Chapter 179 New Generation
Once outside, Sunny spent so ti finding Effie and Kai. The two of them were in the dining area of the lodge, discussing sothing between themselves.
There was no sign of Cassie anywhere, but he did notice Caster observing him from the stairs leading to the second floor.
'Is she avoiding ?'
Sowhat disappointed, Sunny landed on a chair next to the two locals he had co to know and gave them a dark look.
"What, the two of you know each other?"
Kai smiled.
"Who doesn't know huntress Athena? We had, uh… a few brushes in the past."
Deciding not to inquire what type of brushes he was talking about, Sunny sighed and asked:
"Does she know about that peculiar Flaw of yours?"
The charming young man blinked a couple of tis, the said with confusion:
"I guess so? I don't make a secret out of it."
Great. Of all the people in the world, he got stuck with two weirdos who had no qualms about telling every random stranger about their most hidden vulnerability.
…Well, if he had a Flaw like Kai's, he wouldn't worry about it too much either.
'Lucky bastard.'
Since there was no point in pretending anymore, Sunny simply asked:
"Well? Was anyone in that room lying?"
Effie grinned.
"Ah, so that's why you dragged Night along. Paranoid much?"
Sunny would love nothing more than to ignore that question, but unfortunately, his own Flaw was much more restrictive than Kai's.
"Not at all. In fact, I think that I'm exactly as paranoid as a person should be. By which I an extrely, of course."
Saying that, he looked at the charming archer with expectation. Kai hesitated for a few monts.
"No, no one said a single lie. Your friends are all extrely honest people, Sunny."
'Oh, you poor lamb…'
Not knowing how to react to that display of naivete, Sunny shook his head and lowered his voice:
"Not even Caster?"
Kai gave him a nod.
"No, he was honest, too."
Was Sunny wrong? Was Caster really just an honest and honorable guy? Was his distrust irrational?
Sowhat unsure, Sunny lingered for a bit and then turned to Effie.
"Neph and I agreed to continue our conversation in a week. Until then, you'll be under my protection."
The huntress giggled.
"Wow. That makes
feel real safe. Thanks, shorty"
He grimaced.
"Don't you worry. I might not look like much, but wait till you see my roommate…"
Kai suddenly choked on his drink and paled a little. Reminded of sothing, Sunny patted him on the back and said:
"Anyway, thanks for your help. Our deal is done. See you around, I guess."
He was not going to miss this guy one bit. Sunny wasn't winning any prizes with his looks already, but next to Kai, he seed downright ug… uh… barely above average.
The charming archer looked at him for a few monts, then forced out a smile:
"Yeah, it was nice to make your acquaintance, Sunny. I can honestly say that spending ti with you is… uh… an unforgettable experience."
With that, he glanced at Effie with sothing that resembled pity, rose, and left.
The two of them were left alone.
The huntress looked around with a weary expression, and then asked in a neutral tone:
"So? When do we leave?"
Sunny didn't hesitate.
"Right now. Honestly, I can wait to get back to the ruins. This place… it gives
the creeps."
Effie gave him a strange look, then shrugged.
"Sure, no problem. Let's ditch this scary place and go hide in the ancient cursed ruins. At least we can feel safe there, right?"
***
So ti later, they were carefully walking through the streets of the Dark City. Being here in daylight was not sothing Sunny was accustod to, so he was justifiably tense.
Luckily, both of them were experienced hunters and worked well together. Sunny fell into the familiar rhythm of cooperating with Effie without skipping a bit, as though three whole months had not passed since they last saw each other. It was honestly nothing short of jolly.
At so point, the unruly huntress glanced at him and asked:
"But seriously. How did you survive, Sunny?"
He gave her a dark look, then shrugged.
"How do you think? You know that I am very good at hiding in the shadows. I slept during the day and hunted during the night. Observed my prey carefully before striking at their weak spots. If I ever t sothing I wasn't sure I could kill, I ran."
She beca thoughtful for a while, then said:
"It's noticeable, you know. You've changed. You look… feel like a true hunter now."
Sunny grinned.
"Well, I would hope so. I hunted more Nightmare Creatures than was reasonable, really."
She smirked.
"How many?"
That was a good question. Sunny hesitated before answering:
"Around sixty? Yeah, no more than that, I think."
Together with those terrors he had slain in the Labyrinth, his kill count had long ago moved past a hundred.
Effie blinked and looked at him with a dark expression. That many hunts in only three months… the number was nothing short of staggering.
Actually, it was completely insane. Out in the real world, it was widely known that Awakened Nightmare Creatures were too tough for re Sleepers to fight. Anyone who managed to prevail in a battle against one would earn themselves a proper reputation. Killing a dozen would make a person famous.
If Sunny were to return ho and claim that he had slaughtered a hundred, most of them in a cursed ruin populated by Fallen abominations, the news of his accomplishnt would fly around the whole planet in an instant. He would be hailed as an unparalleled genius and a hope of the entire generation.
…And yet, there were dozens of people just like him in the Dark City, many of them even more accomplished. Much more. Effie had several hundred hunts under her belt. There were a couple more hunters in the outer settlent whose track record was just as impressive… even if with the death of Jubei, their numbers had shrunk.
Inside the Bright Castle, there was Gunlaug himself, his five lieutenants, all the Pathfinders of the Host, more than a few experienced Hunters, and even a handful of Guards with a lot of battle scars to prove their prowess. All of them were at a level that Sleepers simply weren't supposed to ever achieve.
The Forgotten Shore was truly an... interesting place.
If Nephis were to sohow succeed and bring even just several of them back to the real world, how would the world change? Would other things that had been considered impossible before suddenly have their status put under scrutiny?
Was it the reason why the Spell gave her the na Changing Star? Was Neph destined to not only create change, but also be the catalyst of it?
Consud with these thoughts, Sunny walked through the cursed ruins. Soon, a familiar shape of the cathedral appeared before his eyes.
Looking at it, Sunny shuddered.
He had been honest when he told Effie about how he managed to survive all this ti.
However, he had failed to ntion how close he ca to dying in the process.
The mory of his first visit to the cathedral, and its consequences, was sothing he really liked to avoid…
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