Down the distant hills, under the heavy grayed clouds with its flushes of yellow in its cracks from the setting sun, was a black armored personnel carrier with two stark white marks on both its sides. Even if it wasn't perfectly shaped into view yet from this distance, Hope knew that they were shaped into two stars.

An Awakened cohort's vehicle.

Hope skidded slightly in the loose gravel as he stepped forward, debating if he should run in that direction or not. From a distance it looked like a speck. Well, maybe not a tiny speck, but small enough that it was like an ant crawling up its mount.

Was he really in luck? Could he hitch a ride and get out of these cold hills once and for all?

Hope's body stiffened at the thought.

'Why do I feel like I jinxed myself...'

Krrrsssh....

"..."

That...didn't sound like it came from the vehicle.

But from beneath him?

Hope looked down and saw the gravel sink in a small line.

Slowly at first, then rapidly all at once.

Then, the whole ground crumpled beneath his feet and a long gray limb slowly rose out of the earth.

Krrrrrsssssh!

Hope immediately dove off to the side, repositioned himself to a crouch as he turned around to see a whole monster emerging.

A monster nearly twice his size or more started to tower in front of him. It had ashen skin and long pointy arms with bone spikes up its limbs as it clawed its way out of the buried earth. It bent its shelled back and dragged behind a large purple abdomen and four broken hindlegs. It was similar to the distant silhouette monster he saw earlier this afternoon.

So, a landslide really did happen here...

How was it not dead?

Kreeeeeeeeh!

It turned towards him. A head resembling a lot like an insect had two wide alabaster eyes with a torn jaw hanging from its face.

Hope felt his mouth curve into a frown.

Well, it may have survived but it wasn't spared from any damage.

Reflexively, Hope's hands moved towards his rifle and brought it up to aim. Although a part of his rational mind was screaming 'no', his fingers pulled the trigger anyway.

Tink. Tink.

'It's out of ammo idiot!'

It wasn't that he forgot...He couldn't.

But impulse and knowledge were truly two separate things.

Krreeeeeeeh!

The monster shot its left arm out at him. Hope immediately dove off to the side to avoid its attack.

Once he got back on his feet, the monster was already clawing the floor violently towards him at an incredible speed.

'Fast fast fast-'

Hope tried to move backwards away from the monster, but he felt his feet slip on the loose gravel. The monster's long limb did a wide sweep, and Hope at the last moment let himself fall backwards.

Instead of impaling his side, its tip caught onto Hope's chest rig and swung him up the hill. Hope flew, then rolled on the ground till he rammed into a rock. Somewhere off to the side he could hear his rifle gun rolling down the slopes.

Some rocks as well echoed after it.

Ah. He was next to the cliff.

"Uggh..."

Pain spiked through his back and the world faded into a blur as he opened his eyes. He reached under his chest where he thought he felt a rib crack, struggling to take deep breaths into his lungs.

As he forced his gaze back onto the monster, now downhill from where he laid, voices rose in an instant as his mind pieced together the familiarity of this monster.

Hope had fought this type of monster before, albeit it was from a distance with his firearm, and it was the Awakened who took it head on. But these Awakened Beasts were agile creatures that tore through their prey and bit off their heads in a single bite. Frighteningly agile for a mere soldier. For an Awakened, probably not as much.

But what did that exactly mean for him as a Dreamer?

This monster, however, had four of its hindlegs broken so it wasn't as fast.

But still quite fast.

As his vision was slowly starting to clear, he could only see a blurry blob swelling closer towards him.

'Jump...' An instinctive voice whispered.

As if on command, Hope took in a quick short breath, planted his knees and hands beneath him, then jumped as far as he could away from the cliff.

Crash!

A loud explosion of rock shattered behind him from where he just laid.

Hope rolled and scrambled a good distance away from the monster, lightly stumbling as he shook away the last remains of his daze. The pain started to grow distant, and his heart started to pound fiercely in his chest.

His mind began to move quickly.

How far was the Awakened's carrier? Should he make a run towards the cohort? It was worth trying, but a long-distant chase with this monster had a low success rate for him. Short bursts of dodging its attacks and creating enough space between him and the monster was the best thing he could do for now.

Kreeeeeeeeh!

The monster's jaw swayed as it let out another pitch cry in his direction.

The sky that was once flushed with traces of yellow were now dimmer than before. The sun was disappearing more and more by the minute.

