Everything having to do with Sleepers was situated in the same building. Sunny followed the instructions sent to his communicator and quickly found the dormitories, which were situated on one of the lowest levels. To his surprise, he actually got a whole room to himself.
It had a bed with a soft mattress, a table, a dresser, and even a separate bathroom! The materials were new and aesthetically pleasing, the air crisp and sterile. It was warm inside, and the outer wall was equipped with a hidden screen that seamlessly imitated a wide window, opening to a picturesque vista of a snowy park.
There were even several sets of clothes with the Academy emblem provided to him for free.
'How extravagant,' Sunny thought, a little stunned.
Rationally, he understood that such an arrangement was not really luxurious. However, to him, who grew up wandering the outskirts, this room was like a palace. He scratched his head.
'Looks like… I've made it?'
Sunny glanced around, then winked at his shadow and smiled.
"I guess we're moving up in the world, huh?"
The shadow didn't respond, apparently not very impressed. Perhaps it didn't care about such things.
'Whatever what would a shadow know about things like this your useless.'
Sunny changed into new clothes and studied himself in the mirror. Then, remembering something, he summoned the runes.
Memory: [Puppeteer's Shroud].
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Tier: VII
Memory Type: Armor.
Memory Description: [A worm of doubt once found its way into a righteous Overlord's heart. With time, the Overlord was devoured from inside and became its puppet. A lifetime later, the Puppeteer Worm escaped from the Overlord's dead body, leaving behind a cacoon of black silk. No one knows where it went; however, once people dared to approach the silent castle, they found the silk among the mountains of gnawed bones and fashioned it into an armor.]
Sunny made a sour face.
'That is not that terrifying. Yeah. I'm not creeped out at all.'
Come to think of it, If he were to assume that Mountain Prince's was a premature worm and the Mountain King and Queen was the mature version did that mean the overlord was the moth?
With a sigh, he summoned the Puppeteer's Shroud. Thin black threads immediately appeared around his body and wrapped it into a set of armor. It was made of dark-gray, soft fabric with several elements, such as bracers and shoulder guards, fashioned out of black, lusterless leather.
The armor was light, understated and did not restrain his movements at all. It also made no sound when he moved. Perfect equipment for someone who likes to lurk in the shadows!
Sunny smiled. He knew that this armor would be tough to pierce for any Creature below the Awakened rank, which gave him a great advantage in dealing with all dormant monsters. He also felt a sort of strange, faint calmness while wearing it.
'A worm of doubt… does it have enhanced protection against mental attacks?'
Somehow, he was sure of it.
A great trophy! He wouldn't expect anything less from the Memory of a powerful titan!
The only problem was that the Puppeteer's Shroud was obviously not meant to be worn on top of a full set of clothes. Quite satisfied, Sunny dismissed it and left his room, heading for the cafeteria.
'Not bad, not bad,' he thought, recalling all the rewards he had received during and after the First Nightmare.
The supper turned out to be as lavish as the dormitory. Sunny's wish to taste real meat finally came true: not only was it freely available to Sleepers, there wasn't even a limit to the amount each of them could eat! More than that, there were rice, bread, various side dishes, sauces, fresh vegetables, fruits, and all kinds of delicious beverages.
'Extravagant!' Sunny thought, steering clear of the coffee.
After building a small mountain of food on his plate, he found an empty seat and, for a while, forgot about the world's existence. As juicy, textured, perfectly seasoned meat filled his mouth, Sunny's vision suddenly was full of stars. He had to hold back an exhilarated moan.
And to think, he could have lived like that for a whole year!
'Damn Spell… why didn't you infect me a few months ago?'
He concentrated on the food, decimating the whole plate in no time. Satiated and more than a little gorged, Sunny longingly looked back and thought about getting another serving. But it was already time for his appointment with the Academy personnel.
Full of regret, he stood up and left the cafeteria.
Soon, he found himself in a small office, sitting across from an administrative worker. The worker was very friendly, and started the interview right away.
Just like Master Jet had warned him, Sunny was offered psychological counseling again. Remembering her advice, he refused, and the interview smoothly switched to questions about his Aspect.
