Sunny made his way through the Forbidden area of the castle. As long as he stuck near the shadows, he was near undetectable thanks to Shadow's lineage.
He snuck into the hall and calmly walked towards the lantern in the middle. Armor, weapons, and other trinkets lined the walls, then he felt someone approach him with an axe in their hand. Sunny put his hands up as a gesture of peace.
"Who are you and why are you here," said Stev.
"I…am a friend," said Sunny, well maybe a stretch but apparently close enough for his flaw.
In the same breath Sunny took out a Transcendent Shard with one motion. Stev's eyes flicker down and then realizing the potency of the shard the grew bigger.
"Is that…how-" Stev stammered.
"It is. I was thinking that I could give this to you and then I could take one item from here," said Sunny with a calm but dangerous smile.
"I…well I guess that is fine," Stev said. "But I can veto you if your request is unreasonable."
"Of course," said Sunny.
He handed him the shard and then pretended to browse the various pieces of armor and weapons in the hall. Finally, he made his way over to the [Mantle of the Underground].
Just like before it was dusty and in the corner forgotten. Eyeing up the onyx armor he pointed at it.
"Can I do that one," he asked.
"Are you sure you want that one. I mean it looks fearsome, but it really isn't one of our more valuable memories." said Stev confused as to why the stranger was offering a transcendent shard for a memory he couldn't manage to sell.
"I'm sure. I like black," Sunny said simply.
'What the hell does Noctis knoow anyways,' he thought.
Shaking his head Stev transferred the memory.
[You have received a Memory: [Mantle of the Underground].
"Pleasure doing business with you," said Sunny as he strolled out the hall.
"...Yeah you too." said Stev bewildered.
Sunny once again kept to the shadows as he slipped out of the castle. It was unlikely that anyone would remember him. After all he arrived with stunning two girls, and while he was keeping himself much more well groomed this time around, he had made sure to stick to the shadows ever since arriving so as to go unnoticed.
Entering the Dark City, Sunny stretched his two arms above his head. He could barely contain his excitement wrapping both Gloomy and Happy around him he used the significant boost to climb up onto the roof of one of the nearby buildings.
Even if it wasn't the most shadow rich environment, people seldom looked up. Dismissing the [Puppeteers Shroud] while simultaneously equipping the [Mantle of the Underworld], Sunny let his essence flow through the memory to repair it. After a few seconds, he was encased in a familiar set of Onyx armor.
Sunny pulled up the runes:
Memory: [Mantle of the Underworld].
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: VI.
Memory Type: Armor.
Memory Description: [Vowing to never look upon the Goddess of the Black Skies again, the prideful demon retreated into the darkness beneath an unassailable mountain chain. He wasn't the first to lead his army against the gods. However, he was the first to shed their blood, as well as learn the secrets of his own.]
[Living Stone] Attribute Description: "This armor can repair itself while being worn."
[Feather of Truth] Attribute Description: "The weight of this armor can be changed at will."
[Stalwart] Attribute Description: "This armor provides extremely high protection against physical attacks, high protection against elemental attacks, and a moderate amount of protection against mind and soul attacks."
[Underworld Armament] Attribute Description: "This armor can accommodate a Charm Memory to inherit and enhance its enchantments."
[Prince of the Underworld] Attribute Description: "This armor grows stronger according to the amount of opponents its wielder defeats."
Vanquished Foes: [1213/6000].
He smiled, only about five-thousand wins left. He continued to hop from building to building making his way over to a wide square in the Dark City.
Sunny remained perched on the roof of a nearby building looking down at the empty Square. There wasn't a sign of the Stone Saints or the Iron Spiders. Sunny assumed that either the Stone Saints hadn't completely taken dominion over the square yet, but figured that they were at least nearby.
Sunny dismissed his helmet and then got up and steeled his eyes. Raising his arms out to the side, Sunny took a deep breath and then exhaled as he jumped off the roof. Simultaneously, he clapped his hands to draw the attention of any nearby nightmare creatures.
He landed gracefully near the middle of the square, and let his hands drop to his sides. Sunny heard a loud clamoring of movement all around him, and his lips curved up into a small smile. A black odachi with silver accents appeared in his hand.