And darkness in the wastelands was a heavy blanket to be under.

'Dammit!'

Hope tried to shove the last traces of pain aside as he prepared himself for another dive and roll away from the monster.

Its limbs scraped up the earth, dragging itself frantically towards him as if he was its biggest archenemy.

No Dreamer would fight a monster head on fresh out of their Nightmare. He did spend years training as a soldier, but the progression of him becoming a Dreamer to fighting one on one with an Awakened monster was all happening incredibly fast. No Awakened even taught him how to fight these monsters as they did-

!!!

Hope made a noise of surprise as a stream of memories blurred his vision.

His hand quickly clutched the side of his head and was about to curse when he realized something about them.

He blinked at a sudden thought. 'Huh-'

Woosh!

A gray limb rose and descended upon Hope in one fierce motion. But at the same time, Hope took a sidestep from the monster, letting the monster's momentum carry itself downward.

In between those seconds, Hope had knelt and grabbed a handful of gravel before spraying them right into the monster's eyes as it completed its attack past him and hit the ground instead.

Kreeeeeh!?

Cries of alarm and confusion echoed off into the hills as the monster shook the flakes of gravel on its face then swung itself side to side in search of its small foe.

Hope had already dashed far behind it to buy himself some more time.

But as he did so, a faint film was playing in front of his eyes. He could see distant figures of the Awakened fighting it; their moves, the monster's countermoves, the patterns, the timing, the coordination...

Kreeeeeh!

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The monster swung itself around and finally caught sight of Hope. It crouched low to the ground, and although its hindlegs were broken, Hope knew what its next move would be.

Its forelegs dug into the rocky soil as it forcefully lunged itself towards him.

Hope waited a couple seconds before jumping off to the side again, avoiding the aftershock on the ground.

He rolled back onto his feet and counted the seconds between its next anticipated attack.

Of course. He could see it.

He could remember it.

He could remember it all.

***

Crash!

Hope dodged another strike from the monster's ashy limb. Under the now falling twilight and shrouded sky, its purple abdomen and alabaster eyes had begun to glow.

Hope had replayed the memories of the Awakened fighting this monster over and over again. A few times he accidentally submerged himself into the memory and almost met an untimely death. But other than that, he finally identified its rhythms, patterns, and types of attacks it would use.

Maybe his curse wasn't so useless after all.

'Slice left.'

Hope instantly dropped to the ground and felt the blow pass overhead.

'Slice right.'

Hope placed both palms on the floor and rolled himself in the opposite direction.

'Strike down- Shit!'

Hope quickly did a back roll and barely dodged the monster's smash with both its arms raining down. The great force exploded the ground, hundreds of gravel stones arose and spewed in different directions from the impact. The force caused Hope to awkwardly bounce off to the side.

This had been going on for a couple of minutes.

The Awakened cohort didn't seem far off, but with the slopes and winding roads, it would take some time before it reached him and the monster. The thought of running away was still tempting, but in the growing darkness there was a high chance of him misstepping and falling to his death.

Kreeeeeeeeh!

But there were a couple things Hope had deduced from this monster.

One, it was obviously dangerously strong and fast, so it was highly likely that its endurance was impalpable once it set eyes on its prey even if he made a run for it.

Two, it was a mindless beast. Hope had the upperhand of being able to read its patterns and avoid its attacks.

But because it's a mindless beast...

Kreeeeeeeeh!!

...it could let its mind go completely wild, reaching to the point of a blind frenzy state with unpredictable attack patterns.

And it wasn't too thrilled with the lack of progress it was making.

He supposed he had only one 'weapon' at his arsenal in replace of his lost rifle. But he wasn't too sure how he could use it against the monster. Would it be too big for him to carry? It wasn't a sword so it wasn't like he could swing it around either.

Hope gritted his teeth as he dodged another attack and started to count the seconds before its next strike.

As the monster started to lean on its side and raise its other limb, Hope summoned his Memory: Ashen Shield.

Ethereal lights swirled around his left hand, emitting a pale blue glow as it took its form.

Kreeeeeeh!

Hope didn't plan to dodge this time.

After a solid weight replaced the flurry of lights, Hope quickly brought up the shield to the side of his face-

Chiiik!

-and narrowly deflected the monster's thrust.

