Shadow Slave

The woman had no trouble passing the security checkpoint.

Just like that, Mordret entered the stronghold of the great and powerful clan Valor.

His birthplace.

It felt fascinating to come back here. Mordret did not exactly consider this place his home, but he remembered it well. Not from when he had lived here during early childhood, but from the time he spent here right after coming back from the Dream Realm.

He had been twelve... or was it thirteen?... and already an Awakened. Reaching Bastion first, and then coming to this beautiful place. Everything in the waking world had felt soft, but his return... Was not at all like he had imagined.

As memories flashed in his mind, Mordret felt a dark, suffocating emotion rise from the depths of his soul.

'Now is not the time.'

Infiltrating the stronghold was already a risk. He could not allow himself to act rashly... his family were no fools. They had safeguards in place to detect him, and it had taken a lot of effort to make this moment possible.

If there was one thing Mordret was good at, it was remaining cold and calculating.

So, no matter how much he wanted to let go, he had to hold himself back.

These people were not his enemies, anyway. They were just servants... the masters were safely hidden away behind much more impenetrable defenses.

The child and the woman he had been observing for the past couple of weeks were not random people, of course. They were the son and the wife of an Awakened retainer of the great clan Valor. Usually, a family like that would have resided within the fortress itself, but with the warrior spending most of his time in the Dream Realm, the woman wanted to live closer to her family.

That was a vulnerability which Mordret had planned to exploit.

And now, he was inside the complex, hiding in the woman's eyes as she hurried to meet her husband.

be familiar with the compound, easily navigating between the multitude of buildings, training grounds, and parks. The stronghold was perfectly

the beautiful facade, however, hid explosive

clan Valor was preparing

woman did not seem worried about that.

Mordret was touched.

she is just

family, he couldn't help

her way to a particular building. There, rows of sleeping pods were stationed in heavily defended rooms. There were some living quarters, as well,

beamed with joy. A

"You're here!"

any time, they

earnest. As an Awakened serving the great clan Valor, he had a lot of privileges, but also a lot of duties. Awakened retainers had to spend long months in the Dream

they did

fighters of the human race, the Dream Realm

woman's life was full

'Poor thing...'

sweet, but sadly brief. Even though the Awakened had just returned to the waking world, he was not coming home. Instead, he was preparing to embark on a

listened with a faint

the support of the elders to become a Knight won't be out of the question! You know that I am well-respected among the men... all I need is one last push. Can you imagine how our lives

Mordret could feel

not

of course. Just... be careful, okay? I hear terrible things about

The man smiled.

comparing us to those pitiful dogs? The people serving the government can barely be called Awakened. But we are the warriors of

Mordret was delighted.