Shadow Slave

Satisfied with his performance, Sunny walked back to the deserted corner of the hall. He felt people looking at him with mockery, contempt and pity. No one seemed to be willing to stay close to him. It was just as well: he didn't want to be bothered anyway.

Still, weren't their reactions a bit exaggerated? It's not like he was carrying an infectious disease. Well, except for the Spell. But it wasn't really a disease, which everyone here should have known already.

Finally, he extricated himself from the crowd and reached the corner. For some reason, Sleepers were unwilling to approach it: currently, there was only one girl sitting quietly on the bench. Sunny gave her a look.

The quiet girl was delicate, demure and very pretty. Her clothes were tidy and neat. They weren't very expensive, but still rather tasteful. With her pale blond hair, big blue eyes and exquisite face, she looked like a beautiful porcelain doll.

She was subtly breathtaking.

However, there was something wrong with her. Sunny frowned, trying to understand what exactly about the girl made him uncomfortable. After a while, he realized that her empty, expressionless stare was reminding him of Mountain King.

Startled, Sunny understood that the girl was blind. It took him a couple of seconds to compose himself.

'What a shame.'

A bit disheartened, he carefully sat on the opposite end of the bench.

The girl wouldn't have survived the First Nightmare if she had been blind prior to entering the Spell. Which meant that she lost her sight as the result of the Appraisal.

It was her Flaw.

A cold sensation

my Flaw was

girl had received in exchange for her sight, it was effectively a death sentence. A blind person had no chances of surviving in the Dream Realm, at least not with a dormant core. In some

effectively a

Sunny turned away and studied the crowd of Sleepers. Now he understood why people were trying to avoid this corner: the girl was

but anyone

people in the hall were grouped. Instinctively, they all tried to stand close to those

all confident, calm and

were the scions of rich and high-ranking citizens. Their training was pretty good since such families had ample

of the crowd, which consisted of kids from middle-class families. They might not have had the privilege of training under Awakened tutors, but their education wasn't bad. The government spent a lot of effort to put all the necessary knowledge and skills into the school curriculum, preparing potential

them might have received additional training in private. To survive, these Sleepers would need to put in a valiant effort, and also have a bit of luck. But it wasn't improbable. Consequently,

From the point of view of other Sleepers in

'How charming.'

from everyone, seemingly indifferent to tension and nervousness that permeated the air. She was leaning against a

level of training, everyone was

the damn induction ceremony

Not only was he tall, he was actually almost a giant. Sunny even wondered if the man's

had gone extinct long before the Spell even appeared. But he once saw pictures in a book, and they looked

bear-like Nightmare

serious. After reaching the center

doesn't have a telepathic Ability. Otherwise, he might