Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

Sunny stared into the night sky, smoke appearing with each breath he took. He was sitting on a bench within an empty park, holding onto a cup of coffee — real coffee that is!

Sunny had spent all his life savings on this cup of coffee, which would be quite ridiculous from the average individual’s perspective. Of course, Sunny was not the average individual, quite below average in fact. Living his entire life in poverty did not necessarily get him to the heights of an average person.

Sunny was currently thirteen — almost fourteen — had ghostly pale skin, along with black hair, a matching set of eyes that seemed to absorb light itself, and a skeletal figure caused by malnourishment. He was on the shorter side, barely reaching five feet in height.

It was currently a cold November night on the planet that was known as the origin the point of humanity. Earth was quite desolate, considering it used to sustain billions of people; there were few planets that could boast the same, as humanity was spread across the galaxy.

The main reason that Earth was abandoned, was due to the descent of the Nightmare Spell: a phenomena that infects individuals and turns them into either the powerful warriors known as Awakened, or the dreadful abominations known as Nightmare Creatures.

At the time of the Nightmare Spell’s arrival, all those tens of thousands of years ago, interstellar travel had just been conceived. The rapid spawning of Nightmare Creatures was entirely focused on Earth at the time, as their were no other civilization for them to assault. Humanity had rushed to board the ships under the belief that Earth was doomed, traveling across the stars in search of new homes.

Unfortunately, the Nightmare Spell chased down humanity no matter where they went.

Fortunately, the constant assault of Nightmare Creatures was proportional to population, so most other planets did not have an onslaught on the same scale as Earth once did.

Of course, Sunny did not have a formal education, and only had the scraps of information he had heard around the outskirts — an area bathed in poverty — to work with.

Sunny raised his hand to rub his eyes, as sleep was starting to call to him. He flinched after rubbing his left eye, the area around it being purple. A cut can be seen near his temple, although it wasn’t bleeding. His left ring finger was bending at an awkward angle, swollen an bruised.

Today had been an... eventful day for the boy, much more than his days would normally be.

Sunny tried not to think about it.

He had much more worrying matters to attend to after all.

He took a sip of his coffee, feeling dark liquid pool into his mouth. He had never tasted real coffee before, always getting cheap, synthesized products due to his pitiful financial situation. Most of the time, his two meals of the day consisted of those tubes of synthpaste that the IPC developed. They tasted like literal plastic, so Sunny could easily guess that they weren’t created for the average citizen to consume.

Just the ones who were on Sunny’s side of the spectrum.

”Bleh! So bitter!”

Sunny expressed his predicament to the desolate park, nobody being around to acknowledge his concerns.

Indeed, his coffee was the largest of his concerns! He should have gotten real meat!

Sunny stood from his perch, walking to a nearby trash can. He tossed his cup of coffee, watching in dismay as it hit the rim, bouncing to the floor. Sunny bent over, reaching down to pick up the cup of coffee to put it back into the trash can. He didn’t want to make this place any worse, considering this is one of the few places of greenery in the outskirts.

”Tch! Not even the trash cans believe in me, huh?”

Sunny stared at it in betrayal, before looking in the direction of a tree. There were a few carvings on the bark, which seemed to be the spot that Sunny was staring at. He stood still for a moment, before walking over to the tree. He dug into his pockets for a moment, fishing out a small pocket knife he held onto at all times.

He carved a line into the tree, stepping back for a moment. A complex emotion flashed across the young boys face, before he quickly turned around, not wanting to get distracted.

On the tree, there sat three lines.

Sunny sat back down on the bench, staring at the stars in the sky.

’I wonder, are the people out there living the type of life that I could only dream of, or are they simply in another, crueler type of hell?’

He didn’t know the answer to that, and he never will.

Today was the day that Sunny would die.

That thought really sobered him up. He wasn’t even at the age that most kids would go to high school, yet he was already facing the gates of death. Sunny didn’t have much to live for, therefore, he wasn’t exactly afraid of death.

Nobody in the Universe cared if he lived or died, so he wouldn’t either.

Sunny was infected by the Nightmare Spell, and he was currently running out of precious time. Precious to most, at least. There was a rule that dictated that he go to the nearest police station so an Awakened can be called to monitor him. However, there was an extreme shortage of Awakened on earth, with the possibility of there being none. He would only cause trouble for the police, which he didn’t want, as they had helped him out a few times during some... altercations.

Of course, he might end up being a danger to anyone who passed by, but there was hardly anybody who passed through this park. Even if they did, he’d probably be a weak enough Nightmare Creature that they could wrestle him to death!

Sunny laughed hoarsely for a moment, amused by his own joke. The ragged sound exited out of his chapped lips, deteriorating as he kept laughing. At some point, he started to sob, tears streaking down his pale cheeks.

He laid down on his side, his shoulders shaking as he continued to weep. He curled up into a position similar to that of a fetus within the womb. The merciless, ghastly claw of sleep gently called him into his embrace, crying to himself all the while.

Sunny was not afraid to die. However, he was afraid of how he was going to die.

He recalled a wish from long ago, spoken by a dying woman on her death bed. She was kept company by to young children, both with features identical to each other.

Sunny simply couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t allow himself to die. Not yet. Not until that wish was fulfilled.

Dying in such a manner brought him no solace.

Sunny wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt, nothing left but cold determination within his abyssal eyes. He took one last glance at the tree, before finally...

His Nightmare began.

***

[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for the First Trial...]

Sunny dreamt of a mountain.

Jagged and lonesome, it dwarfed other peaks of the mountain chain, cutting the night sky with its sharp edges. A radiant moon bathed its slopes in the ghostly, pale light.

On one of the slopes, the remnants of an old road stubbornly clung to the rocks. Here and there, weathered paved stones could be seen through the snow. To the right side of the road, a sheer cliff face rose as an impregnable wall. To the left, a silent black sea of nothingness indicated an endless fall. Strong winds crashed into the mountain over and over again, screaming in powerless rage.

Suddenly, the moon fell over the horizon. The sun rose from the west, streaked across the sky and disappeared in the east. Snowflakes jumped from the ground and returned into the embrace of clouds. Sunny realized that he was seeing the flow of time in reverse.

In an instant, hundreds of years flew by. The snow retreated, baring the old road. Cold shivers ran down Sunny’s back as he noticed human bones littering the ground. A moment later, the bones were gone, and in their place, a slave caravan appeared, moving backwards down the mountain in the clamor of chains.

Time slowed, stopped, and then resumed its usual pace.

’What... what the hell is this?’

Step. Step. Another step.

A dull ache was radiating through Sunny’s bleeding feet as he was shivering from cold. His threadbare tunic was nearly useless against the biting wind. His wrists were the main source of agony: badly hurt by the iron shackles, they sent a sharp pang of pain every time the freezing metal touched his broken skin.

’What kind of a situation is this?!’

Sunny looked up and down, noticing a long chain winding up the road, with dozens and dozens of hollow-eyed people — slaves just like him — shackled to it at small intervals. Ahead of him, a man with broad shoulders and a bloodied back was walking with a measured gait. Behind him, a shifty-looking guy with quick, desperate eyes was quietly cursing under his breath in a language that Sunny did not know, but somehow still understood. From time to time, armed horsemen in ancient-style armor would pass by, giving the slaves menacing looks.

However you judged it, things were really bad.

Sunny was more bewildered than panicked. True, these circumstances were not like what the First Nightmares were supposed to be. Usually, freshly chosen aspirants would find themselves in a scenario that presented them with a fair amount of agency: they would become members of privileged or warrior casts, with plenty of access to necessary weapons to at least try to tackle any conflict.

Starting out as a powerless slave, shackled and already half-dead, was as far from being ideal as one could imagine.

However, the Spell was as much about challenge as it was about balance. As the old policeman said, it created trials, not executions. So Sunny was pretty sure that, to counter this abysmal start, it would reward him with something good. A powerful Aspect, at least.

’Let’s see... how do I do this?’

Remembering popular webtoons he read as a child, Sunny concentrated and thought about words like ”status”, ”myself” and ”information”. Indeed, as soon as he focused, shimmering runes appeared in the air in front of him. Once again, although he did not know this ancient alphabet, the meaning behind it was somehow clear.

