Sunny sat within his room, typing away.
He had already made his decision on where he wanted to be anchored, he just had to wait for someone to come take him.
In any case, the room he had been provided with was sufficiently comfortable. There was an area for training, a desk with a pitcher of water and some snacks, a sofa, and even a bed.
None of the returned were going to sleep, of course. Not for a few days, at least.
Stopping to look at his runes for a moment, Sunny saw something at the very end of the field of shimmering runes:
Gateway: —
'Hmph. Stupid Titan.'
Even though the Nameless Sun had survived, the Spire still ended up being destroyed.
Thankfully, Sunny had left just on time. He would now just need to wait for a Saint to come retrieve him.
On the file he had received, the Chained Isles were currently under the rule of someone named Saint Hearth. This was primarily due to the fact that… Master Tyris, Matriarch of White Feather, was currently still within her third nightmare.
'This is just bad timing…'
While he was unsure whether or not Tyris would be the same woman he knew in the future, Saint Hearth was a complete unknown. He did not know whether he was someone who simply worked for Valor, like Tyris, or if he was someone who was fiercely loyal to them.
'I wonder if she's already like that now?'
Sunny was almost sure that Tyris only ended up the way that she did because of how much she regretted letting Valor imprison Mordret. She had felt terrible about letting such a thing happen, and she had resolved herself to never let another injustice like that happen again under her watch.
That was one of the reasons Sunny was still alive.
If Tyris wasn't the way she was back then, he would've been left to die in the Night Temple.
Immersed in his thoughts, Sunny continued to type away on his report, he would have to wait for a while, as without as many Saints, transporting this many people into the Dream Realm was going to take a while.
Especially when he was just an average Awakened. A humble scout and explorer no less.
…After two days of writing Sunny finished his report.
Bringing to teacher Julius, Sunny got quite a big reaction out of him, despite them not being nearly as close as they once were.
"Sunless, young man! This… This report is incredible!"
Sunny rubbed the back of his head bashfully.
"It's nothing much."
Julius shook his head vehemently.
"You said you wanted to be an explorer, yes? You have a bright future within this field, Sunless! This work is truly brilliant! I've never seen such a thorough report on an area of the Dream Realm, and of an undiscovered one no less!"
"...Thank you."
"Tell me, are you going to publish it?"
Sunny nodded.
"Of course."
Julius gave him a long look.
"Young man… You are going to be rich! Do you know how much money you're going to make of this? Your future is as secure as can be!"
Sunny smiled at him knowingly.
"Am I really going to make that much? I didn't do this for the money."
Julius looked at him strangely.
"Make that much? Young man, you could have three houses to yourself with this sort of money!"
Sunny looked at him gratefully.
"Really? That's a relief… I think I'll just get one though."
***
And on the third day, Sunny received a visitor.
"Will Awakened Sunless please report to the reception room? You have a visitor."
A voice came out of the small intercom above the door to his room.
'Finally!'
This must have been the government agent who was going to bring him to Saint Hearth.
'...It's not going to be Hearth himself is it?'
Surely not…
Making his way to the reception room, Sunny met with a lady at the front desk.
"I'm supposed to have a visitor?"
The lady looked up at him awkwardly.
"They erm… They said to meet them in the cafeteria."
'...'
He now had an idea of who it might be.
Making his way to the cafeteria, Sunny spotted the one he was looking for.
"Hey."
The person turned to him, her mouth stuffed with food.
"Sunny!"
It was Jet, wearing a government uniform adorned with two stars, looking a lot more relaxed than she did the last time he saw her.
Sitting down next to her with his own plate of food, Sunny started talking.
"What brings you here?"
Swallowing hard, Jet turned to him.
"Well… I saw your name on the list of survivors from the Forgotten Shore, so I volunteered to come take you through the protocols."
Seemingly remembering something, she added:
"Congratulations, by the way! It must've been terrifying… But, you made it around the middle of the ranks, sooo, you're gonna be rich! Right?"
'...'
She seemed… a little naive.
