Shadow Slave

Her teacher seemed to be sulking, and did not speak with her the next morning. Rain crawled out of her tent, disassembled it, and prepared for a long day of marching across the desolate plain.

She was in a good mood because of having managed to tease her teacher successfully last night.

There was no need to do the survey work anymore, so the team moved west at a brisk pace. They were also familiar with the terrain, and could follow an optimal route instead of wandering aimlessly.

Of course, Tamar of Sorrow had been exaggerating a bit when she said that they would go in a straight line. The Moonriver Plain was within the borders of the Song Domain, but the only Citadel here was far to the south, at its very edge. And since there was nothing but the Hollow Mountains to the north, this land was wild and dangerous.

There were plenty of Nightmare Creatures here, and so, the survey team had to avoid the hunting grounds of the more dangerous abominations.

Still, they were making good progress.

The further west they went, the more canyons barred their path. By now, the members of the survey team were very familiar with crossing them, so much so that it had almost become a habit.

They would try to find the place where a stone bridge once stood, since the canyons were usually narrow there. The remains of the bridges also further narrowed the chasm.

Then, young Tamar would mount her wolf Echo and leap over the canyon while holding a rope. After fastening it on the other side, she would raise a simple pulley system.

The carts and equipment would be transported over the chasm first, and the people would follow. The whole process was a bit tiring, but not especially dangerous - even if the canyon started to wail and was suddenly flooded by rushing water, the ropes remained above the powerful current.

The porters just had to be careful not to look down.

The canyons were incredibly deep, their depths shrouded in inky darkness. Falling down meant death. The currents, however, were incredibly violent - so, falling into the water was not much safer.

The survey team reached another canyon and went through the familiar motions. This one was not very wide, but it was still going to take some effort to transport all the equipment to the other side, Rain, who was usually one of the last people to traverse the chasm, leaned on the cart she had been pulling and took a deep breath.

Since the crossing was monotonous, and they had already gone through the process countless times, It was easy to grow numb and allow one's mind to wander. However, even while presenting a relaxed facade, Rain still maintained vigilance. lіght\nоvel\world~c`о/m. She knew all too well that a moment of carelessness could mean death in the Dream Realm.

Which was why she was one of the first people to see it.

Tamar and her Echo were already on the other side, and the ropes were drawn across the chasm. The carts had been attached to the hooks and pulled over the canyon. Now, it was time for humans to follow.

There were three ropes - one for them to walk over, two to hold with their hands. Awakened Fleur was in the middle of crossing, and one of the survey specialists was waiting for his turn to follow.

However...

suddenly distracted by something. It was the dead man standing a small distance away from

was just as empty and expressionless as ever. However, he had just turned his

She frowned.

had always been passive and quiet. He

had he moved

'Crap...'

anyone could react, there was movement in the

somewhere below and swiped at the survey specialist. it's desiccated palm was the size of his entire body, and the vicious claws seemed sharp enough to rip the

Rain's eyes widened.

nothing, just in the nick of time. The claws missed him by a hair's

snap the

"Fleur!"

the silence, but he was

are you shouting about... she's an

strong enough to survive a fall into the canyon, but she definitely could hold

real danger, because the enormous hand was

but the

first sign of danger. The Echo was standing guard further away, so she simply jumped into the chasm

Sorrow, like all Awakened, possessed

twice now that she had Awakened. The second Ability allowed her to burst with startling speed for a short amount of time she was so fast, in fact, that it seemed as if she was simply

canyon without

leather-bound

to the wrist of the hidden abomination's arm. Despite the fact that it was as thick as the trunk of an ancient tree, the zweihander cut through the

disappear from one spot and appear in another in the blink of an eye. At the

on the ground... and

"Ray!"

to Intercept the hand, while Tamar turned to the

then, the Nightmare Creature was already

was huge and hideous, with a gaunt body and long, sinewy limbs. Its head was disproportionately large

of all, it seemed

hands were already reaching toward her. Two

was barely any time to

that most warriors would never do in a battle - she jumped high