Shadow Slave: Shadow of Blood

Sunny stared at the ceiling of his room, having no wish to move.

It was the day after the family reunion, tomorrow would be the Valor's ball, the day the Changing Star of the Immortal Flame and the Firekeepers of the Forgotten Shore would officially join the Great Clan Valor, and he would have to participate as Song's representative…

He would have to face Nephis…

He had been staring at the ceiling for some time now, not moving a muscle since he woke up, and still hearing the Spell whispering into his ear.

[You have slain a Corrupted Monster…]

[You have slain a Corrupted Tyrant…]

Igris was in the catacombs, slaughtering the nightmare creatures his mother captured. He was now half-way to becoming a Titan.

But it was still irritating. He thanked that he was able to just set all of that aside with his Tyrant mind, now even more potent thanks to his Ascension.

The door opened, and a familiar man who trained him his whole life entered, not caring to knock as he had already come in multiple times.

Undying Blade looked down at his student, a disappointed glare piercing Sunny's skull.

"Enough sulking, it's the third time I come in here."

Sunny rolled his eyes and shifted to the right of his bed, turning his back at his teacher.

"I don't have anything to do today…"

The Saint sighed, getting pissed off, he grabbed the Ascended Terror by the collar and forced him to sit up.

"Look, I don't like this just as much as you do, but we need to keep appearances."

Sunny looked up with a tired, hollow expression.

"Then just send Shan, I don't have to confront the girl I love and one day may have to fight and who may or may not currently hate me, we keep up appearances and there will be no awkward tension, problem solved."

Blade sharpened his eyes angrily and shoved him up the bed, forcing Sunny to stand up.

"At least you admit you love her, now get dressed, you need to get everything ready for tomorrow."

Sunny easily got a foothold, cracking his neck and stretching his limbs. Dumping his nightgown and summoning his uniform at the same time.

He turned to Blade with the same tired expression he had when he was on the bed.

"Why do I have to go again?"

"Because you are her companion, and the one who conquered the Crimson Spire with her, and the one who…"

"I think I get it, thanks!"

He sighed again, it's been a week, he didn't even message her anything through their Connection, and neither did her, and now they would have to meet each other in a damn ball.

Undying Blade rolled his eyes, annoyed at the boy he used to train, and in a way, is still training.

"You can't let your mind just focus on your misery for her and forget about anything else. Show me your shadow control, make a blade."

He extended his hand and waited for Sunless to do as he asked.

Begrudgingly, Sunny opened his palm and manipulated the shadows around the room to come to him.

Activating his Ascended Ability, the shadows beneath him manifested themselves, rising up, forming a pure black blade made up of shadows, it was abstract, formless, only making the silhouette of a blade. Focusing more, the sword solidified, wild shadows found order and purpose, transforming into a true sword, one inspired by Undying Blade's own onyx sword.

It didn't hold a candle to the original, but it was a sword. One that was constantly consuming Sunny's essence by just being there.

He grabbed the hilt in a reverse grip and presented it to the forger absentmindingly, who carefully grabbed hold of the shadow sword with the tip of his fingers and began to analyse it. Immediately after giving the blade, Sunny turned around to find his table, opening the drawer to grab the exploration report from the Chained Isles.

Blade carefully studied the shadow creation with a scrutinizing gaze, finally nodding after some seconds.

"It is decent, but you have much to learn."

He held the hilt and flicked the blade, swinging it for some moments before stopping.

"The balance still needs some work, and it is not sharp enough to compare to an Ascended Rank weapon."

Sunny groaned, turning around with the report in his hand.

"It's been a week since I got this Ability, don't expect me to be a pro!"

Undying Blade nodded, agreeing with the assessment.

"But the progress is impressive. Make sure to practice creating other weapons and constructs as well, chains, spears, walls. Even summons, like knights or golems."

Sunny's gaze was unamused

"I may be a Terror, but that simple blade is eating through my essence, I don't know if I can maintain something like a knight for that long, let alone for it to be useful in a battle. I would have to individually control every movement of the shadows including maintaining their form into a solid being."

Undying Blade took away his gaze from the sword made of shadows and looked down at Sunny, who was a few centimeters smaller than him, a subtle, eerie smile creeping onto his lips.

"But you did that in your Second Nightmare, didn't you?"

Sunny squinted his eyes, then widened them the next second.

"Yeah… I did…"

After all, he did become a mass of manifested shadows in the Second Nightmare, he already knew how to precisely control a body of shadows, he would only need to learn how to become one, or even create one to fight by his side… Although the second one seemed a little improbable at his current level.

Undying Blade reversed the grip on the sword, thrusting down and embedding it on the floor as a sign for Sunless to dismiss the blade, who did so, letting the manifested shadows go back to their natural state.

"Give that report to Hendren and go to the waking world, give out the orders for today then you can do whatever you want, just make sure not to let yourself get drunk."