"Here they come…" he said.
Surrounding him from his front, left, and back, were six Stone Saints. On the right side appeared two bigger, grotesque centipede creatures, which appeared to be fallen beasts.
Saint was positioned to Sunny's front left. Making a decision, Sunny dashed to the Centipede on his right that was closer to the front.
With a screech the Centipede that he charged went after him as well. Empowered by Gloomy and Happy, and more confident with the [Mantle of the Underworld], Sunny at the last moment drop to his knees to avoid the attack, simultaneously delivering a blow to the Centipede's side.
Using shadow sense, Sunny registered the rest of the square as he caught the Centipede's swinging pincer with his odachi. Four of the Stone Saints had engaged the other Centipede while Saint and the other one circled Sunny and the other Centipede waiting for the result of the duel.
While Sunny was confident that he could likely beat, or at least escape, all the creatures in the Square even if they all decided to attack him, he preferred that the other battle went on for a little bit so as to weaken the other combatants.
After about a minute of parrying and occasionally striking the Centipede, Sunny activated the [Feather of Truth] enchantment and leapt up spinning in the air and slicing its head off clean. Saint and the other Stone Warrior that were watching his fight went to strike him.
[You have slain an Fallen Beast, Dark Centipede.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
The odachi blurred into a spear as Sunny thrust it through the visor of the first stone warrior.
[You have slain an awakened monster, Stone Saint.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
Saints slowed her approach slightly, but continued to walk forward shield raised and sword at the ready. Sunny change the spear back into a sword, but not an odachi the kind of sword that Saint was holding. Sunny mirrored her taking up her stance, the two faced each other.
Sunny wanted to give her a proper duel. As they exchanged blows, Sunny felt her tenacity and determination. Saint struck out at Sunny, but he stepped towards her and with his left arm grabbed her wrist. With his left arm he pulled her towards him and with his right his sword struck true to her torso dealing a lethal blow.
Saint staggered and fell to one knee as Sunny turned around to face her. The two crimson gems that sat in her visor stared back at him as the flames inside slowly died out.
[You have slain an awakened monster, Stone Saint.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
''Come on!' thought Sunny.
[You have received an Echo: Stone Saint.]
Sunny inwardly felt immense relief. After all, he was not promised the same rewards of his past life.
He then turned to the other battle. One Stone Saint had fallen.
[You have slain an awakened monster, Stone Saint.]
[You have slain a fallen beast, Dark Centipede.]
[You have slain an awakened monster, Stone Saint.]
[You have slain an awakened monster, Stone Saint.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
A few days later Sunny was looking at a memory after catapulting on top of the dark Cathedral.
Memory: [Prowling Thorn].
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Tier: II.
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [This flying dagger is as unpredictable and fickle as the affection of a young beauty, but, perhaps, not as deadly.]
Memory Enchantments: [Rose of Betrayal].
Enchantment Description: [The Prowling Thorn is connected to its wielder by an invisible string. This string is strong but mercurial - just like the treacherous bond of sentimental attachment.]
He had only gained a couple memories since he started to hunt in the Dark city. All of which he planned to feed to Saint besides the [Prowling Thorn]. Shadow step would make it much less useful, especially if it received a significant increase with his new lineage. But still Sunny enjoyed the added mobility in the Forgotten Shore.
Speaking of her, Sunny walked into his bedroom and called on his Shadow. Two crimson eyes burned as Saint emerged from his shadow dramatically. She looked just as she did in his previous life, dressed in lusterless black armor emitting an aura of oppressive calculation.
He looked at her runes:
Shadow: Stone Saint.
Shadow Rank: Awakened.
Shadow Class: Monster.
Shadow Attributes: [Battle Master], [Stalwart], [Spark of Divinity].
Shadow Description: [The Fate's Shadow remade his Saint in the cursed darkness of the Forgotten Shore.]
[Shadow Fragments: 0/200.]
He had yet to feed her any memories. There had been a more pressing issue. In fact, according to his shadow sense that issue was roaming the upper part of the cathedral as he thought about it. Unfortunately, it was on the same side as his bedroom so he would have to wait a few minutes.