He didn't want to give up information about his abilities, but also knew that he had to tell the worker something. Luckily, the questions were worded in a way to put Sleepers at ease. As such, most of them started with nice and polite preambles like "would you like to tell me" or "if you're willing to share", which gave Sunny an opportunity to give neutral answers.
"Would you mind telling me about the type of Aspect Ability you received, as in combat, sorcery, utility?"
He did mind, but had to be careful.
"Uh, I'm pretty sure it's combat related."
"That's alright. Are you able to directly deal damage with your Ability?"
"Yes, it deals both soul and mind attacks which I'm pretty sure lasts forever unless i run out of essence."
"Oh wow, that's pretty strong are you willing on telling us about your other abilities like your dormant ability and maybe your attributes?"
"I won't speak of my attributes but ill speak about my dormant ability."
"Well could you share it to me?"
"It's basically immortality but i won't tell what fuels it."
Things went on like that. In the end, Sunny shared just enough information to create an impression his aspect is between supreme to sacred rank but sunny never clarified and didn't talk about his attributes.
"Last question after this your free to go, Do you have a true name and could you please tell me?"
"Indeed i do have a true name, it's Mad Prince but you can always just say Prince Of Madness."
After that, he returned to his room, undressed, and went to sleep.
Sunny thought that falling asleep for the first time after the Nightmare would be weird, but in fact, it was surprisingly easy. Lying on a soft mattress, with his skin against clean bedsheets and a fluffy pillow under his head, he slept like a baby.
***
Early in the morning, Sunny washed up in his private bathroom and, bursting with energy, hurried to get breakfast in a happy mood.
The cafeteria was a bit crowded. After filling his plate with all kinds of delicious stuff, he quickly realized that the only place he could sit was near the blind girl from yesterday. Her table was empty, since no one wanted to be close to her.
He was invited to seat with the others that knew of him but he politely declined and continued to make his way towards Cassia in their minds he was just talking to her because he felt bad for her in reality Sunny didn't want to go to them because it was way to crowded and he needed space.
He also felt uncomfortable in the company of someone who was practically a dead person, but there wasn't much of a choice.
Losing his good mood, he sat at the blind girl's table and gave a percursory nod to the social worker who was helping her get around. After that, he tried to pretend that they didn't exist and concentrated on his food.
However, before he could finish, a sudden commotion drew his attention.
"What's going on?"
He looked up and noticed that a lot of Sleepers were gathered around the large screen hanging on the wall of the cafeteria, their faces filled with excitement and awe. On the screen, a list of names was displayed, ranking the new batch of Sleepers from weakest to strongest, most likely deduced from the results of the interviews.
His name was at the very top of the list next to it was his true name [Mad Prince] and below him was surprisingly the silver — haired girl from yesterday with the true name [Changing Star] and her name was Nephis.
Not particularly interested about the rankings. He turned away back to his food after seeing the blind girl was at the very bottom of the list to well nobody's surprise.
However the other sleepers eyes were changing from his direction mainly his and the other girl Nephis they were restless always murming it was somewhat annoying but sunny continued to eat.
"How… how can this be?!"
"I'm not seeing things, right?"
"What kind of a monster are those two?!"
Caster was placed in third place. And right above him, the portrait of the silver-haired girl could be clearly seen and above those two was sunny and for some reason the top three had their abilities on display well not exactly just the vague description they gave.
"What the actual fuck immortality seriously isn't that too much even for a sleeper and come on soul and mind attacks it's almost like the spell favors him more than others?!"
Sunny just ate through the commotion picking every tasty food while ignoring everything else happening.
Soon enough the blind girl cassia spoke up.
"Sunny, what's with the commotion?"
"Just the rankings nothing important."
The blind girl just nodded and continued eating her food.
So, the silver-haired girl, Nephis, also received a True Name in her First Nightmare. To get his own, Sunny had to deal with Hero and ten Mountain royalty while possessing a completely useless Aspect — an impossible feat that seemed to have pleased the Spell very much.
'I wonder how she had gotten hers, it's gotta be as tough as my nightmare right? Right?'
