Shadow Slave

Sunny breathed in, then breathed out, calming down his widely beating heart. His hands were trembling so hard that the softly gleaming soul shard almost fell out of his grip.

'Hey… hey, Elyas. Look... it's finished!'

He tiredly turned his head and let out a low growl, trying to attract the young man's attention. But his partner did not even move, laying at the bottom of his cage and staring into the darkness with bleak, hollow eyes.

The last few days, the youth's condition wasn't too good. He even stopped having his one-sided conversations with Sunny, and just sat quietly in the darkness, not moving, until the next morning came and it was time to fight again.

Sunny lingered for a few moments, then turned away.

'It's alright… rest. I'll get us out of here soon. We will be free… free, Elyas! Just hold on a little longer!'

There wasn't much time left. In all of the vile dungeon, barely four dozen Nightmare Creatures were left alive. Their grotesque forms towered in the darkness, locked inside enchanted cages, the long stretches of empty space between hinting that the Trials of the Red Colosseum were going to come to an end soon.

And then, Solvane and her followers would spend another decade hunting down a new hecatomb of monsters to sacrifice to their bloodthirsty god.

Sunny's mouth twitched.

'Who cares… they are all just illusions, anyway. The real Solvane is long dead… the real Elyas is dead, too. Who cares what happens to them?'

He stole a glance at the crestfallen youth, and then looked away.

…But were they, really?

Forcing his trembling hands to grow steady, Sunny hesitated, then studied the soul shard he had just enchanted.

the Spell used to create the embers serving as anchors for its weaves. Whatever it was, there certainly was a connection to soul cores… after all, the Tier — and subsequently, the number of nexuses

those embers weren't actual soul shards, most likely, since shards were harvested from the carcasses of Nightmare Creatures even if the kill had produced a Memory. Sunny didn't care, though… without a better alternative, all he could do

eyes of the shadow, and

enchanted crystal to remain

slowly untangled it, breaking the loops and allowing the ends of the tenebrous

he started to weave the whole pattern,

neck, submerging it into the flowing stream of soul essence. The task was tenuous, perplexing, and intricate… but it wasn't too complicated. The pattern was already made, and all he had to

the surface of the collar, the black strings extending from it and spreading through the steel. Now, the collar looked almost

inside of it, this one much more complex and elaborate, crafted from ethereal runes. It was all a proper mess… just

breath… and then tried to dismiss

shimmered, and suddenly turned extremely cold. Inside, two

of him, as though a long-forgotten part of his being had awakened from a long slumber. Full of fear and excitement, Sunny did something that he had done countless times before,

'One…'

He summoned the runes.

the air in front of him,

Name: Sunless.

Name: Lost

Rank: Awakened…

'Two…'

Simultaneously, he grabbed the steel with two of his

the collar held firm, as if

'Three...'

the count of seven, the soul shard he had placed within the band of steel suddenly burst into a myriad of sparks, and the weave of black strings he had so arduously threaded fell apart, turning into

not disappointed. For now, all he wanted was to learn

'Seven seconds…'