Sunny crept to the bottom floor and summoned the [Dreadful Burden] as a bow. Without arrow memories the arrows were few in number and bore the power the the memory itself, but Sunny didn't need the arrow to hurt the Forsaken Knight. He nocked and arrow aiming it at a piece of the supporting architecture holding up part of the second floor.
He let it loose, striking the buttress true. The Forsaken Knight fell to the first floor disoriented and flat on the ground. Sunny was on it in a split second, the [Dreadful Burden] in the shape of the deadly jian and augmented by both shadows. The Forsaken Knight was a fallen devil as well as armored, Sunny was much stronger for the rematch but still needed the shadows full power on his offense.
Thankfully the sword landed on top the Forsaken Knight's breast plate, allowing Sunny to strike the sword while applying force downward. He lay siege to the Forsaken Knight's sword with a blitz of unending strikes without care for defense. On his left, Serpent was dedicating its sole focus to constricting and immobilizing it left arm. While on his right, Saint did the same to the right arm.
The Forsaken Knight's sword held for an impressive ten seconds under an all-out, no defense assault. Just like last time, the shadows of the cathedral boiled, however Sunny willed them back. Despite being a Sleeper, Sunny had experience wielding the Will of Sovereigns. If Sunny could quantify the amount of Will he could muster, the human mind would not be able to tell the difference between it and zero. Yet, as his source element the shadows in the cathedral did, they were after all weak when compared to the ancient shadows in the more harrowing part of the Death Zone.
Sunny called Serpent back and augmented his armor with his shadows, as the Forsaken Knight turned into a creature of darkness and rose to rip and tear Sunny and Saint. However, it's breast plate was already compromised and Sunny had used essence to test his earlier strikes so they could also hit the targets shadow, together Sunny and Saint viciously tore into it.
[You have slain a Fallen Devil, Forsaken Knight.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
[You have received a Memory: [Dark Drinker].
'Nice,' Sunny thought absently watching Saint.
She had the black gem in her fist, she glanced at Sunny who was looking at her proudly. Somewhat embarrassed from the attention she swallowed the gem and then disappeared into shadows.
Sunny summoned Serpent and they glanced at each other.
"Cute," said Sunny as Serpent cocked its head.
Sunny chuckled and checked his newest memory.
Memory: [Dark Drinker].
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: IV.
Memory Type: Charm.
Memory Description: [A Forsaken Knight served its goddess akin to how a shadow serves its master, this Knight unfortunately crossed paths with a shadow more dangerous than itself.]
Memory Enchantments: [Dark Appetite].
Enchantment Description: [This charm greatly enhances the wearer the more they are surrounded by shadow or true darkness. True darkness grants the most potent effect.]
Sunny grinned to himself. It was perfect. He had been annoyed at getting almost the same total amount of memories despite increasing his kills by over tenfold.
'Spell all is forgiven,' he thought.
Last time it took Saint a few weeks to evolve to the [Marble Saint]. Sunny assumed it would time right around when they would charge the spire.
Sunny put the [Dark Drinker] in the [Underworld Armament] and immediately felt stronger in the dark cathedral. He looked to the entrance to the basement wondering if he should go try to kick the door down with his enhanced strength.
He decided against it given that his next stop was exactly where the key was. Besides he wanted to discuss with Cassie if she should take the fearsome mask this time around.
Then he thought about his assault on the Knight. His essence was all but depleted, as a Sleeper Serpent did not grant him robust reserves, but he had gotten used to making it last. Empowering his strikes to hit shadows, however was draining. Sunny decided that it was best used once he got back to the waking world.
Cutting a creatures shadow dealt massive damage and was crippling, but it would also take Sunny out of any future fight for hours.
Sunny stepped out of the cathedral and started heading for the Dark City's eastern border. Casually slaying nightmare creatures on his way, Sunny finally made it to the lighthouse. Making his way inside, he commanded the [Dreadful Burden] to change into a form he seldom used.
He remembered using a Morning Star back when he was racking up wins in his previous life while fighting in the Dreamscape. A few of the combatants in the tournaments he fought had used the weapon, and he had made sure to practice with it over the past couple of days.
