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.

a Legacy. Or an actual demon!

guy was an archer, so he even offered to give him time

mean an actual

even trying to look at the comments, hurriedly scrolled

guys will help me advance to the next level

glanced at the cohort competition leaderboard. The team that was currently in the first place was called "Librarians" and, weirdly, consisted of only two people. Their aliases were Unorganized Laundry and Iza,

only joined the Dream Tournament to reap the alluring rewards, so he had not thought much of it. But now, he was starting to

recent progress, Sunny had allowed himself to become a little vain. He was stronger and more experienced than most of the Awakened he met, so

him remember how dangerous it was to

even the true elites. Real powerhouses of the Awakened world would never

one of these hidden tigers

shook his head and concentrated on the screen of the

***

and only entered the Dreamscape

he couldn't avoid his opponents, and if they wanted to talk,

made out of rusted metal, their face grim and full of

has

wait! Has joined

behind the mask,

alias? Wait... why

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

new guy everyone is talking