Chapter 1917 Fast Promotion

Once the platform passed the great width of the porous hone, they were surrounded by emptiness from all sides. The vast Hollow sprawled beneath them, drowning in darkness. Here and there, radiant pillars of light fell from the cracks in its dome and illuminated the ancient jungle...

No one knew what unspeakable horrors hid under its impenetrable scarlet canopy, so the soldiers shivered, trying to distance themselves from the edges of the platform as much as possible.

Rain simply sat on the creaking wood, trying to catch her breath. She did look at the alien landscape below, but only for a short moment — seasoned hunters like her knew not to stare at the Dream Realm too closely.

Lest something stared back.

She looked at Ray.

"How's your wound?"

The young man was pale and uncharacteristically quiet. Fleur was treating him, but with how low she was on essence, the process was taking time.

The young man forced out an unconvincing smile.

"I'll live."

Then, he glanced down and paled even more.

"...Until we reach the ground, at least."

Tamar dismissed her helmet and sat down near Rain, swiping back her sweaty hair. She scowled and looked at him with scorn.

"Why are you worried? You have escaped the Hollows before — as a mere Sleeper and completely alone. You are an Awakened now, and we are surrounded by an entire army."

Ray stared at her gloomily.

"Don‘t remind me! I still have nightmares about that day... I mean, I would have, if I could dream..."

The other soldiers heard their conversation and turned, looking at the young man in disbelief.

"...Is that true, Ray? You survived the Hollows as a Sleeper?"

Ray seemed startled by the question.

'Well... there's not much we can do about it.‘

All they could do was fill their stomachs, replenish their strength, and prepare for battle.

Which was exactly what they did.

Half an hour later, a weary adjutant approached from deeper in the camp and gave something to Tamar, then ran off after saying a few words. The young Legacy remained motionless for a few moments, then sighed and sat back down. Then, she attached a pin in the form of a blood drop to her armor, and threw another one, this one much smaller, to Rain.

"Congratulations, Rani. I guess you're my right-hand man now, which technically makes you a junior officer."

Rain caught the pin, raised an eyebrow, and asked in an amused tone: "Goodness. I'm so honored I can cry. Right... what does it make you, then?" Tamar stared at her bleakly.

"A captain. No, wait... a centurion, technically, since we're in a Royal Legion." Ray whistled.

"Ever the overachiever."

The entire composition of the Song Army was a bit of a mess. There were brigades and divisions, following the unit structure borrowed from mundane armies, but also the seven Royal Legions, which did not.

The legions consisted of centuriae, which were supposed to consist of a hundred Awakened warriors, but were actually larger than that. In any case, these units of Awakened were usually led by an Ascended officer, called a centurion. Tamar wasn't the first Awakened in the Song Army who had been given the command of a centuria, but she was definitely the youngest.

It was indeed quite an achievement.

The young Legacy did not seem too impressed, though. Instead, she grimaced and asked in a grumbling tone:

"Whatever. Is the food ready?"

Fleur smiled.

"Coming right up!"

They ate a simple, but filling meal in silence. After that, another messenger arrived, dropping a scattering of shimmering crystals in front of them.

Rain's eyes glistened.

'Finally!‘

The crystals were, of course, soul shards.