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?!"

is right! Only a complete idiot would end up with that alias. Why would an idiot like that even try

***

where I've

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 words out loud. Luckily, it had already been taken. Otherwise, Sunny could have been called "What?

that's the

that being called

and circulated his essence through the coils of the Soul Serpent, aiming to replenish

it wasn't going to be

***

next three duels were easy, although for

called Lowph. It was a young man with shoulder-length hair who wore a light armor, wielding a round shield and a spear. His technique was impeccable, but the most dangerous

was fast. Very fast. So fast, in fact, that Sunny could barely see some of his movements. The worst part was that this speed did not come from an Aspect Ability, but simply from skill,

the young man seemed deceptively slow until he chose to attack, at which point his 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

was to kill the deadly opponent as fast as possible, but Sunny was utterly fascinated by the way Lowph used his

ended up being

of the Mantle and one of the

retreating to save himself from a retaliatory strike, Lowph glanced at the vibrant crimson liquid on his spear

you're human,

the pain and tilted

"Am I?"

forward and 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 wasn't sure that he would last

already knew how to deal with fast enemies. So, in the end, neither speed nor incredible mastery of essence managed

as

I have ways to go as far as controlling essence

but ended up being only slightly torturous. His enemy this time was named Everain and possessed a powerful sorcerous Aspect

to move, while his enemy masterfully weaved the

[Feather of Truth], which diminished the burden a little. More importantly, he had a rich experience dealing with the Crushing. Even

duel, however… made him rethink a lot of

Weirdly, he wore simple garments instead of an armor and wielded no

through the simple clothes. His skin glistened, becoming covered by

hybrid creature that resembled a predatory humanoid lizard. A split second later, the creature was already upon him in a furious whirlwind

as strong and fearsome as one, the hybrid fought with a