He quickly found the rune describing his Aspect... and, finally, lost his composure.

’What?! What the actual fuck?!’

Name: Sunless

True Name: —

Rank: Aspirant.

Soul Core: Dormant.

Memories: —

Echoes: —

Attributes: [Fated], [Mark of Divinity], [Child of Shadows].

Aspect: [Temple Slave].

Aspect Description: [Slave is a useless wretch with no skills or abilities worth a mention. A temple slave is just the same, except much rarer.]

Sunny was in the First Nightmare, a trial where Sunny could die and become a Nightmare Creature, or live and become an Awakened. The scenarios are designed to always be within the means of the challenger, yet he truly couldn’t see any way in which he could survive.

Attributes and Aspects were the tools that the Aspirant would be given during their Nightmare. Usually, the Aspect wouldn’t be too useful, as it wouldn’t have any abilities yet, but some would come with a passive effect that would aid the Aspirant.

However, Sunny had none of that. He was a [Temple Slave]. There was nothing within a slaves arsenal that would help Sunny in this situation.

Speechless, Sunny stared at the runes, trying to convince himself that he was maybe just seeing things. Surely, he couldn’t be that unlucky... right?

’Ah. I’m screwed.’

As soon as this thought appeared in his mind, he lost the rhythm of his steps and stumbled, pulling the chain down with his weight. Immediately, the shifty guy behind him screamed:

”Whore’s bastard! Watch where you’re going!”

Sunny hurriedly dismissed the runes, which were only visible to him, and tried to recover his balance. A moment later, he was once again walking steadily — however, not before inadvertently pulling on the chain one more time.

”You little shit! I’m going to kill you!”

The broad-shouldered man in front of Sunny chuckled without turning his head.

”Why bother? The weakling will be dead by sunrise anyway. The mountain will kill him.”

A few seconds later, he added:

”It’ll kill you and me, too. Just a bit later. I really don’t know what the Imperials are thinking, forcing us into this cold.”

The shifty guy gasped.

”Speak for yourself, fool! I’m planning to survive!”

Sunny silently shook his head and concentrated on not falling again.

’What a charming pair.’

Suddenly, a third voice joined the conversation from somewhere further back. This one sounded gentle and intelligent.

”This mountain pass is usually much warmer this time of year. We just had really bad luck. Also, I would advise you against harming this boy.”

”Why is that?”

Sunny turned his head slightly, listening.

”Haven’t you seen the markings on his skin? He is not like us, who fell into slavery due to debts, crimes or misfortune. He was born a slave. A temple slave, to be precise. Not long ago, the Imperials destroyed the last temple of the Shadow God. I suspect that this is how the boy ended up here.”

The broad-shouldered man cast a look back.

”So what? Why should we be afraid of a half-forgotten, weakling god? He couldn’t even save his own temples.”

”The Empire is protected by the mighty War God. Of course they’re not afraid to burn down a few temples. But we here are not protected by anything or anyone. Do you really want to risk angering a god?”

The broad-shouldered man grunted, not willing to answer.

Their conversation was stopped by a young soldier riding a beautiful, white horse. Clad in a simple leather cuirass, armed with a spear and a short sword, he looked dignified and noble. To Sunny’s irritation, the asshole was really pretty, too. If this was a historical drama, the soldier would definitely be a male lead.

”What is going on here?”

There was no particular menace in his voice, even something resembling concern.

When everyone hesitated, the gentle-voiced slave answered:

”It’s nothing, sir. We are just all tired and cold. Especially our young friend over there. This journey is truly too hard for someone that young.”

The soldier looked at Sunny with pity.

’What are you looking at? You’re not much older than me!’ Sunny thought.

Of course, he didn’t say anything out loud.

The soldier sighed and took a flask from his belt before extending it to Sunny.

”Bear with it a little more, child. We will stop for the night soon. For now, here, drink some water.”

’Child? Child?!’

Due to his thin body and small stature, both caused by malnourishment, Sunny was often mistaken for someone younger. Usually, he didn’t hesitate to use it to his advantage, but now, for some reason, being called a child really irked him.

’I’m thirteen you wretch!’

Still, he was really thirsty.

He was just about to take the flask when a whip cracked in the air, and suddenly Sunny was in a world of pain. He stumbled, once again pulling on the chain and causing the shifty slave behind him to curse.

Another soldier, this one older and angrier, stopped his horse a few steps back. The whip that sliced the back of Sunny’s tunic open and drew blood belonged to him. Without even glancing at the slaves, the older soldier pierced his younger colleague with a disdainful glare.

”What do you think you’re doing?”

The young soldier’s face darkened.

”I was just giving this boy some water.”

”He’ll receive water with the rest of them once we camp!”

”But...”

”Shut your mouth! These slaves are not your friends. Understood? They’re not even people. Treat them like people and they’ll begin imagining things.”

The young soldier looked at Sunny, then lowered his head and put the flask back on his belt.

”Don’t let me catch you making friends with slaves again, newbie. Or next time it will be your back tasting my whip!”

As if to illustrate his intention, the older soldier cracked his whip in the air and rode past them, radiating threat and anger. Sunny watched him go with well-concealed malice.

Sunny glanced around, making sure to take in everything he could. Paranoia was seeping into the dark recesses of his mind, caused by the excessive peacefulness and the amount of possible threats around him.

He must have been the weakest slave here, which also made him much weaker than any of the slavers. Anyone could easily kill him on a whim if they so desired. This wasn’t even taking into account the Nightmare Creature which hadn’t appeared yet.

Within the First Nightmare, a single Nightmare Creature would be the opponent of the Aspirant. Once the Nightmare Creature was defeated, the Nightmare would end, and the Aspirant would proceed to the next step by becoming a Sleeper. The only difference in power between the two was that a Sleeper would gain an Aspect Ability.

However, Sunny was not worried about that now. He had other things worry about.

Using the opportunity, Sunny decided to take another look at his status and summoned the runes again. The last time he was too outraged by the Aspect and didn’t study the Attributes well. While not as important as one’s Aspect, the Attributes were often the deciding factor between life and death. They represented one’s natural traits and affinities, sometimes even providing passive abilities and effects.

[Fated] Attribute Description: ”The strings of fate wrap tightly around you. Unlikely events, both good and bad, are drawn by your presence. There are those who are blessed, and there are those who are cursed... but rarely both.”

[Mark of Divinity] Attribute Description: ”You bear a faint scent of divinity, as though someone briefly touched by it once, a long time ago.”

[Child of Shadows] Attribute Description: ”Shadows recognize you as one of their own.”

’Hmmm... Interesting.’

Sunny quickly recognized the first attribute, [Fated], as the main culprit of his predicament. At first glance, it seemed to indicate that he was destined for a certain fate — to die miserably and vanish without a trace, for example. But after reading the description, he realized that being fated actually just meant that improbable things had a higher chance of occurring when he was around.

’I guess this is how I managed to receive one of the super rare useless Aspects — and a weird variant of it, at that!’

If [Fated] was his innate Attribute, then the other two came from the [Temple Slave] Aspect. [Mark of Divinity] was more a less straightforward — it was supposed to allow passage into certain sacred places inside the Dream Realm and enhance several types of sorcery. Since there were no sacred places in sight and Sunny’s Aspect had nothing to do with sorcery, it was useless, too.

[Child of Shadows] was a stranger one. He had never heard of it and had no idea what it was supposed to do — at least not until the sun hid behind the mountain and the sky began to darken. To his surprise, Sunny found himself able to see perfectly in the darkness, as though it was still as bright as day. This ability alone was nothing to scoff at, and it was quite possible that shadows would reward him with some other, yet unknown, gifts.

Sunny stared off to the side, at the wall of the cliff face. There were was a shadow cast due to the sun being on the other side of the mountain, but it did not extend all the way to Sunny.

Without much regard for anything else, Sunny stepped a few times in the direction of the shadow, albeit at a slow pace, so as to not disrupt the caravan.

The moment he took a step into the shadows, he immediately stepped out, taking a glance behind him. The shifty guy didn’t seem to be paying any attention to him, looking off to the edge of the road instead.

