Shadow Slave: World's Favorite

There was about a thousand Sleepers in the Dark City. If you counted both those living inside the Bright Castle and on it's outskirts, this was the number you'd get when rounded. More than half of those survived outside the safety that the Castle provided either willingly or not.

In actuality at least one or two Sleeper died every night, that was a loss that couldn't go on, the King in Binds wouldn't allow possible workforce to foolishly die. So when the doors of the Bright Castle opened wider than any other one morning with Guards descending to help the sick get inside the Castle, they knew something had changed.

The next weeks were like a blur in most people eyes. After the dethronement of the Golden Serpent, a new individual was crowned as the ruler of the Bright Castle, from him scriptures flew, detailing rigorous battle arts that would change even frail Sleepers into great soldiers.

For the most exceptional of them they'd get their own fighting style revised and perfected when possible, under the critical eye of the Lord. Each General became capable of leading a squad against bigger groups of Awakened Creatures, they concurred that not far from now hunting the Fallen Masters of the Dark City would become a task they'd be given rather than a faraway dream.

And a bigger dream even seemed to slowly come to fruitation, the next year or the one after it, depending on how long the training would take, they would claw their way out of this nightmarish land and to the waking world. For some it was still a distant idea but nevertheless they persevered since what bad could there be from getting stronger?

As long as you wanted to work for it, the Lord would provide the means for you, Shards, food, equipment, every person that wanted to arm themselves would get a weapon and the way to wield it. The Bright Castle finally lived to it's name as the morose atmosphere that seemed to suffuse it's walls had disappeared when the King in Binds took the throne.

Many still tried to do some shady things under his supervision but it was as if he had a sixth sense that told him of every little nasty thing anyone had ever done. More than a few person were sent into the correction room with Seishan, where they would come out magically changed, or wouldn't come out at all.

He himself was a ray of hope, when each night accompanied by his cohort and a dozen Scavengers he'd bring back as many corpse as half of what the hunters did a trust started forming in the eyes of the Bright Castle inhabitants.

This along with the fact that he was actively hunting all creatures of significant power in the Dark City left the outskirts of the Castle relatively safe even at night. This meant that Hunters had much more time to hunt be it because of how fast they could travel with the Fallen Masters being defeated one by one or being able to hunt at any time of the day.

The night was still much more dangerous than the day of course, with the Dark Sea screaming at the edges of the City more often than not monsters would spill out of it and roam the City in search of preys.

But slowly, humanity was taking back the Dark City, a feat never thought possible.

■■■

"You cannot make this up, a second Core? Upgraded Aspect Ability? Do you even know how unfair all of that sound!"

Baldr was looking out the windows of the Dark City towards where the Crimson Spire was, it's blood red color tainting the sea and breaking into the sky. Even as Effie complained he simply let her, even in his opinion it was really unfair.

He had suffered much for this power yes, but the amount of power he gained- and would gain- in exchange was simply enormous, where most were stuck after filling in their Soul Core, he concurred even ad they would lay Siege to the Spire he wouldn't be done. He already was more than halfway through getting his third core, his runes already shimmering with a number in the four digits.

[1421/2000]

"And you got a Divine Aspect on top of that?"

Tonight after having spent a long time together the three of them, Kai, himself and Effie were talking about their First Nightmare along with their experience with power. Effie Njghtmare apparently wasn't that long.

She apparently was part of a tribe of nomadic barbarians that had to walk from one place to another. She was part of the ones in charge of carrying the supplies for most of the tribe. In her words it was hell, the monsters the week she was transported in attacked relentlessly so they had to move with speed all while pushing them away from the group.

More than once they had to split up and regroup, sometimes with entire families missing. This alone warranted her strength, that was before she told them there was something more to the story that they'd understand when they would meet in the waking world.

Kai's was a little more tame, he told it the way he did to Baldr before, this one was mostly for Effie to hear. His Aspect- before it's evolution- had to do with reaching the sun and whatnot by building wings. Kai just figured he needed a flying machine, and through his resourcefulness and Baldr old advices was able to device a clunky ornithopter.