His body grew rigid and fought against the great force, his muscles straining from the attack. But he felt something else wrong when he held up the shield. No doubt there was weight on it. It had its physical form wrapped around his hand.

But the shield was actually light.

Too light.

Hope reared back and ducked down, avoiding another flying sweep. The monster then raised both its arms up for another devastating strike down. But Hope was now too close to safely avoid the attack.

He had to make a choice. A daring choice.

Kreeeeeeeh!

In an instinctive hurry as the monster brought its arms down, Hope flung himself forward, narrowly passing its limbs.

The ground quaked beneath him as he rolled and found himself crouching right next to its glowing abdomen.

In its dim purple light, he quickly glanced down at his shield.

And it was...

'The fuck is this...?'

...a small round shield.

It was a shield just a few inches bigger than a dinner plate with a small raised sphere at its center. His hand was gripped in a fist on the central handle as he inspected both of its sides.

Metal. Durable. Solid.

But mostly importantly, it was small.

Krrreeh kreh kreeh!

Hope had already begun to distance himself from the monster down the slope before the monster noticed his complete disappearance from its strike.

His foot of course slipped on the loose gravel, and he immediately crouched down and planted his shield into the ground to balance himself.

He had never seen anyone use this type of shield before. Most of the Awakened carried majestic steel swords and big shields that were formidable against monster's attacks or their spitting fire. But this tiny thing? Was far from majestic.

'Dammit. Maybe I should have read the description.'

Hope gritted his teeth.

'No shit.'

Hope shook his head.

There was no need to hold onto regrets. But he had neglected the idea of exploring his Memory because he didn't want to deal with his character profile anymore. Well, at least for a little while. Especially not after the interaction he had with the Spell in his Soul Sea, if he could call it that.

But it was a shield, and typically they would be heavy broad materials to carry in which Hope didn't see the necessity to do during his travel.

Kreeeeeeeeh!

"Sigh..."

A sharp limb shot out and flew in Hope's direction. A wave of gravel crumbled at the monster's feet as it crawled down the slope.

Chiiik!

Hope deflected the blow. He then twisted himself in a different direction as the monster reached out for him. But it too began to scramble as it tried to prevent its hefty weight from sliding any further.

Hope looked back and its milky alabaster eyes glowed with a frenzy as it locked its gaze on him.

In a moment it was going to go in an absolute berserk mode.

Its patience, if it had any, was wearing thin.

Hope squinted his eyes as he looked around for a clearing. A stable ground. Anything.

Finally, through the twilight's darkness, he vaguely caught sight of a patch of solid rock near the cliff.

A plan quickly formed into his mind.

'I thought I put close-combat behind me.' He frowned.

Bvvvvvvrrrrrr–

Somewhere in the darkness, he could hear the Awakened cohort's carrier engine rumbling closer.

Maybe they could deal a death blow in time on this creature. More and more was Hope relying on the monster's dim glowing light and shadowed silhouette attacks for its attack patterns; how even the slightest motion matched to that of his memory. But that could only take him so far into the creeping night.

He'd have to attack it himself.

Kreeeeeeeeeeeh!

The monster's hanging jaw gaped even wider as it released a deafening, blood-curdling scream.

'Yeah yeah I'm coming...'

Hope dashed towards the cliff till his feet met the solid patch of rocky ground.

The pain in his chest slightly resurfaced as he took in a slow deep shaky breath.

Kreeeeeeeeeeeh!

He could see the monster's floating eyes in the darkness heading towards him.

Hope crouched down and prepared himself for its strike, his hand tightly gripping onto his shield. At least he had a 'weapon' to use now. And if he had to fully attack, then it was best to get it over and done with.

Inhale.

Even if it was just for a few moments, Hope needed to get a better control of himself. He breathed in carefully this time, letting the air flow gently into his lungs, and suddenly the world seemed to slow to a crawl at that moment.

Krrreeeeeeehh-

His eyes locked onto the monster's outburst, its silhouette movements becoming distinct as it loomed closer and closer towards him. His undisturbed focus on the monster had the voices from his memories hush into a murmur. The only clear sound came from the rhythm of his heart, soft and steady in his ears.

Exhale.

His body felt lighter, fingers and feet tingling, almost as if itching to respond to the slightest command to his whim.

Kreeeeeaaah!

Hope saw a shadowy arm go up, and he brought up the shield to the right side of his face.

