No Return (Shadow Slave Fan-Fic)

Early in the morning , Levi washed up in the private bathroom and put on his uniform. Leaving his dorm he headed to the cafeteria to have breakfast.

He walked to the 'Death Corner' where Sunless and the blind girl was sitting at. It seemed they will be staying as outcasts for the remaining 4 weeks. He exchanged greeting with Sunless , he also.. said "Good Morning" hesitantly to the blind girl , and she greeted him back.

There was commotion currently going on..

He looked up and noticed that a lot of Sleepers were gathered around the large screen hanging on the wall of the cafeteria, their faces filled with excitement and awe. On the screen, a list of names was displayed, ranking the new batch of Sleepers from weakest to strongest, most likely deduced from the results of the interviews.

Levi first looked at the bottom , seeing that the blind girl.. who was Cassia , was the one who was deemed weakest , and Sunless was before her in the ranking.. He didn't really believe that Sunless is weak , but he let it slide for now.

Then he looked at the top rankings...

1. Name: Nephis True Name: Changing Star

2. Name: Shashi True Name: Crimson Matriarch

3. Name: Levi True Name: No Return

4. Name: Caster of the Han Li clan

He stared at the screen. 3 people had gotten their True Names.. that was quiet rare , especially since they were all Sleepers...

What bothered him.. was that he had been placed quiet high.. at 3rd place. He had no background.. a nobody unlike the other 3 people in top rankings.. So being in 3rd place and having received a True Name would get Levi a lot of attention.

He looked at Shashi.. she was currently surrounded by people , asking her a lot of questions. He had a feeling that she was strong , and it seemed his hunch was right. 

He felt Sunless's gaze on him.. he turned to him slowly..

"What..?"

"So.. your not just a pretty face huh?"

"I'm glad you thought me as pretty."

Levi said mischievously , he could tell that Cassie was... weirded out by them.. he didn't want to traumatize the blind girl more so he kept quiet , Sunless also followed suit. 

Levi also felt a lot of gazes on him.. why was someone who was evaluated so high sitting with those people..?

Ignoring the commotion , both of them decided to return to their meals.

***

The Wilderness Survival classroom was spacious, tastefully decorated ... and completely empty. Both Sunless and Levi walked into it. They thought they had came into the wrong class at first.. but then spotted a gloomy instructor sitting behind a wide wooden desk. Noticing him, the instructor perked up.

"Come in, young men!"

He was a lively old man with messy grey hair, absentminded eyes and a pair of bushy eyebrows that seemed to jump around on their own.

"I'm Awakened Julius. You can call me Teacher Julius. Sit down, sit down! What are your names?

"I am Sunless , and that is Levi."

Levi gave Sunless the side-eye. 

'I have a mouth too you know.'

Julius raised a brow.

"What an ominous name! But that's good , because we will have many ominous things to deal with." 

"Are other students late?"

The instructor grunted with incredible contempt.

"No one else is coming. Those brutes are only interested in swinging their fists and swords around. Very few are smart like

you and know the true value of knowledge ... "

Oh. So it was that unpopular. Sunny inwardly sighed, hoping that he won't regret the decision to abandon combat training in favor of this course.

"Say, young man ... why did you choose Wilderness Survival, of all things?"

Levi wasn't joining into the conversation.

"The Awakened that monitored us during the First Nightmare, Master Jet, had advised me to study it above all things."

"A very wise advice! That Master truly knows what's important ... wait. Did you say Jet?"

"Soul Reaper Jet? That murderous savage ?! Hm. Who would have thought that a barbarian like her would know the value of

intricate knowledge."

Soul Reaper? Sunless' curiosity was picked.

"Teacher, do you know Master Jet?"

Julius carefully looked behind his back before answering:

"Who doesn't know the Soul Reaper? She might not be the most powerful Awakened out there, but she is certainly one of the most feared. That's because her Aspect Abilities disregard flesh and target soul cores directly. Which means that no amount of armor, damage resistance and physical protection can stop them."

He leaned forward.

"The only good thing is that she's young and not likely to become a Saint anytime soon, or even ever. Yes, luckily, there's a very low probability that she'll ever advance."

"Why?"

Levi asked with a raised brow.

"Because of her problematic personality, of course! Who would want to help a psychopathic killer become a Saint? You need a team of outstanding companions and a lot of support to attempt conquering the Third Nightmare. Soul Reaper Jet isn't ...wait!"

Suddenly, Julius frowned and leaned back.

"Why am I gossiping with you? You're too young to know such things! More than that, it's not in my character to badmouth others behind their backs!

They already got a lot of juicy information out of Teacher Julius.

"Let's get back to your curriculum. What other courses are you youngsters taking?"

Sunny sighed.

"None. For the next four weeks, we'll be fully concentrated on Wilderness Survival."

Julius stared at him for a whole minute, an expression of utter astonishment written clearly on his face. Then, slowly, an excited gleam appeared in his eyes. Finally, he grinned.

"Wonderful! This is wonderful! You're such an astute young man! Don't you worry. In four whole weeks, I will make you immortal.."

Levi frowned at that.. He was already immortal..

Then something came up to his mind.. if He is immortal.. did that mean he wouldn't die out of starvation? It was an interesting thought.. but Levi certainly did not want to try the possibility.

***

Their lessons with Teacher Julius started pleasantly and without much tension, but just an hour later, Sunless felt like his head was ready to explode. There was so much new information for him it seems,

From time to time, Julius gaped at Sunless' lack of knowledge and relevant experience. However, he had a good attitude and an endless enthusiasm for teaching. Whenever Sunless stumbled, he would patiently slow down and allow his student to catch up.

The curriculum that Julius planned out was practically insane. There was an endless amount of theoretical knowledge to learn, practical lessons both in virtual reality and the real world, numerous subjects and weird things to study. There were even several lessons dedicated exclusively to learning the basics of several dead languages of the Dream Realm!

As Sunless himself was struggling a bit , Levi wasn't having too much trouble. Languages had always been his strong suits , and unlike Sunless he had went to school , and he was rather a good student.

On the first day, they studied until the sun was about to set. Only then did Julius decide to let them go. They both has missed both dinner and lunch..

As they were walking down the hall , Levi looked at Sunless.

"Sunless , You know.. I hope that we both end up in the same area in Dream Realm. I feel like your the only one I can trust... even if you are quiet... perverted."

Sunless scowled , and then rolled his eyes when he called him perverted.

"Great. Now I'm stuck with a guy who trusts me and slanders me in the same breath. Fantastic."

"You should be happy your not stuck with someone from a legacy clan."

"Right. Because what I really need in my life is a self-important noble breathing down my neck, telling me how special they are. Oh.. and call me Sunny will you?"

"Sunny it is.."

Levi smiled in a smug way at his response.

After the small conversation they went to their separate dorms. Levi saw Sunless as a friend , and he kind of hoped he thought the same about it.