Shadow Slave

It was still very early in the morning, so the streets of Bastion were mostly empty. However, someone had already come to the Brilliant Emporium.

As the door opened, a melodious sound spread through the interior of the Marvelous Mimic. There was a beautiful silver bell affixed above the door, its soft and pleasing ringing welcoming the entering customers.

Of course, it was the Sonorous Silver Bell.

Sunny looked up from what he was doing, then wiped his hands on his apron and left the kitchen. There was an elderly gentleman standing at the door, dressed in a patchy enchanted robe. He had messy grey hair, absentminded eyes, and a pair of bushy eyebrows that seemed to have a life of their own.

Sunny suppressed a smile.

"Awakened Julius. You are here early."

The old man looked at him and smiled politely.

"Ah, Master Sunless! Well, I am a night owl. Plus, you know what they say, the early bird gets the worm. Wait... I am mixing metaphors..."

He hesitated for a moment, then coughed.

"Sorry. I seem to remember that you dislike birds. In any case, it is nice to see you on this pleasant morning."

Sunny nodded.

"Likewise. The usual?"

As the old man assumed his favorite spot near the window, Sunny returned to the kitchen. There, he went about making coffee for his former teacher, while at the same time preparing a light breakfast.

low on coffee beans, indeed. I'll have to visit NQSC

prestigious restaurants in Bastion, hot beverages like coffee, tea, and hot chocolate were Sunny's selling point. That was

then sent a wisp of essence into the stove and placed the cezve on the fire. The stove had been created by him by reversing the enchantment of a long-destroyed charm of his, [Memory of Fire], which

shelf, poured water into the cezve, and placed it back on the fire. Ideally, he should have been using a pan of heated sand instead of open fire, but, oh well... there were limits to how

the coffee was brewing, he ignited a second flame and put a pan on it. Then, Sunny opened the icebox and took out a few eggs, butter, and a jar

and enchanted by him, in the best attempt to imitate the luxurious refrigerator he had greatly enjoyed owning in the past. In fact, it was more of a large cabinet than a box, made out of natural wood instead of synthwood. So, in a sense,

reverse of another charm he had lost, [Memory of Ice]. There was a luminous enchantment, too, activated when the door of the cabinet was open. A third enchantment created a dedicated reserve of essence that powered the first two, so Sunny just

eggs with one hand and putting butter on the pan with the other, Sunny mixed the eggs while

effortlessly flipped and folded it, finally adding some mushrooms, vegetables, and ham. Well... monster ham, to be

a perfectly cooked omelette and a cup of fragrant coffee were ready. Putting them on a tray,

glanced at the book the old man was reading. Its cover was hidden by a leather jacket, but he knew the

The Exploration Report on

was the nobody in question,

it seemed like a shame to just leave all the knowledge he had accumulated in the Third Nightmare go to waste. So, even knowing that it would cause some problems, he published an research

on the unique culture of

were very few people in the world who could withstand a mere mention of the Forgotten God, anyway, while many could be

these redacted parts, his report had caused a

furor in

the

supposed to only be six people who had ventured into the Nightmare of the Tomb of Ariel, after all. And since none of them was the author of the report... then who the hell was?

a respected professor like Teacher Julius chose to hide its cover under a jacket and read it

coffee, he got distracted from

looking forward to it all

smiled and pointed to