Shadow Slave

Standing up, Sunny stretched and walked over to where Cassie was standing. Extending his shadow sense through the cracked wall, he remained silent for a few moments, then smiled.

"Good catch. There is indeed a hidden space there."

To think that he had almost missed it...

The blind girl stared at him for a bit, which gave Sunny a hint to look around.

'Damn... it's still creepy, to know that she's riding my senses. Can't she ask, at least? That Ability of hers is not limited to sight, so... ah, I don't even want to think what kinds of things she can sense me sensing...'

Suddenly feeling hot, Sunny glanced at Cassie and asked in a stifled tone: "What are you looking for?"

The blind girl lingered. "If there's a secret space, there has to be a mechanism to unlock it. Some kind of lever, perhaps. Oh... and give me some credit, alright? I am polite enough to know when not to use my Ability."

He suppressed an impulse to jump back. "What, you can read thoughts now, too?!"

Cassie took a deep breath, then patiently shook her head. "No. It was just written all over your face."

Sunny let out a sigh of relief, then trembled.

'Wait... she's looking through my eyes, so how can she see my face?'

At that moment, Neph's patted him on the shoulder.

"Because she looked through mine. Honestly, Sunny... for someone who claims to have never used his shadow to do perverted things at the Academy dormitory, you sure think of weird stuff often."

He stared at her in disbelief. "What do you mean, "claims to"? I absolutely did not! You know I can't lie!"

Nephis looked at Cassie with a hint of a smile on her lips. "Notice that he said "did not"... instead of "have not". Hmm."

Sunny remained silent, his mouth open.

I see what's going

"Yeah, and until I say "will not", you

awkwardly from behind him: "...So, whatever mechanism there was to unlock the door, it has

she stepped forward and delivered a swift punch to the cracked wall. The ancient stone shattered and collapsed, revealing a

shielded his face from the cloud of stone dust and

in its center, with something laying on it. As

felt the shadows shift slightly,

'That glow...'

pristine white wood laying on the altar, untouched by dust or dirt. Both its ends were encased in a beautiful

a soul shard of a rather high Rank. Supreme, perhaps, or

glow... the kind that Sunny could only see because his eyes had

beautiful staff, stunned, Cassie approached the altar and lowered her head. Her expression was more perplexed than shocked. She remained silent for a few moments,

curious. I did not know that

at her with surprise. Throwing another glance at

know what

the sybils brought into the Tomb of Ariel from

"Wait. Are you telling me

heart was

smiled. "Yes, in a sense... meaning that it is rumored to have been created by a god. However, it is not a

for a bit, and then added: "Actually, that can be said about most Divine relics, and therefore about most Divine Memories created in their image... not that there's many of those around. We humans perceive Memories as something that grants us power, but for the gods and the lesser deities... they themselves were the

about his own two Divine Memories. That description fit them perfectly. Both Weaver's Mask and the Shadow Lantern allowed him to do astonishing things... and yet, there

that his Divine Memories were infinitely more powerful, and yet, they did not make him much more powerful. He had considered this paradoxical situation plenty

tools they left behind served specific purposes

girl, meanwhile, gently caressed the white wood of the beautiful staff and added: "In any case, this relic is called Guiding Light. It's not even a tool made to be used by a god... just something gifted to a mortal out of affection. The powers it possesses are not that stunning. It had served the sybils well before they came to the Tomb of

glow for a while, then asked in a dubious tone: "Not that stunning?

thought for a bit, then hesitantly shrugged. "It's supposed to guide people? Actually, I don't know that

picked up the staff and held it carefully. After a few moments, the soft radiance of the soul shard crowning the relic swirled, growing more intense on

blinked. "What