Under Sunny's watchful eyes, the Echo began to change.
The light falling from the Shadow Core seemed to seep into the flesh of the stone creature, making it shine with dark radiance. Wisps of shadowy fog emanated from beneath her impervious plate armor, slowly merging with it. It looked as though the Stone Saint was engulfed in ghostly black flame, being remade by it.
What little color there was on her body was washed away and replaced with nothing but darkness. Only two crimson fires burning in her ruby eyes remained, slightly changing their hue and becoming more menacing.
Of course, all these changes were happening on the surface. If not for the traumatic transformation that Sunny had gone through to inherit a part of Weaver's forbidden lineage, this would have been all he saw.
However, with his eyes altered by the agony of consuming the drop of divine blood, he was able to see much more.
Beneath the surface, the essence of the Echo was being changed as well, in a way much more fundamental than its outer appearance.
The shining embers that served as anchors for the weave of diamond strings had lost their radiance, becoming as transparent and empty as the Shadow Core itself. The diamond strings were gone, replaced by a sea of darkness. That darkness had a form, a shape that perfectly followed the lines of the Stone Saint's body.
It was as though a living shadow was now inhabiting it, usurping the role that had been played by the pattern of the sorcerous strings once.
Although similar in appearance to the original Echo, this new creature was a completely different type of existence. Sunny had never seen anything like it before.
It was created by his Aspect, after all.
The process of transformation, meanwhile, was coming to the end. The ray of dark light cast by the Shadow Core was disappearing, its reflection drowning in the calm water of the silent sea. The black flames were already fully absorbed by the stonelike armor of the Saint, gone with the dark radiance of her smooth granite skin.
Sunny observed the Stone Saint. Clad in the lusterless black armor, with two ruby flames burning in the deep shadows of the visor, she looked like an incarnation of pure darkness, a noble demon send to wage war against heaven from the depths of hell. What changed the most, however, was her presence.
Before, the Echo felt like an empty shell, a magical tool rather than an actual being. Now, however, there were hints of mysterious will in her crimson eyes, a subtle sense there was a nascent spark of sentience burning somewhere deep within her lightless soul. Or whatever it was that the menacing monster had instead of a soul.
This was a Shadow.
Just as this thought appeared in Sunny's mind, the faintly familiar voice of the Spell resounded above the dark waters of the Soul Sea:
[You have created a Shadow Monster: Stone Saint.]
***
Hearing these words, Sunny smiled. However, a second later, the smile disappeared from his lips, replaced by a pained expression.
Only now, after the process was complete, he felt a subtle emptiness permeating his whole body. He felt… weakened. The loss of a hundred shadow fragments was finally making its effect known. He had suspected that spending them in this way would reverse the process of power accumulation that had consumed him for these last few months, but it was still an unpleasant feeling.
He was much stronger than he had been during the journey through the Labyrinth, however, some of his physical might was unmistakably gone, leaving him with a bitter feeling of regret.
No, no… he had known that this would happen, and decided to proceed with the experiment anyway.
It was well worth it.
Forgetting about the change in his physical state, Sunny walked around his Shadow and observed her from different sides. The Stone Saint's eyes silently followed his movements, sending glints of crimson light reflecting from the black surface of the tranquil sea.
'This is… amazing. I wonder what she is capable of…'
Summoning the runes, Sunny immediately noticed that there was a new cluster shining right beneath the one describing his Echoes.
Shadows: [Stone Saint].
Excited to learn more about his new pet monster, Sunny was about to concentrate his attention on the runes, but then stopped and glanced down at his own shadow, a little embarrassed.
"Uh… sorry. How are you feeling, buddy? You aren't, uh, you know… jealous or anything?"
The shadow looked away and pretended that it didn't know him. It was seemingly indifferent to the appearance of a new shadow creature in his service, even though this new Shadow had a capital letter to its name.
