Shadow Slave: World's Favorite

Been working on something and I've just been having too much fun, idk it's taking much of my time. Sorry for the big ahh delay in the posts

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"It can't go on like this."

His Lord had spoken. The hunter that scrambled around the City, slaying the Fallen Masters in his wake in a futile effort to cleanse the Dark Ciy of it's horrors would have to die.

It was evident with the speed at wich he slayed those creatures that the man possesed a Transcendent weapon, the man did have the looks of a Legacy after all. This was threatening his Lord's rule.

The insidious thought that there was a chance to slay him spread like venom in his generals heads, his Master after all ruled through fear.

Without the air of invincibility that the viscous echo game him, it wouldn't be long before an opposition formed against him.

Even right now groups of Scavengers- Sleepers living in the Outskirts of the Dark City, nourishing themselves from the carcasses of slain Nightmare Creature- trailed behind the group that destroyed everything in it's path.

And that group... even his Lord was momentarily stunned at the knowledge that Athena had joined the small cohort, Kai was expected, the handsome Sleeper seemed quite close to the hunter and later on Caster, another Legacy, seemed to have joined them, solidifying the idea that the radiant teen did belong to a Clan.

This powerful force would seemingly grow in the future since the Scavengers now turned the bodies of the Fallen Masters into weapon, allowing them to steadily hunt Awakened Creatures.

So Harus was sent to cull the ember before it became a fire.

For a week now, he waited, stalking from a distance, he was confident in the abilities his Aspect gave him, but if he wasn't able to finish the fight with a blow he might have to sacrifice more than he was willing to.

Everything for his Lord, but even he said that caution was advised. Fortunately, today seemed to be the last time the hunter would see the light.

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[993/1000]

Baldr observed his runes with appreciation, sitting on the body of a decapitated Fallen Monster he spinned a soul shards with his finger preparing to absorb it along with another one.

He didn't know what would happen, there could be no occurrence after he reached one thousand soul shards or a drastic change. For that he waited for his cohort.

"So? Did you kill it?"

The group was battered, even Kai with his incredible evasive abilities wasn't spared, his arm hanging limply, probably dislocated from grazing a blow from the Fallen Beast they had fought.

The group had challenged a particularly vicious Beast that had stalked them for a few days, waiting for a moment to strike. Baldr had alerted them of it's presence, having unexpectedly learned of it's existence when the wind shifted uncomfortably in it's presence.

They had grown into a force to be reconned, not evert encounter with a Fallen Master would go without a hitch, mainly, it had now become common knowledge for Nightmare Creatures that wherever the hunter would fight, a new hunting ground would open.

So rather than scaring weaker Nghtmare Creatures, the hurt cries of the Fallen Creatures seemed to attract them. Often resulting in another Fallen Master or groups of Awakened Creatures coming to occupy the area.

Baldr couldn't take care of them, so the cohort had to, growing stronger with every challenge. Caster was a nice addition to it, the radiant teen entertained the idea of slaying the young Legacy before deciding otherwise.

There was still the need of someone to act as a Soul Conduit for the Crimson Spire.

They all of course also knew of the human following behind, Harus. Even more relentless than a Nightmare Creature the executioner waited and waited, his patience was seemingly endless and he wouldn't miss an opportunity like this one.

"You look like shit."

"Who's fault?! The terrific Hunter apparently couldn't be bothered to deal with 'just' a Fallen Beast!"

Even with those words, Effie had a bright smile on her face as Baldr extended three bands of fabric out of his sleeve, each wrapping around the wounded areas of the three Sleepers.

"I already said it was too fast for me to catch up to. Everytime I tried to get close to it it just ran away."

"Couldn't you have just faked an injury to lure it in? Respectfully."

Caster voiced his opinion, observing the pale green glow soothing the pain of their battle.

"But then you wouldn't have done anything right?"

"It's because he sucks at acting."

Baldr smile faltered slightly at the remark of the handsome Sleeper, wgi openly glared towards him. It seemed his brush with the creature might have been much closer than what the winds told the radiant teen.

"I was born with too many blessings, the world had to add a few flaws of course."

The words used changed the way the Sleepers looked at Baldr, interest igniting in their eyes. Of the four members of the cohort only Caster and Baldr didn't tell their flaws.

Baldr had of course shared Caster's Flaw with both Effie and Kai but Caster himself had and probably would never do so with the things he had told them about the young Legacy.

"Don't look at me like that, my Flaw is honestly easy to figure out, so I'm still waiting for you guys to do so."

The radiant hunter's smile turned mocking at that sentence before quickly turning to a warm one, his eyes however, turned stern.

"As you guys know, I'm about to fill my Core. What I didn't tell you guys though is that something might happen if I do so."

"Might? So there's no confirmation?"

Baldr nodded at Effie's remark.

"Yes, but it doesn't hurt to be on guard, especially with Harus not far. Remember his Aspect Ability will steal your vision so be prepared for it to happen."

They nodded, their own expressions turning solemn. If Baldr was putting so much emphasis on this it might be because he wouldn't be able to act when whatever that should happen, happened.