"Probably. I was told I had a great future, my exploration report supposedly making enough money to buy three entire houses!"
Jet spit out her food.
"Th… three houses?! For writing? Really?!"
"Yeah… What are you up to now anyways? Government stuff?"
"Ah-... Yeah. Government stuff."
Jet now had a sullen look.
"I've been undergoing… training. It hasn't been easy."
"What's your living situation like?"
"Government facility. It's uh… pretty nice! Much better than my old place…"
Anything was better than the outskirts, really…
"Hm. Doing well?"
Jet gave him a grimace.
"Hell no. They're working me into the grave! I… I don't get to do anything you know?! Just work work work. Gah!"
She seemed a bit frustrated, speaking in between mouths of food.
"Must be rough."
"Damn right it is. Ah- That was rude of me, I'm sure it wasn't as bad as surviving the Forgotten Shore… I was only in the Dream Realm for a few days, and I landed near some of Song's territory, so not too bad. How was it anyway? The Forgotten Shore I mean."
Sunny gave her a sullen look.
"It was quite terrible, but… I got what I wanted, and only a couple of us died. Could've been worse."
Jet smiled a bit.
"Oh, well then great! I think. Ah, by the way I'm supposed to give you this, here. Put your finger on it."
Holding out a small box with a glass panel sticking out, she motioned for him to put his finger on it. Sunny did so, and the sensor buzzed for half a minute, and then a small green light ignited on the metal box. With a quiet click, it unlocked.
Awakened Jet opened the box and took out several objects — a slick communicator made out of flexible glass, a memory chip with the government seal etched on its surface, and a small iron badge with a single star engraved into it.
"Congratulations Awakened Sunless, you are now officially a citizen. Of the uhh… sixth rank! Even though you aren't an adult yet, Awakened exist outside of the usual hierarchy, so don't worry about it!"
Sunny silently took the objects laid out in front of him.
"What, no reaction at all? I thought you'd be jumping for joy… I know I was, for a time."
"Ah, well, after all that, I thought I'd at least deserve to be the seventh rank, no?"
"Well, great news! If you join the ranks of the government, you'll receive the seventh rank as well as-"
"Are you really trying to recruit me right now?"
Jet laughed slightly.
"Worth a shot. Its protocol anyways. You're not joining then I'm guessing?"
Sunny shook his head.
Why on earth would he join such a gods-forsaken thing?!
"Of course not, I value my freedom."
Jet's face darkened a little.
"Me too. Let me give a word of advice, Sunny. Never. Reveal. Your. Flaw. Understand? Haa, I was too nervous back with the interviewer and I let it slip, and now I'm stuck working under Master Cor. Damn it all!"
Sunny glanced at her with surprise.
'Why is she saying all this?'
"That's… rough. What's it like working there?"
"...You can hardly even call it work. It's like I'm enslaved or something… I've only slept twice this week damn it! And even after I sleep, they still make me keep working inside the Dream Realm!"
Sunny felt quite bad for her… If he had returned a year or two earlier, he could've helped her…
"That's quite unfortunate. Hmm… I'll help you out in the future once I get rich! Don't worry… explorer Sunless hates abandoning his friends…"
Jet laughed slightly at his dry humour.
"I'll hold you to that."
Jet then seemed to remember something.
"Also, I'm supposed to tell you that you were ranked as a Strategic Asset, everyone that survived the Forgotten Shore was, actually. Besides the top Sleepers, like Aria's cohort and Song Seishan."
Sunny nodded, expecting this.
"But Sunny… I'm sure you could've done much better, no? How come yo-"
Sunny gave her a dark look.
"What makes you say that?"
Jet backed up a little.
"Well… It's just that your soul seems very… potent."
'Right, she can do that.'
"Hmph, well you're right, I could've. But being famous would've gotten in the way of my future as an explorer! So alas, I must remain a humble scout."
Jet snickered slightly, turning away.
"Alright, keep your secrets then."
Sunny sighed slightly.
"So then Jet, what are your plans for the future?"