"Well, I just wanted to say that you shouldn't be. I still value you very much! Even though the Stone Saint is probably capable of slicing powerful monsters into tiny pieces with her sword, while you're still just a useless piece of… uh… an incredibly capable scout and my most trusted confidant, I still appreciate you. Yeah."
He stared at the shadow for a bit and, seeing that it didn't react in any way, turned away.
'This guy, he'd better step up his game. Ha!'
Focusing on the runes, Sunny summoned the description of the Shadow and read:
Shadow: Stone Saint.
Shadow Rank: Awakened.
Shadow Class: Monster.
Shadow Attributes: [Battle Master], [Stalwart], [Spark of Divinity].
Sunny blinked. It seemed as though Stone Saint's divine Attribute had evolved to match his own. Was it because he was her master? This was a nice surprise. However, he still didn't see how she was different from before.
Frowning, he continued to look through the shimmering runes:
Shadow Description: [Shadow Saint was created by the treacherous Lost From Light in the cursed darkness of the Forgotten Shore.]
'Again with this whole treachery stuff. Can I get another epithet, huh?'
But in the next moment, he forgot all about this little frustration. Because the following line of runes showed him something really unexpected.
Just beneath the description, a familiar set of runes shined in the air:
[Shadow Fragments: 0/200.]
Chapter 107: Growing Shadow
Sunny stared at the runes, perplexed.
Then, a sudden light of understanding appeared in his eyes. He finally realized what was the principal difference between an Echo and a Shadow.
It was really very simple.
The Echoes were mere replicas of the creatures that had left them behind. They were molded in their image and never changed, always remaining the same as the originals at the moment of their deaths.
Shadows, however, were different. After all, they were mercurial by nature, always changing their forms and shapes depending on the environment. And so, a Shadow was capable of change to some extent, too.
It was capable of growth.
His eyes widened.
By slaying Nightmare Creatures, he was able to absorb their shadow fragments and become stronger. Eventually, his Shadow Core was bound to evolve, turning from Dormant to Awakened… and beyond. The jump in power that came with this evolution was nothing short of unmatched.
Granted, he wasn't sure about the particular details of this process, not to mention that, as a human, he could only become an Awakened after returning from the Dream Realm into the real world, which was impossible to do in this godforsaken place. He also didn't know what would happen if he actually managed to accumulate the thousand shadow fragments that the runes demanded.
But no matter what happened, if he were to continue walking forward on the path of the Awakened, he would eventually outgrow his Memories and Echoes, rendering them weak and useless against the enemies of the comparable rank. He would then be forced to discard them and try to find suitable replacements, with no guarantee whatsoever that he would actually succeed.
This problem was not as dire when it came to Memories, which were comparatively easy to get. The Echoes, however, were exceedingly rare. Once an Echo grew too weak to accompany its master, replacing it was an extremely tall task.
But Shadows… Shadows were capable of growing with him, becoming more powerful just as he grew more powerful! As long as Sunny was willing to put in the work, his Shadow would never fall behind.
The possibilities that this simple quality opened up were truly endless. It was enough to completely change his plans for the future. In the past, Sunny always envisioned himself as the main force on the battlefield, only relying on Memories and a stray Echo or two to support him.
That was because Echoes of higher ranks and classes were so unimaginably hard to come by. Although much more rare than Memories, there were still many Dormant Echoes around, and a fair number of Awakened ones too. They were mainly shared among Masters and Saints, who were capable of defeating the Nightmare Creature of these ranks with comparative ease.
But battles against Fallen and Corrupted monsters, not to mention anything even more dreadful, were never easy. As such, there were not enough trophies brought back after killing creatures of their kind to make the idea of acquiring an Echo of a higher rank a realistic possibility.
For everyone… except for Sunny.
He could slaughter weaker monsters, get lesser Echoes, and then cultivate them into unstoppable beasts of slaughter. Not bound by the laws of probability and diminishing chances, he could slowly build an army of powerful Shadows to fight his battles for him, and then watch them destroy his enemies from a safe distance while sipping on a cocktail.