’...That could have been bad.’

The moment Sunny took a step into the shadows, he instinctively knew what the [Child of Shadows] attribute did. It allowed him to ’become one’ with the shadows, allowing him to become nearly undetectable by normal means.

’Heh. This will be more than enough.’

Sunny finally caught a lucky break, as he now had a tool to use.

***

It was the middle of the night, and the slave caravan had stopped to rest. The slaves were huddled around a fire, with the strong ones closer to it as they blocked the weaker slaves. The cold was only increasing, as there was no sun to provide them a certain amount of heat.

In the far back of the group, an old slave was sitting down near a shadow. Due to his age, the odds of him surviving the harrowing trip was extremely low. He was at peace with that fact, and didn’t even make an attempt to get closer to the fire.

The slaves were still chained up, but they were no longer connected to each other. This allowed for more movement, but not enough so as to allow them to escape. Of course, the odds of a slave escaping in these conditions was close to impossible.

The old man heard the sound of chains clanging together, but ignored it, as he assumed that it was just another slave fidgeting around.

Strangely enough however...

He couldn’t see anyone near him...

”Gah!”

A low, strangled sound escaped the elderly slaves lips. He felt a tight pressure around his throat, losing the ability to breathe. He was being choked by a chain...

Sunny stood behind the slave, murderous intent the only thing on his mind. When he felt that the old man wasn’t dying fast enough, he started to press onto the back of the man’s head with his knee, increasing the pressure.

After awhile, the old man stopped struggling.

[You have slain a dormant human, name unknown.]

[You have received a memory, Dagger of Peace.]

Sunny grinned, before dragging the corpse a little further into the shadows. Nobody was looking in this direction, but if they did, they wouldn’t be able to see Sunny. They would still see the corpse of the slave however, but they wouldn’t suspect that it was a murder as long as he isn’t anywhere near him.

Sunny decided to check the memory he just obtained — weapons and armor that carry magical properties — to see if it would assist him in any way.

Memory: [Dagger of Peace].

Memory Rank: Dormant.

Memory Type: Weapon.

Memory Description: [The trail of Treachery has only begun to be blazed.]

Sunny wondered what the description meant, but ignored it in favor of the fact that he now had a weapon. Dormant memories were the weakest, but within this Nightmare, something was much better than nothing.

He had no regrets about killing the slave, as he was simply an illusion conjured by the Spell. No matter how jaded Sunny may be, he wouldn’t kill a person simply because it would be convenient.

However, he had no qualms slaughtering illusions for that same convenience.

Sunny looked around for his next target, a dagger appearing in his right hand out of white sparks.

***

Igris, a Blessed of War heard a scream.

He stood up immediately, hand on the shaft of his spear. He guessed the direction of the scream, and sprinted in that direction. With his superhuman physical capabilities granted from being an Awakened, he arrived at the gruesome scene in front of him.

He saw a mangled corpse, guts spilling out, eye gouged, and multiple signs of what seemed to be claw marks. He looked to the side and saw the young temple slave staring at the corpse in horror. Strangely enough, he didn’t sense his presence, which remained completely hidden until a moment ago.

Igris ignored this and decided to question the slave. He coldly gazed down at him. War and Shadow had never been on good terms after all.

”Tell me what happened, boy.”

Something flashed across the child’s face, although Igris had no idea what it could have been. Fear? Unease? Maybe something else? He couldn’t tell.

”I saw a monster...”

Igris narrowed his eyes, staring at the corpse. He could have guessed that was the case, considering how the corpse was left. The creature did not seem to desire to eat the slave, so it must have had another purpose.

The creature was most definitely corrupted.

Igris stood up, glancing at the corpse before looking at the child. He smiled at the child to comfort him.

”Rejoin the group. Otherwise, you’ll suffer the same fate.”

After saying those words, Igris turned around, ready to leave, before suddenly...

Blood filled his throat, rushing down to his lungs. The pain of something being torn open was felt through this neck, causing him to glance down in despair.

’Wha-what?’

He didn’t have much time to think, falling to the floor as his life was extinguished.

Before he finally died however, he heard one last thing.

”Don’t call me a ’boy’ again, bastard.”

***

[You have slain an Awakened human, name unknown.]

[You have received a memory, Vessel of Remembrance.]

***

Auro of the Nine stared at the scene in front of him with a grim look on his face.

One of the older Awakened among them was now naught but a corpse. He must have been slain by a powerful monster. However, the fact that there was only two corpses meant that the creature was a sneaky little thing. It might have had the ability to turn invisible, or perhaps it was simply to quick to keep track of.

Either way, this was problematic.

***

Sunny watched as the corpses were tossed off the side of the cliff. He had killed two dormant humans, and an Awakened human so far, using the corpse of the second dormant as bait to distract Auro of the Nine.

He had actually gotten a memory after defeating the Awakened soldier, wondering what it was. Sunny quickly checked the runes as the slaves were being reconnected to the main chain.

Memory: [Vessel of Rememberance].

Memory Rank: Awakened.

Memory Type: Tool.

Memory Description: [A memory that will never be forgotten.]

’A tool...’

Tool memories were the utility portion of an Awakened’s arsenal. They granted mysterious abilities that could be extremely useful in combat, or other situations.

He couldn’t summon it currently, but he could always check at a later time. Sunny eyed the knight who had found the corpses he left, fashioned in a way that they would seem like they were attacked by a Nightmare Creature. Even if they were to grow suspicious of the slaves, Sunny would be the last person they would suspect.

As Sunny observed the Awakened, he resisted the urge to grin.

’I wonder what type of memory I could get from him.’

***

After making another grueling journey up the mountain, night had fallen once more. Just as it had the night before, the slaves shoved and pushed each other as they attempted to get closer to the fire.

Sunny was standing near Shifty, looking around for a chance to get another kill.

A few steps away from them, where the paved road ended and sharp rocks began, a scattering of bright-red berries were growing from the snow. Sunny had noticed them before, clustering here and there along the road, and even noted how pretty those resilient things looked contrasted against the white. The Shifty’s eyes glistened as he tried to crawl towards the berries on all fours.

”I would advise against eating those, friend.”

It was the Scholar again. Sunny turned around and finally saw him in the flesh for the first time. It was a tall man in his forties, lean and strangely handsome, with a dignified look of a Scholar. How a man such as him ended up a slave was a mystery. Yet there he was.

”You and your advice again! What?! Why?!”

The scholar smiled apologetically.

”These berries are called Bloodbane. They grow in the places where human blood was spilled. That’s why there’s always a lot of them along the slave trade routes.”

”So what?”

The older man sighed.

”Bloodbane is poisonous. A few berries might be enough to kill an adult man.”

”Curses!”

The shifty slave flinched back and glared at the scholar.

Sunny did not pay them a lot of attention.

Because, while looking around, he finally recognized the site of the camp as the place where, in his vision at the start of the Nightmare, the bones of the slaves were buried under the snow. And he was willing to bet that whatever it was that killed them all was going to happen soon.

He was simply waiting for the opportunity.

As if to answer his thoughts, a thundering noise rang from above.

And in the next second, something massive came crashing from the sky...

Turning in the direction of the thundering noise, many slaves rose their heads — only to see rocks and heavy shards of ice raining on them from above. They instantly panicked, lurching away in a cacophony of screams. Shadows happily danced on black stones as, entangled by the thick chain, those slaves fell to the ground and pulled others with them.

Sunny was one of the few that remained upright, mostly because he was ready for something like this to happen. Calm and collected, he gazed at the night sky, his Attribute-enhanced eyes piercing the darkness, and took one measured step back. In the next second, a piece of ice the size of a man’s torso hit the ground right in front of him and exploded, showering everything around with sharp shards.

Others weren’t that quick. As ice and stones continued to rain, many were wounded, and a few even lost their lives. Agonizing wails filled the air.

”On your feet, fools! Get to the wall!”

The veteran soldier — the one who had whipped Sunny a few hours before — was shouting angrily, trying to get the slaves to move towards the relative safety of the mountain slope. However, before anyone could heed his command, something massive came crashing down, sending a tremor through the stones beneath their feet. It fell right between the caravan and the mountain wall, plunging everything into silence for a few seconds.

