Arthur continued thinking about what he should do to escape the Forgotten Shores.
He thought it was inevitable moments before, but with fate trying to keep them trapped, he didn't bet on it.
'We definitely have to awaken before going to the crimson spire...but can we survive that long with fate trying to kill us? I guess we will have to, but... do we try to get the other shards before awakening?'
Arthur quickly dismissed the thought of going after the Shards as they are now; it's not just a powerful monster they have to face, but a whole legion under their command on each statue.
Under normal circumstances, with his ability to escape above the Grey Fog, it wouldn't be a problem; just keep fighting them until they all die, but with fate against them, unlikely events are bound to happen, ruining their plan.
With that being said, neither Arthur nor his friends were planning on waiting patiently to awaken before trying to take revenge for Zane; they wanted to do it now.
After a few hours, the Iron Spiders left, thinking they wouldn't come back.
Arthur and his friends decided if those spiders were laying traps for them, they would make one in turn.
Arthur called the sleepers in the Bright Castle and told them to gather the two oil sacks in the bodies of the centipede monsters near the Ashen Barrows for their trap.
With Arthur's innate ability, physical items could be exchanged from afar in the Grey Fog, even memories with physical contact in the Grey Fog.
After a few days of waiting, the oil sacks of the centipedes arrived in clay jars that one of the sleepers who went to the Wilderness Survival course had learned to make.
Arthur and his cohort were using this to melt the iron-like webs of the spiders that they used to seal the entrances of their nest.
To keep the Dark Sea out moments before it came and retreat to the Grey Fog after
Arthur regretted not being able to kill them with his own hands. But with his divination, he could at least get some satisfaction from watching them drown to death.
'Serves you right bastards, how dare you kill my friend!' Arthur thought to himself as he watched them drown with his divination.
He also shared his divination with his friends, although he knew other than Naamah who had a pure innocent soul, who only enjoyed harming nightmare creatures, and maybe Glorielle none of them had sadistic tendencies.
But this time all of them made an exception and enjoyed the sight. As the Iron Spider Matriarch drowned last, Naamah muttered, "I got a shard."
Although her voice wasn't loud since no one was making any noise, they heard her clearly.
They had succeeded; they avenged Zane, but Arthur felt that it was a little... Anticlimactic, he was immensely satisfied that Zane's killer was dead, but besides that satisfaction, he felt a hole in his heart.
Arthur was a loner in his past life, but since he came here, he actually managed to make friends, and he treasured them dearly.
The pain of losing Zane couldn't be forgotten just by avenging him; it would always be there, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Arthur briefly thought to himself, 'After they leave the forgotten shores, I will make sure to answer their prayers as often as I can; I don't want them to think I am dead.'
After that, they stayed the night in Arthur's "room" until the Sun Rose, and he kicked them out.
Arthur was exhausted after keeping them there the whole night. He muttered to himself, "Why do I even do so much for these ungrateful peasants? i should have just thrown them into the sea..."
Alec heard Arthur muttering something he couldn't make out and asked, "Arthur, are you saying something? Talk louder; we can't hear you!"
Arthur just smiled and shook his head. "I was just talking to myself."
Alec replied casually, "Is that so? Alright"
Since Arthur was exhausted, they carried him as he slept and headed back to the Dark City.
After a few days, they arrived, and no one was shocked to see Zane missing; they were already informed he had died.
He was an excellent hunter in their eyes and both a good leader and a comrade, although he didn't talk much. Zane was always helping them, silently, whenever he could.
His death had dealt a blow to the morale of the Bright Castle's residents; even if he had been avenged and a Shard was gained in the expedition, things were not as lively as before.
But life went on as they all worked hard to try to awaken.
3 Year Time Skip
Arthur was meditating like usual when he suddenly felt as if his soul was on fire; the sensation wasn't unpleasant; in fact, it felt euphoric. His whole body eventually started to change, ridding itself of imperfections. He realized he had just awakened.
He heard the voice of the spell whisper into his mind.
[A seal has been broken; awakened powers have been granted.]
Arthur Quickly summoned his Runes.
Name: Arthur
True Name: [The Fool Who Does Not Belong to This Era]
Rank: Awakened
Soul Core: Awakened [926/3000]
Class: Demon
Memories: [Blade of Darkness], [Battle Hungry Armor], [Chaos Ring], [Amulet of Light]...
Echoes:—
Attributes: [Fated], [Hunter], [Fate Affinity]
Aspect: [Lord of The Mysteries]
Aspect Rank: Divine
Aspect Abilities: [The Fool], [The Faceless Magician].
Aspect ability Description: [The Fool]: You are a Divine Fool; your acrobatic abilities are beyond the norm, and you possess plenty of strange and wonderful abilities
[The Faceless Magician]: You are a mysterious magician with plenty of strange spells at your disposal. You can change your face however you wish, making you unrecognizable.
Flaw: [Comic Relief]
Flaw Description: [You are a joke in everyone's eyes; they can't take you seriously].
He looked at the description of his new ability
Arthur smiled as he looked at his runes. Finally, he had awakened!
He immediately summoned everyone in the Grey Fog and told them, All of them were excited; they didn't know for sure whether awakening without the spell was even possible, but now they were Sure.
After years of being stuck here, they finally found hope again.
After Arthur decided not to go on another expedition, The people slowly started to think he had given up on escaping and was using natural awakening as a myth to keep people's mouths shut about it.
But they couldn't hate him for this; they too doubted it was even possible to get out, and he has done a lot for them, hunting almost constantly every day since before he was even known as the Lord of The Mysteries.
But now they knew he had not been lying; his words were true, and escaping the Forgotten Shores was possible!
Now that they realized this; They were ready to die for him as the genius who had a divine rank aspect and a true name.
Who had also discovered natural awakening and had been constantly fighting day after day to keep them from starving without them having to pay anything for it, He was like a Messiah in their eyes!
After his announcement, he soon declared another expedition to the other statue near them; the last time he had gone on an expedition, the people of the Bright Castle had worried expressions, afraid their strongest people could die.
But now all of them, without exception, looked at them leave with hope in their eyes.
Arthur briefly wondered how people could worship him when his flaw made him a joke in their eyes. He asked Abner about his thoughts on it.
Abner answered him, "They worship you because they are afraid they would lose you. Your claims that they didn't believe have all been proven by now;
It is undeniable you are a genuine genius. And their only hope of getting out, although in their hearts you look ridiculous in their minds, you are salvation itself; that's why they will risk their lives for you."
Arthur didn't know how to feel about that; he couldn't feel proud that they were clinging to him for salvation; he could only pity them for having to do that, and at the same time he was a little annoyed they still saw him as a joke after all these years!
If this was Arthur from his past life, he would have been over the moon at having this many people who saw him as their savior!
As they continued their small talk, they gradually got closer and closer to the second statue near the dark city.
As they finally saw it with their own eyes, Arthur muttered to himself, "This time I won't lose another friend."