Cassie waved up to my direction, while Sunny looked at me suspicion and asked.
"You. What do you want?"
"I just saved you, you don't talk to men of Gunlaug like that, that was a very crazy thing to do" Echo warned, unbothered about Sunny's tone.
"And who says I'm not crazy?"
'Um… That came out wrong.'
Echo just looked at him blankly and proceeded to sit down next to Cassie.
"What?" Echo asked when he saw Sunny staring at him with hatred.
"Why are you—" Before he can finish what he was trying to say, he felt a shoulder tap. His body immediately turned around and was about to summon a memory.
"Whoa friend its just me." A handsome and gentle face with brown hair greeted Sunny. Once he recognized his face, Sunny stopped trying to summon his memory, his face didn't change but inside sunny was shocked.
'Caster!?'
Sunny immediately composed himself and answered.
"Oh… It's you."
Caster stared at Sunny for a bit and looked at Cassie, before saying.
"What? Shocked we made it out alive?"
"In any case. It's very nice to see you, both of you."
Caster hesitated before saying.
"It is good that you manage to survive."
It was a well known fact that both of them specially Cassie was seen as dead meat at the academy due to her disability. It must be very weird for them to survive even for Caster, specially in the Forgotten Shore.
"Thank you" Cassie answered.
Caster stopped talking for a while, before he asked.
"You're Cassie right… and you are uh Sunless."
Sunny just gave him a curt nod.
"I'm surprised you even remember our names. Don't think we've forgotten how you treated us in the academy."
Cassie squeezed Sunny's hand disapprovingly.
"Sunny!"
Caster just chuckled and apologized with a somber face.
"I admit, there are a lot of things we did wrong. If only we had known better."
Before the conversation could even progress, the trio suddenly heard a very loud cough.
Cough Cough
Echo tried to cover his mouth with his hands, trying not to interrupt the conversation but when he was intensely listening in the drama he unintentionally swallowed a chili. The trio stared towards him at the same time.
Cough
"Continue guys don't mind me." Echo waved his hand signaling for them to continue, but none of them has any intention to, so Echo unwillingly stood up and went towards the other side of the table awkwardly.
It seems like after he left the three continued chatting. Echo knows about Caster a bit not just through the web novel, but through the Gambling den, It was a couple of months ago, when he first reached the Bright Castle Caster was a little intrigued about it, and this guy Echo was there as always, they played a couple of games but nothing else, the guy did talk about Changing Star briefly and mentioned her on a passing when they we're playing.
He ignored the three, and planned on what he was going to do next, then an Idea came to mind.
"Ok… I've got a plan on what to do next."
Since he wasn't gonna join the hunters in their next hunt with an excuse that he has to heal, he will take this time to explore some parts of the Dark City specially near the Ruined Cathedral, where he remembers Sunny's hiding spot were after he was outcasted.
After eating his fill, he stood up and went outside the Bright Castle. Now that it was illuminated by the rays of the sun, he can clearly see the situation of the people outside the castle, it was grim with a somber and dark atmosphere, even with the sunlight shining upon it and people running on and about with their daily lives, one cannot deny how if hell was real, this could be it. The eyes of each inhabitants paints the picture of an already dead skeleton just moving for the sake that it could move, further enhances the smell of death that permeated the place.
Echo shook his head to clear up his mind of such thoughts, at least he knows that someday Nephis will guide this people out of this hell they've been living in so his eyes still held a semblance of life in it unlike these people.
'All I have to do is survive until then.'
He walked straight down the gate and onto his own hut that he claimed, he live here sometimes when he is out hunting, inside was just a makeshift bed and some bones of a creature he killed before. When he entered it however, he found that some things were displaced specially his self made utensils made of bones from an abomination, it was not the same way he has left yesterday there was also a fresh scent of cooked meat. That was when he noticed a silver haired beauty laying on his bed.
'Nephis?'
Echo cannot simply forgot a unique hairstyle only Nephis seem to have out of all the sleepers here, her back was turned against the door, Echo surveyed his hut with a little more attention, he realized that Nephis might have thought that nobody lived here, since all that was left was some bone utensils and a makeshift bed unlike other huts. One thing he needs though was the one under the makeshift bed, there was a box there full of some soul shards he hid and some of his personal belongings. The pevious Echo obviously wouldn't carry all of his things in one pouch and he also cant leave it inside the castle since there was an inspection once in a while on every hunter if they were hiding some spoils from the battle, Gunlaug and Gemma were particular on it. If someone were to ask him why he hadn't saturated his core with this soul cores yet the previous Echo would have answered.
'It's for emergencies only'
Furthermore, his hut is pretty well known to be avoided since everyone in the outside knows who he is and what he's rank was in Gunlaug's ranks.
There was also a fact that his decent clothes were there and some personal memento from his previous colleagues who died in battle with him. Though the Echo now only ever want the soul cores to saturate his core fully.
He slowly approached the bed, Echo kneeled and raised the garment that covers the underside of the bed, there you can see a clear difference of soil color one that was untouched and recently disturbed. He cusps his hand on the soil and quickly found a box, but before he could proceed to standup his ears twitched recognizing a small rustle coming from Nephis, he quickly drew back his whole body causing a sword to swish past his neck, as though contradicting gravity Echo didn't fall even with an unbalance posture. In a split second he kicked the sword that missed its mark while summersaulting backwards and stood up with the box in his hand.
Clung
Echo saw Nephis's cold gaze towards him, holding a sword that nearly separated his body and head. Echo raised both his hands and said.
"Whoa. Calm down lady."