"Don't nag me…"

The Saint sharpened his eyes before turning around, reaching for the door handle…

"Bladie."

Undying Blade's body stopped completely, he turned his head to Sunless with a deadly glare, only to find a cheeky, mocking smile.

"Don't."

"What? Mom has been calling you that a lot lately."

"That doesn't give you permission to call me that. She can call me whatever she wants."

"And why would that be?"

Undying Blade hesitated.

"Look, I'm just saying, my siblings and I don't mind having a father…"

"Sunless-!"

The Prince of Song entered the shadows the next second while laughing, not letting his teacher finish.

Groaning, Blade rolled his eyes and sighed, tapping his foot on the floor, annoyed.

"Just like your mother…"

— —

After giving the exploration report of the Chained Isles to Saint Lunae just like the one he had made of the Forgotten Shore, Sunny returned to the waking world.

His anchor was in the Song manner of course, he appeared inside his own room, where he quickly got out, not lingering much, just grabbing his communicator from his desk and leaving the room.

As he walked through the corridor, a blue butterfly approached him, the path it trailed leaving a blur of shadows as it slowly landed on his shoulder.

"Remind Motza that he'll be in Valor's ball tomorrow, and gather the current missions and status from the operatives and send them all tomorrow, I may have to send some new orders considering the ingression of the Firekeepers on Valor."

The butterfly flickered with navy light, then took off, joining the shadows in the middle of its trajectory.

Sunny found himself in the living room, walking to the entrance as he passed through the couch where Revel was sleeping on top of her boyfriend, absentmindingly scratching his neck as his body still called for a bed.

As he grabbed the door handle, his pocket suddenly vibrated as his communicator received a notification. Looking at it, he was shocked to see none other than Effie bothering his messages.

[DOOFUS– ROYALTY, QUICK, COME TO THE DREAMSCAPE!]

Sunless suppressed the need to roll his eyes, deciding to let go of the door knob and answer the huntress.

[What is it giant? I'm busy.]

[YOU ARE RICH, YOU ARE NEVER BUSY, NOW COME TO THE DREAMSCAPE ALREADY!]

[That is the biggest nonsense I ever heard, what are you even talking about? I don't even have an account on the Dreamscape yet. And stop with the all caps.]

[THE DREAM TOURNAMENT THIS YEAR WILL HAVE A SECTION FOR MASTERS, PROMOTED BY VALOR!]

Sunny's eyes widened. tournaments in the Dreamscape for Awakened were something that happened only once a year, each being promoted by one of the Great Clans, but they were normally exclusively for Awakened, not Masters.

[What? Why?]

[I DON'T KNOW, WHO CARES? WANT TO KICK VALOR'S ASS? YOU HAVE TO GET USED TO THE DREAMSCAPE, NO?!]

Sunny stood still for a moment, considering what to do, he figured Valor is going to use the tournament to promote Nephis joining them even more, since tomorrow will be Valor's ball and next week would be the beginning of the tournament.

Making it the first tournament for Masters as well would call even more attention, showcasing their military's strength to the whole world.

So they may be planning for one of their scions to win, making their reputation better, that would make things difficult in the long run…

"Why didn't anyone tell me this?!"

"Tell you what~~?"

Sunny snapped his head to Revel, who just woke up, sitting on the couch while stretching, scratching her eyes to get used to the light.

"Tell me that this Dream Tournament will have Masters this time?! Why is it even happening?! It is a waste of Masters!"

Revel looked at him with a scow, the signature of someone who just woke up.

"We did tell you, you were just too busy to listen. And for why it is happening… Well, Thane became a Saint, the Dreamscape and spelltech got better, and now Masters can fight without the whole simulation staggering or suffering. So Morgan had the fantastic idea to make a test in the form of a tournament with a Supreme Memory as a reward. This isn't the type of thing covered ops deal with anyway, forget it…"

"Well? Are any of our people participating?"

Revel rolled her eyes and went back to the embrace of her dear boyfriend, who was still sleeping peacefully, laying down on the couch.

"A few scions from the lesser clans Shan sent, with one or two Blood Sisters in the Awakened section… It doesn't really matter… This is just a glorified party for Morgan. Who cares?"

"I CARE!?! This isn't something to just ignore, damn it!"

"Sunny… There's no guarantee it will even work properly, Thane himself is doesn't really like the idea. The only reason people are going is because a Supreme Memory is in play, or want to have some fun. You are overthinking things… I bet Morgan just did it because she was bored."

"So? People want to see Masters in play Rev, that matters! And everyone from the Watchers is occupied next week… Agh! I'll just participate myself, I need a new armor or Memory, something to hide myself–"

"Here, take it."

Sunny looked at a hand that rose in the bed, Azriel's hand, extended as if giving something.

