Now alone inside his own house, away from prying and nosy eyes, Ray looked at the severed head of the pathfinder and laid in down on a table he had received through a trade in the past month.
There was something he wanted to try for a long time, but there was never any real opportunity, or rather, Ray didn't want to have the blood on his hands that would be required for this experiment.
This experiment was about his innate ability [Coming of Oblivion].
Ray had been able to successfully get some of the other sleepers in their batch to let him try this ability, but every time it was merely for very short memories and such. Nothing that really influenced his or their mind.
But since then, there was always that little thought in the back of his mind, especially since the day where they all dived into the dream realm.
On that night he received a vision from one of the hollow, people whose spirit body died in the dream realm. From this instance and through a lot of extra speculations, he was able to make the theory that memories and such things don't necessarily are saved or stored in the mind or soul, but possibly the body itself.
Even this thesis wasn't perfect, but it would answer a few of his questions and speculations. Now it was finally time to find out if this was the right answer or if there may be another, third path he would need to understand before finalizing this thesis.
Ray took a chair and placed it next to the table. Next, he sat down and followed his instincts. He set down the head right in front of him and then held his hands close to it.
The next moment he activated his ability, and indeed a stream of information went straight into his mind. It was painful, but Ray could bear it, his curiosity too much to give up now.
The whole process took about twenty minutes, and by the end of it Ray was thoroughly exhausted. This didn't matter though, this whole process showed that he was right, though, how he had to find out now, not fully.
He had indeed received a lot of memories from this person, but it couldn't have been his whole life. Ray had received information about many things, ranging from his behavior and habits, straight to his experience in the dark city, even information about the guy's aspect.
And then it dawned on Ray. Even if this was technically his body. This was the form that the spell gives the sleepers when they venture into the dream realm, until they have become masters. Which in turn meant that the memories Ray just received must have been from the soul part rather than just the body.
But it didn't make Ray feel bad, the other way really. It proved that both parts, the body and the soul would continue to hold memories of the individual even after their demise.
This opened a lot of new ways he could use this ability. It also made him truly grasp what the spell meant with being the one to decide wether to bring oblivion or awareness to the world.
He could ultimately decide whether to make people forget certain events, without having to silence them forever, or decide to spread the message to even more people.
Having more or less completely grasped this part of his being, Ray could feel something loosen inside of his body. It felt as if something broke. Something like a chain… or a lock. He didn't know what this meant, but there wasn't really anything he could do right now anyway.
Knowing this, he decided to not overthink it for now, as there was no point.
From what he understood earlier, they would head out tomorrow on their first hunt as a group. Therefore, for the rest of the day, Ray just went over the mass of information he had just received and tried to sort out what would be useful, which was surprisingly a lot. Seems like the guy was a good pathfinder, bringing with him years of knowledge and experience.
It would definitely take Ray some time to get everything sorted out completely, but in his opinion it would definitely be worth it.
Still, the most interesting part of the memories was definitely the part about the Aspect of Ander. It felt nearly reachable but was still impossible to grasp.
---
The next morning at dawn, Ray, still very much sleepy, walked out of his house holding a hand in front of his mouth to hide his yawn. He had been up too late last night, going over the new memories.
He looked over to where Effie's hut was, and there was already a small assembly. Ray looked at them for a moment, rubbed his eyes thoroughly, and looked at them again.
"Did I sleep so little, that I can't even count anymore?" wondered Ray aloud, catching the attention of the others.
"Morning, had a nightmare, or why do you look so shitty?" joked Effie upon seeing his current state.
The others also noticed him being a bit less attentive than usual. Cassia stepped forward, summoning a glass canister and handing it to him.
"Hmmn? Thanks, I guess?" answered Ray, slightly puzzled with this reaction of Cassia.
Ray took the canister and removed the cap, taking a sip, before his eyes widen significantly.
"Whoa, such good water is rare, how did you get something like that?"
"I got it from in my first nightmare," answered Cassia flatly.
Now more awake than before, Ray scans the group and notices what had hindered his counting before. He leaned over to Sunny, who stood close to Cassia and Nephis and whispered, "What is that guy doing here?"
Ray's voice was indeed merely a whisper, but because it was so early and no one else was up yet, no real noise was around, which made the whisper sound as if he just said something in a normal tone.
The guy, who was just called out, turns in Ray's direction and gives his usual smile, "Good morning to you too, Lost Witness. I hope it doesn't pose any problems with you that Lady Nephis was so generous to allow me to join this hunting party."
"Yeah… morning," Ray replied awkwardly, before turning to Nephis with a questioning look on his face, to which she just nodded.
"Ugh… whatever. Who's gonna give the calls?"
Three people instantly turn towards Nephis, while Effie just shrugs.
"Well, then it's decided. Nephis is gonna give the calls. Still, remember, we're not a real team yet, so in case of problems anyone can leave whenever they want, right?"
Everyone nods and then waits for Nephis to say anything.
"Okay. Effie will be the guide, while Ray and I will take the front. Caster, you're gonna be in the middle of the group, to help out where it is needed. Sunny and Cass, you're gonna stay in the back and be our rearguard, as well as help with scouting. Everyone ok with their position?" Nephis gave everyone the most fitting position and made sure they were okay with it.
Caster's face twitched for a very short second, before taking on his usual casual look. It was so short that no one noticed it.
"Good, everything's cleared up now, so let's go."
And so the group of six began the way down into the dark city, it would mark the beginning of the strongest cohort ever seen on the forgotten shore.