The golem was an unexpected ally, but a very valuable one for the exhausted sleepers.
Giovanni was relegated to a support role, where he could rest while leaving the Echo with the hardest part of the work.
After about an hour of nonstop progress through the tunnels at a brisk pace, the boy felt a sudden change in the terrain.
That was the end of that desolate area!
After a long silence, in which neither of them seemed interested in wasting energy, Giovanni finally spoke.
"We'll be able to get out of this hole soon."
Even Shelly, who usually seemed to know only one expression, anger, broke into a relieved smile. Safety did not mean comfort. And down there, humidity and heat went hand in hand.
That didn't even include thirst or hunger.
Giovanni might have been immune to those needs, but his friend wasn't. Hours and hours had passed since they arrived, and she, apparently, hadn't had time to consume anything.
They needed to prioritize food as soon as possible.
Breaking through one last wall, the bluish glow of the stars seeped through the opening, bringing with it a cold breeze.
They were free again.
"Finally, for fuck's sake!"
Shelly shoved Giovanni aside and stepped out first, bathing in the simple comfort of open space. The boy followed behind, accompanied by the golem.
The new biome was just as bizarre as the previous ones.
The algae mixed with coral had been replaced by a dense forest, filled with tall, leafless trees.
Their trunks were white from top to bottom, and what should have been wood was, instead, ivory. The ground was a true thicket, with exotic wild plants tangled together, hiding thick roots, caverns, and creatures lurking in the dark.
The reddish coloration that much of the vegetation carried did not give off a particularly friendly impression.
'Why does everything have to look so deadly?'
Giovanni sighed internally.
He no longer felt the same fear as before, though.
After judging the available paths, he found what seemed to be the closest thing to a trail he would get in there.
A narrow strip where the vegetation appeared trampled, though he doubted anything human had walked it in a long time.
"Hey, Shelly, can you still keep going? I was thinking we should try to find a lake or a river before we rest… but we can stop now if you want."
The young woman gave Giovanni a good look and rolled her eyes.
"Why are you asking me? You're the one who got beaten up by that thing. I'll survive a few more days."
He scratched his arm awkwardly, feeling the still-fresh wounds beneath the tunic. It was simply a habit carved into him, asking about others first.
The fabric stuck slightly to his skin, damp with sweat and faint traces of blood.
"Then we keep moving. On the way, we'll take the chance to fill our pockets."
"You're thinking about fighting in that state?"
Patting the golem beside him, Giovanni smiled carefree.
"Our new friend is just as good at fighting as he is at digging tunnels. Don't tell me you're not itching to test him."
With no way to argue against that, Shelly grinned arrogantly.
"Fine. Let's go crack open the heads of some unsuspecting fish out there."
***
The difference between the way they traveled before and after the Echo was like day and night.
Up until then, they had been lost, outnumbered, and, to make it worse, strangers. He wouldn't say fighting side by side had made them close, but there was now a mutual understanding's abilities.
That made fighting and organizing so much easier. Their dynamic was simple, but highly functional.
Giovanni was the scout and the team's defensive support.
Shelly was the assassin, eliminating smaller and disorganized threats.
The golem was the tank and the main source of damage, responsible for dealing with heavyweight monsters.
Its near immunity to physical damage made it the best shield of flesh.
Using their seismic sense, the trio located packs of weak nightmare creatures, surprised them with a combined attack from Giovanni and the Echo, manipulating the terrain, and finished off whatever survived the initial ambush.
They no longer avoided every conflict. They actively hunted.
Having an Echo also solved their biggest inconvenience… carrying the spoils of battle.
Neither of the two youths had backpacks or even pockets. So they resorted to storing all the Soul Shards they acquired inside the golem's muddy mass.
Natural weapons such as claws, horns, and fangs were also collected, because they could be turned into crude weapons in the future.
To carry meat, however, they had to resort to hauling the corpses of nightmare creatures on their backs. Neither of them wanted to shove flesh into a walking pile of dirt.
'The creatures here are even stranger than the last ones.'
He thought, staring at the corpse of a creature similar to a swordfish. Its most striking feature was the absence of flesh on its body.
The beast was basically a floating skeleton that launched itself forward and impaled everything in its path.
How exactly were they supposed to eat something like that? Chew on bones?
Carefully, he tore the two Soul Shards from the region where its ribs would have been and stored them inside the golem.
"Come to think of it, we should give him a name… any suggestions, Shelly?"
"It's an Echo. Just call that thing Golem."
How boring! Where was the fun in that?
"It's okay, Rocky, you won't go nameless…"
The girl, who was dissecting the body of a spiny beast that looked like a rat, completely stopped what she was doing to glare at Giovanni.