When it came to Baldr Nightmare every statement he made seemed crazier than the last. Was sent into a Memory? The Spell basically trying to contain him? What he did to get out!? His Aspect Rank!? While there were some part where the radiant teen had to flex the truth, like when talking about his 'God-like Aspect' wich wasn't wrong when factoring in it's description, most of what he said was the truth and the rest were half ones.

He wasn't one to lie and it would break Kai's heart if he did so now that they could talk about it without being obstructed by Caster. The young Legacy had separated from the cohort in favor of becoming one of Baldr Generals and lead his own. He must have been irked at seeing his plan fail in such an anticlimactic way.

His leave was something the cohort welcomed with open arms.

"And you have a True Name on top of that..."

"I didn't tell you about that part though?"

His puzzled smile was met with the amused eyes of the Pathfinder.

"Please sugar, we all heard you scream it when you bound Gunlaug's Echo to yourself."

That ability yes, with the knowledge that Baldr could take their Memories if they were to die, most people stopped speaking the names of the ones they had, humans were greedy creatures after all. The thought of someone else being able to pillage what they thought would always be theirs sent a shiver down most Sleepers spines.

"Thanks for that by the way, a few more gifts like it and you might just end up with a ring on your finger."

"I heard about this one creature made of tentacles, I might need to go hunt it you know what..."

He returned the wink Effie had sent hid way, she restrained herself after learning his age, before Kai informed her that Baldr birthday was last month. The radiant teen seemed somwhat averse to his real birthday instead celebrating what he called 'The Crossing Day' something he wouldn't even tell Kai about but seemed to be quite benevolent toward.

Another one of the man's weird antics.

"So let's get to the one topic we have yet to really discuss... me and Effie actually made a bet on this."

As Kai broke the atmosphere that had been making him a little uncomfortable, Effie eyes turned a little less flirty, this time radiating a certain mischeviousness.

"I bet on him having multiple Flaws."

"I put my shards on the smile."

Effie and Kai voiced their choice as Baldr looked incredulously at the duo.

"You guys... bet shards on my Flaw!? I feel so betrayed..."

Baldr faked beeing hurt, it was probably a joke since Kai was the only one that actually needed them and Baldr had already decreted that all shards should be supplied to the people wanting to get stronger... but anyways he'd have to declare both of them as having lost this bet.

"No I don't have multiple Flaws, neither is it smiling all the time, that's just because I went a little mad back in that room... My Flaw is that I can't use a sword."

""...What?""

Both of his companions voiced out, among everything Baldr had said, this seemed like the most outlandish statement for the simple reason that before anything, he was a swordsman.

"But any time we go out... you use that invisible sword?"

"It's more like a wind stick..."

"But you cut with it, make vacuum blades!"

Kai refused to accept it even while his Flaw made no sign of Baldr saying even one lie. His friend had been simply beating monsters with a stick?

"I actually learned that trick back in my First Nightmare! To cut without needing an edge I mean."

"HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!??"

Effie roar echoed all throughout the Bright Castle.

■■■

'I don't really need it, but should I really leave it here?'

Baldr studied the broken armor that was put on display in Stev Memory Market. Or what was left of it, the man had been pillaged, everyone knew the names of his memories as they were almost always displayed along with the Memories themselves. Even then he didn't fold under the pressure exerted by the people that kept mentioning Baldr name.

Until he himself came, promising that Stev would be allowed to eat as much as he wanted. In these last weeks pangs of hunger had hit Stev as the once wealthy merchant saw his portions of food reduced to that of the average Sleeper as most food was either given to those that needed calories surplus or stored for later use.

For that reason Stev had been unwillingly put in a deficit for the last two weeks, slowly losing all of his hard work... until Baldr offered to exchange the Memories for a lifetime supply of food.

