Shadow Slave: The Blessing of Fate

Sunny opened his eyes.

The armored ceiling of the police station's vault hang above him. No one would call its aesthetics beautiful, but to him, after everything that had happened in this repeated nightmare, it was such a majestic sight. The idea that he actually returned was completely insane.

Now he could change it all.

At the moment, he felt safe and reassured, knowing that nothing bad is going to happen in the nearest future. It was a time, that he could use to relax. Unlike the Third Nightmare in the Tomb of Ariel, where he was mentally stuck for probably thousands of years, or the horrors of the yet to happen, Chain of Nightmares.

It was absolute bliss.

'I returned...'

He looked down, knowing what to expect.

On a cheap plastic chair placed beside his reinforced medical bed sat Jet, the person that he considered his first mentor, the person that introduced him into the Awakened world, his dear comrade and someone that could be considered a member of the same cohort during the Third Nightmare.

She looked just like he remembered, short raven-black hair, ice blue eyes and smooth, pale, snow-like flawless skin. Although the standards for beauty were very high up in the Awakened society, he still considered her one of the most beautiful women, he has ever seen, though she would probably disagree.

While he was studying her features, Jet noticed that he was staring at her and asked with an emotionless tone: "What are you looking at?"

"You. I hope you don't mind me asking, I saw the insignia on your left shoulder, are you a Master by any chance?"

Jet showed him a weak smile, she didn't seem angry at him for staring. Perhaps she was a bit interested in Sunny, because he seemed to be completely calm after returning from his supposed First Nightmare. An experience, that's considered traumatic for many.

"Indeed, you are quite observant for your age. It's a good trait to have for outskirt rats like us, and all people in general. Though.. You might want to tune it down with the staring next time, someone might take it the wrong way."

Jet chuckled a bit and continued to look at Sunny with an amused look on her face.

Sunny blinked a few times, and blushed a bit with embarrassment. He didn't want her to have the wrong idea, he already has a woman, that he is interested in. He coughed awkwardly and tried to change the subject.

"Ehh, I don't want to be rude or anything, but did you say "outskirt rats like us"?, I wouldn't have guessed at first glance. Also, isn't it kind of below your pay grade as a Master to be taking care of a nobody like me?"

Jet stared at him for a bit after asking that, she still saw a tiny hint of a blush on his face, most likely realizing what he was trying to do. She leaned back on the chair and burst with laughter.

"Hahaha, kid you are good, I am dying here.." (too late for that)

With a slight cough she continues:

"You're smarter than one might think. Indeed, I come from the outskirts, just like you - it's part of the reason, why I am sitting here talking to you, but it's not the entire reason. Recently, there were many Gates opening in this sector. Most of the local Awakened are either wounded or preoccupied with cleaning up this mess. Or dead. It's always like that close to the winter solstice."

She tilted her head a bit and continued:

"Oh right, forgot to introduce myself - I am Ascended Jet. You can call me Master Jet, I've been on watch duty for the past three days due to your nightmare. Anyways, welcome back to the land of the living. Congratulations on surviving your First Nightmare, Sleeper Sunless."

Sunny showed her a smile and nodded.

"Thank you, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Jet showed him one last amused look and smiled, she sent him off to clean himself up, saying that he "reeked of Nightmare". He enjoyed his hot shower quite a bit, he didn't have the chance to have one in a long, long time. After cleaning up, he dried himself up and looked at the reflection in the mirror.

'I am really back, huh?'

Sunny was grinning from corner to corner, one might think he was insane, considering the crazy-looking smile on his face, but he couldn't care less if anyone saw him right now. He was overjoyed, his life seemed to finally get a tinge of good luck and happiness.

His body looked the same as it did when he returned from his First Nightmare, but there was something different to his presence. His eyes. They looked like a bottomless pit of pure darkness, their onyx color weirdly shining a bit, they had the vibe of absolute confidence and unimaginable resolve. While studying himself for a bit, he noticed that his shadow moved on its own for the first time, he didn't need to even say anything and just looked at it for a bit and chuckled.