At first, it looked like a lump of dirty snow, roughly round in shape and as tall as a mounted horseman. However, once the creature unfurled its long limbs and rose, it towered over the stone platform like a nightmarish omen of death.

’That thing must be at least four meters tall,’ Sunny thought, a bit stunned.

The creature had two stumpy legs, an emaciated, hunched torso and disproportionately long, multijointed hands — two of them, each ending with a set of horrifying bone claws, and another two, these ones shorter, ending with almost human-like fingers. The thing that at first glance looked like dirty snow turned out to be its fur, yellowish-grey and ragged, thick enough to stop arrows and swords.

On its head, five milky, white eyes regarded the slaves with insect-like indifference. Beneath them, a terrible maw crowding with razor-sharp teeth was half-open, as though in anticipation. Viscous drool was running down the creature’s chin and dripping into the snow.

What unnerved Sunny the most, though, were the strange shapes endlessly moving, worm-like, under the creature’s skin. He could see them clearly because, unfortunately, he was one of those unlucky souls closest to the monstrosity, getting a nauseating first-row view.

’Well, that is just... too much,’ he thought, stupefied.

As soon as Sunny finished that thought, all hell broke loose. The creature moved, slashing its claws in his general direction. But Sunny was one step ahead: without wasting a single moment, he jumped sideways — as far as the chain allowed — conveniently placing the broad-shouldered slave between himself and the monster.

His quick reaction saved his life, as those sharp claws, each as long as a sword, sliced through the broad-shouldered man a fraction of a second later and sent streams of blood flying through the air. Drenched in the hot liquid, Sunny hit the ground, and his fellow slave — now simply a corpse — fell on him from above.

’Damn! Why are you so heavy!’

Temporarily blinded, Sunny heard a chilling howl and felt an enormous shadow passing over him. Immediately after, a deafening chorus of screams filled the night. Not paying it any attention, he tried to roll the corpse to the side, but was stopped by a forceful lurch of the chain that twisted his wrists and filled his mind with white-hot pain. Disoriented, he felt himself being dragged a few steps, but then the chain suddenly slackened, and he was able to control his hands again.

’See, things could have been worse...’

Putting his palms against the dead man’s chest, he pushed with all the strength he had. The heavy corpse stubbornly resisted all his attempts, but then finally fell sideways, setting Sunny free. However, he didn’t get to celebrate this newly found freedom, as his blood suddenly turned to ice.

Because at that moment, with his palms still pressed against the broad-shouldered slave’s bleeding body, he clearly felt something wriggling under the dead man’s skin.

’You just had to think about how things could get worse, right, you idiot?’ he thought, and then flinched back.

Pushing the corpse with his legs, Sunny crawled as far away from it as he could — which was about a meter and a half, thanks to the ever-present chain. He quickly glanced around, noticing a mass of dancing shadows and the silhouette of the monster rampaging amidst the screaming slaves on the opposite end of the stone platform. Then he concentrated on the dead body, which was starting to convulse with growing violence.

Sunny did the first thing he could think of, and summoned the [Dagger of Peace]. He started to stab repeatedly at the body on top of him, not knowing where he was hitting due to the panic. The broad-shouldered slave was skewered repeatedly by Sunny, until he finally got an announcement from the spell.

[You have slain a dormant beast, Mountain King’s Larva.]

Sunny paled.

He had just killed a Nightmare Creature.

’Something is definitely wrong here!’

But Sunny’s conclusion that things weren’t right did not come from self-pity. He just meant that this whole situation was literally not right: the Spell, mysterious as it was, had its own set of rules. There were rules for what type of creatures could appear in any given Nightmare, too.

Nightmare Creatures had their own hierarchy: from mindless Beasts to Monsters, followed by Demons, Devils, Tyrants, Terrors and, finally, mythical Titans, also known as Calamities. The First Nightmare was almost always populated by beasts and monsters, rarely with a demon mixed in. And Sunny had never, ever heard about anything stronger than a single devil appearing in it.

However, the creature had clearly just created a lesser version of itself — an ability that belonged exclusively to tyrants, the sovereigns of the Nightmare Spell, and those above them.

What was this tyrant even doing in a First Nightmare?

How powerful was that damn [Fated] attribute?!

But there was no time to ponder.

Unfair or not, there was only one person now who could save Sunny — himself.

***

Sometime later, far enough from the bonfire to be hidden in the shadows, Sunny was looking for dead soldiers with half a dozen flagons already weighing him down.

Most of the slaves and soldiers had died. All that was left was the knowledgeable Scholar, the vulgar Shifty, and the heroic Hero. He had named the three of them on his own, by the way.

Through his genius, they had managed to wrap a chain connected to the wagon around the Mountain King’s neck, before pushing it off the cliff. However, Sunny didn’t receive a notification announcing the Tyrant’s death, so it was still alive.

They were planning to move up the mountain to create distance, and for that they needed supplies. Such as the water he was collecting.

Shivering in the cold, he finally stumbled on the last broken body clad in leather armor.

The old veteran — the one who had whipped him for trying to accept Hero’s flask — was badly injured and dying, but, miraculously, still clinging to life. Horrible wounds were covering his chest and stomach, and he was clearly in a lot of pain.

His time was running out.Sunny knelt beside the dying soldier and looked him over, searching for the man’s flagon.

’What irony.’

The older man tried to focus his eyes on Sunny and weakly moved his hand, reaching for something. Sunny looked down and noticed a shattered sword lying on the ground not far from them. Curious, he picked it up.

”Are you looking for this? Why? Are you guys like Vikings, longing to die with a weapon in your hands?”

The dying soldier didn’t answer, watching the young slave with some unknown, intense emotion in his eyes.Sunny sighed.

”Well, it might as well do. After all, I promised to watch you die.”

With that, he leaned forward and slit the old man’s throat with the sharp edge of his broken blade, then threw it away. The soldier twitched, drowning in his own blood. The expression in his eyes changed — was it gratitude? Or hatred? Sunny did not know.

Illusion or not, it wasn’t his first time killing a human. In fact, the cruel outskirts was a place where people constantly got into armed conflicts. Sunny himself used to have a gun, but he had to sell it when he was strapped for cash.

He sat quietly near the old man, keeping him company on this last journey.

After a while, the Spell’s voice came whispering into his ear:

[You have slain a Dormant human, name unknown.]

[You have received a Memory: Silver Bell.]

Sunny sighed, disappointed.

’Well, with my luck, what was I expecting?’

Still, this thing was worth investigating. Maybe it had a powerful enchantment, like being able to send out destructive sonic waves or repelling incoming projectiles.

Sunny summoned the runes and concentrated on the words ’Silver Bell’. Immediately, an image of a small bell appeared in front of his eyes, with a short string of text below.

Memory Description: [A small memento of a long-lost home, which once brought its owner comfort and joy. Its clear ringing can be heard from miles away.]

’What a piece of crap.’

He was almost starting to see a theme in how the Spell was treating him.

’No matter.’

Sunny dismissed the runes and then got busy removing the dead man’s fur cloak and warm, sturdy leather boots. As an officer, the quality of these clothes was a notch above those of the simple soldiers. After putting them on, the young slave finally felt warm for the first time since the Nightmare began — not considering the short time he had spent near the bonfire.

’Perfect.’

The cloak was a bit bloodied, but then again, so was Sunny.

A few minutes later, as he continued to search for more flagons, he saw movement on the ground in front of him. He instinctively took a few steps back, preparing to run over to Hero if necessary.

As he looked closer, he found a small object squirming.

A yellowish, bloodied worm was slowly wiggling across the surface of the stone platform. A small trail of sticky liquid trailed behind it.

’...The Mountain King’s Larva?’

Although Sunny was disturbed, he was confident that they couldn’t harm him. Not without taking over a human body at least. Instead of killing it, he looked in the direction it was moving to, his night vision allowing him to see clearly.

There were even more worms — hundreds of them. They all seemed to be moving to a particular spot.

Curious, Sunny discretely summoned the Dagger of Peace under the fur cloak he had scavenged. Walking ahead, he followed the worms as he picked up flagons along the way.