Uh… that's what rich people drank, right?
Not to mention that monsters were not bound by the need to pass Nightmares to raise their rank… at least not to Sunny's knowledge. To be honest, he had no idea how Nightmare Creatures evolved their cores. Carapace Demon had seemed to do just fine just by eating the fruits of the Soul Tree and slowly absorbing large amounts of soul essence.
In any case, there was a possibility that he would be able to make the Shadow Saint much more powerful than he himself had the chance to become on the Forgotten Shore.
Perhaps even powerful enough to make his life here truly tolerable.
Looking at the Shadow with excited sparks dancing in his eyes, Sunny grinned from ear to ear.
"You and I are going to accomplish great things together, buddy."
If his own shadow wasn't worried about its place in his heart yet, it would be smart to start worrying about it right about now.
***
The question that was consuming Sunny's thoughts now was this: how, exactly, was he supposed to feed the Shadow Saint with fragments?
If he could simply transfer some of his own to her, he would do it without a second thought, even though that would diminish his personal strength even further. However, there seemed to be no way to do so. No amount of looking at the runes, touching the silent stone creature or trying to talk to the Spell did the trick.
Sunny even asked for advice from his own shadow, but that guy was in no mood to talk. The scornful word "traitor!" was written all other his expressionless dark spot of a face.
At least that's what Sunny read from it after being met with the silent treatment. In all the excitement, he failed to remember that the shadow was physically unable to speak.
Scratching the back of his head, Sunny paced around the Soul Sea and tried to come up with a reasonable way to stuff some shadow fragments inside the taciturn stone monster.
"Well… the most obvious answer is to go and make her kill some Nightmare Creatures. However, will it work? When my loyal scavenger killed something, it was I who received the fragments, not him. Wait, him? Did Cassie infect me with her childish desire to assign human qualities to everything? It, not him! It was I and not it. Right, that's better. Wait, what was I talking about?"
Glancing at the outside world, Sunny frowned. It was currently the day there… usually, he would be sound asleep by now. Going out during the day was dangerous. He would have to walk outside the shadows, allowing all kinds of Fallen horrors to lay eyes on him.
He only survived for so long in this hell by being extremely cautious, cowardly, and only hunting during the night. He paid a harsh price to learn these lessons, almost losing his life in the process.
But still, still… should he risk it?
Chapter 108: Test Dummy
Still undecided, Sunny dismissed the Stone Saint. He was curious to see if the slumbering Shadow would become a sphere of light just like an Echo would.
However, she did not.
As soon as he gave the command, the ornate armor of the stone creature was immediately engulfed in black flame, and with a gust of ghostly wind, she was gone. It seemed as though the Shadow was returned into the embrace of the Shadow Core that had created her, and was now sleeping in its depths, bathed in the invisible waves of nurturing dark flames.
Sunny scratched the back of his head. So, the Shadows literally dwelled within the deepest part of his soul. He didn't really know how to feel about this, but felt that it was strangely fitting.
He was a child of shadows himself, after all.
With a thoughtful sigh, Sunny emerged from the Soul Sea and looked around his secret lair.
Outside the ruined cathedral, the sun was shining above the cursed city. But none of its rays could reach this tranquil hidden chamber. Sunny suspected that once, a long ago, the secret room served as the private quarters of a venerated young priestess who performed sacred rites in this temple.
He had found some of her things in the modest wardrobe that was hidden behind a stone panel, somehow preserved in pristine condition despite the thousands of years that had passed since the city had fallen to the curse of darkness. If not for the lamentable disparity of their genders, he would have had a whole collection of clothes to wear, instead of spending every waking hour dressed in the same good old Puppeteer's Shroud.
