Shadow Slave

Sunny looked around the destroyed theater, then found an intact seat and sat down. Relaxing on the soft velvet cushions, he crossed his legs and looked at the broken stage with a complicated expression.

The shards of glass and empty stimulant packs attracted his attention for a moment. Sunny had expected the stimulants to be of the pleasure-inducing variety, but to his surprise, they were more or less the same as the ones he had used to stay awake for an entire week after returning from the Forgotten Shore.

A slight frown appeared on his.

'Don't tell me… was this guy afraid of going to the Dream Realm?'

…Kurt might have been even more broken than he had suspected. From how Master Jet had described her former acquaintance, the man had once been a dedicated combatant, a specialist... but what kind of a specialist was scared of his specialty?

With a sign, Sunny stared into the distance and summoned the runes.

And there it was, written in the ancient symbols in the air in front of him:

Echo: [Shadow Blade Kurt].

Echo Type: Beast.

…All humans were considered to be Beasts by the Spell, since they only had one soul core, so this was not surprising.

Well, all humans except for Sunny and Nephis.

As the thought of becoming a Demon drifted into his mind, Sunny read further.

Echo Rank: Awakened.

Echo Attributes: [Swift Hand], [Shadow Sworn], [Mark of Death].

[Swift Hand] Attribute Description: "Your blade strikes fast and true."

[Shadow Sworn] Attribute Description: "You are known to shadows."

[Mark of Death] Attribute Description: "You bear a mark of Death, as just like Death, you were created to be a weapon."

Sunny tilted his head a little.

So, an Attribute that increased perception and agility, an Attribute that gifted Kurt affinity to shadows — although to a much lesser extent than his own — and a third Attribute that… actually, Sunny had no idea what the third Attribute did.

Its description, though, was very interesting. He knew that death had been created by Shadow God, and now, he learned that it had been created as a weapon… but against whom? What kind of enemy could have demanded the creation of such a terrible thing?

Someone immortal, perhaps… no, that didn't make sense. If there had been a time before death was invented, then everything back then was immortal, eternal, and endless… right?

Sunny wasn't sure that he understood the concept of a world without death. What he did know, though, was that something as harrowing as death would not have been invented without a reason.

He frowned, then turned his attention back to the runes:

Echo Abilities: [Shadow Manipulation], [Shadow Strike], [Awakened].

[Shadow Manipulation] Ability Description: "You can affect the movement of shadows and walk through them unseen."

[Shadow Strike] Ability Description: "You can strike at the shadows, and your shadow can strike at the living things."

'...As expected.'

Sunny had more or less surmised what Kurt's Aspect Abilities had been. They were different, but at the same time similar to his own. Both were much less versatile and powerful than what he was capable of himself, though, even if the ability to deal direct damage to and through his shadows was something Sunny would have loved to have access to.

[Shadow Manipulation], especially, was almost no more than a slightly different version of his passive Attribute, [Child of Shadows].

…Still, having a Shadow like Kurt could add a new layer to his battle prowess.

There was also the last Ability:

[Awakened] Ability Description: "This Echo has the innate abilities of a carrier of the Spell."

So... using Memories? That was a nice ability to have. Even Saint herself was limited to only using weapons and charms.

Full of thought, Sunny looked at the last string of runes.

Echo Description: [I have entrusted you with a beautiful blade, but all you created was a hideous nightmare.]

He blinked a couple of times.

'...What's up with that description? Oh my, am I imagining things, or does the Spell sound… bitter?'

What a funny thought that was.

Sunny reclined in the chair and waited for a bit, then grimaced and dove into the Soul Sea.

'Let's take a look…'

He walked past the rows of silent shadows, noticing the dark figure of Shadow Blade Kurt standing among them motionlessly. Sparing him a glance, Sunny approached the spot between the black suns of his Shadow Cores, found a large sphere of light that orbited one of them, and summoned the Echo down.

The sphere floated to the surface of still waters and slowly dimmed, revealing a gaunt, naked man standing inside.

Sunny felt his skin crawling.

In front of him was a human… or rather, a soulless copy of a human. Echo Kurt looked almost like a person, but the lifeless emptiness in his eyes screamed of a profound, abhorrent wrongness. It was incredibly unnerving.

