Shadow Slave

Sunny was sprawled in the mud, looking at the sky. He didn't even have to catch his breath since the whole fight took less than ten seconds from start to finish. No one was dead, wounded or even bruised… well, with the exception of the scavenger. It was completely out of his expectations.

He glanced at the monster's corpse to make sure that it was actually dead, then summoned the runes and took a look at the number of Shadow Fragments in his possession.

[Shadow Fragments: 16/1000].

It was actually true. The mighty awakened beast perished just like that. And, although Nephis did most of the work, he was the one to deal the killing blow.

'Why can't it always be so easy?'

Sunny got back on his feet and dismissed the Azure Blade. Then, he remembered the words Master Jet had once told him: "No one can survive in the Dream Realm alone."

Back then, he noted her advice, but didn't really believe it. After all, he had always strived to be self-sufficient, not allowing himself to depend on anyone. In Sunny's mind, this was the true meaning of strength.

However, now he was beginning to suspect that this logic was flawed. Indeed, having someone to share your burdens meant the difference between heaven and hell here in the Dream Realm. If he was alone, fighting against a single scavenger might have been the end of him.

Similarly, even though Nephis was far more skilled than Sunny, it would have been extremely hard for her to defeat the armored monster alone, being that its weakest point was out of her reach.

But together, they had accomplished it with relative ease. The whole was greater than the sum of the parts. In other words, there was strength in numbers that surpassed individual power. In that sense, being able to depend on a group was not a sign of weakness, but, on the contrary, an important facet of personal strength.

Lone wolves would always be at a disadvantage. That was another lesson to learn.

'It's not like I had much of a choice.'

He walked over to Nephis and checked if she was okay. Apart from slight damage to her makeshift seaweed clothes, everything seemed to be alright. She glanced at Sunny.

"Memory?"

He shook his head.

Nephis sighed. It seemed that she was a bit impatient to get herself a suit of armor of her own. If Sunny was a gentleman, he would have suggested to loan her the Puppeteer's Shroud for a while… but alas, he wasn't. That armor was extremely valuable and had cost him a lot.

Plus, unlike Changing Star, the picture of Sunny wearing nothing but a seaweed loincloth would have been more disturbing than aesthetically pleasing. So, he said nothing.

Meanwhile, Nephis headed for the dead scavenger and said without turning her head:

"Bring Cassie."

With a sigh, Sunny turned around and left the clearing.

Soon, he approached the place where the blind girl was waiting patiently for their return. Hearing his footsteps, she flinched and raised her head:

"S—Sunny?"

did she recognize me? Ah...

me. Everything is over. Come on, I'll

staff, Cassie stood up and turned

you guys

Sunny smiled.

We dispatched that critter in no time. Didn't even get

smiled with visible

that's good. Oh, right,

took the rope and guided the blind girl back to the clearing. On the way, he felt a bit weird. With the delicate girl walking behind him, he couldn't help but think of his little sister. As a toddler, she used to follow him around too, as though they

gritted his teeth and

breaking apart the scavenger's carapace. The shimmering soul shard was already in

crystal and looked at her

giving it to

for a few seconds. Then she said as a

"I don't have pockets."

"Oh."

bewildered, Sunny put

why wouldn't she just

ask the question, but she seemed to realize something and

the spoils

"Ah. Alright."

turned to Cassie

"I was careful."

Then, she smiled.

***

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

not much risk to anyone except for Nephis. The process was largely the same: after discovering the monster, he would hide

else, maybe with the exception of Caster, dancing around a deadly awakened beast would have been a tall task, most likely ending with the dancer's death.

was based solely on skill, with no Aspect Ability involved. In

calculated and perfectly timed. She seemed to innately understand the flow and logic of combat, which gave her the ability to roughly predict what actions the mindless beasts would perform in the next seconds. Then it was just the question of physical prowess

more important than raw power, but by watching Nephis, he vividly understood just how vast the difference between them was. Even though his divine Aspect allowed Sunny to exert more

to accomplish four kills with four strikes. Even though Sunny was not taught any elaborate techniques, he was still a somewhat experienced fighter. He had good physical coordination,

were only able to ambush the scavengers so effectively due

was an almost equal cooperation. Still,

too dejected, Sunny summoned the

[Shadow Fragments: 22/1000].