There were limits to the amount of abuse that even a fifth-tier armor could withstand. However, in a sense, he was lucky. At least his armor was made out of soft fabric. It would have been much worse if he had to wear a suit of plate armor or a rusty chainmail instead.
That priestess, of course, had not used the same extravagant method to enter her private quarters. There actually was a doorway that led outside the room and into a concealed corridor that ended with a narrow stairwell. However, the stairs had long collapsed, leaving only a deep vertical shaft behind. This was Sunny's route of escape in case someone or something would find his lair.
Standing up from the magnificent wooden chair, Sunny paced around for a bit and then lighted the fire under a makeshift stove, planning to make himself some late supper. The orange flames illuminated the hidden chamber, sending shadows dancing on its walls.
'Oh, right. I never got fresh meat.'
The night was so eventful that he had completely forgotten the initial purpose of his hunt.
Throwing the last few strips of meat on the grill, he seasoned them with salt and sighed once again. The desire to simply venture outside and get into a fight with the nearest Nightmare Creature seemed more attractive with each minute.
'No, no, no! That's how you end up dead!'
To distract himself from these seductive thoughts, Sunny decided to summon the Stone Saint into the material world and perform a few experiments in the safety of his secret lair.
Standing up, he willed the Shadow to appear.
The secretive chamber was submerged in deep shadows. His own was hidden in one of them, standing with its arms crossed on the cold stone wall. In Sunny's vision, it appeared as a silhouette made from a deeper shade of black.
Usually, an Echo would appear in front of the summoner, weaved from the countless sparks of moving light. However, the Stone Saint entrance was completely different. Instead of materializing out of thin air, she stepped out of his shadow like a sinister dark knight. Wreathed in darkness, her elegant figure emanated a sense of danger and foreboding.
First, two ruby eyes ignited in the depths of the shadow. Then, the darkness came to life and surged forward, taking the form of the deadly stone monster. The sole of her stonelike solleret touched the floor with a loud clang, and a moment later, the Shadow Saint was standing in the middle of his room, her hand resting on the pommel of her sword.
Sunny grimaced, feeling a slight headache.
'So… the shadow was hiding in a shadow, and then the Shadow came out of the shadow to stand with it in the shadows. This is starting to get out of hand. I really need to come up with better terminology!'
He felt that this was a vital problem, but no suitable words came to his mind. Glancing at the silent duo, Sunny hesitantly asked:
"Any ideas?"
Sadly, both his shadow and his Shadow were mute and unable to voice their opinions even if they wanted to. Left with no assistance whatsoever, Sunny sighed.
"Alright, I'll think of something later. For now, let's see what you're capable of."
Summoning his shadow, he wrapped himself in its comforting embrace and faced the Stone Saint, preparing to test her strength. Inhaling deeply, he focused and gave the menacing monster a command:
"Strike me."
Sunny expected that the Shadow would hesitate for a moment, maybe even requiring some persuasion to turn on her master. Instead, the Stone Saint immediately leaned forward and punched him in the chest without a second thought.
With his physical prowess enhanced by the shadow, Sunny was sure of his ability to withstand one blow from the awakened monster, at least to a certain degree. However, he was wrong.
So, so wrong.
Before he could even react, the armor-clad stone fist crashed into his ribs, making Sunny feel as though he was hit by a train. In the next second, he found himself lying on the floor, surrounded by numerous pieces of broken wood.
'Oh… oh no! My chair!'
The magnificent chair was gone, ruthlessly turned into splinters and firewood by the impact with his back. It was completely unsalvageable.
Sunny's back wasn't doing much better.
Turning onto his stomach with a moan, Sunny spat a bit of blood on the stone floor and weakly raised one hand, giving the Shadow Saint thumbs up.
"Ugh… good, well done. Ten out of ten, just like… crap, that really hurts… just like I expected!"
Casting a furtive glance at the elegant stone knight, he forced a smile out and tried to stand up.
'I think I need to amend some details of the future experiments.'