Chiiik!

Echoes of stone crumbling down the cliff behind him warned him of a falling death.

If the attack came to his right, then the next would be...

Hope immediately dropped to one knee and dodged its wide sweep. But the moment its limb was about to pass completely over his head, Hope twisted his body and raised his left arm up, bringing the shield through the monster's joint.

Slash!

He heard a satisfying slice passing through flesh. The monster reared back and shrieked in pain.

Hope could see its shadowed body drop to one side.

It was vulnerable.

Hope felt his body lunge itself forward.

He dodged as the monster bent down and clumsily tried to bite his head off with its torn jaw.

Hope's feet skidded on the gravel as he turned and leapt onto its back. The monster desperately tried to twist itself around to face Hope. In the last moment, he changed his direction to fly past its face to avoid its jaws and remaining limb that thrusted at him again.

He shoved his shield right into its thick chest and wrapped his arm around its neck, swinging himself behind its head.

He gripped onto the monster, feeling the leathery skin and spiky hairs underneath his palms. He didn't have enough momentum to strike deep enough into its chest. But that was not the end for his plan though.

The instant Hope made physical contact with his bare hands against the monster's skin, he could feel something slightly draining from his body.

The monster then began to sway a little.

Kreeeeeeeeeh!

Smash!

Hope was about to feel relieved of his power working, until the monster started to thrash its head around.

Its head was writhing around in last desperation against him. It even smashed itself onto the ground to get rid of this annoying pest. Hope's head was starting to be sucked into a nauseous spiral from all of the frantic movements.

There were also sudden small moments when the monster would drop as if it had tripped, but Hope realized it would always catch itself before it fell completely off the cliff.

How many seconds was it?

Only three.

No. Now five.

How long will it take for his aspect to fully subdue this monster?

Now seven seconds have passed.

Hope didn't know when it would. But now it seemed too damn long.

Hope gritted his teeth as he started to shift the angle of his shield and dig it into the front of the monster's neck.

Krraaaa—Reeeeeehhk!

Slowly, the shield was inching deeper into its throat.

Hope could hear the skin...the flesh...the cartilage...the bone—

Slice!

In an instant, all the support he held onto disappeared from his grip.

He felt himself roll down its back and expected to hit the ground as well.

But then the ground also disappeared...

'Not again!'

Hope struck his shield blindly into a thick shadowed wall he saw towering to his right. The sound of rock broke in his ears and his descent slowed. Until the wall also disappeared, and Hope fell for another several feet before crashing into the ground.

Hope felt the wind knock out of him as he landed. He then desperately tried to swallow gulps of air into his lungs–

[You have slain an Awakened Beast: Grieve Crawler]

'Shut up...' Hope instantly thought.

Although struggling to breath, Hope forced himself on all fours and-

CRASH!

The whole ground shook beneath him and he collapsed back onto his side again. He quickly reached out for something to support him, but instead his hand met a strange texture: a leathery rubbery wall, a long-bent stick, no arm, with jutted thorns-

'Ah...'

It was the monster's body that fell after him.

"Tsk..." Hope kicked the monster. Although clumsily and with little effort.

But he shouldn't rest now. If he did then his body-

"Arg!"

All the pain slowly crept back on him. It started like a spark on his back, then it clawed towards his arms and legs, twisting itself in his chest.

Hope's limbs trembled as he tried to get up once more.

Another reason why he shouldn't rest now was...

'The cohort...'

He could hear them, their carrier rumbling somwhere high above. But as Hope suspected earlier, the result of the landslide would veer their direction.

And it did.

Their engine started to pull away from Hope's ears, the sound trailing far off into the night. The knowledge of there ever being a lost soldier nearby would never occur to them.

In the meantime, Hope gripped his chest and tried to force himself to breathe normally again. How hard could breathing be? His mind was clear. Minus the faint voices that accompanied him once more back in its normal volume. But his fingers were able to obey into a fist; his eyes scanned the darkness for any further danger; his nose registered the monster's odor and the clouds of dust from their fall.

But telling himself to breathe and his body obeying such an intuitive command were not aligning easily as he thought.

'Breathe dammit...'

"Haa- Cough cough!"

His lungs and chest weren't impressed at his assumed speed recovery.

Hope then let himself lay there in the dark until he could finally breathe again. The chance of help out of his grasp once more.