Something he bragged to Aiko, who had lost her Gambling Den as it's concept itself was lost with shards losing their value as a trading supply. Somehow under the new Lord everyone possesed much more freedom but also much less.

What you hunted was yours, and going outside had never been safer than these days. But inside the Castle strict rules were put in place to transform it into a machine that would keep popping out Sleepers able to fight Awakened Creatures by themselves. The Castle was slowly turning into a training ground.

"So are you gon' take it boss?"

Baldr thoughts were halted by Stev words, his new job was to take Memories Sleepers had no use off and put them on display for those that might want them. People did try to take all the memories he offered once but they all were caught in the binds or the Fourth Lord.

"No... leave it to another guy."

To everyone, the armor was still as useless as it had always been, most considered that since it couldn't restore itself in a Soul Sea, it was just how it was, a broken armor.

Baldr knew that with a flex of his essence, people would be flooding to take it, but he decided against it, for some reason he felt a certain aversion at doing so.

"Well, I'll be leaving to the training grounds then."

Several areas of the Castle had been restructured to accommodate training at least two hundred Sleepers at the same time. And possibly inspired by Baldr's strength, a lot of Sleepers that weren't active before decided to grow themselves.

Or they were simply attracted with the possibility of filling their Soul Core, in the end they all participated in the training anyway. Some were doing surprisingly well, Harper was an example of that, the jumpy and gaunt teen had filled out his frame and taken up to using a spear and a shield, possibly inspired by Baldr judgement of Gunlaug or Effie prowess.

The huntress had garnered quite a fanclub these last weeks.

Funnily enough when not under the threat of death or constant oprresion, the young man had quite an amicable side going from socially awkward to a trusted friend to most. It really amazed Baldr how much people could change when given the chance.

He had taken up the role of guard, safer than that of a Hunter it was still the same, defend the people when monsters came to attack the Bright Castle.

'When talking about the wolf...'

"Harper! How's your training going."

Harper duel with another Sleeper stopped at the sound of Baldr voice, their expressions, along with the ones of most Sleepers in the compound paled as they noticed their Lord.

The radiant teen's smile widened, it's warmth was as suffocating as the sun.

"Care for a spare?"

Harper lips trembled a bit before turning into a challenging grin, a little nervousness hidden in it's corners.

"You're on."

After letting the healthy young man rest a little, Baldr took the place of his opponent, excusing himself as he did, as everyone expected he lacked a weapon before he whispered something.

The earth of the room shook a bit as a pillar of stone shot up into the radiant teen's hand. One couldn't even call it a club since the weight distribution was quite different from one. It was a sparring sword.

Baldr circled Harper, before striking with lightning speed.

"Your head is raised too high above your shield, I can see your neck."

A moment later the sparring sword made contact with Harper's neck contrary to what would normally happen, no cuts appeared on the stalwart Sleeper's skin, only a red bruise did.

"You're putting too much of your weight forward."

This time Baldr simply pushed Harper with his feet, the man steadied himself after almost tripping and breathed in resignation before going on the offensive.

"You're not looking at the rest of my body, don't just focus on my weapon."

"Mind your legs, you must be coiled like a spring ready to launch!"

"Come on that last one means nothing!"

Harper grumbled as he took more hits, in the end he knew this would help him fight monsters more easily but getting corrected almost every second would get annoying enough to get a little informal with the Lord.

Baldr had an habit of... overcorrecting when he taught, this did meant that even if they remembered one tenth of the things he said, the Sleepers would still absorb enough knowledge to improve their skills quite a bit in the next few days.

Unfortunately it did also means that he sounded like a worried nagging mom whenever he entered in a spare with someone.

Even with the generals.

Before long, Harper was too exhausted to even lift his spear, and slowly dragged himself off the sparring grounds as Baldr looked around at the Sleepers that had been observing the duel, each avoided his gaze.

His gaze fell on Tessai, who had been busy monitoring the training grounds before and was now looking at the ceiling seemingly in amazement at it. The Sleeper had taken a liking to training the younger ones, sharing tips of how to navigate the Dark City as he had learned to years ago.