Sleepers in the cafeteria were struck dumb by the revelation of this achievement. They were staring at the screen with astonishment, fear and admiration. Listening to their excited whispers.
Sunny didn't care about them and looked at more food options sunny was basically drooling not literally just in his mind.
Looking around, he noticed Caster's gaze fixed on the screen. There was a strange, somber expression on the humorous young man's face. But the weird thing about it was that, as far as Sunny could tell, Caster wasn't looking at the line of text containing the True Name.
Instead, he was staring at the line of text that read "Nephis", as though the girl's actual name held more meaning to him than the one given by the Spell he was also staring at sunnys line of text but he paid more attention to hers.
'Interesting. Do they know each other?'
Why would a lofty Legacy know someone who came to the Academy in a police-issued tracksuit? And speaking of Nephis… where was she?
Sunny glanced around the cafeteria and quickly noticed the silver-haired girl, who was sitting quietly in a corner with a cup of coffee in her hands. She wasn't paying a lot of attention to the commotion, seemingly immersed in her thoughts. Her grey eyes were serious and distant.
"Two Sleeper with a True Name? That's impossible!"
"It's technically possible. Smile of Heaven received her True Name in the First Nightmare, I think. But yeah, I'm doubtful…"
"Maybe they lied in the interview?"
"Are you stupid you really think sunny that humble kind man would lie if anything it's more probable that girl was the one too lie."
"Your right sunny would never lie but why would his true name be [Mad Prince] that's completely off — character for someone so kind and gentle he looks like the type to cry if he killed a butterfly."
"Well have you heard of his first nightmare well he probably lied and hid some parts but if we thought of the worst scenario that could have happened perhaps he went insane during that nightmare and before that he was actually a kind — hearted person.
... That last line is completely a lie through and through because after his sister rain got adopted sunny started ruthlessly killing other people just for shit — and — giggles it was entertaining even though it wasn't supposed to maybe they were right maybe in an alternative timeline i was perhaps a happy out — going person and maybe i didn't have to deceit and manipulate others.
What went wrong why did he have to kill others to survive maybe sunny killed other people not to entertain and survive but maybe he wanted to die, he killed others to have enemies so that he would die that's probably the most self — ish decision he has made in his life but was he going to admit that... Maybe later on in life he can't bring himself to answer that dreadful truth yet.
Soon enough he forgot this internal monologue and continued eating.
"Well, why don't we just ask them ourselves?"
Suddenly, there was a deafening silence in the cafeteria. Following the suggestion, Sleepers stopped talking and turned around, staring at both Sunny and Nephis. However, no one seemed to have the courage to approach them just yet.
Sunny didn't react and just continued eating away his internal problems away.
Finally sensing something, she raised her eyes and looked at them with surprise.
"Mmm. What?"
Even the blind girl, Cassia, turned in the direction of her voice.
After a couple of moments, Caster suddenly walked over and made a small bow.
"Lady Nephis. I am Caster from the Han Li clan. I see that your trial went well?"
'Lady? Why is he addressing her that way? And he had to introduce himself… so, they don't know each other? Interesting.'
Nephis seemed to be a little bit perplexed by the question. After thinking for a while, she smiled brightly and shrugged.
"It is what it is."
Caster awkwardly returned the smile.
"I see. I am very glad that you returned unharmed. Uh… not that I doubted your abilities."
Nephis nodded.
"Thank you."
After that, she returned to her coffee, indicating that the conversation was over or simply oblivious to everyone's attention.
Sunny sighed.
'How mysterious.'
There were a lot of thoughts on his mind. However, none of them could distract him from the most important thing… breakfast. A few seconds later, he had forgotten all about the awkward dynamic between Caster and Nephis and was happily shoveling down his food.
But to his utter horror caster started approaching Sunny, everyone looked at Caster and Sunny even the aloof Nephis was slightly intrigued because who wouldn't be Sunny was probably and is the strongest sleeper around.
"Hello, Uhh, Sir Sunless or Mad Prince how would you like me to address you?"
Sunny almost didn't respond but that was mainly because he had food in his mouth which he pointed at which made them a little impatient but didn't respond.
