Shadow Slave

1529 Worm of Doubt

The conversation with Mordret left Sunny in a somber mood. The bastard clearly knew more than he had deemed necessary to share, but the few pieces of information he did offer were… concerning.

However, Sunny did not dwell on the distant threat of the Sovereigns for long. He did not have the luxury of worrying about something waiting far in the future when there were lethal dangers waiting for him in the present…

Or past, technically, considering that Verge was situated far downstream, as close to the Source and the Estuary as the Seekers of Truth had been able to build it, before the Defilement was born.

Not long after he talked with Mordret, the Chain Breaker was attacked for the first time since leaving Twilight. The cohort dealt with the swarm of the Drowned with comparative ease, allowing him to collect a few soul shards and for Jet to replenish her reserves of essence.

After that, they maintained a battle-ready schedule at all times. Sunny's Shadows stood guard at different points of the ship day and night. Nephis and Cassie took turns steering the graceful vessel, keeping it at low altitude, sometimes just above the flowing water. Jet's crow and Kai scouted ahead for signs of approaching danger.

The most useful scout, however, was none other than Mordret. With his ability to perceive the world through reflections and the vast expanse of water around them, he could see far and wide, warning them of any suspicious movement far in advance.

They did not have to fight too often. Sometimes, danger came from below the water, and sometimes, it came from the sky. But most of the time, the Great River remained calm and peaceful, leaving them with plenty of free time on their hands.

Knowing that the cohort was drawing closer and closer to the inevitable attack on Verge with each passing day, Sunny threw himself into weaving.

a lot for

shards, which meant that five of the Transcendent Memories the cohort possessed could be potentially elevated to a higher Rank. The

first two rather quickly. They were the Transcendent armors Effie and Kai had received in the Second Nightmare

alterations damaging or destroying them slim. Best of all, they were

was somewhat of a harder choice — it was the Transcendent weapon of the Seventh Tier Nephis had received for slaying

more versatile, destructive, and potent. Because of the similarities between the two silver blades, Sunny had an easier time

soul shards. However, Sunny decided to attempt isolating a single enchantment and supplying that enchantment alone

propensity for destroying her Memories with

remaining two Memories he decided to alter had also been received by Nephis in Twilight. Both of them were of Transcendent Memories of the First Tier — one was an arrow, while

could also shape that force into a flat, severing field. The charm was a more complicated one, and served to enhance the material properties of

his companions would be better protected, two would be capable of delivering more harm to the enemy, and one would be able to better support the rest of the cohort in any kind of

himself for the alterations was going to take him a

being completely concentrated on the task. Strangely enough, studying the unfamiliar weaves also gave him some inspiration for his own unrelated project — the complicated puzzle of turning

fully engrossed in the mysteries of weaving, not paying attention to anything else — except for occasional attacks on

reluctant to pay it much attention at first, but with each passing day, the worm of

of Solace did not miss any opportunity to

thought gnawing at Sunny's mind was a

did Cassie survive the explosion that consumed