Shadow Slave

The Outsiders and the Riverborn... the revelation of the difference between them was enough to boggle Sunny's mind. He had already been prepared to encounter all kinds of bizarre situations inside the Tomb of Ariel, but what Ananke told them sent him for a loop.

It was because Sunny had only considered the odd perils of the Great River in relation to himself, not in relation to a whole civilization. The way the River People lived was fundamentally different from anything he had ever known... because the most fundamental truth of the world - time - worked differently for them.

The first settlers of the Tomb of Ariel had all been Outsiders, so how great must their shock have been when their children were born so different from them? How much pain did that division bring, how much sorrow? How much effort did it take for them to create an entirely new kind of society?

With time, the number of Riverborn grew, while the number of Outsiders dwindled. However, the civilization that Ananke had described could not function without the Outsiders, who could travel the Great River and served as the connective tissue between various cities established on it.

What was it like for them, to see their children remain forever young? What was it like for the Riverborn, to watch their parents age when they never did? To see them leave when they couldn't?

...How did Riverborn children even become adults?

Suddenly, the story of the followers of Weaver being chased far upstream gained a much darker undertone.

Sunny shivered.

The civilization of the Great River turned out to be much stranger than he had thought. It was so strange, in fact, that he struggled to imagine it.

And that was not even mentioning the fact that Old Ananke had turned out to not be old at all... while also being ten times his age.

'Ah, I can't think anymore...'

It was too much to digest... especially this early in the morning.

Sunny summoned the Endless Spring and washed his face, then opened Ananke's wooden box. There was not much food left inside, which made him sigh.

Taking out a teapot and a plate brimming with juicy braised meat, rolled in seaweed leaves, he sat down and stared at the seven suns for a few moments.

'...Dusk of Fallen Grace is one of the original sybils. If Ananke, who was born long after they had entered the Tomb of Ariel, is two hundred years old, then what about Dusk?'

how many centuries had the sybils fought against the spreading

long had the enemy been growing stronger, while their potential allies had been growing

the tea into two cups and

matter how long it has been, I need

passed. Nephis had spent them diligently learning how to control the ketch with the Names, while Sunny mostly sat at the bow, looking at

Tomb of Ariel or study the Estuary Key. Almost all his time, however, was dedicated to mastering the fourth step

was on the brink of an epiphany, Sunny even abandoned sleep. The seven suns

finally, in the

and opened his eyes

'This is it...'

dissolving into shadows only to manifest himself into a tangible form... the memories of the Red Colosseum, where he slowly learned to fight in the unfamiliar body of the shadowspawn... the harrowing labyrinth of nightmares,

it

and action. Training his body to be supremely adaptable and flexible. Breaking the rigid constraints of his mind to make it formless and shapeless, akin to a shadow. Those

was all for

to

'I see now.'

the twilight, the encroaching darkness around him

same time, a familiar voice whispered into his

received the right to claim a Legacy

let out a soft

he

summoning the runes immediately, he closed his

Dance, indeed. It was not about understanding the enemy to absorb their battle style and anticipate their moves. It was not even about

the enemy, both in thought and

done with Daeron

the previous skills Sunny had cultivated through practicing Shadow Dance had all grown stronger. His ability to shadow his enemies had been elevated to a new

his ability to learn the structure and function of the bodies of various creatures had been elevated tremendously. Up until now, Sunny had only ever achieved two forms except for his own - that of the shadowspawn, and that of the river serpent. The former was the result of his many experiences in the Second Nightmare, while the latter

to do it instantaneously, either - but the amount of time was drastically reduced. Sunny felt that he would have been