The week passed by quickly. During these days they rarely went hunting , because it seemed sometimes a monster or two would try and attack the slums. Normally they were of the lower awakened ranks , so with the help of the people in the slums they were able to easily kill those monsters with no casualties , the food was also being shared equally amongst people.
And now they finally had some decent clothes to wear! Levi had said goodbye to his old trousers , now he was clad in a black tunic and loose dark pants. He had also gotten leather medieval looking shoes , now he did not need to walk around with his bare feet.
On the morning of the eighth day , Levi was sitting outside the lodge as he watched Shashi and Nephis spar. He was rather enchanted by their skills , it was clear that both of the women were trained since they learnt how to walk. However they were not trained to fight.. they were trained to kill. Every one of their movement was calculated and precise , there was no room for error.
He was not a master at swordsmanship , but he had some knowledge about it. Levi could tell Nephis's fighting style was centered around counterattacks and strategy. No matter what type of attack was thrown at her, she was able to either predict or instantly react to it, then deflect and turn it against the attacker with a minimum amount of effort.
As for Shashi , she was very good with the katana. She was more of a middle or long ranged fighter , but her close quarter combat skills were not lacking either. He found her defensive skills to be very impressive. She manipulated her katana exquisitely.
Levi could not help but think.. Sunny , Shashi and Nephis always sparred amongst each other for training.
But no one wanted to spar with Levi!
Levi scoffed internally. He could not help but wonder why they did not want to spar with him..
Well , not that it mattered , today Cassie and Sunny would be returning. So , the trio have decided to relax the day and wait for their return. They had also kept the meat of the abomination that attacked the slums yesterday , so they could give them a welcome meal.
Soon the women retreated to sit at the roof , and Levi was sitting beneath them on the entrance of the lodge on the stairs.
A while later , they saw two sleepers wandering around seemingly searching for something or someone. They were Sunny and Cassie , once Sunny looked the lodges way , he waved at us. The women jumped off the roof and Levi also got up to his feet.
Sunny grinned.
"Hey guys. Long time no see!"
***
We led them to our new residence , Sunny looked around curiously.
"Gee. This place surely needs some decorations."
"Don't complain.. Most furniture were broken so I placed them outside in case we need some wood.." Levi replied.
Sunny rolled his eyes at him.
'Brat..' Levi's eye twitched.
Cassie smiled and handed the two women a small bundle. Concerned about her friend, she had not eaten her supper the previous evening, choosing to save it for this moment.
"Here. I brought you guys something to eat!"
Levi looked at Cassie and crossed his arms.
"None for me huh? I am disappointed."
"Oh I had kept you some too , but Sunny insisted on eating it.."
Levi gave Sunny the side-eye.
"Friends need to share y'know.."
Levi scoffed. Then Changing Star spoke up:
"Uh ... do you guys want breakfast?"
With that, she walked over to a flimsy wooden table that stood near one of the walls and removed a piece of cloth from it. Beneath, there was a pile of juicy roasted meat.
It was sizable enough to feed ten people in the castle for a day or two.
Sunny stared at the meat blankly, then moved his eyes to stare at Nephis.
" ... Where the hell did you get all this meat? We thought you would be starving here in the outer settlement!"
She touched her hair in embarrassment.
"Oh.. uh it seems the slums are not that safe. A monster crawls up the road at least once a day. We and some other people managed to kill them and share the spoils."
Cassie opened her eyes wide.
"But I thought that Gunlaug's men were supposed to fight off Nightmare Creatures!"
Shashi replied with an irritated tone:
"They do if the castle is attacked, either from the slopes of the hill or from the sky. If the monsters come from the road, they usually don't bother to do anything."
Sunny glared at Levi.
"If that is true, then why on Earth ... uh, Dream Realm ... would you choose to live in this pit, of all places?!"
Levi stared at him expressionlessly , then replied with an unbothered tone:
"Ladies insisted.."
Then, a small smile appeared on Neph's lips. Turning to a window, she added:
"I like it , its quiet here." Shashi nodded.
Behind the window, a striking vista of the cursed city sprawled far below. The morning sun washed the ruins in a pale light, making them look menacingly mysterious.
Nephis smiled.
"Besides ... what can compete with this killer view?"
As though answering her words, a ghastly wail resounded from somewhere far away, echoing in the wind like a dying scream. Sunny trembled.