Next, Sunny was planning to enhance the Stone Saint with the shadow before getting her to strike him again.
However, on second thought, there were better ways to measure her power…
Chapter 109: Soulmates
Picking himself up from the floor, Sunny staggered and found his way back to the fire burning under the improvised grill. Glancing at the motionless stone knight, he spat a bit more blood and groaned.
As the appetizing aroma of roasting meat filled the air, the Blood Weave got busy repairing his body. By the time his supper was ready, Sunny was able to breathe without wincing.
Putting the meat on his prized possession — the luxurious silver plate — Sunny prepared to eat.
On the Forgotten Shore, simple everyday necessities like plates were rarer than enchanted swords and magical suits of armor. In the whole cursed city, only Gunlaug and his five lieutenants were able to dine with as much decorum as Sunny.
Granted, he had yet to find even a single pair of chopsticks in this whole damn place, let alone something more technologically advanced, like a spoon. Of course, Sunny could try and make one himself, but that wasn't the same thing.
The Shadow Saint was silently looking at him with her burning ruby eyes. Feeling uncomfortable under her mysterious gaze, Sunny glanced at his plate, then at the menacing stone creature.
"Uh… you want some?"
He raised a piece of meat and offered it to the taciturn monster. However, the Stone Saint showed no reaction at all.
"Well… suit yourself."
Using the Prowling Thorn as a kitchen utensil, Sunny dug in, devouring the juicy meat like a starving animal. With not a single human soul around, he didn't bother with table manners at all.
'Uh… that's the life!'
His perpetually hungry outskirt self would have been really shocked to see this extravagant feast. That was real meat! He had hunted and prepared it himself, no less. More than that, he got to enjoy a similar type of luxury food almost every day.
Of course, that real meat had come from a revolting horror of a monster, but these were just small details.
Chewing on the last piece with a sense of deep satisfaction, Sunny thoughtfully looked at the Stone Saint. It was time to continue…
Earlier, he wanted to see if there was a possible synergy between the different powers that his Aspect possessed. Namely, if the enhancement provided by Shadow Control could be applied to Shadows. Sunny knew that his shadow was able to enhance his body, his Memories, and, with lesser effect, various inanimate objects.
However, it was unable to enhance other humans and Memories that belonged to them, as well as any living creature except for Sunny himself. He had secretly tested it during his travels with Nephis and Cassie to come up with this conclusion.
More importantly, it couldn't affect Echoes.
But what about Shadows?
Giving a mental command, Sunny sent his shadow in the direction of the Stone Saint and held his breath.
Flowing like water, the shadow silently grasped the statuesque monster in its dark embrace. Then, it seemed to disappear, as though absorbed by the stone flesh of the tenebrous knight.
A moment later, Stone Saint's ruby eyes blazed with crimson fire. Her smooth granite skin shined with dark radiance once again, smoky wisps of the ghostly grey fog oozing from beneath her stonelike armor like dancing flames.
Suddenly, it felt as though the temperature in the hidden chamber dropped by a couple of degrees. Shadows around the menacing creature seemed to swell, becoming deeper and darker, like a vast mantle sewn from boundless empty blackness.
The elegant Stone Saint had always looked dangerous and deadly, but now, she was downright fearsome.
Even without having the Shadow Saint strike him again, Sunny could tell that the experiment ended in a resounding success. It was apparent that the two types of his shadows were practically created for each other. Her power was increased twofold, at least.
A bit peeved, he looked down and sighed.
'Why does she look so much cooler than I do when using the shadow? Shouldn't it be the other way around? I'm the true divine shadow here, me! Where's my aura of mysterious coolness?!'
Shaking his head, Sunny lamented his lack of good looks and simultaneously congratulated himself on becoming the master of such a stylish monster. Technically, it didn't matter how his Shadows looked, just as long as they were powerful. However, he was secretly glad that his first Shadow was not only powerful, but also a darkly beautiful sight to behold.
