Shadow Slave

A couple of hours later, Sunny was ready to claw his eyes out.

Not because the lessons taught to Rain in school were boring, but because he had to watch a bunch of entitled kids exist in an enclosed space and make it as hard for everyone to learn anything as possible.

The elite school seemed like a place of learning, but in fact, it was more like a battlefield. The hidden politics among the students and the hierarchy of numerous cliques they formed were more complex than the ruthless strife between the factions in the Bright Castle, and judging by their behavior, just as dire.

…But it was not.

No one’s life was at stake, no one was going to be exiled and starve to death if they did a wrong thing. All of this was simply about prestige, vanity, and standing.

It was utterly stupid!

However, once Sunny thought about it a bit more, he realized that it was not. Not to them, and maybe not at all.

These kids were put under immense pressure, assigned a numerical value, and forced to compete with each other. As the result, they inevitably developed a fierce sense of resentment toward their rivals, which was only made deeper by the deep sense of insecurity this system instilled in them.

No wonder they were at each other’s throats.

The school was, in fact, not only meant to teach the kids the skills necessary to survive and thrive in the real world, but also to destroy the very same softness Sunny had pondered about a few hours earlier.

It wasn’t hard to imagine that, at the end of it all, the best and most resilient students would become harsh and jaded, while the rest would simply be broken and discarded.

A wasteful system, and one of very questionable effectiveness.

Sipping tea in the quiet cafe, Sunny shook his head.

‘Rich people…’

Luckily for him, Rain seemed to be unaffected by the vitriol her classmates seemed to be more interested in than the actual studying. She sat calmly at the back of the class, avoiding getting embroiled in any drama, and dutifully learned everything the teachers explained to the students.

…The lessons themselves, surprisingly, turned out to be very interesting. Sunny even found himself enjoying these hours very much. There had not been any combat lessons yet, but he did manage to catch this school’s version of the Wilderness Survival course, as well as listen to a rather intriguing lecture about the early exploration of the Dream Realm. He also saw a lesson dedicated to various Nightmare Creatures, their biology, capabilities, and weaknesses.

If he had known that much during his first months on the Forgotten Shore… well, it would not have changed much, really. No matter how much a person knew about these things, no Sleeper was meant to face challenges of that magnitude.

And yet, he couldn’t help but feel a bit wistful. He had been denied access to this treasury of knowledge as a kid. Who knew how his life would have turned out otherwise? It would have been a lot more interesting and enjoyable, at least.

By then, he had some idea of Rain’s depth of knowledge and overall readiness for the Nightmare Spell, but he still did not know how well she was really being trained. He had to see her during a lesson in combat for that.

After a while, Sunny had become a little bit bored. Listening to a lecture about spelltech absentmindedly, he looked around the cafe.

At this hour, there weren’t a lot of people there, but that was swiftly changing. The white-collar workers from the surrounding buildings were now on their lunch break, as were senior students of the school. Several noisy groups were occupying tables near him, so he couldn’t help but catch bits and pieces of their conversations.

“No way! When is it coming out?”

“In a couple of months, I think.”

“Who will play the female lead, then? No, wait! Let me guess…”

These guys were apparently discussing some upcoming film, excitedly wondering about the casting. Something about their conversation appeared strange to Sunny, but he didn’t pay it too much attention.

“…none. That is the mindset of a true battle master!”

“No way he meant to say that. Who do you think Lord Mongrel is, a nobody? Of course not! He only said that because he considers social status and renown meaningless. In the eyes of a warrior, such things are not even worth mentioning. The only thing that matters is your strength! That’s why he hides his noble upbringing.”

Sunny stared at the couple of young men that were in the middle of a heated debate, then shook his head.

‘That’s hilarious. What are the chances?’

Apparently, there was somewhere else out there with a similar alias. And that guy, from what Sunny could hear, was not only a total buffoon, but also went around calling himself a Lord, pretending to be some wise philosopher and teaching people how to be a “true warrior”.

‘What an idiot… well, figures. Only an idiot would choose such an alias on purpose, after all. I wonder what this guy’s problem is? He has to be horribly insecure about something, for sure…’

Then, however, he had to focus on Rain again, because she was finally heading for the school’s dojo.

The combat lesson was about to begin.

The instructor, surprisingly, turned out to be an actual Awakened. It was a man in his late thirties, with a mighty build and cold eyes of an experienced fighter. Sunny couldn’t tell what Aspect the man possessed, but he was obviously not a sheltered non-combatant.

Rain’s instructor was the real deal. He had to have enough money to never be required to work a single day in the real world, so the fact that he was teaching a bunch of kids in a school meant that he was doing it either because of his principles or because of an obligation to one of their parents.

In any case, it was a good thing for Rain.

In the next hour or so, Sunny watched the students train and fight each other with various weapons. He expected them to use fake ones, but to his surprise, the Awakened instructor insisted that the kids both wore heavy protective gear and wielded real ones, even if the weapons were blunted to not pose a real danger.

‘Good approach, I guess.’

Rain’s level was… better than he had expected. Not comparable to someone like Caster or Nephis, of course, but miles better than anything he would have been able at her age. She was swift, nimble, and strategic, utilizing every opening the opponent presented to her full advantage.

She seemed to prefer using ranged combat, but could hold her own in a melee with the help of a wide range of weapons, from a long spear to a light saber. There were kids who were better than her, and those who were worse, but none who could compare to her in terms of wits.

And yet, a deep frown appeared on his face.

‘There is one thing that is lacking.’

…Viciousness.

His sister was not nearly vicious enough.