Shadow Slave

A moment later, the two of them were far below ground, with countless tons of stone hanging above their heads. If Sunny was not mistaken, the hidden sanctum he had found was most of the way to the bottom of the lake, at the very heart of the mountains.

In the past, Sunny had not been able to carry living beings with him when stepping through the shadows with the sole exception of Nephis. It was different now that he was a Saint, though. He could pull much heavier inanimate objects with him, as well as actual people. The latter were very cumbersome, though, consuming a lot of his essence.

Especially those whose souls were vast and powerful. Teleporting Cassie with him, and to such a remote place, had drained a good portion of his reserves.

Sunny sighed inwardly and tried to take a deep breath.

There was nothing to inhale, though.

A strangely calm voice resounded in his head, startling him:

[There is no air here.]

It was Cassie's voice,

But why was she so calm?

Sunny glanced at the blind seer with a hint of confusion, then shrugged and summoned the Quintessence Pearl. A few seconds later, a beautiful white pearl appeared in his hand. This time, Sunny did not place it in his mouth, keeping It between himself and Cassie. Soon, the two of them were able to breathe again.

«Please stay close, Saint Cassia.»

Saints could keep their breath for much longer than mundane people, so neither of them had felt any discomfort in these few moments. Still, he had expected that Cassie would be at least a little startled.

But then again… why would she be? Cassie did not receive visions of the future anymore, but her Awakened Ability was functioning perfectly fine. She must have known that Sunny would use Shadow Step a few seconds before he had, and saw him summoning the Quintessence Pearl before he ever did.

Cassie usually acted in a way that made people forget about this Ability of hers, but if one stopped to think about it, she had every conversation and witnessed every event twice. For as long as her Awakened Ability was active, it was all but impossible to surprise her. And she would have definitely kept it active while sneaking a suspicious Saint into a Sovereign's stronghold.

Her Ascended Ability, meanwhile, seemed to have undergone a change, Unless she was using a Memory to communicate with him telepathically, it was that Ability of hers that allowed her to talk to people she had marked.

Sunny was well-acquainted with this manner of conversation thanks to the Shroud of Dusk, so he wasn't worried about thinking an unwanted thought aloud.

«Huh. Convenient.»

seemed so well-informed about his Shadows when they met

looked like she was having similar thoughts. Facing Sunny,

«A spatial movement Ability?»

He nodded.

Something like

for a few moments, then

«Huh. Convenient.»

Sunny blinked.

— his shadow sense was rendered useless, so he

of them had found themselves was not very large, and submerged in total darkness. Luckily, it was a mundane kind of darkness, which did not pose an obstacle

a small chamber. It was clearly artificial, as opposed to naturally formed. The walls were smooth and polished, with no seams on their stone surface. The ceiling was high. There was nothing

looking at it. The door seemed quite mundane, but it was also ever so slightly wrong. The handle was placed a bit too high, its shape was a bit off, the hinges were spaced

A daemon, perhaps.

she was studying the stone chamber through

moments later, she

ask now. But, Sunny… what exactly are you trying to find here? And

He smiled subtly.

mountain. In a place that the Demon of Imagination

careful step

«It's power!»

Cassie seemed surprised.

«Power?»

Sunny nodded.

I'm inclined

Sunny simply continued in a carefree

find here is lost knowledge… and, if I am lucky, something just

Sunny grabbed the handle, turned it, and pushed