"My friends call me Sunny so you can call me Sunny or are we not?"
"Of course we are, i just wanted to congratulate you, you also never said you had immortality when we asked about your aspect?"
"You never really asked about it and im not really the type to boast about things like that you know?"
"We see, well i obviously just wanted to congratulate you, say which class are you going to anyways?"
"Im going to wilderness survival class, unlike you guys im not part of a clan and never had proper training i am from the slums."
Everyone gasped in shock clearly not having known of that but everyone quickly got over it because well he is nice and kind and because he could easily kill them quickier than any nightmare creature could and also because his basically identityless meaning once the great clans hears of someone of such strength they would quickly fight over him and if they recruit him in their cohorts they could have direct connections with the great clans.
Caster immediately went away while typing on his communicator sunny paid them zero attention and continued to eat.
***
The Wilderness Survival classroom was spacious, tastefully decorated… and completely empty. Sunny even thought that he was mistaken, but then spotted a gloomy instructor sitting behind a wide wooden desk. Noticing him, the instructor perked up.
"Come in, young man!"
He was a lively old man with messy grey hair, absentminded eyes and a pair of bushy eyebrows that seemed to jump around on their own.
"I'm Awakened Julius. You can call me Teacher Julius. Sit down, sit down! What's your name?
Sunny obediently sat down.
"It's Sunless."
Julius raised his eyebrows.
"Ah! What an ominous name. But that is good, very good. After all, we have to deal with a lot of ominous things!"
Sunny carefully looked around.
"Uh… I'm sorry, Teacher. Did I come too early?"
"Yes you are sunless almost fifteen minutes early please wait for a while alright?"
'oh wow fifteen minutes early gosh i lost my perception of time jeez.'
Soon enough students started pouring inside the classroom to sunnys surprise he was pretty sure they were legacies meaning they already have experience in these type of stuff.
He was pretty sure they were here not for the class itself but for sunny talk of the entire academy and he was pretty sure words has already been released about a slum rat that placed top one in the entire academy.
Professor julius looked ecstatic seeing so many students unbeknownst to him they weren't here for him they were here for sunny even nephis was there probably as curious as the others.
'Jeez looks like i need to learn extreme fast or else they might laugh at me and i really don't want that happening.'
"Alright start of class."
Sunny immediately looked at professor julius yet the others didn't their eyes were focusing on sunny probably gauging his current knowledge.
"Say, young man your the first to come here so ill ask you this… why did you choose Wilderness Survival, of all things?"
There was no point in hiding the true reason. Not that Sunny would have been able to anyway…
"The Awakened that monitored me during the First Nightmare, Master Jet, had advised me to study it above all things."
"A very wise advice! That Master truly knows what's important… wait. Did you say Jet?"
His eyes widened.
"Soul Reaper Jet? That murderous savage?! Hm. Who would have thought that a barbarian like her would know the value of intricate knowledge."
Soul Reaper? Sunny's curiosity was picked.
"Teacher, do you know Master Jet?"
Julius carefully looked behind his back before answering:
"Who doesn't know the Soul Reaper? She might not be the most powerful Awakened out there, but she is certainly one of the most feared. That's because her Aspect Abilities disregard flesh and target soul cores directly. Which means that no amount of armor, damage resistance and physical protection can stop them."
'I can do that too you know, hmph.'
He leaned forward.
"The only good thing is that she's young and not likely to become a Saint anytime soon, or even ever. Yes, luckily, there's a very low probability that she'll ever advance."
Sunny blinked.
"Why?"
Julius looked at him as though trying to comprehend how someone could be so ignorant.
"Because of her problematic personality, of course! Who would want to help a psychopathic killer become a Saint? You need a team of outstanding companions and a lot of support to attempt conquering the Third Nightmare. Soul Reaper Jet isn't… wait!"
Suddenly, Julius frowned and leaned back.
"Why am I gossiping with you? You're too young to know such things! More than that, it's not in my character to badmouth others behind their backs!
'I would beg to differ,' Sunny thought sarcastically, but didn't say anything out loud.