After a half a minute, he found a grotesque mass of larvae, curling and squirming around eachother as they formed a ball.

Grimacing as he watched the disgusting sight, Sunny began to wonder why they hadn’t simply taken over the multitude of dead bodies.

’The Mountain King is a Tyrant, so it should be able to control them. Then... it didn’t want the larvae to parasitize any of the bodies?’

But what would be the purpose of the strange convergence they were performing.

Scowling, Sunny rose his foot to stomp on them. Although he didn’t want to touch any directly, he knew that they couldn’t control him. They seemed to only be able to do so for those who were already dead.

Crushing them, Sunny felt a gooey substance under his corpse-robbed boots. Lifting it up, he found that they were all dead.

[You have slain a Dormant Beast, Mountain King’s Larva.]

[You have slain a...]

[You have slain...]

[You have...]

[You...]

Sunny’s eyes turned into disks as he heard the sheer amount of kills the Spell announced seemed endless. Tens, dozens... the voice never ended.

His head was starting to hurt.

Sunny stared at the fluids on the ground in confusion. The ball of maggots that resembled a horrid yarn ball shouldn’t have contained such a large quantity of the Dormant Beasts, right? As he looked around, his eyes were caught on an unmoving worm.

And another.

And another.

There were no more worms — none that were alive, at least.

’Did that kill the rest of them?’

It was strange, but it seemed that they had relied on eachother to survive. Killing a large amount of them must have caused the rest to lose their lives as well.

As the Spell’s announcements stopped, Sunny checked his runes for a second, before dismissing them in disappointment.

He only gained a multitude of useless Memories. There wasn’t any other gain for killing such a large amount of creatures either, so even if he may have had the highest kill count of any Aspirant within the First Nightmare, there wasn’t any reward for it.

A moment later, a spiteful grin split across his face. No, there was a reward. He had just gotten rid of a huge chunk of that hateful Mountain King’s minions.

’You chose the wrong mountain to rule over, fraudulent king.’

Sunny made a decision. If he ever survived the Nightmare, then he would scour the Dream Realm for this wretched mountain range, and rule over it himself. If the real Mountain King was still alive in the modern day, then that would be a bonus.

***

Shifty gulped down even more water, somehow looking even paler than before.

One misstep, and he fell to his doom, impaled by a spike.

***

[You have slain a Dormant human...]

***

Scholar tried to convince Hero to abandon Sunny to distract the Mountain King. Instead, the valiant warrior brought up his crimes, before crushing his knee

Sunny watched as he took the Scholar away to use as bait, nothing but contempt in his gaze.

’Good riddance...’

***

[You have slain a Dormant human...]

***

They didn’t speak again after that, each preoccupied with their own thoughts.

The sun was setting, painting the world into a million shades of crimson. This high up, the air was clean and crisp, pierced by streams of scarlet light. Below them, a sea of maroon clouds was slowly rolling past the mountain. The stars and the moon had begun to reveal themselves in the vermillion sky.

It was quite beautiful.

However, Sunny could only think about how cold it was going to be once the sun fully disappears.

Before that happened, Hero had found them a shelter. Not far from the path, hidden behind some tall rocks, was a narrow crevice that extended into the slope of the mountain. Happy to be safe from the piercing wind, they explored the crevice and ended up in a small, well-concealed cave.

Sunny made a move to unbundle some firewood, but Hero stopped him with a shake of his head.

”Today we will camp without making a fire. The beast is too close.”

Camping without the warm flames to keep them company was not going to be pleasant, but at least they weren’t going to freeze to death inside the cave. In any case, the alternative was too frightening.

Sunny sat down, putting his back against the cave’s wall. Hero settled opposite of him, looking downcast and thoughtful.

He was obviously in a strange mood. If nothing else, it was apparent from the fact that today, for the first time, the young soldier had failed to care for his sword after making camp.

Soon, the sun was gone, and their small cave became completely dark. Sunny, of course, could still see perfectly well; Hero, on the other hand, was now completely blind.In the darkness, his handsome face looked noble and, for some reason, sorrowful. Sunny studied it, not willing to fall asleep.

After a while, Hero suddenly spoke in a quiet voice:

”You know, it’s strange. Usually, I can feel someone’s presence even in absolute darkness. But with you, there’s nothing. It’s like you are just one of the shadows.”

With only silence to answer him, he smiled.

”Are you asleep?”

The question echoed in the darkness. Sunny, who had never spoken with Hero unless there was an urgent need to, and even then only using a few words at best, felt like there was a strange intimacy between them now. That’s why he decided to talk. Maybe the darkness gave him courage.

Besides, there was an occasion.

”Why? Are you waiting for me to fall asleep before you kill me? Or will you do it in the morning?”

The smile froze on Hero’s face. He lowered his head, as though in shame. After a minute or so passed, shrouded in heavy silence, he finally answered.

”Yes. I thought that if I do it when you sleep, you won’t have to suffer.”

Unseen to him, a bitter grin appeared on Sunny’s face.

A long sigh escaped from the young soldier’s lips. He rested his back against the cave’s wall, still not looking up.

”I don’t expect you to forgive me. This sin, too, will be mine to bear. But, please, if you can... find it in your heart to understand. If things were different, I would have gladly faced that monster to let you escape. But my life... does not belong to me alone. There is an unencompassable duty I am sworn to fulfill. Until it’s done, I cannot allow myself to die.”

Sunny laughed.

”You people... Look at you! Planning to kill me and still insisting on having a good excuse. How very convenient! I really hate hypocrites like you the most. Why don’t you be honest for once? Don’t give me that crap... just say it! I’m going to kill you because it’s easy. I’m going to kill you because I want to survive.”

Hero closed his eyes, his face full of sadness.

”I’m sorry. I knew you wouldn’t be able to understand.”

”What’s there to understand?”

Sunny leaned forward, anger coursing through his veins.

”Tell me. Why do I have to die?”

The young soldier finally looked up. Even though he couldn’t see in the dark, he turned his face in the direction of Sunny’s voice.

”That man was a villain... but he was also right. The scent of blood is too heavy on you. It will attract the beast.”

”You can just let me go, you know. We’ll part ways. After that whether or not the monster finds me won’t be your problem.”

Hero shook his head.

”Dying in that creature’s maw... is too cruel a fate. It’s better if I do it myself. You are my responsibility, after all.”

”How noble of you.”

Sunny leaned back, dejected. After a short while, he quietly said:

”You know... when I just came here, I was ready to die. After all, in this whole world — two worlds, actually — there’s not a single soul who cares whether I live or die. When I’m gone, no one will be sad. No one will even remember that I existed.”

There was a forlorn look on his face. A moment later, however, it was gone, replaced by mirth.

”But then I changed my mind. Somewhere along the way, I decided to survive. I must survive, no matter what.”

Hero gave him a thoughtful look.

”To live a life worth remembering?”

Sunny grinned. A dark gleam appeared in his eyes.

”No. To spite you all.”

The young soldier was silent for a few moments, then nodded, accepting this answer. He rose to his feet.

”Don’t worry. I’ll make it quick.”

”Aren’t you overly confident? What makes you think you’ll be able to kill me? Maybe I’ll kill you instead.”

Hero shook his head.

”I doubt that.”

...But in the next second, he staggered and fell on one knee. The young man’s face turned deathly pale, and with a pained groan, he suddenly vomited blood.

A satisfied smile appeared on Sunny’s face.

”Finally.”

Hero was standing on his knees, the lower part of his face covered in blood. Astonished, he was staring at his hands, trying to understand what had happened to him.

”What... what magic is this?”

With wide eyes and a pale face, he turned to Sunny.

”Was... was that thief right? Did you put the curse of the Shadow God on us?”

Sunny sighed.

”I wish that I had the ability to throw divine curses around, but no. To tell you the truth, I don’t have any abilities at all.”

”Then.. how?”

The young slave shrugged.

”That’s why I poisoned you all.”

Hero flinched, trying to comprehend his words.

”What?”

”After the tyrant first attacked, you send me to search for water. While gathering flagons from the dead soldiers, I squeezed Bloodbane juice into each one — except my own, of course. Not enough to taste it, but enough to slowly kill anyone who would drink from them.”