The reason he had chosen a Morning Star was because of the nature of the enemies he was about to face. He looked down at the narrow crevice and with a sigh jumped in.
He landed in the catacombs and immediately wrapped Gloomy around himself and Happy around the [Mantle of the Underworld].
Last time he was here they had been a group of eight. Even with eight combatants Sunny remembered having to face multiple skeletons at once. He figured that as he approached the chamber that held the Lord of the Dead, if he wasn't using a weapon suited for multiple combatants he would be overcome by sheer numbers.
He began his walk toward the heart of the catacombs. A skeleton emerged from the darkness almost immediately. He commanded the [Dreadful Burden] to shift into a flail and with a flick of his wrist the chain whipped out and destroyed it.
A Morning Star and a flail were similar enough that the [Dreadful Burden] simply adjusted the chain slightly rather than blurring into an entirely new weapon. This made it convenient for Sunny to maintain a deadly arc in a full three-hundred-and-sixty degree radius around him at all times.
Of course this strategy wouldn't work against ninety-nine percent of things within the Dream Realm. But here the skeletons' strength was not their might but their numbers.
Sunny started to run through the catacombs, maintaining the arc of the Morning Star around him while scanning with his shadow sense for the giant chasm.
Some time later Sunny found himself resting on a rooftop in the Dark City. He had been running through the catacombs for a little over an hour. He had managed to locate the giant chasm, however, whenever he reached a tunnel that drew close to it, the sheer number of skeletons forced him back. This had happened more than a few times before he began to tire and decided to surface and rework his strategy.
His original plan had been to charge straight to the giant chasm and take out the Lord of the Dead directly. He had already made the journey to touch the associated statue. He was plenty fast enough between the [Dark Drinker] empowered by the [Mantle of the Underworld] and augmented by Gloomy, speed in the catacombs was not the issue. Additionally, the [Mantle] ensured that any strike that got past the fury of his Morning Star wouldn't deal lasting damage.
In other words, the issue was his offense.
As he thought about whether there was a better weapon option he pulled up the [Dreadful Burden]'s runes.
His eyes widened.
Memory: [Dreadful Burden].
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Tier: V
Memory Description: [A child blessed and cursed by Fate was handed a dreadful burden in order to serve the purpose of the Nine. The child carried this burden without regard to their own feelings until they met a treacherous slave on a black mountain.]
Memory Enchantments: [Resolve], [Hero's Arsenal],[Fatebringer], [Loyalty].
[Resolve]
Enchantment Description: "This weapon gains strength the more its user is aligned with their internal feeling, unmoved by unwanted or unknown external influence."
[Hero's Arsenal]
Enchantment Description: "A hero must be proficient in all weaponry. This weapon can take any form of weapon the user desires."
[Fatebringer]
Enchantment Description: "This weapon brings both fateful enemies to its user and strikes at the Fate of the users enemies dealing all forms of damage."
[Loyalty]
Enchantment Description: "This weapon can be dismissed instantly from any distance and will be readied to be summoned back instantly."
[Vanquished Foes: 4128/5000]
That was considerably more than the number of nightmare creatures he had killed since the First Nightmare. He estimated that between the journey through the sea floor and his hunting in the past week in the Dark City he was at several hundred kills at most. That number was not over four thousand.
Then he realized. In the previous timeline he had only needed to win for it to count, not necessarily to get a kill. It was why he had trained in the Dreamscape.
And every time he destroyed a skeleton in the catacombs counted as a win. Given the nature of their weakness and the nature of his assault on them, he had been destroying one at least every second.
An expression of pure undisguised avarice appeared on his face.
He wasn't meeting back up with Cassie and Nephis for another two weeks. He had planned to spend most of that time hunting in the Dark City to make significant headway into forming his demon core. But perhaps the Lord of the Dead could enjoy another week resting undisturbed beneath the Dark City.
Sunny looked back at the catacomb entrance with the expression of a man who had just discovered that his tedious obligation was secretly also a gold mine.
'I can probably do about three runs a day while maintaining some hunting,' he thought.
