Shadow Slave

Sunny climbed out of the pod and stretched, lamenting the fact that Dreamscape capsules weren't as sophisticated as the sleeping pods used to enter the actual Dream Realm. Due to his luxurious metal sarcophagus, he had almost forgotten the rusty feeling of spending too much time inside one of these things.

Despite the fact that the duels themselves had not lasted too long, an entire day already passed. Sunny was somewhat tired, but instead of resting, he commanded the Soul Serpent to shape itself into a weapon and walked to the middle of the dojo. He was impatient to cement the knowledge of the battle styles he had absorbed today.

Sunny started to perform various katas, executing each one slowly at first, and then quicker, and quicker, and quicker still. Soon, he moved with incredible speed, his lithe and flexible body almost leaving afterimages behind. Lean muscles were rolling under his pale skin, which soon glistened with sweat.

Sunny fluidly shifted from one style to another, his movements simultaneously firm and flowing, sharp and gentle, clear and unpredictable. The Soul Serpent flowed from one form to another, too, as insidious and shapeless as the person who wielded it. It was as though Sunny was performing a strange, graceful, viciously complicated dance.

…His three shadows danced with him, moving swiftly on the ceramic plates of the armored floor.

If Sunny could look at himself right now, he would be surprised to see that his movements were eerily similar to the dance that the young slave girl had once performed in his dream. But while her movements were beautiful and smooth, his were deadly and sharp. Hers were flawless, while his were slightly crude… as if he had not mastered his art yet.

'I can feel it… the second step. I can feel it, but why can't I reach it? Something is missing…'

After a long time, Sunny tiredly fell on the cold ceramic floor and remained motionless for several minutes, his chest moving heavily. There was a tired, but determined expression on his face.

'More, I need more. More and better…'

***

In the morning, Sunny had some free time before he had to enter the Dreamscape again. Making himself a cup of tea, he relaxed in a comfortable chair and took out his communicator.

After yesterday, the number of duelists remaining in the tournament had drastically reduced. Now, there were only thirty-two of them left. Each one was a formidable opponent, so Sunny decided to study their previous fights a bit. Luckily, all the recordings were readily available on the network.

…His were, too.

Mongrel is a Legacy. Or an actual demon! Who else could

offered to give him

an actual

to look at the comments, hurriedly

me advance to

only two people. Their aliases

to reap the alluring rewards, so he had not thought much of it. But now, he was starting to suspect that

harder from here. Due to his recent progress, Sunny had allowed himself to become a little

powerful Awakened helped him remember how dangerous it was

powerhouses of the Awakened world

hidden tigers

head and concentrated on the

***

again and only entered the Dreamscape at the last minute, hoping to

opponents, and if

a peculiar armor made out of rusted metal, their face grim and full of dark apprehension. He was

has joined

No, wait! Has joined

behind the mask, Sunny raised

alias? Wait... why does it sound

trying to remember where he had heard this bizarre name, the man summoned a shield and an

new guy everyone is talking