Shadow Slave

Soon, two bowls of delicious steaming ramen were on the table in front of them. Sunny had never invited anyone to taste his ramen, but he was quite pleased with the result.

His past of only eating synthpaste seemed so distant that he did not even want to remember it.

Both dug in and finished their portions in record time. Sunny drank the last of the fragrant broth and let out a delighted sigh. Nephis acted more reserved, but he could feel that she was very satisfied, too.

Putting the bowl away, Changing Star smiled slightly and looked at him. A hesitant expression appeared on her face.

A few moments later, she suddenly said:

"Be that as it may… while I was lost and wandering the Dream Realm, slowly forgetting what it felt like to be human… there was one thing I clung to that reminded me that all my prior life had not been just a dream. Do you know what it was?"

Sunny thought for a bit, then shrugged.

"I don't know. A Memory? Your sword, Dreamblade?"

She lingered for a few moments, then slowly shook her head.

"No. It was… you."

Sunny froze and stared at her with surprise.

"Huh?"

Nephis smiled slightly.

little about what kind of enemies you fought. The speed

and then

liked to imagine what exactly happened to give you a sudden influx of fragments, what the Nightmare Creature that gifted you a Memory looked like, how you defeated it. Things… things like that. Oh… and I was bored often. While my journey was often full of hardship and dread, it could also be terribly monotonous sometimes.

looked at him, lingered

to say… thank you. You

stared at her, suddenly uncomfortable. Then, he looked

that you have not received counseling already? I mean,

smiled, and

for a bit, and

time staring at your runes,

looked at

Well… except for a short stretch of falling into a bottomless abyss all alone, I guess. But, the point is… to be honest, I was... I am... unsatisfied with the fact that you are so far ahead of me. Every time you gained a soul fragment, it urged me to try and get two. The stronger you grew, the more I wanted to become stronger, as well. A

and then glanced at Nephis with

managed to catch up to you. Every time, I fell short. It did

face for a few moments, and then shook

You know that. Even though I am still ahead, I suspect that you have fought, and slain, much more Nightmare Creatures than I have. In fact,

Sunny smiled.

get rewarded for the effort. Only the result matters. In the end, a person is either strong, or they are weak. The stronger ones will always

then

but it's not like how you got there doesn't. Every victory you achieve teaches you a lesson. Every

Sunny grimaced.

a question. Can you say that I am