Shadow Slave

Following Nephis, Sunny ascended the tall tower and found himself on a spacious balcony that served as a pier for the Chain Breaker. Neither of them had spoken about the duel, and it suited him Just fine.

In any case, he had to admit that his actions had been a little naughty. He could have defused the situation by groveling a little, but chosen to antagonize the pompous Legacy instead for no good reason. Explaining the sequence of events to Nephis would have been a bit embarrassing, and SO…

Sunny went ahead and shamelessly pushed that responsibility onto Cassie.

Some would call such a move unbecoming, but he preferred to call it… delegation!

The Chain Breaker was floating in the air a few meters away, with a wide wooden plank affixed between its deck and the stone balcony. Several Fire Keepers seemed to have just finished loading a bunch of wooden crates into the cargo hold of the graceful vessel, and were now resting beneath the branches of the sacred tree.

Noticing Nephis, all of them stood up.

Then, their gazes fell on Sunny.

The Fire Keepers — especially the two women — had a bit of a strange reaction to his appearance.

«What's wrong with these people…»

Considering how devoted the Fire Keepers were to Nephis, he would have expected a more intense version of the Jealous hostility the denizens of the Castle had met him with.

However, they seemed more stunned than unfriendly.

«M-master Sunless? Why are you here?»

He forced out a polite smile.

«Good day. Oh… I am here to sign a contract. I think we'll be working together often in the future., so please take care of me.»

The Fire Keepers slowly turned to Nephis.

Then, the two women suddenly broke into wide smiles.

«Lady Nephis… thank you!»

«Nice!»

He stared at them in confusion.

«Why are they giving her thumbs up?»

The Fire Keepers frequented the Brilliant Emporium due to their friendship with Aiko. Perhaps they really liked his cooking and assumed that he would be employed as a chef?

Was the food situation on the Ivory Island that bad?

Nephis coughed.

yes, I've invited Master Sunless to the

The wooden plank was swiftly removed, the mooring cables untled, and no more than a minute

Breaker started to climb into the sky, Sunny looked up and studied it for a while, his

happen if I

preparing to hunt an Awakened Demon in order to absorb some of its essence and push her own toward Awakening. Such was the path most of the ancient people had followed, forging their fates in the crucible of combat. The fruits of the sacred tree contained essence, as well, so its existence

to Awaken, he would have showered her with soul shards and been done with it. But what he wanted was to make her strong enough to survive on her own, if need be… and so, cutting corners would do

bringing them to the Dream Realm in advance, by gaining access to a Sovereign's Gate, Sunny often clashed

the young Legacies were like Awakened Telle instead

moment,

Breaker, gazing at the breathtaking view of the castle, the lake, and the city sprawling along its

casting its shadow on the ancient walls of Bastion. It would only take the

glistening among the emerald grass of the island before Sunny could think of anything

«Please, come this way.»

Ivory Tower, but she didn't seem to be in a hurry. On the way, they toured most of the island, with her showing him around and explaining

the past four years, with the island looking much better cared for and settled, However, the essence of the place remained the

the grove of ancient trees, the sun-bleached bones of the mighty dragon… and the great pagoda of

Ivory Island almost Immediately after killing the Winter Beast. Back then, he had been skulking in the shadows and in a hurry to leave, unwilling for anyone to

verdant grass in the open,

his face

floors. The blind seer occupied several rooms, one of them serving as her bedroom, one as her office, and one as a parlor

them entered the

sunlight, with tasteful wooden furniture placed sparsely on the stone floor. Cassie herself was sitting behind a desk, her

of a

Sunny frowned in confusion.

it smell

Not that it mattered.

mind, Sunny bowed courteously and said

«Saint Cassia.»

Cassie nodded.

Please,

after which the blind seer handed him a stack of papers, with the clause

her eyes

Cassie smiled.

a lot to discuss… but, please.

her

day

before coming to the Academy. He had learned cursive later, after returning from the Forgotten Shore and getting himself a position as a research

had any

the contract and signed it. Nephis watched him with intently as

the corner of her mouth