The soldier gritted his teeth, struggling through pain. A sudden realization appeared on his face.

”So that’s why... the other two were in such bad shape.”

Sunny nodded.

”Shifty drank the most, so his condition worsened the fastest. Scholar was also not long for this world, but you finished him off before the poison could. Yourself, however... it was as though Bloodbane had no effect on you at all. I was really starting to get worried.”

Hero’s face darkened.

”I see... I understand.”

He thought about something, then looked at Sunny with surprise.

”But... but back then you didn’t know... that we will turn on you.”

Sunny just laughed.

”Oh, please. It was obvious. Shifty was the kind of man who would kill for a pair of boots. Scholar was like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. People are selfish and cruel in the best of situations — was I supposed to believe that those two weren’t going to do something terrible to me when faced with certain death?”

Hero spat more blood.

”Then... what about me?”

A disdainful expression appeared on Sunny’s face.

”You? You are the worst of them.”

”Why?”

Sunny looked at him and leaned forward. All traces of humor were gone from his voice.

”I might have not learned much in my short life, but I do know one thing.”

Now there was only cold, callous contempt. Sunny’s face hardened as he spat:

”There is nothing more pathetic than a slave who begins to trust his slaver.”

Hearing these words, Hero lowered his head.

”I see.”

Then, suddenly, he laughed.

”You... you are a wicked little shit, aren’t you?”

Sunny rolled his eyes.

”There’s no need to be rude.”

But Hero wasn’t listening to him.

”Good. This is good. My conscience will be clearer.”

The young slave sighed in irritation.

”What are you mumbling about? Just die already.”

Hero chuckled and suddenly pierced him with a stare. Somehow, he didn’t look so sick anymore.

”You see, that plan would have worked if I was a normal human. But, alas, my Soul Core has Awakened long ago. I’ve slain countless enemies and absorbed their power. Bloodbane poison, unpleasant as it might be, can never kill me.”

’Crap!’

Sunny turned around and tried to run away, but it was already too late. Something hit him in the back, sending his body crashing into the rock wall. With a scream, he felt a sharp pain piercing his left side. Rolling out of the cave, Sunny clutched his chest, scrambled back onto his feet and ran, trying to escape the narrow crevice.

He managed to reach the old path, finally being able to see the stars and the pale moon shining brightly in the night sky. But it was as far as he was able to get.

”Stop.”

As the cold voice sounded behind him, Sunny froze. If Hero really had an Awakened Soul Core, he had no chances of getting away from him. In a fight, he had no chances at all.

”Turn around.”

The young slave obediently turned, holding his hands up. He looked at Hero, who was wiping the blood off his face with a displeased look in his eyes. The two of them stared at each other, shivering in the murderous cold.

”Was it worth it? No matter. Despite it all, I will be true to my promise. I’ll make it quick.”

The soldier unsheathed his sword.

”Do you have any last words?”

Sunny did not answer.

However, a small silver bell suddenly appeared in his hand.

Hero frowned.

”Where were you hiding that thing?”

Sunny shook the bell. A beautiful, clear ringing sound flowed over the mountain, filling the night with an enchanting melody.

”What are you doing?! Stop!”

The young slave dutifully stopped.

”What was...”

Right under Hero’s bewildered eyes, the silver bell disappeared into thin air. He looked at Sunny, stumped and suspicious.

”Tell me! What did you just do?”

But Sunny didn’t answer. In fact, he hadn’t said a single word ever since escaping the cave. Right now, he wasn’t even breathing.

Hero, on the other hand, continued to speak.

”Tell me right now or you will regret it.”

He scowled.

”Why are you not saying anything?”

The shivering boy just stared at him, completely silent.

No... he was staring into the darkness behind him.Hero’s eyes widened.

”What...”

At the last second, a hint of understanding appeared in the young soldier’s eyes. He began to turn around, his sword rising with lightning speed.

But it was too late.

A massive hand appeared from the darkness and caught him into an iron grip. The bone claws scraped against the armor, pulling it apart. Mountain King dragged Hero back, paying little attention to the sword biting into its wrist. Viscous saliva was streaming from its opened maw.

Petrified by fear, Sunny slowly turned his back to them and took a couple of steps up the old, winding path. Then he darted away, running as fast as he could.

Behind him, a desperate scream tore apart the silent night. Then a hungry roar followed. It seemed that Hero wasn’t going down without a fight, even though his fate was already sealed.

But Sunny didn’t care. He was running away, climbing higher and higher.

”I’m sorry, Hero. I did say that I will watch you die... but, as you know, I am a liar. So go and die on your own...”

***

A lonesome dark mountain stood tall against the raging winds.

Jagged and proud, it dwarfed other peaks of the mountain chain, cutting the night sky with its sharp edges. A radiant moon bathed its slopes in the ghostly light.

Under that light, a young man with pale skin and black hair reached the peak of the mountain. However, his looks didn’t match the magnificence of the scene: wounded and staggering, he looked pathetic and weak.

The young man looked like a walking corpse.

His coarse tunic and cloak were torn and smeared with blood. His sunken eyes were cloudy and lifeless. His body was bruised, beaten and cut. There were specks of bloody foam on his lips.

He was hunched over, cradling the left side of his chest. Each step caused him to moan, ragged breath barely escaping through gritted teeth.

Sunny was hurting all over. But most of all, he was cold.

So, so cold. He just wanted to lie down in the snow and fall asleep.

But instead, he continued walking. Because he believed that the Nightmare will be over once he reaches the peak.

Step. Step. Another step.

Finally, he had made it.

At the highest point of the mountain, a vast expanse of flat rock was covered with snow. In the center of it, illuminated by moonlight, stood a magnificent temple. Its colossal columns and walls were cut from black marble, with exquisite reliefs decorating the stygian pediment and broad frieze. Beautiful and awesome, it looked like a palace of a dark god.

At least it did once. Now, the temple was in ruins: fractures and cracks marred the black stones, parts of the roof had collapsed, letting in ice and snow. It’s tall gates were broken, as if smashed into pieces by a hand of a giant.

Still, Sunny was satisfied.

Gathering the last of his strength, the young slave slowly limped in the direction of the ruined temple. His thoughts were muddled and confused.

’See this, Hero? I’ve made it. You were strong and ruthless, and I was weak and timid. Yet now you are a corpse, and I am still alive. Isn’t it funny?’

He stumbled and groaned, feeling the edges of his broken ribs cutting deeper into his lungs. Blood was dripping from his mouth. Dead or not, Hero had gotten him good with that single strike.

’Actually, it’s not. What do any of you even know about being ruthless? Poor fools. In the world where I come from, people had thousands of years to turn cruelty into an art. And as someone on the receiving end of all that cruelty... don’t you think I would know more about being vicious than you ever could?’

He was getting closer to the temple.

’Truth be told, you never stood a chance... wait. What was I thinking about?’

A moment later, he had already forgotten.

There was only pain, the dark temple, and the overpowering desire to sleep.

’Don’t fall for it. It’s just hypothermia. If you fall asleep, you’ll die.’

Finally, Sunny reached the steps of the black temple. He started to climb them, not noticing thousands of bones that were scattered around. These bones once belonged to humans and monsters both. All of them were killed by the invisible guardians still lingering around the temple.

As Sunny was climbing the steps, one of the shapeless guardians approached him. It was ready to snuff out the spark of life that was burning weakly in the defiler’s chest, but then stopped, sensing a faint, strangely familiar scent coming from his soul. The scent of divinity. Sorrowful and lonesome, the guardian moved aside, letting Sunny pass. Oblivious, he entered the temple.

Sunny found himself in a grandiose hall. Cascades of moonlight were falling through the holes in the partially collapsed roof. Deep shadows were surrounding these circles of silver light, not daring to touch them. The floor was covered in snow and ice.

At the far end of the hall, a large altar was cut from a single piece of black marble. It was the only thing inside the temple untouched by snow. Forgetting why he came here, Sunny headed for the altar.

He just wanted to sleep.

The altar was dry, clean, and as wide as a bed. Sunny climbed on it and lay down.