He already got a lot of juicy information out of Teacher Julius.
'Maybe choosing Wilderness Survival was the right choice after all.'
"Let's get back to your curriculum. What other courses are you taking?"
Sunny sighed he really wanted to see the other students fight but he didn't really want to dis — hearten master jet so said that he should stay in wilderness survival but he gained a brilliant idea.
"Hmm ill take only one class in combat training to see if it's worth it or not if it is worth attending then ill most likely just split my classes 50/50 and if it is not worth attending then ill pay all my attention here."
Sunny just noticed the murmurs of the students behind him.
"Gosh, i wonder how strong he is?"
"Then we should really try our very best in combat training if he does stay that would mean fighting against someone skilled and knows how to fight."
"My dad ran a background check on him apparently he has killed hundreds of people from the slums but the reasons weren't identified."
"He probably just did it out of self — defense he could never kill just because he could."
Sunny listened to their words knowing his plan worked nicely and it seemed they didn't notice his murderous aura and his dark eyes that seemed to absorb all light except for people that could actually find it mainly being nephis and probably caster.
Professor julius looked even more ecstatic he was extremely gleeful.
"Wonderful! This is wonderful! You're such an astute young man! Don't you worry. In four whole weeks, I will make you immortal…
"I already am..."
"What?"
Sunny just smiled tilting his head.
"Nothinggg..."
***
Sunny's lessons with Teacher Julius started pleasantly and without much tension, but just an hour later, he felt like his head was ready to explode. There was so much new information, and all of it was so strange and counterintuitive for someone who had never left the walled-off, sheltered confines of the city.
From time to time, Julius gaped at Sunny's lack of knowledge and relevant experience. However, he had a good attitude and an endless enthusiasm for teaching. Whenever Sunny stumbled, he would patiently slow down and allow his student to catch up.
The curriculum that Julius planned out was practically insane. There was an endless amount of theoretical knowledge to learn, practical lessons both in virtual reality and the real world, numerous subjects and weird things to study. There were even several lessons dedicated exclusively to learning the basics of several dead languages of the Dream Realm!
'Why would I need to learn new languages?' Sunny thought with self-pity. 'The Spell automatically translates everything!'
But Julius was uncompromising.
"The Spell is not a translator! Do you think it has the time to express the intricacies of human speech? Let's say you're seeking shelter in a ruin and find an inscription that reads "certain death ahead". There are thirty words for death in the rune language! Just by knowing the runes, you'll be able to deduce what kind of danger there is!"
'Yep like there's going to be any signs saying that... Or would there be who knows?
On the first day, they studied until the four hours were up and sunny had to go to the combat training lectures.
While changing clothes for the next class sunny stared at his shadow.
"You and i are going to check everything you can do later..."
***
Sometime later sunny was sitting comfortably on the floor with the other sleepers they were obviously looking at sunny with badly hidden curiousity i mean who wouldn't want to be next to such a legendary figure.
Today was mainly dedicated to testing their general competency and abilities. After that, the Sleepers were going to be separated into groups based on their level, such as novice, advanced or expert, as well as their weapon of choice. Some would be assigned a personal tutor or paired together.
Currently, Sleepers were taking turns delivering their strongest punches to a wide plate attached to a special measuring machine. After each strike, the machine would display a number corresponding to the Sleeper's physical strength.
In theory, a machine like that was not hard to build. However, considering that many of Sleepers had combat-oriented Aspects that enhanced their might in a variety of ways, it was actually a marvel of engineering and durability.
Their technique and training also affected the final result.
Most people were getting numbers ranging from ten to fourteen. It was considered a good result, something that only the most athletic people could reach. However, a lot of Sleepers, obviously those with enhancing Aspects, were able to achieve a score of fifteen or even sixteen.
Sunny was incredibly bored out of his mind.
The slender girl approached the machine and, without much preparation, delivered a sudden, crushing blow. Sunny wasn't very well-versed in martial arts, but even he was impressed by the flawless economy and speed of her execution.
'She had a lot of training.'
Nephis was becoming more and more intriguing. What's her actual background?
After a short pause, the machine displayed the result: sixteen. Sunny felt a bit disappointed.
