Several more days passed... Sunny would have lost count of how many, honestly, if not for the fact that two of his incarnations were out there in the world — one marching with the Song Army, the other preparing to raid and destroy its supply lines.
He had spent these days immersed in weaving.
At some point, Aiko delivered a collection of Memories to the basement of the Brilliant Emporium. Some of them she had purchased and was about to resell; some had come from the Fire Keepers. Sunny had to take breaks to rest his boiling mind, replenish essence, and weave more shadow threads, so he spent his breaks studying these Memories.
With each Memory he merged with, his insights grew.
Almost two weeks had passed since his battle with Revel. The Marvelous Mimic had long since healed the hole made in the floor of the dining hall by the black arrow, and Nephis was set to arrive any moment now.
Letting out a tired sigh, Sunny took a step back and looked at the Memories resting on the workbench in front of him.
The first of them was the [Bag of Withholding], the spatial storage Memory that had helped him advance his sorcery to a new level.
Next to it was a canteen that looked like it was made from green copper, housed in a black leather sleeve with an intricate image of a coiling serpent etched into it. There were some decorative patterns on the canteen itself, all following the same theme.
In truth, Sunny had crafted it from the leftover scraps of the Huntsman's axe. The canteen was a kind of storage Memory, as well, albeit quite different from the Bag of Withholding — it could store a great volume of water and purify it. Needless to say, it was his crude attempt at replicating the Endless Spring.
The [Knockoff Endless Spring] had been considered, but eventually dismissed.
Crafting the [Green Canteen] had not taken him much time, actually. However, unlike the original, it had to be filled by hand — so, Sunny sent Aiko to do just that. The canteen could really contain a lot of water, so his poor assistant had to spend an entire day filling it under the confused gazes of the Fire Keepers. They even chased her off the Ivory Island when the water level of the lake started to drop...
The third Memory Sunny had crafted for Rain had a very simple enchantment but was exceedingly difficult to devise. In terms of complexity, it might have been the most troublesome of them all, forcing Sunny to really strain himself mentally.
It was a long strip of black silk that could be used as a sash or a scarf, decorated with subtle embroidery. After thinking for a while, Sunny had named it [In Case of Emergency].
The [In Case of Emergency] was meant to serve as a safeguard against a very particular peril — the incinerating radiance of the white abyss that hung above Godgrave. Its function was indeed simple — if given a mental command, it would instantly turn the person wearing it completely still.
After all, Rain could potentially topple after a few hours of immobility due to running out of essence, which would render the entire Memory useless. So, Sunny had tried hard and eventually managed to make the [In Case of Emergency] consume less essence than any Awakened could replenish naturally, thus making its enchantment somewhat passive — as long as it was used by a person of Rain’s weight.
That was it for the utility Memories Sunny had prepared. Pressed for time, he eventually had to turn his attention to other areas.
He had called it the [Safety First].
These were all the Memories Sunny had crafted for Rain.
His gaze shifted to one more item lying on the workbench.
It was a bracelet much like his own.
However... Sunny had not been able to finish it yet. He needed Cassie's help to complete the weave of this unassuming, but deeply complicated Memory.
«Still... I have outdone myself this time, if I do say so myself.»
A faint smile appeared on Sunny’s face.
He couldn’t wait to present these Memories to Rain!
There was just one thing that bothered him, though...
Sunny frowned, then summoned the runes and glanced at the list of his own Memories.
[Shadow Chair], [Overpriced Saddle], [Weaver’s Needle], [Handy Bracelet], [Quintessence Pearl], [Definitely Not Me]...
His gaze shifted to the Memories he had crafted in the last few days. [Bag of Withholding], [Green Canteen], [In Case of Emergency], [Don’t Cut Yourself], [Outskirts at Noon], [Safety First]...
He closed his eyes and let out a quiet sigh.
There was no denying it.
«I guess... I have a poetic soul, too...»
Sunny was starting to understand how he and Rain had ended up with their weird names.