He summoned Serpent and commanded it and his shadows to watch and wake him while he napped. A few hours later he stood up, cracked his neck, and jumped back down.
A few days later Sunny checked his runes before descending.
Shadow Fragments: [334/2000].
Even after the hundred he'd spent turning Saint into a Shadow, the Dark City had been generous. The streets above were awash with fallen creatures.
He then checked all his runes:
Name: Sunless.
True Name: Fate's Shadow.
Rank: Dreamer.
Shadow Core: Dormant.
Class: Monster.
Shadow Cores: [2/7].
Shadow Fragments: [334/2000].
Memories: [Silver Bell], [Dreadful Burden], [Puppeteer's Shroud], [Thief's Pocket], [Akhlut's Hide], [Shadow Lantern], [Prowling Thorn], [Dark Drinker].
Shadows: [Soul Serpent], [Stone Saint].
Attributes: [Fated], [Flame of Divinity], [Child of Shadows]. [The Shadow], [Marble Shell], [Dreadful Armament].
He admired the [Marble Shell] again. It was the same as before, the boon of augmenting both himself and the shell with his shadows was another multiplier on his power.
Attribute Traits: [Living Stone], [Feather of Truth], [Stalwart], [Underworld Armament], [Mantle], [Shell], [Bound].
The he moved to [Dreadful Armament], previously the [Dreadful Burden].
Attribute Traits: [Resolve], [Hero's Arsenal],[Fatebringer], [Loyalty], [Never Say Die], [Bound].
First, there was the new trait [Never Say Die] which functioned as it did after the first hurdle of vanquished foes.
[Never Say Die]
Trait Description: "The users wounds proportionally to the damage it deals. If the user is healthy, it restores essence at a reduced rate."
The life steal from [Never Say Die] was a huge boon allowing for Sunny to pick even bigger fights within the Dark City. As for the traits, [Resolve] and [Never Say Die] stayed active passively even if Sunny only fought with his hands. He half-hoped [Fatebringer] would allow him to augment his body with elemental damage but it did not unless he augmented it with essence into his gauntlets.
When he did summon a weapon the traits were all more powerful than before. He also found that [Hero's Arsenal] allowed for multiple of smaller weapons like knives and short blades. Additionally, [Fatebringer] permitted Sunny to channel essence to enhance it's already deadly all-kind damage by empowering a specific kind while keeping the others at there base level.
He then prepared to descend into the catacombs. Today, the Lord of the Dead's reign ended.
Upon entering the catacombs he assumed the same strategy, but with a slightly slowed pace. Rather than cutting through the skeleton clusters efficiently and moving on, he let some of them them follow. He figured that the Lord of the Dead could only command so many and by kiting the majority behind him the amount in front would lessen closer the the chasm. A long string of collapsed and reassembling skeletons trailing behind him through the passages like a terrible parade, drawn by his presence and his noise and his complete refusal to finish them quickly.
The result was that the passages near the giant chasm, which normally filled with recycled skeletons pouring out from the dark below, were considerably thinner than usual. He had drained them toward himself and away from his destination.
He exponentially quickened the pace leaving his parade behind and entering the chasm.
The mass of bones had no single body, but used hundreds. A mountain of bones. But Sunny remembered the core of amassed skulls and the maggot within.
Sunny wrapped both Gloomy and Happy around himself simultaneously, the [Marble Shell], [Dreadful Armament,] and [Dark Drinker] resonating with the deep catacomb dark in a way that made his presence feel considerably larger than his rank should have allowed. Sunny was truly a terrifying now with the combination of five significantly absurd augments along with his monster core. He estimated that even without Saint and Serpent, a healthy Nephis as she was like time at the top of the spire would give him a little trouble, but he would win.
The [Dreadful Armament] was again a spear. Sharp and balanced, the silver and black of it looked deadly in the catacomb's dimness. He felt the weight of it, the [Fatebringer] trait empowering it with the element of divine flames.
The spear struck the maggot.
Then the bones collapsed.
All of them. Every skeleton in the catacomb that was connected to the mass. The Lord of the Dead came apart in a cascade that started at the center and propagated outward through the entire network in a wave, bone by bone, stack by stack, until the chasm was silent and the catacomb was silent.
