Shadow Slave

Right there in the glimmering field of familiar runes, in the cluster describing his Aspect, a new string of them appeared.

Aspect: [Shadow Slave].

Aspect Rank: Divine.

Aspect Abilities: [Shadow Control].

Aspect Legacy: [Shadow Dance].

As soon as Sunny concentrated on the Aspect Legacy, new runes shined to describe it.

Shadow Dance Description: [Once an elegant dance, now a deadly battle art. This mysterious style was created by the treacherous Lost From Light after witnessing a graceful slave dancing with her shadows. Who else could have taken something so beautiful and turned it into something so vile?]

Sunny coughed, trying hard not to think too much about the manner in which the Spell had described him.

‘Again with this treacherous stuff… I’m not that treacherous, okay? So what if I lie, manipulate, and backstab people all the time. That’s just being smart…’

However, what grabbed his attention was not the description itself, but what glimmered beneath it.

Shadow Dance Mastery Level: [0/7].

First Relic: Unearned.

Second Relic: Unearned.

Third Relic…

There were a total of seven lines of runes, each promising him a Legacy Relic once he achieved the corresponding level of mastery with his newly envisioned battle style.

Seven of them!

Not one, not even two or three. But seven.

Whole Legacy Clans were created around a single Legacy Relic. Sunny couldn’t even imagine what he would be able to do with seven.

Start a family and turn it into the most powerful clan in the world? No, that would mean putting all his eggs into one basket. Better create several clans!

Right! Why start a family when you can start seven?

Wait, no… that didn’t sound right…

Right?

Consumed by avarice, Sunny looked at the rising sun with an excited grin. This was great! This was incredible!

However, his excitement was short-lived.

‘Yeah, right. I would have to get back to the real world first. And that’s not going to happen…’

Turning his head slightly, he stared at the distant silhouette of the Crimson Spire and lost himself in thought.

A while later, Effie’s voice brought him back to reality.

“Hey, doofus! Breakfast is ready. Why are spacing out and smiling like an idiot?”

Sunny answered without thinking.

“Just thinking about creating a Legacy Clan. Have you ever thought about creating a clan, huh, Effie?”

The robust huntress stared at him for a few seconds with a strange expression, and then grinned.

“…Is that an invitation?”

Still lost in thought, Sunny tilted his head and glanced at her astutely.

‘Huh… not bad, not bad. The choice of a partner has to be of utmost importance when starting a Legacy Clan. Take Effie, for example. She is a very fearsome Awakened. Her Aspect is extravagant and powerful beyond belief. Plus, her physique is nothing short of divine. Any heir she gives birth to is bound to be both strong and gorgeous… a very suitable candidate, I guess…’

“…Huh, what? No, not an invitation. Just considering different options.”

At that moment, Sunny suddenly realized that he had been unceremoniously ogling Effie up and down for a better half of a minute, and that her grin had long turned dangerous at some point.

The huntress stretched her neck and said lazily:

“I see. So you have chosen death…”

He blinked.

“No! Wait! I didn’t mean it like that! I was just, you know, theorizing!”

The unruly huntress cracked her knuckles and smiled menacingly.

“Oh, so you were “theorizing” about me, huh? Do tell, do tell…”

“No, no! Wait! Stop! Sto…”

***

Surprisingly, Sunny survived.

…Barely.

Soon after that, they left the grandiose marble arch and continued their journey into the depths of the Labyrinth.

Before the expedition started, Nephis had told him that they had a fast and comparatively safe way to reach the southern edges of the Forgotten Shore — as much as anything could be safe in this cursed place. Without it, getting to their destination would have taken them months.

Now that they had left the Dark City, Sunny finally decided to satisfy his curiosity and asked what that mysterious method of traveling with incredible speed was. When he heard the answer, he just stared blankly at Changing Star for a few minutes, trying to guess if she was kidding or not.

She wasn’t.

In the end, he didn’t even ask any questions and just waved his hand dejectedly. There was no point.

If Nephis had come to know of this secret from Cassie’s visions and believed that it was doable, then he did not have to worry. Too much. It’s not like he could turn back now, anyway.

Plus, the expedition had shown itself to be extremely lucrative for him so far. Mere days after its start, he had already gotten plenty of shadow fragments and an Ascended Memory, not to mention making a breakthrough in his exploration of battle styles and earning an Aspect Legacy for his effort.

In any case, they had to travel about a week’s worth of time south to get the chance to access that fast method of travel. The heights they were going to use on the way as shelters during the nights there were planned in advance with the help of the Forgotten Shore map Nephis had created.

To make sure that these shelters were really where the map showed and remove any possibility of ending up stranded in the middle of the Labyrinth with no way to escape the dark sea, she had even employed Kai during the week that Sunny had spent with Effie. The charming archer scouted the way ahead and confirmed that her map was correct.

Now, the only danger they really faced from the Forgotten Shore itself was that of a sudden storm. However, with a true oracle in the ranks of the cohort, this danger was dramatically diminished. Now that Cassie had grown into her powers and absorbed a lot of soul essence, she was often able to warn them in advance if something like that was going to happen.

…There were also the usual perils of the Labyrinth, of course.

And as they went deeper into its deadly maze, the situation slowly began to turn from bad to worse.