Shadow Slave

Sunny was paralyzed for a few moments.

He tried to summon the runes several more times, but there was no result. The Spell did not respond to him, as though he was not one of its carriers at all. A part of him that had long become integral was simply gone.

The shock Sunny experienced at that moment was hard to describe.

After a while, he tried to calm his wildly beating heart and think things through.

'Calm down. Calm down. This is not the first time something like that happened…'

He had been cut off from the Spell once before, in the Red Colosseum. Back then, it was the result of Solvane's zealots using Hope's own sorcery to prevent the sacrificial slaves from escaping.

But there was no enchanted collar around his neck right now. And he was in the waking world, not inside an ancient theater built by a daemon.

More than that… the absence of the Spell felt much more profound this time, somehow.

In fact, as he concentrated on himself, he realized that he felt rather strange. Something else felt absent from the world..

The world was subtly unfamiliar.

Trying not to panic, Sunny slowly assessed his abilities.

His shadow sense was still with him. So were the other facets inherent to his Aspect. His Abilities, his Attributes — those of them the existence of which he could prove without the runes, at least — and his Aspect Legacy did not disappear.

His Flaw was also present. He had learned that by trying to tell a lie aloud, despite the fact that it hurt like hell.

His six shadows were observing his actions with varying reactions, all present. Saint, Fiend, and Nightmare could also be summoned.

However, he could not summon the runes. Neither could he dive into his Soul Sea to take a look at his Memories.

And the Memories…

Most of them were gone.

After trying to summon every Memory in his soul arsenal, Sunny realized that only a few of them remained.

Bell, Puppeteer's Shroud, Extraordinary Rock, Endless Spring, Weaver's Mask, Covetous Coffer, Shadow Lantern, Shadow Chair, Overpriced Saddle, Weaver's

Memory of Fire, Memory of Ice, Strike of Thunder, Morgan's Warbow, Bone Singer, Dying Wish, Bitter Cusp, Stifled Scream, Essence Pearl, Nimble Catch, Shroud

felt a chill running down

clothes, but it was still uncomfortable not to wear anything underneath his cloak. Sunny manifested

some of his Memories remained while others

summon were those that had been either personally created or modified by him, as well as

gone,

'M—my… my Memories!'

Sunny almost spat blood.

the precious Memories he had

as if he had received a

leaned on the

while, Sunny had

from the Nightmare

resulting in such an impossible thing happening.

was free from the

from the slain enemies. No more runes that conveniently described and categorized the world. No more guidance and support in the perilous undertaking of walking the path of Ascension, tyrannical

and no more shortcuts to higher

this tectonic change was too vast to comprehend. His life, for better or worse, would be entirely different from now on. Sunny was sure that he would be discovering the consequences of not being a carrier of the Nightmare Spell

hell did the future me reach

infected by the

runes, Sunny did not even know what his Transformation Ability

do. Awakened traveled to the Dream Realm when they slept, while Masters could do it at any time… they still

between the two worlds as they pleased, and

do so without the Spell? Although its help was subtle, it did help Awakened learn their innate abilities by making them instinctual. Controlling essence, using Memories, placing tethers in the waking world, and many other things — the subconscious knowledge of how to accomplish all these feats was placed in the heads of the Awakened

not have

sense how to use

around, evaluating the small pocket of dusty space. What would happen if his Transcendent Form was truly giant? Would he break through the debris, or cause a collapse and bury

likely, it would simply not work if there was not enough

curious

his six

do you think? Should