Killing monsters was great, but killing monsters while looking good was even better.
'Wait… if she can use my shadow, what else can she use?'
Suddenly excited, Sunny finally swallowed the half-forgotten piece of meat and dismissed the Stone Saint. Then, he shifted his perspective to look at the Soul Sea and summoned her again, this time inside it.
The Shadow appeared in the whirlwind of black flames and stood motionlessly upon the still waters of the silent sea. Her mysterious ruby eyes stared at him through the narrow visor of her stone helmet.
Not wasting any time, Sunny looked up at the spheres of light circling around the Shadow Core.
'What if I can equip her with actual Memories?'
What to choose… she was extremely strong and very proficient with her round shield, so wasn't it logical to assume that a tower shield would suit her even better? Coincidentally, he happened to have one of those!
Sunny summoned the Memory that he had gotten in one of the fights on the streets of the cursed city. It was a large, square tower shield that was almost as tall as him. The thing was too heavy and unwieldy to actually use in combat, at least not by Sunny. Plus, he wielded a tachi, which could only perform to its full potential while held in both hands.
Grabbing the cumbersome shield, Sunny walked over to the Shadow Saint and handed it to her with a hopeful smile.
"Here. Take this. Uh… please?"
The Shadow stared at him for a few moments, then lowered her head and glanced at the tower shield.
'Come on. Come on, take it!'
His heart skipped a bit when the statuesque creature slowly raised her hands and grasped the Memory with her stone gauntlets.
"Yes, that's right! Now, use it!"
The Stone Saint obediently brought the shield to her chest.
And then… shattered it.
Sunny froze, his mouth hanging open.
[Your Memory has been destroyed.]
'...What?'
The shards of the broken Memory turned into a river of tiny sparks of light, just like the Echo of the carapace scavenger and the Azure Blade had done before disappearing forever.
'My tower shield!'
Sunny felt a sharp dagger of sorrow stab at his heart. Yes, the shield was of no use to him. But it would sell for so much money in the real world! Why, why did this evil thing have to break it? Why? Wasn't his beautiful chair enough?!
He gazed at the tiny sparks, wanting to cry. However, a moment later, his eyes widened.
Because the river of sparks did not disappear. Instead, it circled around the Stone Saint's body and then suddenly flowed through it, separating into two streams. Each stream was then absorbed by one of the dark embers burning in the depths of the living shadow that was hiding inside the monster's body.
Sunny blinked.
[Stone Saint has grown stronger.]
Chapter 110: Memento
Sunny stared at the Shadow Saint, dumbfounded.
The storm of emotions that the destruction of the tower shield had produced was still tugging on his heartstrings, but now, an equally powerful feeling was slowly welling up in his chest. Not knowing how to process all of this, he simply blinked a couple of times and said in a flat tone:
"Huh?"
'So, let me get this straight…'
He gave the shield to his pet monster hoping that she would be able to use it. And she did, sort of. It's just that instead of wielding the Memory, she… ate it.
Sunny hesitated for a few moments, wondering if he had finally lost it. But no, the echo of the Spell's voice was still resounding above the dark waters, whispering the same phrase over and over again.
Stone Saint has grown stronger.
With a heavy sigh, Sunny summoned the runes and found the description of the Shadow. Down at the very bottom of it, the runes were slightly changed:
Shadow Fragments: [2/200].
A wild gleam appeared in his eyes. Two fragments… he had received the Memory of the tower shield after slaying a particularly hardy wraith, who, despite its frightening appearance, had turned out to be merely an awakened monster. For killing it, Sunny himself had received four shadow fragments.
But that was because his own Shadow Core was Dormant, and as such, he always got double the reward in battles against creatures of the higher rank — two for each Soul Core that an awakened creature possessed.
