Shadow Slave

"An incredible win by Lord… uh, by Mongrel!"

Looking at the cloud of blood rising above the arena, Syclus couldn't contain his enthusiasm.

Today, there were no simultaneous duels, as there were only thirty-two contenders left. Each battle was intense and exciting, and received the full attention of the commentators.

Looking at the cheering audience, Dimi laughed.

"Indeed, indeed… Mongrel did very well against No Wait. That Aspect of his is a real menace, believe me. I've been on the receiving end of those explosions way too many times!"

Dimi had been one of the first renowned duelists of the Dreamscape, back when it had been just growing popular ten or so years ago, so he was talking from experience.

Syclus glanced at the chat, knowing that it was a good time to involve the viewers in the discussion. Coincidentally, he noticed a comment concerning something that he himself was curious about.

"Yeah, very devious! But, Dimi… don't you feel like Mongrel behaved a bit out of character today? I mean, he practically called a respected Dreamscape veteran an idiot. With how noble, dignified, and chivalrous Mongrel usually is…"

Dimi thought for a bit, then shook his head.

"You see, Syclus… I respected Mongrel before, but now I truly admire him. It takes a very talented fighter to quickly recognize a battle style, true. Mongrel is talented... but he is also wise."

He smiled.

"Because it takes a very wise man to quickly recoginze an idiot. And make no mistake, this guy is a complete buffoon! Believe me, I have the misfortune of knowing him pretty well. I mean… only an idiot would end up with an alias like "What? No, Wait!"... right?"

Instantly, a deluge of comments flooded the chat:

"True! Mongrel is so wise!"

"Wise, deadly, and handsome!"

"How do you know that he's handsome, fool? He never takes off that creepy mask!"

"You mean SHE is handsome? Wait, that doesn't sound right…"

"...Can someone ban that troll already?!"

that alias. Why would an idiot like

***

I've seen

for his next duel when he suddenly remembered how he had entered the Dreamscape for the first time. Back then, he had almost ended up with that exact name after accidentally saying

the

called Mongrel was much

of

feeling that it wasn't going

***

of his next three duels were easy, although

called Lowph. It was a young man with shoulder-length hair who wore a light armor, wielding a round shield

The worst part was that this speed did not come from an Aspect Ability, but simply from skill, training, and incredibly

weapons almost teleported from one place to another. Sunny only managed to resist because his enemy skillfully masked the movements of his body, but didn't think to mask the movements of his

smart thing to do was to kill the deadly opponent as fast as possible, but Sunny was utterly fascinated by the way Lowph used his soul essence, so he lingered, trying to

ended up being the first human to make

and one of

blade and then retreating to save himself from a retaliatory strike, Lowph glanced at the vibrant crimson

human, after

suppressed the pain and tilted his head

"Am I?"

went all out, aiming to end the fight as soon as possible — not because he was done learning Lowph's style, but because even with Blood Weave, he

brutal battle with Caster, Sunny already knew how to deal with fast enemies. So, in the end, neither speed nor incredible mastery of essence managed to save the young

as soon as Sunny returned to the black

to go as far as controlling essence goes,

really tough, but ended up being only slightly torturous. His enemy this time was named

to move, while

More importantly, he had a rich experience dealing with the Crushing. Even though Everain was able to make him sweat by manipulating gravity with admirable ingenuity, he was victorious in

however… made him rethink a

wore simple garments instead of an armor and wielded no weapons. At first, Sunny fought that this was another sorcerer… however, he couldn't have

of the Dreamscape announced the start of the duel, his opponent… changed. His muscles suddenly ballooned and shifted, ripping through the simple clothes. His skin glistened, becoming covered by metallic scales. His

just a few moments, what faced Sunny was not a human, but a frightening hybrid creature that resembled a predatory humanoid lizard. A split second later,

looked like a Nightmare Creature and was as strong and fearsome as one, the hybrid fought with a measured technique of an experienced, cunning, battle-hardened brawler. The effect was