Shadow Slave: The Blessing of Fate

Ehrm, before starting let me say something yet again - I went through ALL of the past chapters and improved the wording quite a lot I'd say, it took me a lot of time and effort, so if you want to pass the wait for a new chapter, you can go check out the older ones again. I changed some of the descriptions of Sunny's Aspect, Innate Ability etc a tiny bit. The story remains unchanged, you don't need to worry about that.

Anyways, thanks for the wait, enjoy the start of a new arc.

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On this forgotten shore, only steel and a certain cheerful shadow remember.

Although, this shadow was not very cheerful at that moment. 

[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Sunless!]

[One of your Attributes has been modified.]

"Wha-" Sunny was cut off before he could shout, because he found himself blind and drowning. He choked on the seawater a tiny bit due to his mouth gaping after hearing those words.

He couldn't see anything, he was aware that this cursed sea he was dropped into was made up of an all-consuming darkness, which appeared after the three-eyed figure was murdered. Sunny theorized that this figure was actually the mythical Nephilim, the creature born of an unholy union between the divine and the profane.

The pure darkness had completely disabled his ability to see and use his shadows, Sunny attempted to break through that and use his Innate Ability to summon a group of shadows to look through instead, however it seemed that these shadows were unable to escape the storage space located inside of his soul. It felt as if they were not powerful enough. He was surprised by this revelation. Normally, every shadow - apart from Sunny's own - would be consumed by the pure, elemental darkness. But it seemed like, if he grew stronger and gathered deeper, older shadows, perhaps he would be able to rival the elemental force.

An enormous, shark-like creature was approaching him, but thankfully wasn't truly aiming for him. Sunny swam upward and stuck his head through the surface of the Dark Sea. He sucked in enough air to soothe his burning lungs and looked around.

Above him, an empty black sky enveloped the world around him. There was no moon, no stars, just a dark vastness of repressive nothingness. He turned his head towards the black shape, which was protruding through the dark waters, and started swimming its way. It was the top of the headless statue that he had used as shelter the first time around.

Seconds before the colossal creature got to him, Sunny reached the statue and pulled himself out of the water. He rolled away from the edge and grabbed a hold of the uneven rocks, securing himself against the impending collision. The whole surface underneath him shuttered, terrifying jaws appeared from the water, with rows and rows of giant teeth, each one as long as he was tall. However, before the presumably Corrupted Devil could attack, a humongous tentacle broke through the surface of the water and entangled the giant creature, pulling it into the depths of the sea.

A few seconds later, the accursed sea was calm again, as though nothing had happened. The indifferent waves continued to move silently under the lightless sky.

***

Sunny summoned Puppeteer's shroud, covering his naked body in dark-grey garments that came alongside a pair of high, soft-soled leather boots. Clad in grey fabric and lusterless leather, he felt safer and slightly warmer.

He gazed at the starless, dark void, memories of the past surfaced in his mind, but he didn't pay his attention to the bad ones. At least the ones, which weren't so awful. He remembered the position of the light that would soon shine from a faraway hill. The light that would show him the location of Nephis and Cassie. Sunny decided to wait until the same day that he climbed down the gargantuan statue, before approaching those two.

He turned his attention to a different matter bothering him. The message from the Spell. Sunny summoned his runes and checked out his Attributes, stopping at the very first one, the one that had guided him this far.

[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. However, due to the blessing given to you by Fate, you are now able to choose if you wish to evade some of these unlikely events or not."

[Current amount of Charges: 1/1]

Once he read these words, a strange sensation entered his soul. He dove into his Soul Sea and saw an unassuming shining thread protruding from his Beast core. A weird instinct suddenly inhabited Sunny's body and he felt himself reaching out to this curious string. Just before his hand touched it, he stopped himself with the power of his battle-shaped, resolve-driven mind. He was already consumed by an unnatural instinct once, in the Ebony Tower, when he ate the alabaster phalanx. The one that once belonged to Weaver, The Demon of Fate.

Back then, he gained something of great value to him, but he couldn't be certain what would happen this time. Just like how the Nightmare Spell is perverse, yet fair, in the way it takes and gives, Fate also uses bizarre, perhaps even more twisted methods than the magnificent work of art crafted by the mysterious daemon does.

'I can't just tug on it without a second thought. If this weird string is what the Spell meant by "Charge" then it has a limited use…'

He left his Soul Sea, leaving the strange thread behind. He laid down, used his hands as a pillow and drifted off to sleep, to pass time waiting for the dark sea to fall back.

