped beings of a world torn by Darkness and scorned by the Light—for the sake of our freedom—the Dreamwalker must die. And both worlds must cease to exist. Everything on two sides and everything in between must cease to remain."
"It all must be erased…"
The pitch-black chamber then returned to silence, with even the scarce air particles seemingly waiting patiently for the destined day.
—-----------
The mont Cassius reached the entrance of the Boundless Gorge, he decided to 'pause and logout,' leaving his progress where it was.
FWIP!
Upon returning to Earth, Cassius was welcod by a refreshing and revitalizing air, vastly unlike the grimness of the Nightmarescape. Although only 15 days had passed since he entered the Nightmarescape—less than a couple of hours in the outside world—it was still good to be back.
A lively, piercing glow gradually returned to Cassius's eyes as he wholeheartedly took in the srizing sight of the mountain he reappeared on. Everything below the large mountain appeared so tiny in comparison to himself—insignificant—both in relative distance and in existential value. Yet, sothing about it attracted his battle-worn eyes.
Perhaps it was the simplicity of it all.
Or perhaps it was how much the scenery reminded him of the person he once was.
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But going back further, Cassius glimpsed into distant mories of a ti before he acquired the Idle Evolution System—a ti marked by an entirely different tiline. A terrible ti. A ti when he felt even more helpless than he did while fighting the [Dark Kraken Dragons].
"I'll continue acquiring greater power," he said. "And I'll keep on torturing myself until I have the necessary strength to no longer feel helpless. No more. No more…"
Phantom mories of his ti in the Boundless Gorge remained deeply ingrained in his mind and soul. And every so often, they inflicted great pain on him, forcing him to rember.
*Ding…*
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