It seemed like he was going to die.

He was okay with it. Sunny tried to close his eyes, but was stopped by a sudden noise coming from the direction of the temple’s entrance. He turned his head to look, not even a little bit curious. What he saw would have sent chills running down his spine if he wasn’t so cold, tired and indifferent.

Mountain King was standing there, looking at him with its five blind eyes. He was still massive, terrifying and revolting. Worm-like shapes were still moving frantically under its skin. It was sniffing the air, salivating.

Then it opened its maw and moved forward, slowly approaching the altar.

’What an ugly bastard,’ Sunny thought and suddenly clutched his chest, convulsing in a fit of torturous coughing.

Bloody foam flew from his mouth and fell on the altar. However, the black marble soon absorbed it.

A second later, it was as pristine as it was before.

The tyrant was just about to reach Sunny. It was already stretching its hands to grab him.

’I guess this is the end.’

It wasn’t the ideal way to die, but he was resigned to his fate.

But at the last second, suddenly, the voice of the Spell resounded in the dark temple.

[You have offered yourself as a sacrifice to the gods.]

[The gods are dead, and can not hear you.]

[You soul bears the mark of divinity.]

[You are a temple slave.]

[Shadow God stirs in his eternal slumber.]

[He sends a blessing from beyond the grave.]

[Child of Shadows, receive your blessing!]

The Spell paused, it’s voice growing even louder.

[You have defeated a Blessed of War.]

[You are an inhabitant of War.]

[War God escapes the clutches of death.]

[She is appalled by your treachery, but respects your will.]

[She sends a blessing before returning to her grave.]

[Thief of War, receive your blessing!]

The voice grew deathly silent, before speaking in a distorted voice:

[You have breached the contract between the gods!]

Under Sunny’s astonished eyes, the shadows crowding the great hall suddenly moved, as though coming alive. Tentacles of darkness surged forward, entangling Mountain King’s arms and legs. The mighty tyrant struggled, trying to get free.

But how could it resist the power of a god?

The shadows dragged Mountain King back, pulling in different directions. The tyrant opened its maw, and a furious howl escaped it.

The next second, its body ruptured, torn apart into pieces.

Blood, viscera and severed limbs fell on the floor in a crimson torrent. Just like that, the horrible creature was dead.

Sunny blinked.

Once again, he was alone in the ruined temple. The great hall was dark and silent.

And then the Spell whispered:

[You have slain an awakened tyrant, Mountain King.]

[Wake up, Sunless! Your nightmare is over.]

[Prepare for appraisal...]

***

Sunny found himself in a space between dream and reality. It was an endless black void illuminated by a myriad of stars. Between those stars, countless strings of silver light were woven into a beautiful and inconceivably complex net, forming various nexuses and constellations. It was truly breathtaking.

Somehow, Sunny understood that he was seeing the inner workings of the Nightmare Spell. He also couldn’t help but think that it looked a lot like the celestial equivalent of a neural network. If so... was the Spell alive?

This was a question that countless people had been asking themselves for the past few millennia. The best answer they had come up with was that there was no way to know. The Spell was neither alive nor dead; neither sentient nor mindless.

It was more of a function than a creature.

But Sunny was in no mood to ponder philosophical questions. He was eagerly awaiting his boon.

The Spell was still appraising his performance. However, the first reward had nothing to do with it.

[You have received a Memory: Puppeteer’s Shroud]

’Yes!’

Sunny felt incredibly elated. He was almost ready to do a happy dance. That Memory belonged to Mountain King, who was an awakened tyrant — which meant that the Memory itself was of the Awakened rank. Getting it was a stroke of incredible luck!

There were seven ranks to everything in the Spell. These ranks were, in order of growing power: Dormant, Awakened, Ascended, Transcendent, Supreme, Sacred and Divine (with the exclusion of Nightmare Creatures, who were ranked as Dormant, Awakened, Fallen, Corrupted, Great, Cursed and Unholy).

From the Spell’s point of view, Sunny was a dormant human. Having a Memory of a higher rank than his own soul core would be of great help once he enters the Dream Realm. The power gap between different ranks simply could not be overestimated.

He wanted to take a look at the Puppeteer’s Shroud, but there was no more time. The Spell was done with its appraisal.

Here in the void, its voice didn’t sound subtle and familiar anymore. Rather, it seemed like the universe itself was speaking. Sunny held his breath, listening.

[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]

[A nameless slave ascended the black mountain, a grudge in his heart and treachery on his mind. With shadows as his only ally, heroes and monsters fell by his merciless hand. Unbroken after his senseless slaughter, he entered the temple of a long-forgotten god, spilling his blood and the blood of his enemies upon its sacred altar. The gods were dead, and yet, they listened, breaching a divine agreement.]

[You have defeated eight hundred and ninety one Dormant Beasts, Mountain King’s Larva.]

[You have defeated three Dormant humans, names unknown.]

[You have defeated an Awakened human, Auro of the Nine.]

[You have defeated an Awakened human name unknown.]

[You have defeated an Awakened Tyrant, Mountain King.]

[You have received the Shadow God’s blessing.]

[You have stolen the War God’s lineage.]

[Your feats are incomprehensible!]

[Final appraisal: Unknown. Your treachery has surpassed the limits of fate!]

[You have received an attribute.]

[You have received an attribute.]

[Your attribute has evolved.]

Sunny took a deep breath. That comment about him being treacherous was extremely uncalled for, but he’ll let it slide considering how great everything is sounding so far. The Spell is even acting like he had broken it’s systems!

He felt like his chances of evolving his Aspect to an Awakened, or even Ascended one were pretty high.

His overall power was still dependent on the rank of his soul core, which would remain dormant until much later, but the rank of the Aspect itself would do wonders for his overall potential.

[Dreamer Sunless, receive your boon!]

He was an Aspirant no more. Sunny grinned.

[You have been bestowed a True Name: Lost from Light.]

His jaw dropped. A true name! He had received a true name! Never in his wildest dreams did Sunny dream of becoming one of the chosen few to accomplish such feat — and in his very first Nightmare to boot! Not even all of the Saints could boast of having one. He was an elite now, a bonafide cream of the crop! He was going to be rich!

But the rewards kept coming.

[Your Aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve Aspect?]

’What kind of a question is that?!’

Sunny crossed his fingers and said ”yes”.

[Dormant Aspect Temple Slave is evolving...]

[New Aspect acquired.]

[Aspect Rank: Divine.]

Sunny fell over.

[Aspect Name: Shadow Slave.]

***

’Divine... it’s Divine.’

Sunny was standing on his knees, stupefied. The shock was so great that for a second there he lost all control over his limbs and fell.

’It said ”divine”... right?’

Sunny silently summoned the runes and found the lines describing his aspect.

Aspect: [Shadow Slave].

Aspect Rank: Divine.

Aspect Description: [You are a miraculous shadow left behind by a dead god. As a divine shadow, you possess plenty of strange and wondrous powers. However, your existence is empty and lonesome; you mourn the passing of your former master and long to find a new one.]

Innate Ability: [Shadow Bond].

Ability Description: [Find a worthy master and let them know your True Name. Once they recite it out loud, you will be bound to their will, unable to disobey any command. It is improper for a shadow, let alone a divine one, to walk around without a master.]

That was... a lot to digest.

First of all, Sunny felt his heart beating faster. He heard it right! All the suffering and horror he had experienced in the First Nightmare paid off in the end. A divine Aspect, he had received a divine Aspect! Anything above Awakened was rare and immensely valuable!

People with Ascended Aspects were rare enough to be fought over by various factions. The factions themselves were built around singular powerhouses with Transcendent or Supreme Aspects. And he had never, ever heard of anyone acquiring a Divine one. Never!

Of course, the universe was quite large, so he wouldn’t be surprised if there was another Divine Aspect or two out there.

...Sunny felt like he would regret thinking that.

Anything with the ”divine” prefix was so hard to find that it mostly lived in the realm of myths and legends. After all, the human race had not reached that high yet; it was a few millennia since humans managed to finally conquer the Third Nightmare and receive the ability to evolve their cores to Transcendent rank. Although the Nightmare Spell had been around for a long time, humanity used to have to face off against other threats, such as the Swarm or the Legion, who were servants to higher beings known as Aeons; embodiments of a concept.