The Echo was very much like the Hollow victims of its original, only even more vacant and devoid of the undefinable spark that all living things possessed. It was an artificial copy of a man that lacked the very thing that made him human.

A ghastly effigy.

…The thing was incredibly creepy.

Sunny hesitated, then tried to think about things logically.

The Echo was more or less useless to him in its current state, but thanks to its [Awakened] Ability, it would possess the innate capacity to use Memories… which meant that Sunny could provide Echo Kurt with an armor and a weapon.

That question was… did he want to?

On the surface, that question was rather simple. Who wouldn't want to have a creature equal to a powerful Awakened in their service? But really, things were more complicated.

Sunny frowned, then raised a hand and poked the ghastly creature in the shoulder.

A new string of runes appeared near it:

[Transform Echo into a Shadow?]

He froze, thinking.

Having a human Shadow certainly had its benefits. But having any Shadow also demanded a tremendous investment of resources. Nurturing Saint was very hard on Sunny, and especially on his pocket. Less importantly, but still somewhat pressing, was the need to spend a hundred shadow fragments to complete the transformation.

Sunny had spent so much time and effort to get close to creating a third core, and the idea of being suddenly pushed back by a whole hundred fragments did not seem too alluring.

The point was, he felt reluctant to turn just any Echo into a Shadow.

So was Kurt a worthy Echo?

Even though Sunny was very curious to see what would happen if one of the silent shadows was placed into a human Echo, the answer was… no.

Sunny wasn't sure that he was.

There were two reasons.

The first one was rather simple, but also not too convincing.

Master Jet had said that all of them, seasoned Awakened, were walking one step away from the madness. Sunny felt like dragging around a reanimated copy of a man he killed would bring him closer to making that step. His humanity — and sanity, to be honest — were already on thin ice.

However, that wasn't the main reason.

The second reason, and the most important one, was the nature of the Shadows. Shadows weren't soulless, empty copies of their originals. They possessed a semblance of a consciousness, and a distinct personality… Saint was living proof.

Yes, she was created from a powerful Nightmare Creature, but her Attributes and Abilities were not what made her strong. Saint was strong because she was Saint. Her will, intellect, and unbreakable resolve were what made her such a deadly presence on the battlefield, and a valued companion for Sunny.

And that was why he didn't want to create a Shadow of Kurt. Yes, Kurt possessed powerful Abilities that shared the affinity with Sunny's Aspect.

But Kurt himself… was weak.

His weakness was the cause of why he had drowned himself in alcohol and distasteful hobbies, and why he had eventually surrendered to the burden of the Nightmare Spell and massacred defenseless humans in a fit of demented frenzy.

No matter how powerful, Sunny didn't want to possess a Shadow of an unstable butcher… but more than anything, he didn't want to possess a Shadow of someone who was weak. How could he rely on someone like that?

On the path he was taking, there was no place for weakness… at least not for the weakness of that kind.

With a sigh, he summoned Saint, and watched her appear near the naked figure of Kurt in a whirlpool of black flames.

The taciturn demon stared at him with her indifferent ruby eyes, not paying any attention to the human Echo. Seeing them side by side only made Sunny more sure of his decision.

He remained silent for a few moments, and then gestured at Kurt:

"Do you, maybe... want to eat him?"

Saint remained motionless for a few moments, then silently turned to the Echo and raised one hand. Her gauntlet easily pierced the chest of the dead killer, and a few moments later, his body disintegrated into a flood of white sparks.

Those sparks formed into three brilliant streams and entered into the darkness that hid inside the Shadow, then flowed into her three core remnants.

[Your Echo has been destroyed.]

Sunny felt a wave of bitterness wash over his heart, but very soon, it disappeared.

He was watching the shadow fragment counter in the runes describing Saint.

…Apparently, feeding on Echoes was much more nourishing for a Shadow. She received much more fragments than she would have from an Awakened Memory of the first tier.

Right now, the counter was showing a simple number:

Shadow Fragments: [200/200].

A triumphant smile appeared on Sunny's lips.