Shadow Slave

Evolving… the Stone Saint was evolving.

Leaving the mindscape of the Soul Sea, Sunny furrowed his brow. His eyes, however, were full of excitement.

What exactly about her was going to change, though?

There weren't that many possibilities. It could be either her rank, her class, or her attributes.

It was logical to assume that by defeating an opponent of a higher rank, the Shadow would be able to ascend to a new rank herself. However, there was a flaw in that logic.

The Black Knight wasn't the first Fallen creature Sunny and the Saint had slain. In fact, he was the third, with the Corpse Eater and the Spire Messenger being the first two. That's not even counting the two Iron Spiders the living statue had butchered before falling to Sunny's blade herself.

But she had not done anything like pulling a black gem out of their corpses before.

So, most likely, what allowed her to absorb the soul of that particular Nightmare Creature was not the mere fact of its incredible power, it was the strange but obvious kinship that the two of them shared. At least Sunny felt that this guess of his was right.

That didn't help him understand what changes would occur to the taciturn monsters, though. Still, it was a very valuable piece of information to learn.

In the future, if Sunny wanted to evolve his Shadows, he would have to find not only a powerful, but also a suitable opponent for them to defeat. A kindred abomination of higher rank or class.

Tilting his head, he tried to remember if there was another creature on the Forgotten Shore he knew of whose soul could be fed to the Saint. For a moment, the image of the walking colossus appeared in his mind.

'Yeah, no. Not gonna even think about that.'

Shaking his head, Sunny smiled slightly and walked over to his companions.

Now that their deal had been concluded…

The future he was so afraid of was finally upon them.

***

room that had once belonged to the priestess of this ancient temple.

just like he had left him. There were pieces of simple, but luxurious furniture carved out of pale wood, with a few mismatched things that he had scavenged from the ruins. The stone walls were decorated with intricate engravings. An empty chest that used

him. Sadly, being the master of a hungry Shadow was not the

stone, marking all the days he had spent living in the ruined cathedral. For a long time, this had been his home. The best home he ever had, really, which was a sad thing to say about a windowless stone room hidden in the middle

was going to miss this dark,

with the exception of Effie and Cassie, were looking around with interest. Even Neph

look on his face, Kai turned to Sunny and

is where you

raised an

"Yeah. Why?"

beautiful archer smiled with visible

tasteful! I

that

Sunny frowned.

you expect

looked down,

on a floor in a cave. Yeah, stupid, I know. Why would

Effie couldn't

till you see what's in his

look, but thought better of saying

huntress was

to come next, every member of the cohort was consumed by fear and doubt right now. Effie more than the rest, because her role in the spectacle that

Sunny sighed.

were sitting around the hearth, the smell of food still lingering in the air. Everyone was silent, looking at the fire, their minds consumed with dark thoughts. Sunny knew that he had to make a decision

he just watched the shadows dance on the

a while, Nephis finally broke the silence. Turning to

the morning. Will you come

as always. But Sunny knew her well enough to discern notes of