"Let's make this thing count, alright?"

His shadow didn't move, but he could feel its gaze and after a bit, it just shrugged and went on to mind its own business.

'Still gloomy, are we?' Sunny chuckled inwardly.

Sunny went on to try out the split perception part of [Shadow Control], that he called Shadow Sense, again for the first time after returning. The sensation felt the same, although it seemed to grow deeper and he was pretty sure that he was seeing further than before. It wasn't a big difference, but the upgrade was nice. He wasn't quite sure if the distance that he could send his shadow changed, but he was inclined to believe that it would be the case.

After he was done checking out the effects of [Shadow Control] he went on to check out his new Innate Ability - [Shadow Projection]. The sensation was weird, it was sort of what he expected. From the core of his being, shadows could be summoned and taken in - just like the Shadow Lantern. The invisible space, where the shadows went into was limited, unlike Shadow Lantern. He was pretty sure it would increase in size if he continued on the Path of Ascension.

'It's weird... The shadows that gather from thanks to this ability make up something that feels like an extremely weakened version of the Fragment of the Shadow Domain, but I am in control of it... Is this ability perhaps the mold that would be used to create my domain, if I were to ever become a Sovereign?'

There was still quite a lot he didn't know. It was all a mystery to him. Shadow God was also known as the God of Mysteries, so it was quite fitting that he was completely clueless, he wasn't happy about the fact though.

He was done checking out his new abilities, any more brainstorming and he was sure that his brain would fry. He put on a clean police-issued tracksuit, which was given to him and went to meet Jet in the cafeteria.

***

She was already waiting for him, two trays full of slightly warm synthetic food in front of her. It seems that he took longer than he thought, the food has cooled down quite a lot already. Jet didn't seem to mind it and said with a smile on her face:

"Help yourself."

With that, he sat down, gobbled down the food and had a conversation with Jet. It was the same as before. He was given some instructions and tips, she asked him if he wanted psychological counseling, which he promptly denied. He was also given the opportunity to enroll into the Awakened Academy, which he gladly accepted. After finishing up their meal, Jet arranged for a PTV and took him on a drive to the Academy.

"Since we both come from the outskirts, I'll give you three pieces of advice. Whether you listen to me or not is your business."

Sunny turned his head, waiting for her to continue, even though he knew what she was going to say.

"First: once you're registered in the Academy, they'll offer you psychological counseling again. There will also be a valuable reward for sharing your experiences in the Nightmare and the details of your Appraisal. You'll be able to receive a soul shard, maybe even several of them."

He looked at her with an emotionless face.

"I assume, that I should decline, right?"

Jet nodded.

"Indeed, the less anyone knows about you and your powers, the better."

Sunny understood what she was talking about, it would make sense to share information about his powers and experiences to others, for the safety of humanity, since we are supposed to work together to save the world. But Sunny wasn't naive and knew about the risks of doing that.

Jet continued on:

"Make sure to never tell anyone your Flaw, it's the easiest way to defeat a powerful Awakened. Young idiots in the Academy are inclined to share that info, because of their naivity and the promise of receiving great rewards. But it's not worth it. I'm not saying that the government, if you decide to take on the counseling, will leak your information. But once two people know a secret, it's no longer a secret. And there's a lot of people working for the government."

Sunny nodded, he agreed with Jet full-heartedly. He knew well about the pain that would come from revealing his Flaw. After all it happened once already and he paid greatly for it...

"Thank you, Master Jet."

She gave him a nod.

"Second: there will be a lot of courses to choose from. All types of combat training, deep dives into Nightmare Creature categories and vulnerabilities, basics of various types of sorcery, artifact study and so on."

"Disregard all of that. The only course you have time to attend is Wilderness Survival."

Indeed, that would be the case if he was a normal outskirts kid. But he was already well versed in that area, he was also a renowned explorer back in the day, writing several reports on several mostly or completely unexplored regions of the Dream Realm. He was still going to take on the course, but he wasn't going to choose just that one, this time.

"Makes sense, the biggest problem in my First Nightmare was the cold. The place I ended up in had extremely harsh conditions."

