Shadow Slave

Sunny tilted his head a little.

"What do you mean?"

Rain glanced at him and shrugged.

"It is because my father works for the government that I know this stuff. Well… let's say that millions of people believe that Lady Nephis is the hero that is going to lead humanity to conquer the Fourth Nightmare. It doesn't matter if she truly is. As long as people believe it, she has influence over them. Her image might be an illusion, but that influence is real. Which means that her power is also real. Do you understand?"

He stared at her in bewilderment.

"So… you are saying that just because someone decided to make Neph into a powerful hero and manipulated people into believing that she is, she actually became one?"

Rain nodded.

"Think about it. If Lady Nephis decides to appear in public tomorrow and appeal for people to take arms and join the government army, tens of thousands of new recruits will answer the call. Maybe even hundreds of thousands! How can something that can affect hundreds of thousands of lives not be real? So, she is different from a celebrity like Night, or a Master like you. She is the real deal."

Sunny scratched the back of his head.

'Why am I getting schooled by my student? About lies and deceit, of all things!'

The worst part of it was that Rain made a lot of sense. Power was an elusive concept… so was the difference between the real and the unreal. It was easy to point at an object and say that it was real. One could see it, touch it, and break it. But what about less tangible things? Was friendship real? Or love? Or belief, for example?

If belief in something could affect millions of people, cause them to throw themselves into a war, persecute a group of individuals, or build incredible miracles of architecture, it was indeed stupid to say that the thing they believed in was not real. Since it was able to exert influence on the real world, the object of their belief stopped being an illusion and became something different.

Something like a… a deity?

Sunny frowned.

to discipline my lazy student,

who believed in them and why.

her head and said

talk too much. Keep swinging that

girl flinched and obediently

"Yes, Lady Nephis!"

Sunny opened his mouth.

who's the

for

strength to defend it. At the end of the day, nothing that has been handed to you is as valuable

softened a little, and the corner of her mouth

are doing very well already. Just

smile suddenly appeared on

really think so? Sunny said so, too! He said that I am way better than he

slowly shook

not have a systematic education and the solid foundation that you enjoy. He never had a proper teacher, let alone a personal tutor. And yet, he has achieved so much, in such a short

Sunny scoffed.

way that

threw an angry look at him, and then

even a Sleeper. I don't have a soul core

eyes and looked at the

infected by the Spell. That doesn't mean that you have

She sighed.