Shadow Slave

Some time passed in silence, with each of them thinking about what their own fates would be in this cursed place. Finally, Sunny extricated himself from this dark reverie and asked:

"So you've been here all this time? How are you able to afford to live in the castle? Don't tell me that you have joined this… this golden serpent's army."

Caster sighed.

"No… no, I didn't. Although I'm going to lie if I say that I haven't been tempted to. One way or the other, all roads here lead to Gunlaug and his men. I don't think there's more than a handful of powerful Sleepers who have managed to remain independent. Currently, I'm one of them."

Sunny stared at him a repeated his question:

"How so?"

The handsome young man shrugged.

"My Aspect Ability gives me a certain advantage when it comes to escaping the clutches of the Nightmare Creatures. Not so much with killing them, though. I went on a few hunting expeditions with other independent hunters… but that was a mistake. We barely escaped alive. Still, it landed me a few soul shards. The rest I got from selling a couple of Memories."

Right… unlike them normal people, the proud Legacy had entered the Dream Realm with an entire arsenal of Memories that his clan had prepared for him. He had also started with a somewhat considerable amount of soul essence already absorbed, although it wouldn't have been too much.

Unlike Memories, which could be brought back to the real world by anyone, actual soul shards were physical objects, and as such, only Masters and Saints were able to transport them — because they traveled between realms physically, and not just in spirit like Sleepers and Awakened.

That meant that even rich Legacy clans couldn't afford to feed too much soul essence to their scions in advance. Masters were a rare breed, after all, let alone Saints.

In any case, Caster had it better than anyone else on the Forgotten Shore. His ancestral Memories were enough to buy him months, perhaps even years of a tranquil life in the castle. He could use this time to learn the ins and outs of the Dark City to become an independent hunter or reconsider his position and join Gunlaug's host eventually.

this hell, his background gave him an enormous

'Lucky bastard…'

were so

Sunny frowned.

Gunlaug's men afraid of

at him with

are different kinds of people serving Gunlaug. The guys you have so carelessly offended are members of the Castle Guard. They are at the bottom of the totem pole.

word Legacy really meant. Legacies were trained to fight and kill since they could barely walk. Every one of

being Sunny knew of that had managed to defeat Nephis in combat. And

else

that Caster's reputation was earned by

that I won't have to face this guy in battle one day,' Sunny thought, feeling a

he tried to hide this unease and

shouldn't be worried about

young man gave

own, but there won't be any reaction from the Host itself. But I doubt that they will. Just don't

He suddenly grew serious.

have protected you. You'd simply be dead. So, please, watch your actions in the future. This castle… in a sense,

supposed

wanted to bite back, but then

really did have a temperament that attracted trouble. Guilty

choices, Cassie suddenly spoke in a