Shadow Slave

Some time later, Sunny exited the Instructors Lounge. The clear winter day welcomed him with chilly wind and tiny snowflakes dancing in the sunlight. Despite being dressed very lightly — his skin was covered only by the soft fabric of the simple training suit provided to him by the staff of the Academy hospital complex — Sunny did not feel too cold.

'That's being Awakened for you, I guess.'

If it had been a year and a few months ago, he would have been desperately searching for shelter, hoping that he would not freeze to death overnight or, even worse, get sick. But now, Sunny felt great. He wasn't even uncomfortable.

Pulling down his sleeves to hide the serpent tattoo, he inhaled the cool, perfectly filtered air, smiled, and started walking.

'Decisions, decisions…'

The conversation with Master Jet had been useful, but left him with more questions than answers. Each of the choices presented to him had alluring benefits, but also very serious drawbacks.

'Great clans, lesser clans, government, or independent?'

Sunny tried to imagine himself as a Legacy and silently shook his head. All that prestige, all that wealth, the admiration of the masses… being a Legacy meant being a part of the nobility, the elite above all elites. It was the exact opposite of what Sunny had been all his life.

…But who said that he had to remain the same in the future? From a pauper to a prince, that would be a nice transformation. Lord Sunless… that had a nice ring to it, didn't it?

There were serious disadvantages to making such a choice, of course.

Working for the government offered its own advantages, but at the cost of not receiving as much funds and resources, while being tied down by too many obligations. Both times Sunny had met Master Jet, she seemed busy and overworked. He couldn't imagine pursuing his goals with such a schedule.

One of the functions of the Awakened forces in service to the government was hunting down rogue members of their own kind. Awakened were people, after all, and there were criminals among them, too. Especially because many were traumatized and driven to the edge of madness by their experiences in the Nightmares and the Dream Realm.

If Sunny could absorb the essence of those humans he killed like all the other Awakened, that path could have offered him a faster track to saturating his cores. But as it was, he didn't see himself putting on the uniform, unless there were new Gates opening every day, thus providing him with the endless supply of Nightmare Creatures to hunt.

...By the way, how many Gates were opening in a given year, on average? Suddenly, Sunny realized that he had no idea. The propaganda never mentioned concrete numbers, only the fact that valiant Awakened had the situation under control. Did they, really?

The last option was to remain independent. That choice was seemingly in contradiction to his desire to acquire status and as many benefits as possible, but only on the surface. In fact, Sunny had already received most of what he wanted by becoming a high-ranking citizen and getting a free pick of any Citadel. Of course, not having the vast resources of a Legacy clan or the government would be a huge loss... but it would also provide the best chance he had to keep all his secrets to himself.

All three options were worthy of being considered.

In the end, it all came to the fact that he simply didn't have enough information to make a decision. So, getting information was his first priority. But… how?

a library? The Academy has to have

public terminals in the outskirts, too, although using them cost credits. He had never had any to spare, so his visits were few and far between. And he went there for entertainment,

the network, but doing so would doubtlessly leave a digital trail behind. Considering that some of the topics he

'A library it is…'

could be covered at any moment with reinforced shutters. There weren't many people in sight, so Sunny assumed that the library

of the information stored there could be accessed

automatic door, Sunny looked

with several young

the hell…

printed at all?! Wouldn't it be way more convenient to read from a terminal, like all

his life. The

Spell… back when humanity had been consumed by an endless series of devastating wars and cataclysmic natural disasters, a lot of knowledge had been lost

the safest way to

had never thought about it

'Still weird…'

noticed a member of the library staff. It was a young man… no, wait… a young woman? A young person, with short black hair and intelligent brown eyes, who was currently reading a vintage-looking book. There

Sunny thought that it was a name. Maybe it was some weird title among the librarians. Who knew what

"Ren" continued to read, fully engrossed in whatever story

sounds familiar. Must be a really great book. Maybe I

hey? Can I

a couple of seconds, then reluctantly put down the novel

course. How can I

bit,

about the Dream Realm and the

blinked a couple of times,

you be

Sunny sighed.

all the Citadels out there, as well as learn who

The librarian smiled brightly:

you are a lover of history as well! Of course, of course. You have come

Sunny flinched.

nickel