He sighed, grabbing the hand of the Saint, hearing the message of the Spell, indicating he received a Memory.

"It's an Ascended cloak that hides the armor, you'll be able to use your normal gear without exposing your identity."

"Agh, thanks Azriel, I owe you one."

Sunny turned and ran upstairs to his room, where his pod was, he needed to test how the Dreamscape was to understand what he could and couldn't do, especially since he was an Ascended Terror, not a Beast like everyone else. He was still thanking Azriel, if he didn't have the new cloak, it would be a headache.

He could participate normally, but the last thing he wanted was to get focused on. If the Prince of Song was in the middle of the Dream Tournament, everyone would want the glory of defeating him. Including Valor themselves, he'd rather not test their honor.

But if he went in as a nobody… Things would be rather interesting.

Revel heard Sunny run and sighed, snuggling closer to Azriel's chest.

"He is half-right, you know?"

She looked up at him, still half-asleep.

"It is a big deal, even if it has no guarantees it will work and many Masters are just ignoring it, many people are talking about it, even Queen Song made sure that Lady Seishan sent some capable Masters.."

Revel hummed, agreeing.

"Yeah… But he's been locked up in his room and too focused on work, I bet he'll have some fun in that tournament."

Azriel paused, then looked down.

"Wait… Did you purposefully make sure he did not hear about it to not allow him to plan anything?"

Revel smiled while shifting closer.

"I did want to tell him a day before the event, but this works, I guess."

"How did you even do that?"

"Turns out his subordinates listen to you if you say their leader will have some fun. My sisters were easy to convince, same with the others."

She raised herself and stared at the Vessel of Ice face to face.

"And now he can't just send someone else, he'll just have to accept and have some fun! No Echoes, no Aspect, just plain old sword technique!"

Azriel chuckled.

"Smart. But you did get lucky that I had that Memory."

Revel looked at him humorlessly.

"I did say he discovered sooner than I would have liked… Now he has this and the ball tomorrow."

"Not everything happens as planned, now c'mon, we have our own mission to go to."

Revel sighed, but eventually got up.

"Fine, it's not like we'll suffer from Godgrave's heat anyway."

— —

Effie was smiling widely as she shut off her communicator and left it at the side, looking up to see the screen of the projector that was showcasing a stream made by some online influencers in the Dreamscape.

They were showing the arena where the Masters were appearing in to practice for the tournament, a grand, circular arena comparable to the grandests on the Dreamscape where only the most skilled entered, but since they were Masters, they were already the best in the Dreamscape.

Effie herself had no intention of participating in the tournament, she merely wanted to spite her friend who hates Valor to participate and get some laughs after he gets ganged up on for being the Prince of Song and hero of the Forgotten Shore.

So now she was just sprawled on the sofa of her great friend Kai, eating junk food and drinking soda.

As for Kai, he was sitting on his armchair, holding his head in disappointment.

"You know he's busy."

Effie looked at him while eating a potato chip.

"Yes."

"You know it will anger him."

"Hmhm."

"You know Seishan asked us not to tell him."

"Since when do I listen to the Witch?"

"She's not a witch!"

"She's your girlfriend, yeah, I know, whatever! Let's see Sunny getting jumped on!"

Kai sighed, and turned to the screen.

In theory, the Masters didn't have much to gain from entering the tournament, many already had positions in either Clans or even the Government, it was one of the reasons the Dream Tournament never had one for Masters, along with the limitations of the Dreamscape.

But this tournament had something irresistable: the reward, a Supreme Memory. Said to be made by the King of Swords himself.

A Transcendent Memory was already a valuable thing, but a Supreme one? Many saw it as their chance to even challenge the Third Nightmare, so many ambitious Ascended from lesser Clans wanted in on it.

So they were now entering the Dreamscape to test the limits of the new update, see how far Saint Thane pushed the alternative reality.

From the looks of it, they were satisfied, few actually fought, merely swinging their weapons and testing their strength, about half of the ones who got in had already left, deciding not to show all of their power yet, they were the wise ones.

Surprisingly, they could use their powers without destroying the entire simulation apart, Effie had no idea why Thane did this 'update', but who cares? It was entertainment!

"When is he going to show up?!"

Effie was pretty impatient, she wanted to laugh at him already.

"Don't be so quick, he may just send one of the Watchers."

"And reveal his badass, precious soldiers? No way!"

Kai sighed once again, and resigned himself to just watching the stream, having to hear Effie's sloppy eating, hoping something interesting that had nothing to do with Sunny appeared.

Thankfully, it did.

Out of nowhere, on the corner of the coliseum, a new Master appeared.

A dark figure, covered in a tenebrous cloak, hiding all of his body, a figure whose shadow seemed deeper than anything else, white hair seemed to float around a dark canvas as it cascaded around his body.

