Shadow Slave

Sitting with his back against the door of his room, Sunny stared ahead, his heart empty.

He had lived most of his life alone. One year ago, he had entered the Dream Realm alone. And now, he was alone once again.

But not having something was very different from losing it. Now that he knew how precious true friendship and affection were, existing without them felt like torture. It felt like there was a bleeding wound on his soul, left there after he had so cruelly severed the tether connecting him to Cassie.

One of the very few people he cared for in this world…

Hurting her felt good and justified, but instead of relief, it only brought him more pain.

Nevertheless, he did not regret what he had done. Sometimes one had to endure suffering.

Sometimes, pain was necessary.

Now, Sunny was completely alone. So was Cassie.

And somewhere in the Dream Realm, Nephis was alone, too.

The three of them had done the impossible, but paid a heavy price for it.

'What a fiasco.'

Who would have thought that one day, he would not only escape the Forgotten Shore, but also become vastly more powerful than he had ever dreamed… only to sit on the floor in a dark room, feeling miserable?

With a resentful grimace, Sunny shook his head and sighed.

'Enough of wallowing in self-pity.'

He had a lot of things to do. A lot of plans to make. The horrors of the Forgotten Shore were now behind him, but new threats already loomed in the distance.

Firstly, he was now at the mercy of another person. Despite the fact that his master was lost in another world with very low chances of ever making it back, Sunny felt that they were fated to meet again.

He didn't know how to feel about that. Or rather, he both desperately longed for Nephis to return and wished that she died. His emotions for her were intense, overwhelming, and an absolute mess.

Despite all that, Sunny didn't think that she would die.

Somehow, he was sure that Nephis would not perish in the Dream Realm and eventually make it back. Maybe in a few months, maybe in a few years, but she would achieve the impossible once again and return to the real world.

The question was… how? Would she travel to the human territory through the Hollow Mountains, or head in another direction? They didn't know much about what surrounded the Forgotten Shore from the east, west, and north. He doubted that those places were better than the horrifying, misty mountains, though.

That doubt was based on one simple fact: there was no information about them, which meant that no human had ever returned from those regions of the Dream Realm to tell the tale.

Although deadly, Hollow Mountains were at least known to mankind. Chances were, Changing Star would choose to try her luck there instead of venturing into the unknown.

Nothing was more dangerous than that you knew nothing about, after all.

'Unknown…'

Sunny frowned.

That was another problem he had to face… or rather, an opportunity he would potentially be able to exploit. Due to his [Fated] Attribute, Sunny had stumbled onto the legacy of a creature named Weaver and got a glimpse into the secrets of the gods.

What he saw there left him both terrified and breathless.

There was a boundless mystery hiding in the ruined land of dreams and nightmares, a tapestry that connected the dead gods, the Unknown, the daemons, and the Nightmare Spell together. The former rulers of the Dream Realm were gone, but the Spell remained, and humanity — including Sunny himself — had now become an unwilling part of that tapestry through it.

Sunny's most ardent desire was to control his own fate, and he couldn't achieve it without knowledge. Now that he knew what to look for, he had to deepen his understanding of the fate of the gods and the origins of the Spell. Who knew, maybe that was where the keys to his freedom were hidden.

…And then, there were the Sovereigns.

His face grew dark.

'Honestly, why is everything so complicated…'

Why couldn't he just open a Memory Store, become wealthy and fat, and leave peacefully ever after?

That was his plan all along. However, the recent revelations made Sunny doubt the validity of such plans.

Judging from what Caster had said, there were some figures hiding in the shadows, ruling over the human world. And not only were they there, but Sunny was also, apparently, unwillingly doing their bidding.

He still remembered the warning Nephis had given him once. She told them that there were words that could get him killed simply if he learned of their existence.

Well… now he knew a lot of those words.

Sovereigns, Domains, Lineage Memories…

Was he going to pretend to know nothing and hope that those powerful beings would not turn their gaze to him one day, or was he going to do something to prepare for the day they do?

Did he even have a choice, knowing what he did, with his fate hopelessly entangled with that of Changing Star… who was embroiled in these clandestine machinations just by virtue of her birth?

'So bothersome…'

What was he supposed to do? What was the plan of action?

Sunny sighed.

Well, it was simple, really.

Learn as much as he can about the Sovereigns, but in a way that would never lead back to him.

Explore the past of the Dream Realm to gain insight into the daemons, the gods, and the Unknown.

But first and foremost, grow stronger.

Much, much stronger.

When Nephis returned, he had to be ready for the worst. Sunny didn't really think that Changing Star he knew would abuse her power over him… in fact, he was almost sure that she wouldn't. Not only because of the bond between them, but also because in Neph's warped mind, doing so would simply be beneath her.

However, he wasn't going to let this sweet hope prevent him from creating contingencies.

If she ever decided to truly make him a slave, one of them was going to die.

Standing up, Sunny walked over to the desk and wrote on a piece of synthetic paper:

[0/2000].

Then, he summoned the runes, glanced at them, and added a second string of numbers:

[2749/3000].

However, the runes shimmered and changed before he was done writing. The number of soul essence grew bigger.

Sunny stared at the runes for a few seconds, then corrected the number.

Then, he put the pen done and looked at the piece of paper in front of him:

[0/2000] < [2773/3000].

"Alright."

So, this was it.

This was the plan.

From now on, this was his life's goal.