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.

there, alive, and doing incredible things. The new Memories you received told me a little about what kind of enemies you fought. The speed at which your Aspect Legacy progressed told me how hard you were working to sharpen your

and

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. So… that was pretty much the only

him, lingered for a moment, and

You helped me a lot,

her, suddenly uncomfortable. Then, he looked away in embarrassment and cleared

counseling already? I mean,

and did not

silent for a bit, and then

I spent a lot of time staring at your runes,

looked at

not exactly going crazy from isolation like you. 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 large part of those things I gained… was because of you. I

glanced at Nephis

I tried, I had never managed to catch up to you. Every time, I fell short. It did not feel nice at all. But it

for a few

am still ahead, I suspect that you

Sunny smiled.

matters. In the end, a person is either strong, or they are weak. The stronger ones will always trample those who are weaker. Isn't that how

then slowly shook her

got there doesn't. Every victory you achieve teaches you a lesson. Every defeat you suffer teaches you even more.

Sunny grimaced.

Can you say that I am stronger