Jet smiled.

"Smart. For now, you've learned how to survive in the city. But the Dream Realm is mostly made of wilderness. Making fire, procuring food, finding a safe shelter. All of those things are the most important, disregard fighting monsters. Yes, it's important, but useless if you die of hunger or exposure to the elements. I've learned it the hard way myself."

Sunny nodded, he was curious about Jet's experiences in the Dream Realm. He already knew that she died in her First Nightmare and somehow got up from her grave and finished the trial nonetheless, but he didn't know much about what she actually went through. He wasn't going to ask her about it though, since it seemed rude.

The PTV stopped and they both got out, before Jet took off Sunny asked her a question.

"And what's the third piece of advice?"

Master Jet glanced at him with a smile on her face.

"Remember: no one can survive in the Dream Realm alone. That's not an opinion, that's a fact. Try to get along with your peers, even if they don't treat you well. It might save your life."

She patted him on the shoulder.

"You've done well to survive until now. I believe in your survival, you seem like a smart kid, keep yourself alive in the future, too."

She grinned at him and added:

"Once we meet again, let me treat you to a proper meal, not that synthetic slob."

Sunny chuckled at her words.

"Sure, I'd like that. It's a promise."

Then she got back into the PTV and drove off. She was gone, just like that.

***

The end of the metal bridge hit the special grooves in the ground and stopped moving after a set of loud clicks. Sunny looked ahead, already knowing what kind of life was awaiting him for the next four weeks.

He wasn't worried about it, now that he didn't have to make his reputation as bad as it was, he was quite happy actually. He wasn't going to reveal his powers nor the fact that he had obtained a True Name in his First Nightmare just like Nephis.

Nephis...

Seemingly free of any concerns one might have while getting into a place like this, the silver-haired girl, that he knew very well, was standing close to the bridge. He remembered the first time he saw her, she had headphones on her head, with a vibe going around her like she didn't belong to this world, like she was just a visitor in some unknown place. He now knew it was just the fact, that she is extremely socially awkward and very guarded due to the fact, that there was someone waiting for her, secretly wanting to assassinate her. She also looked... younger.

'Wait!'

'D-Doesn't that make m-me a.. a..? ... J-just how old am I?'

He realized that he was staring at her and somehow Nephis managed to sense his gaze and looked at him for a bit, without even a sign of emotion on her face. He quickly became nervous, he didn't want to get onto her bad side from the very beginning. He regained his some of his composure and decided to walk up to her, fearing that she might ask him why he was staring at her, making it extremely awkward.

"H-Hey! Sorry, if I was staring, I was kinda lost in thought, I didn't mean to be rude..."

Nephis stared at him, emotionless as ever. She didn't reply to him.

'Quick! I need to save this somehow!'

"I... ehh.. This might be a dumb question, but... is that your natural hair color?"

Nephis continued to stare at him. Sunny thought he was completely doomed, but then he was pretty sure he heard some sort of noise coming from her throat. It was very faint, but it sounded like... was that a... chuckle?

The faintest of chuckles possible, but he was sure of it!

Nephis finally opened her mouth and said:

"No, it is not."

Sunny replied, still embarrassed:

"Oh.. is that so? So what is your natural hair color?"

Nephis stared at him for a bit before replying.

"Black."

'Well that was a very plain reply...'

"Cool.." with a slight cough he continues:

"We should probably go, we shouldn't miss the opening ceremony. Let's go, miss...?"

He was waiting for her to continue his sentence and tell him her name, Nephis didn't seem to catch on what he wanted from her, so she just stared at him.

After a bit, Sunny decided to help her and said:

"This is the part, where you are supposed to tell me your name..."

Nephis looked at him, her face still unchanging, but after spending so much time with her, he was pretty good at reading her and knew that deep within she was embarrassed after realizing what was happening.

"Nephis." Nephis replied, the look in her face was still the same, she didn't even twitch after embarrassing herself like that.

"Sunless, but feel free to call me Sunny." Sunny replied with a big, warm smile on his face.