Nodding to each other they each took their stance, positioning themselves in a triangle formation with Baldr in their center. Smiling at them the radiant teen proceeded, absorbing the Soul Shards.

[...Your Soul is overflowing with power.]

Up to that point it was normal, Effie described the sensation of filling your Soul Core as a warm blanket that momentarily soothed the horrors of the Forgotten Shore

The Heat Baldr was feeling must have been that, sincerely it wasn't much... He waited for a few seconds, hoping something would happen but nothing.

"Well, I guess it wasn't that ba—!"

[Your Soul is taking shape.]

Pain exploded in Baldr. Enough pain to turn his vision completly black. Or was that Harus finally taking action? The howling teen didn't know, his mind too occupied with enduring the suffering he was currently being subjected too.

[Your Soul is Complete.]

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Harus clashed with the cohort, robbed of their sight they wouldn't have been much of a problem normally, but somehow they had been alerted of his Aspect.

The executioner had to dodge around the attacks of the attentive trio of Sleepers who relied on deadly counterattacks to keep him at bay, even then they were slowly faltering.

This was a battle of attrition and the executioner hadn't received any wounds yet, almost solidifying his victory. Looking at the center of their formation, the hunter was currently howling in pain from what? That Harus didn't know, he suspected a mental attack from a Fallen Devil was currently ravaging his mind.

This was possibly Harus only chance. The Devil could possibly make the Sleeper his thrall, but that wouldn't change the fact that the Sleeper would still exist, only this time as the puppet of an unbeatable entity.

So the executioner had to destroy his body entirely. Smiling, his sickening voice was heard by the cohort.

"Little mouses, do you think you will win if your leader wakes up?"

They didn't respond, too focused on the other sounds Harus would make. The sound of his steps, the howling sound of the wind with his attacks and the clashing of steel among others.

They had trained for this exact situation under Baldr's advice, the Sleeper always seemed to know the future, dropping hints about future situation.

For example somehow and for some reasons, he had told them in around a month they wouldn't need to worry about filling multiple roles anymore, something about the cohort taking a complete shape.

The way Caster's mind turned sharp told the other two members that these weren't just words in the wind. And today again, much to their dismay, his words proved true.

One strike made Caster falter, if the Legacy had done it willingly or not the result was the same as Harus entered the center of their formation, directing himself toward Baldr.

But then an unnatural scene only visible to the executioner showed itself. He had not forgotten to rob the radiant teen's sight in case he ever regained the ability to move such precautions were normal and even then.

Baldr was looking right at him. A warm smile on his face.

"Here you are..."

'—!'

Harus tried to raise his hand in defense, sensing an attack coming but as expected it didn't do much, overwhelming might trumped all.

Sight returned to the member of the cohort as they saw Baldr standing a few feets in the air, his hand buried in the hunched Sleeper's temple, retracting it with a wet slop, brain matter stuck to the radiant teen's hand.

Somehow he felt... different. Sharper, happier and most importantly, infinitely stronger. An invisible pressure seemed to radiated from his being, placating the others with fear.

"This will be so hard to wash away..."

The regretful remark Baldr sent toward his hand broke the tense atmosphere, reminding the Sleepers that he was with them, making the pressure he was emanating disappear from their perspectives.

Effie's mouth opened in hesitance. Whatever happened to Baldr, the pain must have been excruciating to incapacitate him completly, she knew how unnaturally high his pain tolerance was after all.

"So mind telling us what the hell happened?"

Baldr was after all, still standing in the air, an ability he never showed before. For a simple reason, he did not have it.

"One of my Attribute evolved, I didn't think it'd be such a painful process though..."

Kai frowned, deciding not to say anything he let Baldr continue.

"And I was keeping this card hidden, discovered I could step on air not too long ago, but there was never a reason to use them."

Baldr smile turned wry and everyone understood that there was a lot he kept hidden for a simple reason, why give information to someone you planned to sacrifice? He would share what happened truthfully with his friends when the Legacy would detach from them for a task or else.

Caster would sooner or later find himself at the end of Baldr's blade. And while Baldr shared information under the pretence of an alliance, saying anything truthful about what had happened would possibly have the consequence of turning the Legacy into their enemy.

It didn't matter if the Legacy didn't trust them or if he thought the radiant teen lied. The truth was after all, inconceivable.

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Baldr observed his own run once again, this time almost in their entirety. A particular section seemed to glow slightly brighter than the rest.

Name: Baldr.

True Name: Son of Earth.

Rank: Dreamer.

Soul Core: Dormant.

Class: Monster.

Soul Cores: [2/7].

Soul Fragments: [1/2000]

Memories: [Formless Toga], [Wind Breaker], [Vendor's Grief], [Guard's Will], [Wyrm Wine], [Baron's Fill]

Echoes:

Attributes: [Traveler], [Rainbow Man], [Peerless Talent], [Radiant Body]

Aspect: [Swordless Swordsman].

Aspect Rank: Div#%3

Innate Ability: [World's Favorite].

Aspect Abilities: [Venerable Limbs]

He had grown significantly in this month, the number of memories he had obtained reflected that, all of Ascended rank with the exception of the Formless Toga, they were either Armor, Utility or Charm Type Memory all with descriptions that seemed to relate to the workings of the Dark City before it's eventual fall.