Jet turned to look at him, her face now serious.
"Work. Work. And then… probably work. And then the Second Nightmare."
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"So quick?"
Jet nodded.
"Yeah. Don't ask why though."
Sunny wasn't going to ask anyways, because already knew why, it was because he needed to get stronger to combat her Flaw.
"Hm. Well, I actually also have plans for the Second Nightmare."
Jet was now confused, raising an eyebrow.
"Already? Didn't you just get out two days ago?"
Sunny nodded thoughtfully.
"Yeah. But, an ambitious soul like me… I just can't be satisfied being an Awakened. If the government allows it, would you like to join me?"
Having Jet within his cohort would help him a lot. He even thought of a way to get her to unlock her aspect legacy early. Although she was quite weak and clueless currently, he knew she had the potential to be strong.
Jet seemed to fall into thought.
"We'll see. Well… If we do, you'll have to tell me a couple things first."
"Like what?"
"Well… Like what your Aspect does, how strong you are, you know? Strictly confidential stuff. I can swear on my life I won't tell anyone. I'll also tell you about my Aspect of course."
Sunny nodded slightly.
"Alright. Not here though."
Jet gave him an understanding look.
"Fair enough."
Jet then seemed to fall deep into thought.
'What's she gonna ask now?'
"By the way… Just out of curiosity, how are you so well spoken?"
"What do you mean?"
Jet coughed slightly.
"Well… You might not have realised, but back when I first awakened, I wasn't nearly as well mannered and polite as I am currently. Part of my government training was just trying to get me to stop cursing random people out."
Sunny snickered slightly.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. How can you speak so well? You even wrote that report… I haven't read it, but if someone said it's going to make you rich, it must be well written!"
Sunny leaned back a bit, having finished his food.
"Well… I learned it the hard way. Reading, teaching myself, speaking with people, you know? The usual way, just a little later than most people."
Jet nodded slightly, clearly knowing he wasn't telling her the whole truth.
"Ah, I'll tell you one day. For now though, weren't you going to take me to Saint Hearth? You wouldn't want to keep a Transcendent waiting, would you?"
Jet immediately stood up, her chair crashing to the ground.
"Right! I forgot! Let's go! Right now!"
She ran off, Sunny following closely behind as he sighed in exasperation.
***
Sitting in the passenger seat of a quietly humming PTV, Sunny turned to Jet.
"Jet."
Jet, who seemed to be nodding off slightly, responded sluggishly.
"Hmmm?"
"Where are we even going?"
The last time he was taken to the Chained Isles, Saint Tyris came to the Academy directly.
"Oh. Well since Saint Hearth's time is very precious, we agreed to meet halfway."
"And you… kept him waiting?"
The vehicle was silent for a bit.
"...Yeah."
Sunny nodded.
'She still has a lot to learn. I'll help her out if I can.'
"Let's just hope he doesn't kill us for our insolence."
Jet gulped, realising the magnitude of her error.
***
Stepping out of the PTV, Sunny immediately saw him.
A tall man with striking blue eyes stood with his arms crossed, tapping his foot slightly.
'He's… definitely been waiting for a while.'
Sunny turned to Jet, seeing that she was most certainly thinking the same thing.
Jet, summoning her courage, cleared her throat to get his attention.
"Sir Hearth."
He looked over at them, his face unreadable.
"You're late."
Jet bowed and hurriedly apologised.
"I'm very sorry sir! We ran into an incident on the way here and it delayed us quite a bit!"
Sunny glanced at her momentarily.
'No we didn't.'
…The nature of outskirts rats was to lie to get out of bad situations. Sunny quite missed being able to do such a thing.
The Saint shook his head.
"No matter, are you ready to leave young man?"
Sunny nodded.
"I am."
Waving goodbye to Jet, Sunny stepped up to the man.
Hearth put a hand on his shoulder, and Sunny felt the pull of traveling between worlds.
"Oh, I forgot to mention, but there should be a memorial of sorts for the Dreamer Army this evening."