"We are NOT calling the Echo that."
"Oh? Then tell me what I should call him."
Giovanni ignored the hostile stare, keeping the cynical smile and friendly tone.
"Are you a child or something? It's a chunk of dirt!"
"Don't listen to her, okay? You're amazing, Rocky."
After finishing collecting his share, the boy stored the resources and continued without hurry. Rocky followed right behind him, leaving Shelly behind.
"But what the… fine, whatever! But he's mine, I get to choose the name."
Realizing the boy wouldn't drop that stupid idea, she decided to spare herself the stress of hearing that stupid name for the rest of her days in there.
Giovanni let out a polite chuckle and stopped, waiting for her to catch up.
"Then pick a nice name."
Shelly seemed to seriously contemplate a good option… but struggled to find something that fit.
"Gaius. That'll be his name."
"Great choice… but now that I think about it, is it a girl or a bo—"
"Just walk already!"
Not wanting to hear another one of his childish ideas, she raised her knife and signaled for them to get the hell out of there.
To avoid becoming the target of Shelly's fury, Giovanni quickened his pace, still wearing a satisfied smile.
The trio continued through the unexplored wilderness, searching for their next hunt.
***
Giovanni and Shelly eventually found a small pond to set up camp,
The water was unnaturally still, reflecting the pale trees like a broken mirror.
They wasted no time beginning the necessary preparations.
With the hard work of the two earth manipulators, building an underground shelter was easy. From creating separate rooms to a common area and camouflage for the entrance.
Maybe he would have a bright future in engineering if he decided to go down that path.
At the moment, they were on the surface, gathered around a freshly lit campfire with the help of his first memory, [Vermin Head].
Roasted meat was served on a small table, and a clay pot of freshly boiled water rested beside it.
The memory of their latest battles was still fresh. He never thought he'd end up in a group so efficient at killing nightmare creatures, but they truly were a fearsome trio.
The fact that Gaius didn't need a share of the fragments helped a lot, too.
Altogether, they had obtained a little over forty Soul Shards as a reward for all that effort.
Fortunately, some monsters were awakened, so the gains would end up being doubled.
After they finished eating, Shelly looked eager to start crushing those crystals, but she held back, since they still hadn't decided how to split them.
"What do you think about fifty-fifty? That way no one loses."
She suggested, hesitantly.
"Hummm…"
In response, Giovanni pushed everything toward the young woman. That simple gesture made her brain short-circuit as she tried to understand what exactly the boy was suggesting.
"You can keep them all."
"..."
Shelly fell silent, staring at the pile of Soul Shards, with no sign she would start consuming them.
"Uh… whenever you're ready."
"Why?"
Her question wasn't gratitude. There was confusion and hesitation.
"Because you need them more. I already have fifty from before I entered the Dream Realm. If you consume them all, we should end up equal."
It was a good excuse, but not the full truth. Giovanni simply believed his companion could make better use of the benefits of the Soul Shards than he could.
Since he wasn't capable of dealing direct damage, the increase in raw power influenced his style and role in combat very little.
But for her, the faster and stronger she became, the better. Her attacks were what would finish threats.
"...I see."
Without arguing a second time, she focused on consuming the Soul Shards one by one. Giovanni, meanwhile, took the opportunity to check whether his message had been received.
When he invoked [Dusty Diary], he received a wonderful surprise.
"M-A-N-S-I-O-N, Y-O-U?"
His idea had worked.
'She replied!'
Without wasting time, he began carefully tearing pieces of the page away, preparing his response. For several minutes, Shelly pretended to ignore what he was doing, but her intrigue and curiosity only grew.
Who was he talking to? And how?
Seeing him let out silly little giggles was the limit of her self-control.
"What the hell are you doing over there?"
Noticing he had allowed himself to lose composure, Giovanni cleared his throat and looked away from the diary.
"Communicating with someone, like I told you before."
"How? That's what I'm asking."
Explaining his innate ability to her didn't seem very productive… so he chose to be vague.
"I can share my memories with a friend of mine. I write in the diary and let her invoke it on her side. Simple, right?"
Shelly looked like she thought Giovanni was messing with her. That… made no sense.
Transferring memories could be done in person, but she had never heard of anything even close to that.
"Can I… see it?"
Shelly would only believe it with her own eyes. Giovanni, with no reason to hide it, handed her the diary.
As she flipped through the pages, she saw several simple messages that seemed to form a conversation.
"She seems to want your clothes… are you really going to leave her hanging?"
Shelly spoke in an amused tone, even while keeping her grumpy attitude.
"Your bikini is already enough nudity for this group, so yes."
