Shadow Slave

In a dark underground chamber, a metal sarcophagus stood shrouded in silence. Nothing had disturbed the silence and no light had penetrated the darkness in a long, long time.

Until now.

Suddenly, the sarcophagus came to life, and a scattering of lights ignited on its surface. A crack appeared on the smooth alloy surface, revealing where the edges of a heavy lid were. The lid smoothly slid away, and a flood of radiant light chased away the darkness of the underground chamber.

Cold vapor shined as it rose from inside the sarcophagus. Then, a pale hand rose from within it and forcefully grabbed the metal lip, easily bending its armored alloy.

Sunny struggled to climb out of the sleeping pod for a few moments, then lowered his feet to the cool plates of the dojo's floor. A moment later, he swayed and fell down with a yelp.

"Damnation!"

Sunny remained sprawled on the floor for a few seconds, trying to understand what had happened and why he suddenly lost balance. Then, his eyes gleamed.

"Wait… I can speak again? I can speak again!"

A happy smile slowly appeared on his lips.

Of course… he was back to being a human! He had returned to his own body. Trying to move like a towering demon was not going to do his sense of balance any good…

With a mad grin, Sunny nimbly jumped to his feet and looked down, enjoying the sight of his slender, pale body. Then, he suddenly spun and performed several lightning-fast strikes and kicks.

"Ah, it is good to be home!"

— the shadowspawn must have weighed three times what Sunny weighed. Being a tall, powerful devil had

target for the enemies to stick their blades in. And although having only two hands seemed rather inconvenient and silly, shedding the cumbersome shell of the

ever hope to muster. Not to mention

and height. Only after being forcefully turned into a lumbering monstrosity did he learn to appreciate all the benefits of

filtered air of the underground dojo, he let out a satisfied sigh and glanced at the crumpled metal of the lip of the sleeping pod. He had inadvertently damaged the armored alloy by simply grabbing it too hard. Getting used to his new

Sunny felt very disheartened about the damage he had done to the expensive machine. Replacing the bent panel was not going to be cheap. It was well

tilted his head

do

he worry about the luxurious

didn't need

If Sunny wished to enter the Dream Realm, he would travel there physically. His body would not be left empty and defenseless

could just remain in the comfort and safety of the real world, enjoying all that

infected by the Nightmare Spell, Sunny was free to refuse it. He had won his right to have a choice. He… he was not a

For now…

enterprise would not be a problem. Sunny would be able to grow filthy rich and enjoy a lavish or even

an

a beautifully happy ending for a homeless street rat from

froze, staring into the distance. Slowly, a pale smile

if that

easy. Even if he learned how to manage the

Clans would leave him

been simply a promising Awakened. Now that he proved his mettle and elevated himself to the venerated status of

pass on a message that trying to become