***

An ancient, colossal statue was placed inside of the vast labyrinth. It peaked at an extremely impressive height of almost two hundred meters, this statue served as Sunny's temporary shelter. He was laying on top of the enormous, man-made construct and looked towards the center of the labyrinth, where a tall spiral shape towered over the Forgotten Shore. From a distance, it looked like a bloodied sword that some primordial titan had thrust into the heavens. The crimson coral streamed from its walls like the blood of gods, spreading out from the base of the Spire to devour all of the Forgotten Shore.

'It still scares me so much, huh?'

Sunny stood up and turned around, a small orange light shone on top of a faraway hill that rose from the ground a few kilometers away. Sunny knew exactly what this meant for him. As soon as the next morning comes, his plan for the future is going to truly begin. He waited a few hours for the sea to recede and sprang into action. He sent his shadow ahead and proceeded to climb down the tall statue. Soon, his feet finally touched the ground.

He was awfully thirsty and hungry, but that wasn't going to stop him. A good amount of stragglers, the Carapace Scavengers, were still filling their bodies with the remains of the shark devil. At the moment, Sunny did not have a single weapon Memory. Instead, he was holding a conveniently-shaped stone shard, which originated from the headless statue he had rested on. Its shape was like a small dagger, with a sharp edge and pointy tip, it would serve him as well as a mundane weapon would. Sunny augmented the piece of stone with the gloomy shadow and released a few of his stored shadows all around him, turning the area around him into a lightless field, which had decreased his presence greatly and also allowed him to witness what all of the shadows saw.

One of the beasts noticed the strange shadows assembling close to the carcass, and went to investigate. As soon as it approached the seemingly out-of-place shadows, a pale hand, which was holding a dark dagger emanating a cold presence, striked at the two and a half meters tall hybrid. The makeshift weapon slashed at its joints to limit the monstrosity's mobility. Circling around it, Sunny stabbed the abomination right where the crack that separated its outer shell and its brain was placed, murdering it instantly.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.]

[You have received a Memory: Azure Blade.]

[Your shadows grow stronger.]

'Shadows…'

Sunny had to act fast, the other scavengers will soon notice what just happened. Knowing that he now has an actual weapon, he threw the augmented dagger at one of the abominations, one that had his back turned his way. The shady dagger slipped right into the crevice and dealt the killing blow.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.]

[Your shadows grow stronger.]

Sunny wasn't sure if he would hit his target. One of the styles he learned in the Dreamscape, while assuming the role of Mongrel, was a dagger style that used throwing techniques as its base form. It was a unique battle art, but its actual use in battle was questionable. Nonetheless, thanks to learning this technique, he was able to successfully kill two Awakened Beasts in the span of seven seconds. Which was an incredible achievement for a mere Sleeper.

The others have already noticed Sunny's presence, the horde of abominations sprang forward and started chasing after him, like a bunch of dogs chasing a ball. Sunny's shadow returned and enveloped him, augmenting him instead of the dagger. He summoned the newly obtained Azure Blade and more shadows surged into existence from within his being. These shadows were more spread out rather than concentrated into a single spot, anything that entered their maws had their sensory ability reduced. It was pitifully weak compared to the effects of true, elemental darkness, but it worked out well.

With the the sharp, light sword and his augmented body, Sunny turned into an absolute battle machine. He dodged every pincer, every scythe-like leg that all of the abominations had four pairs of, any attack that came his way was deflected. He danced his way through the horde and slayed anything that so much as looked at the ruthless shadow. By the end of his brutal assault, nothing was left standing.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.]

[Your shadows grow stronger.]

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.]

[Your shadows grow stronger.]

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.]

[Your shadows grow stronger.]

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.]

[Your shadows grow stronger.]

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.]

[Your shadows grow stronger.]

Sunny was absolutely exhausted, his throat was as dry as a desert, his stomach growling with immense hunger. The night was approaching and he had to leave fast, if he wanted to survive. He cut up the inhuman corpses and their flesh was now prepared into thin strips, which were practically waiting to be cooked and consumed. He also grabbed all of the soul shards.

He crafted a makeshift rucksack from a bunch of seaweed, which was all around him. He put the strips of meat and the soul shards into his newly crafted handy storage pack, and headed towards the hill that shone with a tiny light earlier.

***

Sunny managed to avoid all of the remaining Carapace Scavengers. Thankfully, he didn't meet any of the Carapace Demons on his way as well.

The artificial sun was beginning to set and a storm was approaching. Sunny was still moving forward, rushing to reach the tall hill. His shadow was scouting ahead, but stopped when it saw signs of movement. Two beautiful girls, one dressed only in a makeshift skirt and a crude brassiere, both made out of the same seaweed that he had used to make his rucksack. The other wore a simple tunic, with leather sandals on her feet and a cloak the color of sea waves draped around her shoulders.