[You have slain a Fallen Tyrant, Lord of the Dead.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
[You have received a Memory: Starlight Shard].
Sunny felt the benefit of [Never Say Die] as his body received healing. Then he went to find the key.
Down in a cellar beneath a cathedral, Sunny heard the whisper of the Spell.
[You have received a Memory: Weaver's Mask].
There were many thoughts roaming his head, but casting them aside he headed towards the Bright Castle. He planned to meet with Cas and Neph in a few days and wanted to make one stop before they arrived.
Sunny slipped into the Bright Castle without paying the tax. If he didn't need to pay, why should he. He made his way through the backstreets and alleys of the castle, waiting patiently.
After some time his shadow sense detected four figures moving into a hidden alleyway.
"Come on, just give us some shards and we'll let you go," said one of the figures.
"Yeah, we've been waiting for almost a week. You don't want to reach the deadline without giving us the shards," said another.
"I-I really have to refuse," said the third shakily.
It was at this point that Sunny walked out from the shadows.
"I would walk away," he said to the three harassing an annoyingly handsome young man.
"Who the hell are you?" said the one in the middle.
"His best friend," replied Sunny. Kai looked incredulous.
"Well then maybe you can give us the shar—" one of the three began, but Sunny was already in front of them.
He grabbed the one in the middle by the throat and viciously tore it out, killing him instantly. He ducked a strike from the one on his right and drove his hand through his chest, eliminating him as well.
"Wha—" The last one managed before Serpent finished the thought for him.
"Want to take a walk?" Sunny said cheerfully, while Kai stared at him with wide and slightly terrified eyes.
They sat on a rooftop on the Dark City's edge closest to the Bright Castle. The [Prowling Thorn] having done the work for Sunny. Kai just flew with his aspect. Sunny sat with his legs loosely crossed and looked out at the castle. Kai sat next to him and appeared to be making ongoing peace with several things at once.
"What are you thinking about?" Sunny asked.
"...Part of me is thinking about why you asked to talk to me," said Kai. "And part of me is thinking about how you just killed those three people."
"I didn't like them. They were bothering you." Sunny paused. "I asked you to talk because I want your opinion on something."
"My opinion on something," Kai repeated, confused.
"What do you think is most important in life?" Sunny asked.
"I don't know... survival, maybe. Happiness," Kai answered.
Sunny shook his head.
"It's our real internal feelings," he said. "Happiness is too vague. And does survival even matter if you're not living according to what you actually feel?"
Kai stared at him for a moment, visibly trying to determine why a man who had just casually killed three people was asking him this.
"Yeah, I guess... is there a specific reason you're talking to me about this?" Kai asked.
Sunny pointed at the Bright Castle.
"Do you want to spend your life just surviving in a place like that?" he said. "I don't. And I know people who plan to escape this place entirely. I want your help, and I think you'd want to give it." He paused. "If you asked your heart how it felt about surviving here versus dying trying to get out, I wonder how it would answer."
Kai was quiet for a moment. This was coming from the same person who had killed three men thirty seconds ago without changing his expression.
"How exactly do you plan to escape?" he asked.
"Well, we either need to kill Gunlaug or convince him to help us, then we need to rally everyone around here, and then gather seven memories." Said Sunny. "Oh, and then just go conquer that Crimson Spire."
'This guy actually believes everything that he said so far,' thought Kai, confirming no lies through his flaw.
"I'll be meeting up with my friends in a few days and then we'll begin," Sunny said. "I hope you'll join us."
He stood and started toward the interior of the Dark City.
"Wait," Kai said. "If I hypothetically wanted to join, how would I find you?"
Sunny glanced back. "I'm staying at the cathedral in the Dark City for the next couple of days. After that, three days from now, I'll be meeting my friends back at the encampment." He paused. "One of them is Nephis of the Immortal Flame. I'm not sure if you've heard of her."
With that he flicked the [Prowling Thorn] and continued back into the Dark City, leaving Kai alone on the rooftop with his thoughts and the Bright Castle gleaming indifferently.