Shadow Slave

Sunny sighed, then closed his eyes and dove into the Soul Sea.

The tranquil, lightless expanse of his soul was the same as ever. The black water was still and silent, reflecting the three dark suns looming in a perfectly even triangle above. Only the rows of motionless shadows were different from how they had been before, crowded with countless victims of the Red Colosseum.

Despite the fact that Sunny's body was now very different, his soul remained the same.

He walked to stand between the three Shadow Cores, and called upon Nightmare.

A beautiful black steed walked out of a whirlwind of dark flames in front of him and stopped, its adamantine hooves sending ripples through the silent waters. The Shadow was just as he remembered it — tall and graceful, with a lustrous jet-black coat and lean muscles rolling under the skin. Its mane was long and luscious, and its tenebrous eyes glowed with fearsome crimson flames.

The courser had two long horns and a mouth full of sharp fangs that resembled that of a wolf. The horns, the fangs, and the hooves were all forged out of a strange black metal that seemed to be able to compete with the impenetrable onyx of the Mantle of the Underworld. Sunny shuddered, remembering the pain and shock of being struck and bitten by them.

As soon as Nightmare appeared, he felt a whispering fear appear in his mind. Strangely tense, Sunny took a step forward and raised one of his hands, patting the stallion on the muzzle.

"Hey there. We... we meet again, old friend…"

Nightmare was, indeed, an old friend of his… at least of the part of him that had relived the final day of the Shadow Lord's life and their last exhilarating ride together. But just like Sunny was a different person now, this beautiful Shadow was, too. The madness was gone from the stallion's crimson eyes, and so was the burden of hundreds of years of sorrow and loneliness.

It was as though the black steed was now reborn, still remaining the same being, but also somehow renewed by the purifying darkness of death.

As Sunny patted his muzzle, Nightmare pressed it against the calloused hand and looked at his master with a pale, distant hint of recognition. The crimson glow of his eyes ignited with a new intensity, and the black steed snorted, its voice full of quiet affection.

Satisfied, Sunny summoned the runes into existence and glanced at them, curious to see what, exactly, his new Shadow was capable of.

He read:

Shadow: [Nightmare].

Shadow Rank: Awakened.

Shadow Class: Terror.

Shadow Description: [This beautiful steed was tamed by the treacherous Lost From Light in the depths of a harrowing dream. The two Shadows battled across countless nightmares, shattering them all apart; neither was willing to give up, so in the end, the nightmares did.]

Sunny sighed.

'Again with that treacherous nonsense. At least the Spell did not openly mock me, this time.'

remembered the biting description of

scar on his neck and turned his attention

[Swift], [Dark Destrier], [Dreadlord],

"This Shadow is

battle. It is fierce, loyal, and knows no fear. Its speed, strength, and resilience grow when surrounded by

Description: "This Shadow's might grows the more he is

"This Shadow can travel

studied the black courser with

'Huh…'

hesitation or fear. What's more, he had two passive Attributes that both increased his speed, strength, and resilience — one when the destrier and his rider were

the other, creating a vicious cycle. Perhaps Sunny had only survived the battle with the Terror due to the fact that, at some point, his tortured mind had become too broken to experience

powerful creature, and with two passive augmentations added into the mix... he

'Scary...'

last Attribute, [Dreamwalker]. That one, Sunny didn't even know what

see about invading people's dreams later… wouldn't it be fun, to jump into Mordret's mind

continued to read the runes. Attributes were, without a doubt, very important… especially excellent ones like what Nightmare possessed. But

Abilities: [Flowing Shadow], [Mantle of Fear], [Nightmare], [Dream

Description: "This steed can dive into shadows and move

Sunny smiled.

so, basically, it is like Shadow Step without the teleportation part. Still very useful, and works perfectly with my

turned back to the

Shadow is capable of delivering a continuous mind attack around it that

couldn't help

that is just...

the effect, a seed of dread was still going to be planted into their minds. And that… that was directly tied to

'Scary… so scary…'

Mantle of Underworld when he met the black steed. The onyx armor gifted him with a good amount of protection against mind attacks, after

both wider and a bit pale, he moved to the next

can create and subjugate nightmares. The more nightmares serve it, the

Dormant Nightmares: [0].

runes for a while, trying to make sense

'Huh…'

to create minions, was meant to subjugate real nightmares — not any kind of beings made of flesh and bone, but actual dreams. And the more of them served him, the more powerful he

possessed a Rank of their own, which was currently Dormant — one lower than the black steed's own. Additionally, there were currently zero of them under his authority. But how could one create a nightmare? Or subjugate