Sunny turned to look at Jet, exasperated.
"You're telling me n-"
And then he was gone. Whisked away to the Chained Isles.
Jet snickered slightly, her face flushed with embarrassment.
"...Oops."
***
Sunny found himself within the Sanctuary of Noctis.
Looking around, Sunny found it quite familiar.
As the Sanctuary of Noctis was already well built, there wasn't much of a need to expand it or build camps within, so besides a couple things being different here and there, most of it was identical to how Sunny remembered it.
"Awakened Sunless."
Turning to Saint Hearth, Sunny bowed respectfully.
"Yes?"
"What can you do?"
'Hasn't he read the repo-? Ah, valuable time and all that.'
"I'm a scout sir. A good one at that."
Hearth nodded.
"Very well, you will be tasked with scouting any dangerous nightmare creatures near the Sanctuary of Noctis. You will receive a stipend of ten soul shards a week, and if you contribute enough, that can be raised. Now come with me."
'...What? Why!'
Sunny said nothing, following him silently.
Then, he found himself at a familiar altar, an altar with an obsidian knife on it.
"Try picking it up. Every new member here is required to at least try to."
'Seriously?!'
Saint Hearth's words were reasonable, but…
He had already sacrificed many coins to the altar in the past… future? Whatever! He had already sacrificed enough coins to pick it up. When he passed Noctis' test, his soul was given the ability to pick it up.
Meaning that, mostly likely, he could still pick it up.
'No way!'
"...Sorry, but. Do I have to?"
"Just try it. You won't be punished if you fail."
'So pushy!'
His impression of the Saint already wasn't very good.
"...Okay."
Sunny began sweating, slowly reaching his hand towards the knife, grasping it.
Then, he tried to pick it up.
Nothing happened.
'Thank the gods!'
That was a close one! He didn't know what Hearth would do if he could pick it up, but he knew it would most certainly put him on Valor's radar.
"Well, as you can see, nothing happened."
Hearth seemed unfazed.
"That's alright, no one else could do it either, we only do this out of curiosity."
Sunny gave him a thankful smile.
He thought that would be it, but Hearth spoke a bit more:
"Also… You did well to survive out there, young man. Despite your middling rating, I'm sure you still had it just as rough as the rest of them. Just remember that you can always ask for help around here, no one survives in the Dream Realm alone after all."
Sunny nodded gratefully.
"Thank you, sir. I won't forget that."
Hearth then turned to leave, as he vanished. Returning to the Waking World.
'...Is he not going to show me my living quarters?'
Just as Sunny thought that, he felt a shadow fall over him.
Looking up, he saw a majestic griffin descending from the sky.
'Roan!'
Glad to see a more familiar face, Sunny moved away to give the echo space to land.
Thud!
Landing heavily, Roan jumped off his echo and stood before Sunny.
"Good day, young man! My name is Awakened Roan of White Feather. Please, follow me and I'll show you around…"
***
A few hours later, Sunny bid the handsome Awakened farewell as he walked up to the gateway to return to the Waking World.
'Finally… Hopefully I don't miss the memorial…'
…Returning to the Earth, Sunny looked up at the sky to judge the time.
'...I'll probably make it.'
It was already quite late in the afternoon, he'd have to run, considering he was just standing in the middle of an open lot.
'I'll just Shadow Step.'
…And a couple minutes later, Sunny made it.
Taking a deep breath and taking in the spring air, Sunny sighed.
Entering the hospital complex where the memorial was hosted, Sunny made his way to the conference hall.
Right outside the hall, Sunny glanced at a particular monitor on one of the walls.
There was a special name at the top of it.
"Radiant Dawn"
After returning from the Forgotten Shore, the only person to receive a true name was Aria. Although Sunny was almost certain that Seishan had also received one, he had no proof. Reading through the rest of the list, he found his name around the middle.
With a small smile, Sunny opened the door to the hall and entered.
The event wasn't nearly as big as it was in the past, as nowhere near as many Sleepers died, with the number barely reaching fifty. But… fifty was still a lot of people, it was still a tragedy.
