Shadow Slaves
Chapter 15: The Shadow Slave

[Prepare for assessment]

Sunny finds herself in the space between dreams and reality. It was an endless black void illuminated by a myriad of stars. Among those stars, countless strands of silver light were woven into an unimaginably beautiful and complex web, forming various nexus and constellations. That was absolutely amazing.

Somehow, Sunny understood that she was looking at how the Nightmare Spell worked. He also could not help but think that it was very similar to the celestial nerve tissue. If so ... is the Mantra alive?

This is a question that many people have been asking themselves over the past few decades. The best answer they get is that there is no way to find out. The mantra is neither alive nor dead; it is lifeless or senseless.

It is more a function than a creature.

But Sunny is not thinking about philosophical questions. He was looking forward to his gift.

The spell still judged his appearance. However, the first gift had nothing to do with it.

[You have received Memory: The Shroud of the Puppet]

‘Ya!’

Sunny was very happy. He was almost ready to do a happy dance. The memory belongs to the Mountain King, who is a tyrant who has been dissolved which means that the Memories themselves are of the Risen level. Getting it is incredible luck!

There are seven ranks for everything in the Spell. These ratings are, in order of growing powers: Inactive, Awakened, Rise, Transcendent, Supreme, Sacred, and Divine (with the exception of Nightmare Beings, which are ranked as Inactive, Awakened, and Divine, Falling, Broken, Great, Cursed, and Unsacred).

From the Mantra's point of view, Sunny was an inactive human being. Having a Memory with a higher rank than his own soul core would be of great help once he entered the Dream Realm. The power gap between the different ranks could not be overestimated.

He wanted to see the Shroud of Masterminds, but there was no time anymore. The spell was done with his judgment.

Here, in the void, his voice no longer sounded smooth and familiar. Instead, it seemed like the universe itself was speaking. Sunny held her breath, listening.

[Candidate! Your test has ended.]

[A nameless slave ascended to Black Mountain. Both the hero and the monster fell in his hands. Unbroken, he entered the ruins of the long-forgotten god temple and spilled his blood on the holy altar. The gods are dead, but they are listening.]

[You have defeated a dormant beast: The Mountain King Larva.]

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

[You have defeated the awakened man: Auro of the Nine.]

[You have defeated an awakened tyrant: Mountain King.]

[You have received the blessing of the Shadow God.]

[You have achieved the impossible!]

[Last assessment: noble. Your betrayal really knows no bounds.]

That last part was not very necessary, as far as Sunny was concerned, but he was still quite satisfied with the praise from the Spell. He felt his chances of developing his Aspect into an Awakening, or even Ascended were quite high.

His overall strength still depended on the rank of his soul core, which would remain dormant until a long time later, but the Aspect rank itself would work wonders for his overall potential.

[Dreamer Sunless, thank you!]

He was no longer an Aspirant. Sunny grinned.

[You have been given the True Name: Lost from the Light.]

Jaws dropped. The right name! He has received his real name! Never in her wildest dreams did Sunny dream of becoming one of the few chosen to achieve such a feat – and in her first Nightmare! Not even all Saints can boast of having it. He was an elite now, bona fide cream of the crop! He's going to be rich!

But the gifts keep coming.

[Your outlook is ready to evolve. Evolving Aspect?]

Sunny crossed her fingers and said “ya”.

[Temple slave Aspect Dorman is growing.].

[New Asspect obtained.]

[Easpect Rank: Divine.]

Sunny fell.

[Aspect Name: Slave Shadow.]

***

‘God... It's Divine.’.

Sunny stood on his knees, stunned. The shock was so intense that for a moment he lost control of his limbs and fell.

‘He said ‘ilahi’... right?’

He raised his trembling hand and rubbed his eyes, making sure that he was awake. Or rather soberly, because, technically, he was still sleeping in the basement of the police station.

Confused by all of this terminology, Sunny secretly summoned runes and found lines that described his aspects.

Aspect: [Shadow Boy].

Aspect Rank: Divine.

Description Aspect: [You are the magical shadow left behind by the dead god. As a divine shadow, you have many strange and amazing powers. However, your existence is empty and lonely; you mourn the passing of your former master and want to find a new one.]

Innate ability: [Shadow Force].

Description Capability: [Find a decent master and tell them your Real Name. Once they read it out loud, you will be bound to their wishes, unable to break any orders. It is not appropriate for the shadow, let alone the divine, to walk without the master.]

That's a lot to digest.

First of all, Sunny felt her heart beating faster. He heard it right! All the suffering and horrors she experienced in the First Nightmare finally paid off. Divine aspect, he has received the Divine Aspect! Anything above the Resurrection was rare and extremely precious!

People with Ascended Aspects were quite rare to be contested by various factions. The faction itself was built around a single power center with Transcendent or Supreme Aspects. And he had never heard of anyone who obtained the Divine. Never was!

Anything with the prefix “ilahi” is so hard to find that most live in the realms of myth and legend. After all, humanity had not reached that high; it had only been a little over a decade since humans had finally succeeded in conquering the Third Nightmare and received the ability to develop their core to Transcendent rank.

As Transcendent or Saints, as they were called in the real world a powerful Awakening ruled over the Dream Realm, but even they did not dare to face the Nightmare Beings of a higher rank. Furthermore, there were not many High ranked Memories and Echoes around, let alone Sacred or Divine. The same goes for the aspect.

But Sunny just got it!

He grinned, driven half mad by excitement and arrogance. However, his excitement was a little muddy. After all, there was that strange innate ability. Of course, he had no intention of becoming one's magic slave, without his own wishes. Fuck that!

But it's not that bad. All he had to do to avoid that fate was to hide his True Name. No one but him could see his status. That means Sunny has to shut up, and no one will know that he even has it.

That meant giving up on all the benefits one had given a True Name after the First Nightmare, but it was all meaningless when compared to the Divine Aspect.

“No problem,” thought Sunny while grinning.

If the Spell had the ability to laugh, it would definitely happen after hearing his thoughts. But apparently not. Instead, it began to speak again:

[First Seal is broken.]

[Generating inactive forces.].