A week later, Sunny finished scavenging a wolf's dead body for the soul shards.
The past week... was nothing short of torture.
The pack of wolves that attacked Sunny immediately were all of the Fallen rank, so Sunny had no choice but to run. He ran for hours, until he found a safe place to rest.
The next morning, he woke up, went to hunt for food, returned to camp, and did the same routine. It would seem to be a peaceful and simple life, except that every single creature in the Obsidian Forest was of the Fallen rank and above. He had to fight for survival every time he encountered one, let alone kill it.
But he managed.
When the week ended, he had gained quite a bit of shadow fragments. He was nearing 2000 fragments.
Sunny made his way back to the temple, where he found Nyxian already waiting for him there.
"Congrats. You survived."
Sunny scoffed.
"Yeah, no thanks to you!"
Nyxian ignored the snide remarked, then turned around and beckoned for Sunny to follow her. Sunny complied, still suspicious of her.
But there was nothing else he could do.
They made their way through the temple, until they entered a dojo.
Of course, the dojo was made of none other than, obsidian.
'What is this place's obsession with obsidian and black?'
They made their way to the center of the dojo, where Nyxian sat down on a black chair, pointing at another for Sunny to sit on.
"Sunless, do you know why i brought you here?"
Sunny shrugged.
"To train?"
Nyxian chuckled.
"Yes. But first, you need to know a few things. First of all, your Aspect hides much more than you think. You act as if your shadows are an extension for you, but it's all wrong. You should act as if you are the shadows. Embrace everything in the shadows. But that's for you to figure out. Your Aspect is uniquely tied to you, after all. What I'm here to do, is to help you in your battle art. Shadow Dance."
Sunny became excited.
'Yes! Finally! I can advance in my legacy!'
He was practically jumping in joy.
"You're thinking of Shadow Dance wrongly. You use it as if to copy the battle art of the enemy, which is true for the first step. But Shadow Dance is much more. It embodies something more important. Freedom. You should think of it as just that- a dance. Move around as if you are dancing... become one with the shadows. Be free."
Sunny shuddered at those words.
'Freedom....'
Nyxian beckoned for Sunny to get up to the mat. They stood opposite of each other, readying themselves.
To spar.
Sunny lunged first, but Nyxian dodged easily. Sunny continued to land lethal attacks, with precision so intricate it would have sliced something in pieces by now.
But not Nyxian.
She avoided the attacks easily, as if mocking him for being so slow. She weaved around Sunny, dodging every blow easily. When she went on the offensive, however...
It was as if she was dancing with the sword style she was using.
Sunny's style.
Sunny was bewildered at the sight before him.
'How can she be so good with Shadow Dance? It's as if nothing is holding her back... she truly is free.'
Sunny tried dodging her attacks, but she met every movement with another attack every time he moved.
After a few blows, Sunny was sprawled on the ground, heaving. He was defeated in less than a minute.
"You have a long way to go, boy."
*****
A Month later, Sunny finally finished his training. He had reached the 4th step of Shadow Dance in just a month, something that should have been impossible.
Yet he did.
He received Shadow's lineage in the process, but it couldn't be fully assimilated in his body due to Blood Weave.
That's if Nyxian wasn't there.
Nyxian seemingly knew everything about Sunny... she knew his Attributes, his Aspect, his Memories.... Sunny didn't think much of it then, but she also somehow knew his name when they first met.
Sunny didn't pay it much attention, as he consumed Shadow's Lineage and with the help of Nyxian, he stopped making the two Lineages fight.
Sunny received two new Attributes from Shadow's Lineage, as well as making his [Master of Shadows] evolve into [Lord of Shadows] and acquire [Flame of Divinity].
The first of his new Attributes was [Death] which just said he had the lineage. The other however... was [The End's Breath"
It was an attribute that made every damage inflicted into an enemy with something made of shadows or augmented with one slowly decay. It would spread the wound and infect it with death's breath, slowly spelling their doom.
Sunny also received the Shadow Lantern and the fragment of Shadow's Domain, which were a huge boon.
Currently, Sunny was following Nyxian to the altar where he would supposedly revive Asteria.
"Welcome, Sunless. Please step onto the altar and lie down."
Sunny complied, lying down on the altar. Nyxian prepared to do the ritual, but then, a blade sliced at her chest.
She staggered back, looking for the culprit, only to find Sunny holding the blade.
"You.. after all I've done for you... Why?!?!"
Sunny laughed.
"Oh please, don't give me that. You think I would just comply with whatever you say? Believe it or not, I'm actually in a Nightmare, not that you'd know what those are. Anyways, the conflict is to revive Asteria.... but no. I'll do it my own way."
He laughed as a madman.
"You think I haven't figured out what Asteria is?!?! There can't be a goddess i don't know about.. so that means that she's not. She was one of Shadow's minions... maybe a person he inhabited to establish this Obsidian Temple. Oh, but the Gods are dead. Who are you to revive a dead god?!?!"
More so, Sunny also didn't want to trust anyone every again.
He had already been betrayed, so he wasn't going to let that happen again.
Even after all that happened in the Crimson Spire, Sunny had a faint hope that when he came back, Nephis and Cassie would explain everything. That they could be friends again....
But no.
This proves it.
You can't trust anyone in this world.. two worlds, even.
Who said he can't survive in the Dream Realm alone?
He'd do it anyway.
He didn't care what other people said.
He would choose his own Fate. He wouldn't just choose his own chains... No. He was going to choose what he wanted to be.
So what if he was enslaved? He'll break those chains.
And if he was enslaved again? He'll break them again.
Nothing would stop him.
He'd cleanse the world of everything... he alone would stand at the top.
"But how did you know? I was treating you so well... you couldn't have suspected me, right?"
Sunny stared, then laughed harder.
"Oh, please. It was obvious from the start. After all, I've experienced it before. You also made a fatal mistake."
She shivered.
"And what is that?"
Sunny shook his head.
"There is nothing more pathetic than someone who nurtures a calamity. For a calamity will devastate anything in it's path, even it's teacher. You cannot escape me, Nyxian. You cannot escape Death!"
At that moment, something shook the Obsidian Temple.
Sunny looked around... only to find something staring at him intently.
Asteria's Eye.
**********
I love cliffhangers