Everyone knew at least someone that had died. Many had their friends die. But overall most people there weren't in a terribly somber mood, only a slight sorrow permeated the air.
Their leader still remained, after all.
Many were gathered around a certain woman at the back of the hall.
"How did you know about the Gateway, Aria?!"
"Why'd the nightmare creatures start leaving like that?"
"How come the Gateway was destroyed after we left?"
She was currently being bombarded with questions.
Many curious young men and women were excitedly asking her questions as tried her best to answer them.
Snickering slightly, Sunny found a random chair and sat down while waiting. He could help her, of course, but… he was sure she could handle herself.
***
A while later, several instructors entered the room. In a solemn and sonorous atmosphere, each of them gave a small speech, congratulating the survivors of the Dreamer Army on overcoming the immeasurable hardships and returning to the real world alive. They also spoke about those who had fallen, and offered words of solace, saying that their sacrifice would not be forgotten by mankind.
After all, mankind only continued to exist because of young men and women like them.
In the past, Sunny felt like those words rang somewhat hollow. But now, he felt himself moved slightly. They were right, without the many brave souls that came before them, there wouldn't have even been a fighting chance for them.
Clearing his throat, Instructor Stone made an announcement:
"I just… I just want to thank all of you. For surviving. You have given humanity a wonderful gift, I hope you all know that…"
As Stone continued with his speech, Sunny slowly sent his shadow towards one of the Sleepers.
"Hey."
"Hic!"
Aria, upon hearing his voice, jumped slightly.
A couple people looked at her a little strange, but mostly ignored it.
Aria, moving away from the crowd slightly, whispered to her shadow.
"Sunny! You're here!"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
Aria's mood seemed to darken for a moment.
"Well… I haven't seen you at all. I tried to ask around a bit but no one even knew you… I didn't even know whether you survived against the Terror."
"Well, I did. Also, it's a Titan now."
Aria seemed to be shocked by the statement.
"A-A Titan?!"
Her shadow nodded.
"Yup. A Corrupted Titan, to be exact."
Aria paled.
"How did you escape then..?"
Her shadow seemed to fall into thought for a moment.
"Simple! I just stepped away and it couldn't catch me."
Aria did not seem to find that statement unbelievable.
"...Alright. Well, do you want to meet in the cafeteria after this? I've… got a few questions for you."
Her shadow nodded.
"Fine. Just not too many."
And in the next moment, her shadow seemed to lose the semblance of life it had just gained.
'...'
Turning her head away from her shadow, Aria continued paying attention to Instructor Stone's speech.
***
Stuffing his mouth full of food, Sunny glanced over as he saw someone opposite him.
"Well good day to you too, Lady Radiant Dawn."
Aria seemed slightly embarrassed as she pulled out a chair.
"Please don't start this."
"Why not? Shouldn't you be proud of such a wondrous achievement?"
Aria glowered at him slightly.
"Not when you say it like that."
Sunny laughed slightly, putting down his utensil.
"Alright, alright. Well, what did you want to ask?"
Aria seemed to focus for a moment, before Sunny heard a voice in his mind.
[What happened back at the spire? Why did they all start chasing you?]
Smiling slightly, Sunny responded back through the oath.
[I see your Aspects gotten better! As for that? Well… the Terror just really didn't like me. I guess it wanted me dead first? How am I supposed to know how a demented nightmare creature thinks?]
Aria narrowed her eyes a bit.
[Well… Even though you don't seem to want to tell me anything, I should still say this.]
Bowing her head slightly, she continued:
[Thank you, Sunless. For everything. I see it quite clearly now, if I tried to conquer the spire with what we had before… It would've just been a waste of our lives.]
Sunny gave her a thumbs up
.
[See? I would never say such a thing in jest. I am the most honest man in both worlds after all!]
Hearing that, Aria laughed a bit.
[Well… Now that all that's done, what are you going to do now?]
Sunny fell deep into thought for a moment.