The Stone Saint was such a creature herself, so it was logical to assume that she would not receive the same treatment. The tower shield had come from a monster with two awakened cores, so she received two fragments for consuming its Memory.
Which meant that…
With a fire of excitement burning in his eyes, Sunny hurriedly summoned another Memory. A disgusting eye with a menacing vertical pupil appeared from the dissipating brightness of the descending sphere of light.
That eye came from a basilisk-like creature that Sunny had killed a few weeks ago. To survive the battle, he had to fight it with his own eyes closed, relying solely on the Shadow Sense to move through the rubble and dodge the attacks of the deadly beast.
In the end, he had beheaded the vile thing with a slash of his swift blade seconds before being ripped apart by its claws. It was a fine test for his nascent combat skill.
Sadly, the Memory came with none of the powers that the actual beast had possessed. It was only capable of producing a harmless beam of red light, which could only be used for creating mood lighting… at least in the case of Sunny, who could see in the dark.
Grabbing the eye, he held it out for the Stone Saint to take.
The Shadow grasped the disgusting thing, brought it to her chest, and then crushed it in her armored fist. Once again, the Memory disintegrated into countless tiny sparks of ethereal light, which were then absorbed by the darkness hiding inside the elegant creature's body.
[Stone Saint has grown stronger.]
Sunny grinned, then threw his head back and laughed.
So that's how it was… the Shadows fed on Memories! They consumed them to receive power, just like he killed Nightmare Creatures to consume the remnants of their shadows.
To make sure, he glanced at the runes again and saw exactly what he had expected to see:
Shadow Fragments: [3/200].
Tier-one Awakened Memory, one fragment. Makes sense.
Giddy with anticipation, Sunny summoned the next Memory. A bulky suit of rusty plate armor appeared from the sphere of light and hovered in the air in front of him. This one he had received after burning the towering nest of monstrous, flesh-devouring termites to the ground.
Creating a bonfire in the absolute darkness of the Forgotten Shore's night was a dangerous endeavor, but he had hoped to receive hundreds of shadow fragments by eviscerating the whole swarm of these tiny gluttonous creatures. Judging by the amount of bones littering the ground around the nest, they were a real plague.
Sadly, the entire colony had turned out to be a single demonic being, landing him only six fragments. He even had to retreat without collecting the soul shards from the smoldering remains of the hive, scared away by the approach of several Fallen horrors that had been attracted by the bright flames. The Memory was of little consolation, since his own Puppeteer's Shroud was superior to it in all regards.
But now, finally, it could be of use!
The Stone Saint devoured the armor just like she had devoured the over two Memories. Once again, the Spell announced that the shadow monster had grown stronger. The runes changed again:
Shadow Fragments: [6/200].
Every time the numbers changed, Sunny felt a deep sense of satisfaction. His menacing stone knight was becoming more fearsome with each second. He suspected that gambling addicts felt something similar in the throes of a rare winning streak.
Caught in the moment, he grasped the next Memory, but then stopped and stared at the small silver bell that lay silently in his hand.
This one… this one was the first Memory he had ever received, barely holding onto life in the bitter cold and terror of the First Nightmare. It was the weakest Memory he had, but also the most meaningful. Sunny had killed one human to receive it, and had used it to kill another.
The Silver Bell was a reminder.
With bleak eyes, he read the runes that shimmered in the lightless emptiness of his soul:
[...a small memento of a long-lost home, which once brought its owner comfort and joy.]
Suddenly drained of the excitement that had been consuming him just a few moments ago, Sunny sighed heavily and dismissed the Memory. There was a dark expression on his face.
Glancing at the motionless Shadow Saint, he turned away.
"That's enough for today… Ah, what a long day. I think I'll go to sleep now."
Leaving the Soul Sea, he stood silently for a few minutes, then slowly walked to his bed and fell on it. Dismissing the Puppeteer's Shroud, Sunny wrapped himself in the blanket and closed his eyes.
He was so tired.