Shadow Slave

Sunny stared at Master Jet, a strange expression frozen on his face. After a while, he asked:

"...That's great, but... what the hell does "SS" mean?"

She smiled and sipped her tea, looking at him across the table. Placing the cup back down, she then shook her head slightly and said:

"The government — and the powerful Legacy clans, of course — keeps track of every Awakened in the world. That shouldn't be a surprise for you, right?"

Sunny slowly nodded.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Master Jet shifted slightly, then continued:

"Firstly, because every Awakened technically has a duty to respond when a Gate opens near their location — that's what the special communicator is for. In exchange for all the privileges we receive, we have to protect this world from the Nightmare Creatures."

A dark grimace appeared on her face.

"Of course, realistically, no one can force you to actually fulfill that duty, or at least no one is going to. Many Awakened turn around and run as soon as they receive a Gate Crisis alert."

Sunny grimaced. On one hand, he understood such a reaction perfectly. Why would they want to risk their lives for random strangers? Not every Awakened was good in a fight, too. Not everyone was like the Artisans of the Dark City, who had gone into battle side by side with those Dreamers who possessed combat Aspects.

...But on the other hand, the idea of running away while monsters were devouring mundane humans and wreaking havoc in the real world simply rubbed him the wrong way. It seemed as though Sunny had somehow developed a bit of pride in the past year. He didn't want to run from the Nightmare Creatures and capitulate to the Spell. He might have even been infected with having morals…

this

thoughts, Master Jet

of them. Talents need to be nurtured, and for that, they need to be recognized first. So the most promising Awakened receive a mark on their

Sunny shook his head.

She grinned:

survival of humanity, or at least make an impact on the global scale. Simply put, it's either someone whose Aspect can be extremely useful to society or someone who has

of

and far between. That's why we usually receive a lot of attention and support from either the government or the Legacy faction we decide to align with. But here comes the best

She grinned.

history. A sudden appearance of a hundred powerful Awakened is not that important in

Up until now, everything that he heard was in accordance

what's that about me being marked as SS? What does SS stand

Master Jet nodded.

or SS for short. This designation is even rarer. Actually, very few people had ever gotten it. What it means is that you are considered to have a very

looked at him with an apologetic smile

the five people with the SS designation, you

glanced at her and

taken. Who are the

Master Jet shrugged.

the great clans. To be honest, your own achievements — while still incredible — pale in comparison to theirs. But someone had noted that you went from being the second to last in the Academy rating to leading a hundred Sleepers to the Gateway during the

somewhat satisfied by that

bad as I

for — to be considered one of the best, but also the worst of