'Not that impressive. I was expecting more.'
She was the proud bearer of a True Name, after all!
After that, only Caster remained. This time, Sunny couldn't even see the flying fist — it was just too fast. The machine trembled and took more time calculating. Finally, two numbers appeared.
Twenty-one.
Everyone gaped at the display, stunned. More than a few admiring looks were thrown at Caster, who simply bowed and took a step back. Instructor Rock smiled.
"Student sunless come forward."
Everyone was looking at sunny which made him incredibly nervous what if he gets a terrible score and [The Shadow] Attribute wasn't activated and [Madness incarnate] wasn't working well because even though sunny was insane and mad constantly he was constantly thinking about rain so he was surprisingly calm.
He positioned himself perfectly to deal a perfect blow which everyone was surprised in what they were seeing because in their eyes sunny probably didn't have too much proper training.
So punching with all his might and built up madness everyone felt his murderous aura which made everyone including an awakened back off he punched with so much feriousity they felt the after affects the punch was so smooth and fast only the stronger sleepers and awakened barely saw it and the score left them even more shocked.
One hundred And seventy. (170)
Everyone gasped except for the awakened who just looked impressed.
"Good job, you reached highest possible score. Now, we will be moving into sparring and evaluate your general level of training. I need two volunteers to begin."
Nephis was the first to step forward and walk to the center of the ring. A couple of seconds later, a tall and extremely muscular Sleeper followed and faced her.
"The rules are simple. Make your opponent's back touch the floor or throw them out of the ring. Use whatever abilities and techniques you find appropriate."
'Oh, the show is starting!'
Watching Sleepers fight each other was not only entertaining, but could also provide Sunny with knowledge of their powers. Back in the room, he leaned forward and rested his chin on his palms.
'Go Nephis!'
The tall guy attacked without wasting any time. His muscles bulged, threatening to tear the soft fabric of his white dobok. He advanced like an unstoppable mountain, sending a vicious kick flying.
… A second later, he was lying on the floor with a dumbstruck look on his face. Nephis didn't even change her stance.
Instructor Rock gave her a cheerful look and grinned.
"Next."
What followed could only be described as a massacre. One after another, Nephis managed to defeat almost every single Sleeper present in the dojo. She didn't seem to be faster or stronger than them, but each time someone entered the ring to fight her, they would inevitably end up beaten and thrown to the ground.
Sunny watched the process with a growing sense of amusement.
Nephis moved with the calm precision of a battle machine. Her technique was clean, graceful and ruthless. No matter what type of attack was thrown at her, she was able to either predict or instantly react to it, then deflect and turn it against the attacker with the minimum amount of effort.
It didn't matter whether her opponent was poor, rich or a Legacy. Everyone would end up dealt with in a matter of seconds.
What's more, through the whole process, the composed expression on her face didn't even change once. It was like Nephis was made out of metal.
'Is… is she even human?' Sunny thought
Finally, Caster was the last one remaining — once again. However, he didn't seem to be perturbed by the miserable failure of every other Sleeper. With a soft smile on his lips, the young man stepped into the ring.
Caster and Nephis faced each other. Their eyes locked for a few seconds, and then Caster slightly bowed.
"Lady Nephis. Please excuse me in advance."
'What is he going to...'
… A moment later, Sunny opened his eyes in shock.
It seemed like Caster suddenly ceased to exist.
However, it was only an illusion. The truth was that he was just moving so fast that the human eye wasn't able to keep up with his movements. Sadly for him he could see caster perfectly.
In a fraction of a second, Caster covered the distance between him and Nephis and delivered a devastating blow. However, despite his astonishing speed, she somehow managed to react in time, slightly turning her body to deflect the strike.
But it still wasn't enough. Although Nephis had managed to avoid being hit squarely in her center of gravity, Caster's fist ended up connecting with her shoulder, sending the girl into a spin.
Not wasting any time, Caster disappeared again. His plan was very simple: while Nephis was still under the impression that the enemy was in front of her, he was going to use his unnatural swiftness to circle around and attack from the back.
