Shadow Slave

The dojo was rather large and submerged in absolute darkness. Sunny gave the home a command, and immediately, bright light chased the darkness away, revealing the floor, walls, and ceiling that were covered by heavy plates of armored ceramic alloy.

Some of the plates already had cracks in them, which Sunny was painfully aware of… after all, those cracks had appeared as the result of Saint repeatedly slamming him against the floor. Simply looking at them made Sunny ache all over.

'I'm going to have to replace a few soon…'

He exited the elevator and walked over to a stand where various practice weapons were kept. These weapons were made out of reinforced synthetic materials to withstand the intensity of Awakened training, and had cost him a fortune. Sadly, Sunny had never even touched them, since training with the real deal was far more effective.

'Hm…'

Behind him, Rain walked into the dojo and looked around with curiosity. This space looked dark and mysterious, like a lair of a mythical monster.

"Do you come here a lot?"

Sunny gave her a short look.

"Of course, I do. This is where I sleep."

She was slightly surprised, but then seemed to understand the meaning of his answer.

For mundane humans, such a shelter would only be useful if a Gate opened nearby. But Awakened were more or less defenseless while in the Dream Realm. They needed the protection an underground bunker could provide much more, since their empty bodies could be easily destroyed when the spirit wandered away.

Her gaze traveled to the steel sarcophagus of the sleeping pod, and then moved past it. Suddenly, Rain's eyes brightened.

"Wow! Is that a Dreamscape pod?"

Sunny hesitated, surprised by her strong reaction.

"Uh… sure. Why?"

'My super expensive sleeping pod is much more impressive! Why is she so fascinated by that silly thing?'

The teenage girl walked over to the alcove with the two machines and studied one of them with excited curiosity. The luxurious, state-of-the-art sarcophagus received zero attention.

"Do you play often?"

He rolled his eyes, then shrugged.

"From time to time, I guess? When I have time. Dueling other Awakened helps with my own training."

Rain sighed with envy.

"That's cool. Some of my classmates have personal Dreamscape pods, too. They play the version for mundane humans, of course, but it still sounds amazing."

Sunny smiled.

you

shook her head. When she spoke, her voice sounded too

really. It's only fun

little, then asked in a

don't you have

then turned

after dad got me a spot in

one way to put

looked at her,

had any growing up, and

him, doubt clearly written on her

"Yeah… but…"

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

"But what?"

lingered for a few

have

Sunny blinked.

'Huh?'

tell me

Rain giggled.

start. So I asked Effie, and she

Sunny's eye twitched.

repeat that stupid joke about us before realizing that it isn't funny? It wasn't funny the first time, and it's certainly not

retort angrily. However, Rain's next word

you bring her flowers every week, and even visit her mom from time to time. I think

a heavy expression. Feeling that his reaction

did I say

a few moments, then

just likes to run her mouth sometimes. She shouldn't have told

understanding what was happening, but feeling dark undertones in his voice, the teenage girl awkwardly

I just

practice weapons,

I bring flowers to when I

at him

uh… why do you

at her darkly. Rain suddenly shivered, realizing that she

later, he said

of the Dream Realm, and she did

thought for a few