After that peculiar conversation, Day was really out of his wits now.
He felt hyper aware of his surroundings. Every person there felt unfamiliar to him. The dark clothing, the bitter personalities, the looming threat, the complete, utter lack of important knowledge on where he was going. Everything was terrifying him.
'No… I can't let my mind be clouded before the real dangers even come. I'll check out my Aspect Ability and figure out what to do from there.'
Willing it into existence for the first time in his life, the shimmering runes appeared in front of his tired, but curious eyes.
Name: Day
True Name: —
Rank: Aspirant
Soul Core: Dormant
Memories: [Measly Sword].
Echoes: –
Attributes: [Impenetrable Will], [???], [Lightless Wanderer].
Aspect [Child of Helios].
Aspect Description: [As a Child of Helios, your destiny is to wander, in search of a light at the end of the tunnel with a destination that is ever-unknown.]
Impenetrable will? Lightless Wanderer… Why is there an unknown one? Day, riddled with questions, read each of the descriptions with focused eyes, hoping to get a feel of what would certainly keep him alive.
[Impenetrable Will] Attribute Description: "Your will has a particularly high potential to influence the world, and rings ever more true than even the most powerful of wills, thus, it is the closest anything could ever be to impenetrable."
[???] Attribute Description: [???]
[Lightless Wanderer] Attribute Description: "Bereft of Light, you wander, not without purpose, but without a dream."
'This is… This is a joke, right?'
How was that even possible? To be given a destiny as an aspect? Day felt certain that there had to be something more to his attributes and aspect, but even after reading the runes over and over again dejectedly, he begrudgingly came to terms with the grim reality of the first nightmare he had been unwillingly thrown into.
'Not only is my aspect useless, but I'm missing an attribute, and one of my attributes is not just useless, but insulting. This isn't going to keep me alive at all!'
Ruffling his hair with both of his hands, he groaned in anger.
'I'm already going to die miserably. Now I don't even have a fighting chance!'
Unwilling to allow himself to fall into the depths of despair, he took another close look at his first attribute; The only one that could possibly be of use to him in this dire situation.
[Impenetrable Will] Attribute Description: "Your will has a particularly high potential to influence the world, and rings ever more true than even the most powerful of wills, thus, it is the closest anything could ever be to impenetrable."
'That's good, I guess? I'm not really feeling my will being more powerful or anything… Ugh, I don't know!'
Closing the runes and snorting, he continued his march along with the other, what he assumed now to be, Children of Helios, traveling these curious lands. He knew not who Helios was or what the purpose of this miserable group was, but his attempts to figure it out were met with insults and silence, so he wasn't too fond of the idea of trying again.
Focusing his attention on the lands around him, he couldn't help but gape at how barren it was. It was like he was standing on an endless expanse of bone. There were hills and small, irregularly shaped structures jutting out of the ground here and there, but it was rather empty, otherwise. There was not a singular blade of grass or thin tree as far as he could see in any direction in front of him.
The pain, hunger and thirst were really starting to bother him now, so he ridded himself of all thoughts and focused on his steps to drive away the perpetrators of his torment that were following him unremittingly.
He spent a few dozen minutes in complete silence, walking forward with strained steps. An occasional rumble or painful swallow were the only things that reminded him that he was alive.
Eventually, the people in the group began to stop. One by one, they ceased movement and created a long, messy line. It didn't take long for him to end up at the end of that line, but luckily, he didn't have to wait long to figure out what was awaiting him.
He sort of knew what it was already, since it was half impossible to miss as one got closer to it. The only direction he could look was forward, after all, so he was constantly scanning the surroundings in front of him.
A colossal canyon stretching as far as the eye could see lay below, it was drowned in a sea of darkness. Every once and a while, the darkness stirred, and a terribly tall creature rose, before beginning a march of its own towards any given direction. Weaving through the hundreds of rocky structures jutting out of the ground, it moved ceaselessly, never disappearing from sight.
Some of the creatures that could rival the canyon cleared the walls with their steps, far, far out in the distance.
"Is this seriously what we are passing?"
Unbeknownst to him, people had already begun their descent into the canyon below, by means of one singular, large, tightly tied rope. It seemed like that really was the case, that this large canyon was the thing the man earlier was talking about passing. It made his skin crawl to imagine being under one of those creatures, but it seemed like where they were, there wasn't a single one of those colossal entities.
"Then, what exactly was the dreadful creature he spoke of?"
He didn't have a moment to consider it further. Once again, the Spell's soothing voice filled his ears.
[You have received a Memory: Rope of Helios.]
'Rope of Helios…?'