With him being the oldest Sleeper here yet, and possibly of all the Dream Realm, the leader of the Hunters had amassed quite a bit of experience that he readily shared with others.

"Hey Tessai! Let's dance, shall we?"

The old Sleeper grumbled while readying his battle axe.

■■■

"I still can't believe it."

Effie remarked, she and Baldr were sitting on one of the Bright Castle's battlements observing the Dark City in it's entirety.

"So much changed in so little time. People I thought would always be stuck in their ways, almost completely at odd with each others started working together. All simply because of hope."

Baldr listened quietly, the ravenous Pathfinder seemed to have a lot to unload here, her usually jovial grin was replaced with a pensive look.

"I always heard story about the First Lord you know? how he led his cohort into the Bright Castle, slaying the Spire Messenger inside. A Fallen Beast! It was stuff of legends for us at the time."

She turned to the radiant teen who's eyes stayed fixated on a burning tree far away, it's light attracted the horror of the depths making it visible even from such a distance.

"But look at this, the City is practically devoid of Fallen Masters. We have to let the light of the Castle shine to attract the creatures of the depths that we would normally avoid, so that they can supply us with meat!"

"...We've conquered this damn City. And I have no doubt that we'll conquer this place, you've seen the way the Sleepers here started looking at you. So I gotta ask you... what comes after this?"

Baldr finally turned to face his Pathfinder, he hesitated for a few moments before deciding on a response.

"At first I only wanted to save my friend, and that's done, I've been just doing as I wanted since then, my goal is clear, I will make the Dream Realm into a place devoid of Nightmare Creatures. I know there's something greater lurking behind their existence, whatever that thing is, I will cut it down."

The radiant tightened his fist with those words before his gaze sharpened in the distance, he looked ahead as a presence almost made his stomach turn.

In the distance somewhere in the Dark Sea a fish lurked just above the waters it's abyssal skin covered it's whole body like a thick, smooth hide, it lacked eyes instead most of his head accommodated it's massive row of teeths that extended to almost the middle of it's body.

They glowed with a eerie turquoise light like it's fins or the sharp turquoise tubes that embedded themselves in it's back.

The creature appeared... out of place, even for a being in the Forgotten Shore it just stood out as something that should not be there, should not exist. Baldr once again remembered that books lacked detail compared to real life as the novel had never mentioned such a menacing creature.

The fish lacked eyes so it couldn't see them, but as if noticing how people had looked at it, it turned in Baldr's direction. It's sharp row of teeths opened in a twisted grin, revealing the endless black that served as it's mouth.

Whatever this thing was, Baldr would have to fight it, at least if he wanted Sunny, Cassie and Nephis to safely reach the City.

"I think I have to go battle this thing..."

Effie leaned forward concentrating on the direction Baldr had been looking at just moments ago, before reeling back as the abyssal fish gaze back at her, even while lacking eyes.

"That's a Corrupted creature you know?"

Baldr nodded as he stood up, bringing a foot forward, rather than falling, his feet met the resistance of the winds, who eagerly supported him, with poised steps he departed from the Castle, leaving behind two words.

"I know."

Baldr slowly approached the edge of the Dark City where waves of the Dark Sea crashed against it in hope of bringing it down, he wondered how he would go about this. Most Nightmare Creatures didn't have a strong sense of self. Except if the obvious outcome was death, they would come charging at you at full force.

He just had to enter the range of attack of the creature and drag it close enough to the edge of the Dark City that he could push it inside, stripping it of it's ability to move. With that in mind Baldr descended until he was just above the Sea level, still standing in the air.

After learning of it's identity, the radiant teen was a little averse at touching the waters himself. He hoped he would recover quickly but for now all he could do was shiver when the waves splashed against his pants.

"Let's go shark hunting I guess..."

■■■

The cohort is arriving soon! Baldr first fight with a Corrupted Creature coming and don't worry guys, he won't fight fair and square this time obviously.