The diary flew into his face, but Giovanni caught it without difficulty. His attitude could be playful, but he was dying of worry.
His companion was somewhere out there, trapped, with no one to help her.
The feeling of helplessness was eating him alive.
"She talked about a castle and a mansion… do you think we're close to them?"
"Maybe… It's hard to estimate. At this point, we've probably been moving for a full day. If we're lucky, we might reach it in a day or two. The castle may be the citadel we're looking for."
An idea that brought hope to both of them. At this point, the chances of them being in an area with a conquered citadel were slim, but not everything was lost.
They had time to grow stronger, and if they gathered more allies, it wouldn't be impossible to kill the guardian of the place… or at least that was what he wanted to believe.
The conversation died down for a while until Giovanni finally pieced together an idea.
"Are you planning to use that worm dress?"
His comment was met with a cold stare for reminding her of the humiliating moment.
"No, and I doubt you want to wear it either. Let me guess, it's for your friend?"
"Exactly. Sofia doesn't have any combat memories and, well… it would be a waste to leave a memory unused."
Shelly hated the idea of giving anything away for free, even something she had no use for.
However, she had at least a minimum of common sense, and after receiving fifty Soul Shards, refusing the request would leave a bitter taste in her mouth.
"Fine, fuck it. Take it."
She grabbed the boy's hand and transferred the armor, bidding farewell to the disgusting piece of clothing.
Giovanni, however, wasn't done with his requests.
"And if possible… could you lend me your dagger too?"
"You've got to be kidding… It's my only weapon!"
He knew the suggestion would be pushing it, but he needed to find some way for Sofia to take down her enemies. That was why he thought carefully about how he could convince his companion.
"I know. But Gaius can make sharp weapons for you in the meantime. Besides, if she gets a memory while killing the mansion's creatures, the new equipment could serve as payment with interest."
It sounded logical, but it was still a trade based purely on trust.
There was no method to forcibly take back a memory, because killing the new bearer destroys it, and they can't be stolen since they're stored in the soul.
Besides, trading an awakened knife for a dormant weapon created by the Echo was a drastic drop in quality.
Shelly didn't seem willing to part with her weapon, and it showed in her expression.
"I don't—"
Before she could refuse, Giovanni lowered himself and pressed his forehead to the ground, begging once again.
His voice was emotional, completely different from the dignified and courteous attitude Shelly was used to seeing.
"Please!"
The girl froze, unable to finish the sentence.
Even without saying a word, her face became chaotic, conflicting emotions flashing across Shelly's disturbed expression.
"Why… do you even care? Your classmate is dead weight, and if she dies fighting, I still lose my weapon."
She tried to sound cold and logical, but her words carried something else.
Giovanni's fingers dug into the earth, struggling to maintain control.
"Because I'd want someone to care too, if I were in her place."
Slowly, the boy raised his head, staring Shelly down. There was something very rare in those greenish eyes: genuine anger.
"And never dare call her that again. Sofia may be many things right now, weak… or scared. But I saw the effort she put into every second at that academy, more effort than you or I could ever manage."
Shelly finally seemed to snap as well, standing up and stepping forward. Hatred and bitterness guided every movement.
"And what do YOU know about me? The last person I want to hear a moral lesson from is a spoiled heir who got everything without lifting a finger."
Giovanni held his tongue, not daring to speak about the truth of himself. He was a liar, too. That didn't make the comments any less irritating.
"What do I know? I know you're someone who only thinks about yourself, and you're going to die alone because of it. Meanwhile, Sofia will become someone stronger than you could ever be."
A fight seemed about to explode. With the knife in hand and Giovanni prepared to face Shelly and the Echo together, the night light seemed to grow dimmer, giving way to a dangerous darkness.
The forest creaked softly, ivory trunks shifting with hollow groans, as if the land itself was holding its breath.
"...bullshit."
Shelly muttered, throwing a punch into Giovanni's shoulder with all her strength as she brushed past him, heading for the underground shelter they had made.
For a few seconds, he remained still, staring at the nearby pond. It was the first time in a long while that he had lost his composure…
Slowly, he invoked his runes, lowering his gaze until he found the section that mattered.
Memories: [Vermin Head], [Grafter's Tunic], [Master Key], [Dusty Diary], [Seeker's Instrument], [Worm-Eaten Veil]
He stared at the new memory he had received, showing no visible reaction.
Then, he picked up the dusty diary and calmly tore out the letters.
"L-O-O-K, M-Y, R-U-N-E-S."
'Damn…'
The boy thought, putting out the fire before heading down the stairs as well.
For a few minutes, the forest remained silent... until a song echoed from the darkness.