"She meant it literally it seems." Levi joked as the others laughed lightly.
The five of them sat on the stone floor and ate monster meat, passing around Cassie's beautiful glass bottle between each other. It was just like the good old times, provided that those times were not actually that old, and there had certainly not been anything good about them.
After they were satiated , it was time for discussions.
"What have you learned in the castle?" Shashi spoke up first to Sunny.
Sunny started by describing the general order of things in the ancient stronghold. He told them about the six different castes and the complex relationships that existed between them, as well as briefly explaining how the members of each caste lived their lives. Sometimes, Cassie would add a few details of her own.
Changing Star frowned.
"Wait ... did you say that there were five hundred people living in the castle?
Sunny gave her a nod.
"Yes, somewhere around that. Why?"
She thought for a bit, then said:
"That doesn't make sense. There are almost as many people here in the outer settlement, perhaps even more. That would put the human population of the Dark City at around a thousand. Most of them are fairly young, too - which would mean that each year, hundreds upon hundreds of us are sent to the Forgotten Shore, with most somehow managing to survive and reach the Bright Castle."
She paused.
"But I haven't seen a single Sleeper of our crop here in the slum. As far as I know, we five are the only ones to come to the Dark City after the recent solstice."
Sunny scratched the back of his head and said with reluctance:
"Actually, it's six. Caster is also here. He's living comfortably in the castle."
Levi's eyes narrowed almost immediately.
'That guy..'
Nephis suddenly grew strangely animated.
"Caster of the Han Li clan? He is here?"
Levi gave her the side eye.
'Why is she being enthusiastic about it when she has Sunny.'
Sunny tried not to grimace.
"Yeah. He had been here pretty much this entire time. Actually, Caster had told us that there were only seven Sleepers sent to the Forgotten Shore by the Spell this year. Strange, I know."
He paused for a few moments, and then added:
"Truth be told, I noticed this discrepancy as well. But there is an explanation. You see, there seems to be a pattern to how many people the Spell sends here. Fifteen years ago, when a bunch of crazy humans first laid claim to the castle, there would be just a dozen or so newcomers each year. Then a few dozen. Then a hundred. In the past few years, it was several hundred each time."
Sunny gestured at the five of them.
"Until this year, that is, when mere seven Sleepers arrived. Since the Spell is obsessed with the number seven, some people believe that this marks the end of a fourteen-year long cycle and the first year of a new one. I think it's plausible."
Levi thought for a bit, then asked:
"How does Caster know the total number of new arrivals?"
"There's an Artisan in the castle with a weird type of revelation Ability. She can trace the general location of everyone a person had ever met. Caster paid her a bunch of soul shards to check if any of his acquaintances made it to the Forgotten Shore. She told him there were six."
Nephis was silent for a few moments, then simply said:
"Continue."
Sunny did. He briefly mentioned the main points of everything he had been able to learn, including all the vile crap he had to witness and his own thoughts on how things worked under the pristine white surface of the magnificent fortress. Inevitably, he had to describe how ingenious and unassailable Bright Lord's hold over the Dark City was.
Cassie grew pale and quiet during his somber account. Changing Star's and Shashi's face grew darker and darker with each word. When he told them about the travesty of a trial that ended with Jubei's harrowing death and shared his own thoughts on how powerful the Host truly was, the corners of her mouth turned downward.
Finally, he came to the conclusion:
" ... and that is why Gunlaug can never be defeated. He controls every facet of life here, both material and abstract. Food, shelter, hope, fear ... everything comes under the purview of his authority, and his authority is absolute. Even power itself is his to give and take. Out here, Gunlaug might as well be considered a god."
Nephis remained silent for a long time, and then quietly said:
"He is not a god. He is just an impostor."
"I agree." Levi muttered.
Sunny chuckled.
"In this hell ... is there a difference?"
She glanced at him sharply and gritted her teeth.
After a few minutes spent in tense silence, Shashi suddenly said:
"Still. That only explains why Gunlaug can't be overthrown in a rebellion. Why didn't anyone simply kill him in his sleep? Why didn't one of his lieutenants stage a coup? After all, this is how tyrants usually end - by the hand of their most trusted ally."
Sunny smiled darkly.
"Ah, well. That is because up until now, I only told you about his power as a ruler. Which is, by all accounts, nothing short of terrifying. But his personal power?"
He shivered, then added in a hoarse voice:
"It's way, way worse."