Shadow Slave

Sunny remained motionless for a while, a pale smile appearing on his face. Beyond the window of his cabin, the sky was slowly turning black, the stars shining on its velvet surface as they welcomed the arrival of the newborn moon.

'Nightmare… so that is your name.'

What better name could there be for a Shadow that moved through human dreams, turning them into visions of horror?

He hesitated for a few moments, then looked away, turning to a different string of runes first.

There was another Shadow of his that had changed. The Soul Serpent... every time Sunny moved up a Class, so did the Serpent. And every time Sunny mastered a new step of Shadow Dance, the Serpent ascended to a new Rank.

...At least, that was how things were supposed to go.

Shadow: Soul Serpent.

Shadow Rank: Ascended.

Shadow Class: Demon.

Shadow Attributes: [Shadow Guide], [Soul Weapon], [Soul Beast].

Sunny sighed.

'Ascended...'

Now that he had mastered the third step of the Shadow Dance, the Serpent had, indeed, evolved as well. The tenebrous creature was now an Ascended Demon, just like Saint. Both of them had left Sunny in the dust.

While it hurt his pride a little that his Shadows were more powerful than him… not to mention way cooler, according to some tasteless brats… having two creatures of such formidable might under his command was going to be of tremendous help, without a doubt. Especially considering the caliber of enemies he would most likely have to face in this trial.

He glanced down, at the intricate tattoo coiling around his arms and torso. It seemed larger. Sunny could already feel the rush of the essence through his body, its rate of expenditure and speed of replenishment increased even further.

Not only was the Serpent going to be much more powerful in its Soul Beast form, but also, from now on, any Soul Weapon Sunny would want to use would be of the Ascended Rank, as well.

Basically, he now had a vast arsenal of Ascended armaments to choose from.

'...Well, isn't that neat?'

any new Abilities from rising to a new Rank, just like Saint had not. However, that Legacy Shadow of his was a bit strange… it had come into possession of the [Soul Beast] Attribute and the [Soul Reaver] Ability the last time he mastered

maybe this time would be

was a new

Steel], [Soul Reaver], [Grace

He frowned.

'Huh? Grace of Shadows?'

on the new

the Soul Serpent can grace another with the trust and companionship of their Shadow Guide. One should be careful whom they bestow with their

He tilted his head.

'Uh… what?'

allowed Sunny to transfer the ownership of the Soul Serpent to someone else, as if the Shadow was just an Echo. No, not quite…

he could gift the Soul Serpent to a random Nightmare Creature. Like the Mordant Mimic, for

No, it

would he give away his precious Serpent? Especially considering that the description hinted that doing so would leave him vulnerable. What nonsense

the Soul Serpent to one of the cohort members would be beneficial, but just barely. It would

Serpent to slither off of

moments later,

my cute little

size was at least not too terrible… no more than six meters in

maw was wide enough to swallow Sunny whole… well, at least his real, human body… and its triangular head however near the ceiling, two tenebrous eyes looking at him from

Soul Serpent was so large that it barely fit into the confines of the

Sunny gulped.

boy… you are. Nice snake! Uh, you...

for a few more seconds, then hissed deeply and moved, its scales rustling

remained motionless for a few moments,

even I am afraid of that thing…

***

somber steel. Every centimeter of this weapon was familiar to him… and yet, it felt different.

one

into a spear, then a tang dao, then a tachi, and finally a battle axe. All of them felt the same — deadly and

Sunny's knowledge. The better he knew a weapon, the better he could imagine it, to the smallest of details… the greater the result would be. And so, while he

the somber steel for a bit, and then put the

check on the rest of