Shadow Slave: Back in time

The inner workings of the Nightmare Spell weren't exactly as he remembered. It was still that endless void illuminated by a myriads of stars. However, the complex net made by the unnumerable strings was… shaking?

It had never happened to Sunny before. Was it because he had gone back in time?

[You have received a Memory: Puppeteer's Shroud.]

Sunny smirked. He had thought that he would be nearly invincible with an Awakened Armour of the V Tier, hadn't he? He knew how wrong he'd been.

[Aspirant! Your Trial is over.]

[A nameless slave ascended the Black Mountain. Both heroes and monsters fell by his hand. Unbroken, he entered the temple of a long-forgotten God. He performed an ancient dance, appealing to the Shadow God. He spilled his blood on the sacred altar. The Gods were dead, and yet they listened.]

'It changed from last time, huh? Hope it isn't anything bad.'

[You have defeated two dormant beasts: Mountain King's Larva.]

[You have defeated six dormant humans, names unknown.]

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

[You have defeated an awakened tyrant: Mountain King]

[You have received the Shadow God's blessing]

[You have achieved the impossible!]

[Final Appraisal: glorious! You treachery truly knows no bounds.]

'Again with the treacherous stuff, uh?'

[Dreamer Sunless, receive your boon!]

Well, at least he knew what was coming. The first time he had fallen to his knees. It wouldn't happen again.

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

How much sorrow and grief had what had seemed a gift from the gods had brought him?

He wasn't sure what to do about his Innate Ability. If he had to choose, he would give it to Neph, but he didn't want to. He was aware that it would give them both great power and protection; he knew that at some point in the future he would be forced to reveal his secret, and certainly didn't was his freedom to fall in the hands of someone like Mordret. He didn't want to decide.

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

"Yes"

[Dormant Aspect Temple Slave is evolving…]

[New Aspect acquired.]

[Aspect Rank Divine.]

[Aspect Name: Shadow Kin]

Sunny fell.

"What!"

His yell was heard only by him, and maybe the Nightmare Spell; nobody knew if it were conscious, but it had surely always had a thing to call Sunny treacherous, so…

'The name changed! Why?'

Was it because of his little trip? Or had he changed the results of his Nightmare? But he hadn't done things much differently…

A line flashed through his mind.

'He performed an ancient dance, appealing to the Shadow God.'

Was it because of the Shadow Dance?

He checked his runes.

Aspect: [Shadow Kin]

Aspect Description: [You are a miraculous shadow left behind by the Shadow God, who acknowledged you as one of his own. 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 kin, and long to find a new one.]

Did that mean…

Sunny didn't want to hope. He knew how devastated it could leave someone, but he could still fell it burning strongly in his chest.

Innate Ability: [Shadow Bond]

His heart sank. It was the same…

Ability Description: [Find a worthy kin and let them know your True Name. Once they recite it out loud, a strange bond will be formed.]

Sunny couldn't believe it. He was… free.

And he wasn't erased from existence anymore.

A storm of emotion was raging in his heart. He didn't have to lose his liberty anymore. Even if he had procrastinated his decision, he had known, deep inside his heart, it would come out, one way or another. But now…

His eyes were full of joy.

[Mark of Divinity is ready to evolve. Proceed?]

"Yes"

Attribute: [Flame of Divinity.]

The Attribute was supposed to evolve after eating his Lineage, but since he already had them, well, if he had to guess, it evolved on his own?

He had another few questions, to which he could find the answer on his own: would somebody else be able to obtain their Lineages? He could keep the Memory of the Ichor he'd got from the Great Devil, and give it or the apples or the bone of Weaver to another person. He doubted it thought. As for Shadow God, he would receive his Lineage from the Spell again?

[The First Seal is broken.]

Sunny received the same Abilities and Flaw.

He managed to check his runes one last time before waking up.

Name: Sunless

True Name: Lost From Light

Rank: Dreamer

 Shadow Core: Dormant

Shadow Fragments: [18/1000]

Memories: [Silver Bell] [Soldier's Moral] [Puppeteer's Shroud]

Echoes:-

Attributes: [Flame of Divinity] [Child of Shadows] [Blood Weave] [Bone Weave] [Soul Weave] [Fate Breaker]

'Fate Breaker?' Sunny was bewildered. Was it the Attribute he couldn't previously read?

Fate Breaker: [The shackles of Fate are loose around you. They cannot hold you back.]

That was a good news, as far as Sunny could tell.

[Wake up, Sunless!]