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?'

a few 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

this time would

a new

[Soul Reaver], [Grace of

He frowned.

'Huh? Grace of Shadows?'

on the new Ability, and

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

He tilted his head.

'Uh… what?'

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 bestowed upon anyone with a

he could gift the Soul Serpent to a random Nightmare

No,

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

every Ability could be a winner. This one was rather useless… he could imagine a situation where lending the Soul Serpent to one of the cohort members would be beneficial, but just

commanded the Serpent to slither off of his skin and present itself for

moments later, Sunny

did my

not really been a "cute little snake", but its size was at least not too terrible… no more than six meters in length, at best. But now, a stygian creature of at least twice that size sprawled through the cabin, its mighty body covered in adamantine jet-black scales and as thick

to swallow Sunny whole… well, at least his real, human body… and its triangular head

Serpent was so large that it barely fit into the confines of the cabin, suddenly making it look

Sunny gulped.

you are. Nice snake! Uh, you... you can return

then hissed deeply and moved, its scales rustling on the floorboards. Soon, it

a few moments, shaken, and

afraid of that thing… imagine how my enemies will

***

quietly for a while, glancing at its somber steel. Every centimeter of this weapon was familiar to him… and yet, it felt different. The great blade

weapon one

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

the smallest of details… the greater the result would be. And so, while he could command it to assume any shape,

feasted his eyes on the somber steel for a

check on the rest of