Shadow Slave

Sunny stared at the blind girl with surprise clearly written on his face. Allowing this surprise to seep into his voice, he asked:

"The vine creature? You want to kill that thing?"

Why would she want to attempt to do something that dangerous?

Cassie nodded.

"Yes."

He shook his head.

"That bastard sprawls through the entire island, its vines buried underground. It is Corrupted, which means that our weapons will barely be able to cut it. And, if that was not bad enough, the vines produce clouds of deadly poison. Are you sure that you want to attack it?"

The blind girl lingered for a few moments, then answered calmly:

"It is a Corrupted Monster, indeed. It is terrifying and lethal, yes. But I am sure that we can destroy it, with enough preparation. Everyone has weaknesses, after all. That creature is susceptible to fire, for example. There must be other things we might be able to exploit, too."

Sunny thought for a while, then shrugged.

"Fine. I will help your cohort fight the monstrosity on the Shipwreck Island. I will not promise that we will succeed, though."

Cassie sighed.

"Then we have a deal. My cohort and I will remain in the Desecrated Growth until our business here is done. I expect it to take a month, at least. Maybe more. After, we will return to the Sanctuary, recuperate, and proceed to the Shipwreck Island."

She paused for a moment, and then added:

"And then, I will help you challenge the Second Nightmare."

Sunny smiled.

die before that,

back to the roots of the dead

If we don't die before

***

Sanctuary, Sunny had a lot to think

there was the fact that he would have to cooperate with Cassie again, which made him feel all sorts of complicated emotions. The manner of their relationship, at least, was set clear — it was purely an alliance of

After all, Sunny could be a very pragmatic person when he needed to

of returning to the wreck of the ancient ship, this time to do battle with the vine monster that ruled over the island. Sunny knew very well how dangerous that thing was, so he

the Cruel Sight, however, was going

about that. However, Sunny was not going to let this vision affect his decisions. The last time he had tried to act on the knowledge received through Cassie's prophetic gift did not end well for him…

his mind, but continue to act as if nothing had changed. At least he thought that

Grove, Sunny approached the Sanctuary of Noctis in the middle of the

on the soft grass and hearing the familiar sound of water falling over the edge of the island, Sunny gritted his

about it, for now. First

sky, which meant that he was finally going to get his sweet,

coins the dead Chain Worm had brought with it to the Iron Hand Island

prize was waiting for

of moments to make sure that no one was watching him, he then crossed the stone path

the shade of an ancient tree, and an obsidian knife

'The moment of truth…'

gold

coin shimmered, reflecting the moonlight, and then

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

smile appeared on

the runes,

Shadow Fragments: [224/2000].

'It works!'

about using the coins in a slow and deliberate manner, throwing a dozen or so on the altar each time

in his sight, he