The young man appeared behind the oblivious girl, ready to finish the fight with one decisive strike. Just as he planned, she seemed to be preparing to attack in the direction he had been seen just a split second ago. Gratified, Caster shifted his weight, putting it all into his fist.
However, at the last moment, Nephis suddenly changed her stance and threw her elbow back with frightening force.
Caster's eye widened. It was all a feint!
And now that he had committed to a strike, there was no simple way to stop. No matter how fast he was, he was still subject to the laws of inertia. The elbow was approaching his face with a profound feeling of inevitability.
And yet, Caster still managed to avoid it, even if it was just by a hair's breadth. His speed advantage was just too big.
He then proceeded to trip and push Nephis, sending her flying to the ground. However, just before she was about to his the mats, the young man carefully grabbed the collar of her dobok and gently pulled, slowing down the fall and allowing Nephis to land on the floor without any impact.
Lying on her back, the girl blinked a couple of times and looked up at him. The whole altercation lasted no more than two seconds
It was now sunnys turn to fight even though he only wanted to fight nephis caster was good enough.
Sunny just smiled at caster and stretched abit.
"Please go easy on me sunny."
Sunny just chuckled but mid chuckle caster immediately attacked but sunny just dodged while laughing.
It was simply horrifying seeing how easy he was toying with caster while he was using full speed.
Sunny just kept dodging finding casters torment his amusement.
Sunny immediately used his superior speed to tail behind caster without him noticing.
He was flabbergasted when sunny dissapeared he was also getting laughed at which almost destroyed his perfect poker face.
Suddenly he felt a tap behind his back but when he turned around he saw nothing.
Sunny got bored and decided to end the match by tripping caster and mid — trip turning him around for caster to see sunny behind him.
"Good match."
Sunny said while smiling brightly.
Everyone was gawking at sunny who wasn't paying them any attention already more bored than his time in the wilderness survival class with professor julius.
***
After that, the introductory combat class was over. Sore from the beating they received, Sleepers headed for the showers. Sunny went along even though he could have just went to his own room he wanted some information.
Just as he had expected, the young man was surrounded by a group of newly converted fans. They were congratulating him on his victory, full of adoration and excitement. However, Caster himself seemed to be in a bad mood. His expression was somber, and there was a grim heaviness in his eyes.
In fact, his face grew darker with each praise he received.
They weren't going to sunny because he said he didn't have enough social battery for a long talk so they just congratulated caster instead even though they didn't want to.
"Caster, that was incredible!"
"Your Aspect is overpowered, am I right?"
"Sunny was definitely also using his Aspect."
"Hey sunny you used your aspect right?"
But sunnys answer shocked them even more.
"I didn't use anything not even my attributes..."
They didn't speak trying to process everything.
"... Well anyways caster, why do you keep saying lady nephis what's so special about the peasan."
Finally, Caster raised his head and pierced the last boy who had spoken with a cold look. That boy, just like him, was one of the few Legacies in their batch of Sleepers.
"What is it?"
Caster gritted his teeth.
"I might have expected such behavior from them, but you should know better."
The other Legacy raised an eyebrow.
"Why? Is there something special about that peasant girl?"
Caster's eyes widened.
"Peasant… peasant girl? Do you really not know who she is?"
'No!' Sunny thought impatiently. 'So just get to it and say it out loud!'
Luckily, the arrogant Sleeper had the same sentiment.
Caster opened his mouth several times, as though not sure what to say. Finally, he shook his head and answered:
"She is Nephis of the Immortal Flame clan."
As soon as he said that, the arrogant Legacy became deathly pale. Not paying him any attention, Caster continued.
"I trust that I don't need to tell you about her grandfather. Her parents were Smile of Heaven and Broken Sword."
Even he knew who Immortal Flame and Broken Sword were. The former was the first human to conquer the Second Nightmare and become a Master. The latter — the first one to conquer the Third Nightmare and become a Saint.
They, as well as their companions, were among the most famous heroes of the human race, someone who had managed to change history with their own two hands. If what Caster said was true, then Nephis wasn't just an aristocrat… she was royalty!
