Shadow Slave

On the second to last day before the departure of the First Evacuation Army, Sunny and his cohort had nothing much to do. The gymnasium they used had actually been dismantled the previous night, so it was impossible for them to continue training.

Of course, Sunny could have come up with an inventive way to put his soldiers through more grief, but he eventually decided against it. Instead, he gathered them on the wall of the port fortress for an improvised picnic.

Leaving the Northern Quadrant was a big occasion, especially considering that they were going to war. This was probably going to be their last chance to relax and enjoy themselves in complete safety, so it would have been a shame to miss it.

The cohort enjoyed a lavish meal consisting of various tasty dishes Sunny had commandeered from the officer's mess hall. There were even beverages that were technically prohibited by army regulations, even though they had very limited effect on Awakened.

The seven of them watched as heavy containers were being loaded on the massive ships in wistful silence. Well… at least six of them did. Luster, meanwhile, was secretly ogling Samara.

After a few moments of silence, the tall woman suddenly said in an even tone:

"What are you staring at?"

The young man flinched and awkwardly looked away.

"That… uh… that's a wicked scar you have! How did you get it, Sam?"

Samara, indeed, had a prominent scar that stretched all the way from her shoulder to her forearm. Since the sleeves of her bodysuit were currently rolled up, a part of it was on display.

She briefly glanced down at her arm, then shrugged.

"When I was around your age, there was a Gate that opened on top of an unfinished city barrier. As one of the closest Awakened to the site, I was among the first responders. We held the Nightmare Creatures off while the construction crews were evacuating. Anyway… there was an explosion, and I was thrown over the edge. Luckily, my arm got caught on some scaffolds. It hurt like hell, but at least I didn't fall all the way down to the ground and turned into a puddle."

a couple of times, then

worm somehow tunneled under the Citadel I was anchored in, and then emerged from underground, swallowing

He paled a little.

only move through soil, so we were safe as long as we remained on top of big chunks of stone. We

in the Dream Realm. Although it must have caused a lot of damage to his physical body, he had not

man looked around and gave

about you? What's the

swordsman thought for

I guess it was a few years back. I was stationed at a remote research outpost, all the way out there in the wilderness. We had a Gate open nearby, and the entire facility ended up being overrun. I was pretty much the only one to survive, but the Nightmare

appeared on

abominations were easy enough to deal with, but the air… suffice it to say, by the end of it, I was constantly coughing out chunks of my lungs. That was the worst I have been hurt. Luckily, a kind Ascended healer lent

over the cohort. A few moments later,

the mud for two entire weeks of slow, painful crawling to get to the nearest

scars, Quentin hesitated for a bit and then decided to share

fluid, to turn me into an easily consumable slushy…

at him

how did you

The gallant man smiled.

body, I was slowly corroding the cocoon. It gave out before I did, fortunately. However, I failed to avenge the

down, and

in agony. Eventually, we found out that the plague was a manifestation of a

the young woman on the