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?'

moments, then continued to read the runes. The Serpent was not supposed to gain 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 a step of the Aspect Legacy, after

knew, maybe this time would be

Sunny hoped, there was a new set of runes shining in

Abilities: [Serpentine Steel], [Soul Reaver],

He frowned.

'Huh? Grace of Shadows?'

the new

master of the Soul Serpent can grace another with the trust and companionship of their Shadow Guide. One should be careful whom they bestow with their grace; entrusting others with the loyalty of Shadows is the same as sharing

He tilted his head.

'Uh… what?'

basically, this Ability allowed Sunny to transfer the ownership of the Soul Serpent to someone else, as if the Shadow was just an Echo. No, not quite… Echoes could be transferred only to other Awakened, while the Grace of Shadows could be

Soul Serpent to a random Nightmare Creature. Like the Mordant

No! No, it wouldn't

considering that the description hinted

winner. This one was rather useless… he could imagine a situation where lending the Soul Serpent to one of

to slither off of his skin and present

later, Sunny flinched

Where… where did my cute little

no more than six meters in length, at best. But now, a stygian

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

was so large that it barely fit into the confines of

Sunny gulped.

boy… you are. Nice snake! Uh, you...

few more seconds, then hissed deeply and moved, its scales rustling on the

motionless for a few moments, shaken, and then slowly

afraid of that thing… imagine how

***

odachi, and sat quietly for a while, glancing at its somber steel. Every centimeter of this weapon was familiar to him… and yet, it

was a weapon one

tang dao, then a tachi, and finally a battle axe. All of them

limited by 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.

his eyes on the somber steel for

to check on the rest of