But most importantly, a terrifying mask stood on his face, obscuring who he was. The face of a snarling demon, with two empty eyes showing endless darkness, three horns pointing to the sky on top of it.

A name stood on top of him, one word, Mongrel.

Someone no one ever saw, a complete unknown. That was almost unheard of, all Masters held great status and prestige, the achivement of conquering the Second Nightmare was one that made you known, granted several opportunities in all Clans.

Yet, the one known as Mongrel was new.

Effie stopped eating for a second and leaned forward.

"Hey… Kai, have you ever seen this guy?"

The charming archer raised his eye, shaking his head.

"No, never…"

The audience shared a similar reaction, not understanding who the mysterious Master was, even the ones in the giant arena looked at the newcomer with strange looks.

Mongrel looked around, analyzing the arena with a seemingly scrutinizing gaze, before something beneath his cloak shifted, he was raising his hand, parting the dark and ominus mantle, revealing nothing but darkness, a hand that seemed like nothing…

And with a simple flick, a figure appeared on it, the shape of a longsword, completely dark.

He raised the blade with one hand and brought it down, making the air spin. Then, he continued doing the same thing several times, as if testing the Dreamscape like everyone else.

And after a minute, the theories started, the internet already started specalating on the true identity of Mongrel.

A Government operative, a son of a Great Clan, a Nightmare creature, and many more.

Until the some of the other Masters on the arena had enough and decided to saciate their curiosity.

Master Bast, a bleak, unassuming middle-aged man retainer of Song, walked towards Mongrel with an unassuming stance, a simple smile.

Speaking up, Bast made a question with a calming voice a few feet from Mongrel.

"Excuse me, may I ask who are you, mister Morgrel? Who do you serve?"

Mongrel immediately stopped his motion and snapped his neck to the Master, an inky darkness glaring at him.

The voice that came out of the mask was dark and tenebrous.

"Me? I'm nobody, just a speck of dust in the air that is humanity. I serve no lord, have no connection."

Bast's smile permiated, but various questions wandered into his mind, the main one was, of course: Who is him?

Unfortunatly for the bleak Master, none of the questions would be answered.

Mongrel looked to the ground, checking his footing as he tapped the floor two times. Then he looked up at Bast and lowered his stance.

Widening his eyes, the retainer of Song got into his battle stance and immediately swong his blade horizontally, aiming at nothing but air.

The spectators were confused, but all the Masters in the arena got in shock as the space around the mysterious Mongrel twisted and gliched.

The Dreamscape was barely registring his movements, because the very next second, Mongrel appeared right next to Bast, in the trajectory his blade was going.

The black longsword connected with the steel one as Mongrel deflected Bast's strike and forced the swords into a bind.

In the contest of strength, the dark Master severely outclassed the Song one.

Leading the bind, Mongrel forced Bast's blade down and took one step closer. The terrifying mask showed no emotion as the black longsword disconnected from the steel one and slashed sideways.

The onyx blade cut through Bast's body.

It all happened in two seconds.

And in the end, Mongrel simply looked at his sword, analyzing it, twitching his head as if… Disappointed.

The arena was speechless, for one Master to defeat another so easily…

Even if no Aspect was used, it was unbelievable.

Especially since the Mongrel made the Dreamscape glitch, as if it couldn't handle the sheer strength of the Master.

Mongrel suddenly snapped his head up, then sideways, his gaze found one of the other Masters in the arena, a fully armored woman with the crest of a lesser Clan of Valor.

Something surged up in the mysterious Master, it was almost as if ge made the whole space feel wrong just by existing it.

The female Master suddenly felt fear, taking a step back as Mongrel appeared in front of her, space itself was twisting as the simulation tried to keep up with his movements.

Safe to say, she was caught off guard, falling easily to the onyx blade.

The next one took a bit more time, now reacting much better. Only to fall after hitting the armored wrist of Mongrel and leaving himself open.

Then the other one also fell, then another one, and the one after that.

Until the point the Mongral defeated the tenth Master in a row, it seemed he had enough of it, despite looking disappointed everytime he defeated a Master.

And so, he left, leaving all of the renowned Masters defeated feeling humiliated and distraught. And the ones left, shocked and disheartened.

Effie left her mouth hanged open in pure amazement, not believing what had happened, she looked at Kai, who had similar bewilderment in his eyes.

"Hey… Kai, do you think the tournament will still happen?"

The archer looked back, an amused, unsure smile creeping onto his lips.

"No… I'm pretty sure it won't."

Long story short, the Tournament of Masters was cancelled due to lack of participants. Most feared to suffer the same humiliation the ten Masters felt.

The Princess of Valor was pissed off that her fun was spoiled, and at the same time, elated that a new skilled individual appeared.

Thus, the Legend of Mongrel was born, millions of fans worldwide.

All the while the person behind the mask questioned his life's choices.