The important part wasn't that however, Baldr still in shock at seeing the new information under his rank delved into his Soul Sea, to simply confirm what he had been feeling for a while.

And as expected, an impossibility currently resided in it. Still on the ground of his Soul Core, Baldr looked up, the ring of water that served as his Soul Sea now curved outward, encircling another planet to ultimately form a moebius strip between the two. Somehow, he had two Soul Cores.

Did that make him the first Human Monster? That might be, it also explained Nephis unnatural level of power for a Sleeper in the Citadel Siege.

This also meant that Divine Aspects gave much more power than he thought... it might have been the result of a synergy with his [Radiant Body] but Baldr was unnaturally strong, not yet stronger than Effie but he concurred that given another core he would be able to outwrestle the ravenous Pathfinder.

But that wasn't all.

Aspect Ability: [Venerable Limbs]

Aspect Ability Description: [As you unravel the secrets of the World, your body become more apt to the path you undergo.]

The Ability [Venerable Hands] did seem like something unbecoming of the Rank of his ability at first, most of his skillls being a combination of his mastery over swordsmanship and his Innate Ability, his Aspect Ability only helping with "wielding" it.

But it seemed nothing was ever simple, the Ability had evolved when he gained a new core, extending from his hand to all four of his limbs and possibly it would evolve with each additional core he'd own.

The next stage was quite obvious, probably encompassing all of his body, including his senses. It was the one after that, when he'd gain his fourth core that piqued his curiosity. Whatever would happen, he knew it would be a significant change.

"So what do we do now?"

The question Effie gave Baldr simply served to pull him out of his thoughts after all, the next course of actions was decided the moment Balr crossed eyes with the Golden Lord of the Bright Castle.

"Now I'll show you guys how to stop Chaos after a Regicide."

With that the cohort departed towards the Castle.

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Cassie turned around in her sleep, sweating profusely from all her pores, both Nephis and Sunny waited, prepared should anything happen, in that case to calm the blind girl when she woke up.

What she saw this night must have been horrifying as her expression twisted and contorted into horrified one with each passing second her shade turning paler. When the see started to screech, retreating into the Darkness as the Sun rose, Cassie finally woke up.

Her screams had woken up Sunny when it was his time to sleep so the treacherous shadow expression had a tint of annoyance as he asked.

"So, what did you see?"

Nephis shot him a glare, the young oracle still hadn't completly shook off the emotions the vision gave her even while Nephis comforted her, but she kept herself from saying anything as she too was interested in the subject.

The dynamic of the group was quite different from what one would expect, having known each other in the Awakened Academy they had somewhat bonded before being sent here, and situations where you had to face death together tended to help develop even stronger bonds.

At least for Sunny and Cassie.

Nephis paused their sword training, something Sunny found himself unnaturally not minding as he had paid quite an hefty price for them. And as the two of them sat with Cassie she finally became composed enough to tell them what she saw.

"At first, I saw a… a boundless darkness locked behind seven seals. Something vast was churning in the darkness. I felt like if I directly saw it, I would lose my mind. As I watched, terrified, the seals broke one after another, until only one remained. And then that seal broke, too."

"After that...I don't know. It was as though my mind shattered into a thousand shards, each shard reflecting its own image. Most of them were dark and scary. Some I have already forgotten. The other…"

"I saw the human castle again, only this time inside it, there was a man, a trail of corpse followed him in his wake, with each step he took his form turned grotesque, morphing into that of a monster, meeting it on a throne was a golden figure, It lashed out for a moment before it's head fell, then the creature took his place on the throne, strips of clothes covering and tightening his whole body into the form of a man again when everything seemed to be over, hazy fog wrapped around him leaving only an empty throne..."

"I saw a woman clad in the same gold as the figure pushing back an endless tide of monsters, an archer piercing the sky itself with his arrows as it tried to fall down upon him.

"In the end, I saw a colossal, terrifying crimson spire. At its base, seven severed heads were guarding seven locks. And at the top, thunder danced around a brave creature drapped in light and shadow, toying with it before eventually pushing it in the light... Then I felt so much sorrow I thought I'd drown in it before a sword cleaved through it all, even my dream."

Cassie's Dream was disjointed, full of weird symbolism and vague, uncertain images. It was much more like a charlatan's prophecy than a vision gained through an Aspect Ability. The whole of it made Sunny blink a few times before he gave a toothy smile.

"Well, that's not ominous at all!"

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My bad y'all but I'll give you some info on my book Undead Decayed in exchange.

The synopsis at least, here:

[In the maximum-security prison of Hell Salem, a specific part known as "The Head" is used as a youth correctional center. Simply, offenders put there are in no form better than their adult counterparts.

This is a place where only the worst teens and young adults are sent, among these vermines a new individual is dragged to the entrance of this place in the hopes of getting re-educated

A child who has nothing, not even his memories, his world not shaken, simply erased. A hole call to him in his mind, echoes of who he was. Something he dreams about at night, yearning for an answer to his identity.

Thrown into a completly new environment, he will have to not only learn how to live there, but also prepare for his release.]