Shadow Slave

Sunny looked around the destroyed theater, then found an intact seat and sat down. Relaxing on the soft velvet cushions, he crossed his legs and looked at the broken stage with a complicated expression.

The shards of glass and empty stimulant packs attracted his attention for a moment. Sunny had expected the stimulants to be of the pleasure-inducing variety, but to his surprise, they were more or less the same as the ones he had used to stay awake for an entire week after returning from the Forgotten Shore.

A slight frown appeared on his.

'Don't tell me… was this guy afraid of going to the Dream Realm?'

…Kurt might have been even more broken than he had suspected. From how Master Jet had described her former acquaintance, the man had once been a dedicated combatant, a specialist... but what kind of a specialist was scared of his specialty?

With a sign, Sunny stared into the distance and summoned the runes.

And there it was, written in the ancient symbols in the air in front of him:

Echo: [Shadow Blade Kurt].

Echo Type: Beast.

…All humans were considered to be Beasts by the Spell, since they only had one soul core, so this was not surprising.

Well, all humans except for Sunny and Nephis.

As the thought of becoming a Demon drifted into his mind, Sunny read further.

Echo Rank: Awakened.

Echo Attributes: [Swift Hand], [Shadow Sworn], [Mark of Death].

[Swift Hand] Attribute Description: "Your blade strikes fast and true."

[Shadow Sworn] Attribute Description: "You are known to shadows."

[Mark of Death] Attribute Description: "You bear a mark of Death, as just like Death, you were created to be a weapon."

Sunny tilted his head a little.

So, an Attribute that increased perception and agility, an Attribute that gifted Kurt affinity to shadows — although to a much lesser extent than his own — and a third Attribute that… actually, Sunny had no idea what the third Attribute did.

Its description, though, was very interesting. He knew that death had been created by Shadow God, and now, he learned that it had been created as a weapon… but against whom? What kind of enemy could have demanded the creation of such a terrible thing?

Someone immortal, perhaps… no, that didn't make sense. If there had been a time before death was invented, then everything back then was immortal, eternal, and endless… right?

Sunny wasn't sure that he understood the concept of a world without death. What he did know, though, was that something as harrowing as death would not have been invented without a reason.

turned his attention back to

Abilities: [Shadow Manipulation],

"You can affect the

Ability Description: "You can strike at the shadows, and your shadow can strike at the

'...As expected.'

different, but at the same time similar to his own. Both were much less versatile and powerful than what he was capable of himself, though, even if the ability to deal direct damage to and through his shadows was something Sunny would have loved to

slightly different version of his passive Attribute, [Child

having a Shadow like Kurt could add a new layer to his

also the last

Echo has the innate abilities of a carrier of

That was a nice ability to have. Even Saint herself was limited to only

of thought, Sunny looked at the

a beautiful blade, but all you created

blinked a couple

I imagining things, or

funny thought that

and waited for a bit, then grimaced and dove into the Soul

'Let's take a look…'

approached the spot between

floated to the surface of still waters and slowly dimmed, revealing a gaunt, naked man standing

his skin

was a human… or rather, a soulless copy of a human. Echo Kurt looked almost like a person, but the lifeless emptiness in his eyes screamed of a profound,

was very much like the Hollow victims of its original, only even more vacant and devoid of the undefinable spark that all living things possessed. It was an artificial copy of a man that lacked the very thing that made

A ghastly effigy.

was

tried to think

its current state, but thanks to its [Awakened] Ability, it would possess the innate capacity to use

question was… did he

creature equal to a powerful Awakened in their service? But really,

frowned, then raised a hand and poked the ghastly creature in the

of runes appeared

Echo into

He froze, thinking.

Shadow certainly had its benefits. But having any Shadow also demanded a tremendous investment of resources. Nurturing Saint was very hard on Sunny, and especially on his pocket. Less importantly, but

much time and effort to get close to creating a third core, and the idea of being suddenly pushed back by a whole hundred fragments did not seem too

point was, he felt reluctant to turn just

was Kurt a worthy

one of the silent shadows was placed into

wasn't sure that he