Sunny hoped to never encounter such an entity, nor their subordinates.

As Transcendents — or Saints, as they were called in the real world — powerful Awakened ruled over the Dream Realm, but even they did not dare to face Nightmare Creatures of higher ranks. Subsequently, there were not a lot of Memories and Echoes of Supreme rank around, let alone Sacred... or Divine. The same went for Aspects.

And yet Sunny just got one!

He grinned, driven half-mad by joy and arrogance. However, his jubilation was a little muddied. After all, there was that weird innate ability. Of course, he had no intention of becoming someone’s magical slave, with no free will of his own. To hell with that!

But it wasn’t that bad. All he had to do to avoid that fate was to conceal his True Name. No one except for him could see his status. That meant that Sunny just had to keep his mouth shut, and no one will know that he even had one.

It meant giving up on all the benefits that someone who was bestowed a True Name after the First Nightmare was entitled to, but it all paled in comparison with a Divine Aspect.

’Not a problem,’ Sunny thought with a smirk.

If the Spell had the ability to laugh, it would surely do so after hearing his thoughts. However, it didn’t. Instead, it began to speak again:

[The First Seal is broken.]

[Awakening dormant powers...]

Sunny felt something waking up inside of him. With a startled cry, he clutched his chest and stared into the darkness, trying to understand what was happening. The feeling was not painful or unpleasant, yet it was like nothing he had ever experienced. It was as though his soul was being shaken awake, infused with strange new energy.

However, that energy did not come from some outside source. Rather, it was coming from within, as though it had always been there, sleeping.

The energy filled every fiber of his being. Sunny felt his emotions becoming clearer and sharper. Then, his body began to change, too. He felt as though a miniature star was burning in the center of his chest: waves of heat were radiating from it, slowly reaching his stomach and shoulders, then his arms and legs, then his hands and feet.

Under that heat, his bones, muscles, organs and blood vessels were being rebuilt and revitalized. Sunny felt like he was being reborn. He was becoming stronger, faster, healthier.

It was euphoric.

With each second, his transformation was becoming more profound. New confidence settled in Sunny’s heart. He was not a weak, frail street kid anymore. He was not as vulnerable against anyone who would wish to bully him as he was in the past.

With his powers awakened and his will tempered by the horrors of the First Nightmare, he was now someone you would not want to cross.

After some time had passed, the star burning in his chest finally cooled down. The heat was replaced with a soothing coldness. That coldness washed over Sunny’s body, taking away all the aches and discomforts that had been accumulated there over the years. Then it moved up, reaching his brain and, finally, his eyes.

His vision strangely doubled.

He could still see the void populated by an endless pattern of stars. But he could also see something different.

A silent, calm dark sea illuminated by a lonely black sun.

From his previous knowledge, Sunny knew that this was his so-called Soul Sea. But he also knew that it was supposed to look quite different.

For starters, it was supposed to be much more lively. The star hanging above — the visual representation of his soul core — was supposed to be burning with bright light, filling the Soul Sea with a warm, blinding shining.

However, Sunny’s soul was dark and lightless.

’That’s strange.’

He took a look at the black sun. At a closer examination, it actually turned out to be transparent. It’s just that with no other major source of light around, the star had appeared to be as dark as its surroundings.

Also, no one wass supposed to be here except for him. It was his soul, after all! But Sunny had a nagging feeling that somewhere just beyond the periphery of his vision, hidden in the darkness, shapeless forms were constantly moving. No matter how he turned his head, he couldn’t catch a clear glimpse of them. And yet the feeling would not go away.

He also caught site of a light blue shape moving around. It was too small to see clearly, but it was an anomaly within what his soul sea should have looked like.

Not wishing to waste any more time on this right now, Sunny turned back to the black sun and finally spotted a few dozen spheres of light orbiting around it, as though caught in the soul core’s gravity well. A subtle smile appeared on his face.

These were his Memories. As his arsenal grew, he more orbs would start to circle his soul core. If he was lucky, he would even acquire an Echo or two!

The Spell’s voice suddenly pulled him out of the Soul Sea.

[Awakening Aspect Ability...]

’This is it. The moment of truth,’ Sunny thought.

Divine Aspect or not, his immediate future still depended on the first Aspect Ability he would receive. His role in the Dream Realm would be based on its characteristics. If it was a combat ability, he would be most useful on the frontlines of the bloody battles against the Nightmare Creatures. If it was tied to sorcery, he would likely become a powerful, but fragile ranged fighter.

If it was something having to do with utility, he would be a vitally important part of the behind-the-scenes workings of the Dream Realm. Utility Abilities were also extremely valued in the real world, where Awakened performed many tasks that kept it going.

If he was lucky, he could even become a healer. Healers were very rare, and as such, sought-after specialists.

[Aspect Ability acquired.]

[Aspect Ability Name: Shadow Control.]

Sunny hurriedly summoned the runes. He wanted to go to the description of his new ability right away, but then decided to give his overall information a look first.

Name: Sunless.

True Name: Lost from Light.

Rank: Dreamer.

Shadow Core: Dormant.

Shadow Fragments: [908/1000].

’What? What is that?’

Where the rank of his soul core was supposed to be written, a mysterious ”Shadow Core” appeared instead. Sunny looked at it, blinking. He had never heard of anyone having a different kind of core before. Was he that unique?

This enigmatic shadow core would certainly explain why his Sea of Soul looked so strange. And also... He moved his eyes down, noticing the ”Shadow Fragments” counter. Usually, there was supposed to be an indicator of the number of soul shards consumed. However, it was nowhere to be seen.

’Do I... do I actually have a completely different progression path than all Awakened?’

The idea was as exciting as it was frightening. Not having to fight for resources with anybody else was an incredible advantage. Most of the human society in the Dream Realm was built around the acquisition of soul shards. If he had no need to gather them to evolve... not only would he be able to become more powerful with incredible speed, he would also be completely self-sufficient.

On the other hand, he had no idea how to acquire these shadow fragments. However, he had gotten 897 of them somehow already: so whatever it was that he had to do, he had already done it in the First Nightmare. He had even almost fully saturated his core!

’I’ll have to explore this carefully.’

Satisfied with this decision, Sunny continued to study the runes.

Memories: [Silver Bell], [Puppeteer’s Shroud], [Dagger of Eve], [Vessel of Remembrance]...

Echoes: —

Attributes: [Fate’s Chosen], [Essence of Divinity], [Child of Shadows], [The War], [Breach of Styx].

Aspect: [Shadow Slave].

Aspect Rank: Divine.

Aspect Abilities: [Shadow Control].

Aspect Ability Description: [Your shadow is more independent than most. It is an invaluable helper.]

’What is that supposed to mean?’

Sunny held his breath and began to read the description again, but at that moment, a new set of runes appeared just below it. Simultaneously, the Spell’s voice resounded in the black void.

[All power has a price.]

[You have received a Flaw.]

[Your Flaw is: ...]

Sunny read the runes, and his eyes widened in horror.

’Oh, no. No, no, no...’

’Please, be gone! Please!’

But the runes were still there, shining slightly, as though mocking him.

Flaw: [Clear Conscience].

Flaw Description: [You cannot lie.]

Sunny stared at these three simple words, feeling like there was a bottomless abyss opening right beneath his feet. The Spell, which was usually frivolous with its descriptions, decided to be straight and on point this time. There were only three words. They left him no room to maneuver.

’Can’t lie. I can’t lie? Me? How am I supposed to live if I can’t lie?!’

Sunny’s very survival was predicated on his ability to deceive and outsmart other people. Even the Spell itself congratulated him on his treachery! Without the ability to lie, he wouldn’t be able to achieve anything.

Not to mention...

His heart suddenly felt as though it was about to stop.

If he could only tell the truth, how was he supposed to hide his True Name? Wouldn’t anyone be able to turn him into an obedient slave by simply asking a couple of innocent questions?

Sunny was about to scream and curse, but at that moment, the Spell spoke again.

[Wake up, Lost from Light!]

The black void spun and disappeared.