It was Neph and Cassie.

Gloomy got closer to the two, making sure to get into Nephis' line of sight, he began waving at her. The tall, lithe girl stopped and watched the strange shadow, immediately recognizing it. The oracle also stopped and asked the silver-haired girl.

"What is it?"

Nephis kept on watching the shadow and replied.

"It's Sunny. He's also here."

The blind girl's face immediately lit up and she started throwing questions on the poor, socially-awkward girl.

"Sunny? Where is he? Is he far? Do we go back for him, or is he ahead of us?"

Nephis froze at the sudden barrage of questions, carefully thinking her answer through, she simply said.

"Close and most likely approaching us on his own."

Cassie nodded and didn't ask anymore. The both of them stopped and waited for a moment. Shortly, a pale, not-so-tall young man was walking in the distance, waving his right arm in the air. He sped up and approached the pair, his face had a big, warm smile on it.

"Hey there. Long time no see."

Both were looking at him, Cassie had a joyful look on her face and Nephis had more of a troubled look, she was most likely confused as to why he was here. She remained silent and let Cassie do the talking.

"Sunny! It's great that you're here. Wait, no, perhaps not… Anyway, it's nice to meet you again." the girl said and Sunny nodded.

"Yes, I was also brought here by the Spell, I'll tell you all about it on the way. A storm is approaching, we need to get to safety first."

Both of the girls nodded and turned to face the hill again, they reached the bottom and the climb started.

***

The coral mound was much larger than the circular stone platform of the giant knight's neck. In fact, it was almost like a small island. At the highest point of the island, hidden behind some coral blades, the girls had made a little camp. There were piles of seaweed to sleep on, strips of scavenger meat drying under the sun, and a fire pit.

Sunny pointed to the makeshift fire pit.

"So, that light yesterday, that was you?"

Cassie's face darkened.

"Yes, this was the first time we made a fire. But it turned out to be a really bad mistake."

Nephis sighed and Sunny only nodded, there was no need to ask. The silver-haired girl looked at the sky and cleared her throat.

"We have time before the sun sets. However, the storm will be a problem."

Sunny looked at her, nodded and said.

"Mhm, I saw some meat drying on the ground, would it be alright if I ate some? I am starving, also if you have some water, I would be truly grateful."

She stared at him for a bit and nodded. He approached the strips of meat that were laying on the ground, which was covered by seaweed, and took a few pieces. He gobbled them up hastily.

"Ah, I haven't had a single bite since we entered the Dream Realm. Thank you." he bowed slightly.

Cassie walked up to him and, with a smile on her face, extended her arm to him. A second later, a beautiful bottle made of patterned blue glass appeared in her hand.

"That's a Memory I have. It's always full."

Sunny nodded and took the Endless Spring from her delicate hand. He drank greedily.

"Wow, that's an awesome Memory. Thank you, Cassie."

She nodded and went back to sit at her pile of seaweed, which served as her bed. Afterwards, Sunny went to talk to Nephis about what they are going to do now.

"Hey, Neph. What about the storm?"

"We will take cover under that coral pillar, we will tie the rope around it and hold on to it, until the storm passes." she said simply while pointing at a nearby pillar that was, in fact, a giant coral.

"Alright. By the way, I've got a bunch of meat and some soul shards here. I figured that since you fed me just now, I should return the favor." he replied and took off the seaweed rucksack. He opened it and looked at Nephis, he noticed that white sparks appeared in her eyes.

"That's… Just how many did you kill?" Nephis said with a stunned expression on her face.

"I killed 7 Carapace Scavengers on the way, these are all the soul shards and all of the meat I could gather. I was heading here, actually. For some reason, the light attracted me to this hill."

Nephis stared at him with a puzzled look, she knew that he was capable, but this…

Sunny cleared his throat and continued.

"Anyway, you two can have these shards. They are useless to me. In return, you can cook up a feast tomorrow. Okay?" he said while a cheeky grin appeared on his pale face.

"Useless? Elaborate." Nephis looked at him with a serious face, she was most likely thinking that he was plotting something.

"Relax, my core grows stronger with kills, not absorbing shards. Is that enough for you?" Sunny looked at her, waiting for a reply from the slender girl.

"For now."

With that, she turned around and walked towards the massive coral, preparing for the storm that's about to come. Just like that, Sunny was left standing alone with a complicated expression on his face.

'Women, so demanding…'