No wonder he addressed her as "lady". Why didn't he just call her "princess" instead?
But that didn't make any sense!
Echoing his thoughts, the pale-faced Sleeper asked in trembling voice:
"Then why… why is she so…"
Caster sighed.
"Because they're all dead. The Immortal Flame clan is long gone."
For a few moments, the locker room was completely silent. Caster looked down.
"She's the only one left."
***
Everyone was both in their rooms probably asleep already but sunny wasn't he was staring at his shadow intensely.
"Let's test what your gloomy ass can do."
(Anything beyond this is pretty much useless don't read it unless your really bored and want to re — read "Changing Star" chapter!)
Sunny was pretty sure that his shadow was capable of much more than just being a silent follower. After all, the Spell had described it as being an invaluable helper. It was now up to him to find out how exactly Shadow Control could be of help.
As in many other matters having to do with Aspects, there was a certain level of instinctual understanding buried deep inside his subconscious. This understanding was either given to him by the Spell or was something innate to every Awakened. Sunny just had to sense the subconscious knowledge and learn how to put it into practice.
Once again, he concentrated on sensing his body and spirit, then commanded the shadow to perform a series of simple motions. With each of them, he was growing more and more familiar with the feeling of controlling the shadow.
Pretty soon, it was as natural to him as breathing and walking. The shadow felt like a part of his body.
Satisfied with this initial result, Sunny carefully gave it a new command. Without pause, the shadow separated itself from the soles of his shoes, walked to the other end of the room and turned around, staring at him in slightly mocking silence.
Sunny was left without a shadow.
'This is not scientific at all,' he thought with an amused smile.
Science never really applied to anything having to do with the Spell, after all.
As the shadow walked away, he felt a very weird split happening in his mind. It was like his perception had separated into two distinct sources. One was his body, the other — his shadow.
With a bit of trying, he managed to focus on the second source. Instantly, his vision blurred.
"Whoa!" Sunny blurted, surprised.
"Whoa!" the shadow heard from the other end of the room.
Sunny blinked. In his mind, there now existed two pictures. One was of his room's door, with an indifferent shadow standing in front of it. The other was of a pale young man sitting on a chair, wide-eyed and bewildered.
'That's me.'
He raised an arm and waved it in the air. Simultaneously, the pale young man raised and waved his.
'I can perceive the world through my shadow?'
He sat for a while, thinking. An ability like that opened up a lot of possibilities. With his [Child of Shadows] attribute allowing him to see and move stealthily in the darkness with a boost in his physical capabilities and senses and [Shadow Control] allowing him to send out a sneaky shadow as a scout, he was pretty much a perfect spy.
A spy was someone who gathered information without exposing themselves to a lot of risk. A role like that suited Sunny's taste very much. Than being a mindless barbarian who only knew how to fight.
Of course, spies were also able to strike from the shadows with deadly precision. Armed with information, they were masterful ambushers. With the prior knowledge of the opponent's weaknesses, their attacks were surgical and lethal.
'Shall we test it?'
He looked at the shadow and gave it a command. With an exaggerated sigh, the shadow bent down and nimbly slid under the door.
Instantly, he could see both the room and the hallway outside. Sunny closed his eyes to focus on the picture projected from the shadow.
Moving stealthily from one shadow to another, it glided down the hallway. With a bit of timing and consideration, his scout was practically invisible. Sunny passed by a couple of Sleepers and listened in on their conversation. Not finding it very interesting, he continued forward.
Finally, the shadow stopped at a corner. To its left were the elevators, to its right — the way to the girls' dormitory.
All sorts of provocative images immediately entered Sunny's head.
'Oh my!'
he thought, blushing.
Yes, with this ability, it was also very easy to fall into utter depravity! But no, no. He couldn't do it. Not because of some high moral principles…
It's just that, with his reputation of a kind humble man, the chances of being asked if he had done something unbecoming were pretty low even then sunny kinda liked having a good reputation.
'So… I probably shouldn't. Right?'
Right?
'Of course you're right! Don't even think about it!'
Sunny ordered the shadow to get back in his room, Sunny sighed with a lot of regret. He also destroyed his dignity.