[Me? I'm going to buy a house! Then… bide my time, grow my strength, and make some new friends. Why are you asking?]
Aria seemed a bit unsure now.
[Well…]
Sunny cut her off.
[Let me guess: Valor really, really wants you to join them?]
Looking up in surprise, Aria responded.
[...Yeah. How did you know?]
Sunny laughed.
[I just know Valor. Tell me, do you know about the Sovereigns?]
'Wait… of course she doesn't. They ascended while she was still in the Dream Realm.
[No. Should I?]
Sunny shook his head a bit.
[Then, you should know that Broken Sword is dead.]
Aria nodded quickly.
[Yes, of course.]
Sunny explained further.
[Do you remember who was in his cohort?]
Aria thought for a second.
[It was… Smile of Heaven and… Anvil of Valor? I think. As well as Ki Song and… I forgot the last guy.]
Sunny nodded, impressed.
[Good. Remember them well. Except for the last guy, the less you have to do with him, the better.]
Aria seemed a little confused.
[So why are you saying all this then? Are they the Sovereigns? Are the Sovereigns… Ah! Are they-]
[Yes. They are Supremes.]
[I see… So why are you telling me about this?]
[Because they killed Broken Sword.]
[...Killed? Broken Sword? Why… Why would they? I don't understand...]
Aria seemed a bit distressed, but still continued to eat as normal.
Sunny explained further:
[Yes. I don't know the exact reason, but after they killed him, their cohort fell apart. I'm not sure why but Anvil and Song seem to be attempting to erase any traces of the last Sovereign as well.]
Aria leaned her head down in thought.
[I see… So you don't want me to join Valor then?]
[No. Join them.]
She looked up in a bit of surprise.
[Why? Didn't they kill Broken Sword?]
[Because I am going to destroy the Sovereigns.]
"..."
Aria went silent for several seconds.
[You're… going to kill them? Aren't they Supremes? Just what-]
[I will kill them.]
[...Alright. Why? And how?]
Sunny took a deep breath before telling her.
[Because… They are trying to kill Broken Sword's daughter. I won't let them. And as for how? We'll see… I'm going to build my strength while avoiding their gaze as much as possible.]
Aria gasped slightly.
[Broken Sword's… daughter? I didn't even know he had one…]
[Yes. She is only a child, and yet they ruthlessly send assassins after her. Surely you understand why I need them dead now?]
Aria nodded.
[What should I do?]
Sunny smiled, glad to have her on his side.
[Join them. Tell me about them. And when the time is right, we will strike.]
Clenching her fists, Aria nodded.
[Alright. So then… Why Valor? Why not join Song?]
Sunny, now eating again, responded.
[Because… I might end up joining them.]
Aria stared at him in a daze.
[Didn't… Didn't you say you were going to avoid their gaze?]
Sunny laughed awkwardly.
[Well… I appear to have caught the attention of a certain Song Seishan, and I doubt she'll let me walk free. It should be fine anyways, Anvil is the one I have the biggest problem with.]
Aria tilted her head slightly in a questioning manner.
[Why?]
[Because… Well, you should just see the way he treats his kids. Terrible! But Ki Song… well she seems to be the lesser of two evils to me.]
[Then, what about the third one?]
[I don't know. Firstly, I'm going to try to gather information on him, but… If he catches me, it might just be the end for me. I'm going to need to be careful.]
Aria nodded in understanding.
[Alright. Then, I will join Valor.]
[Good luck. And just know this, Legacies are very arrogant. Just for not being born into a family like theirs, they will look down on you. You must prove yourself, understand?]
Aria nodded again.
[Got it.]
[And lastly, make sure you also invite a couple other people to come eat with you alone, I wouldn't want to look special.]
Then, leaning back Aria casually started to speak.
"So! What Citadel are you choosing?"
Finishing a mouthful of food, Sunny answered.
"I've already picked and anchored at one actually. Chained Isles."
Aria seemed a bit stunned.
"Already? Damn… Well, I think I'm going to Bastion."
"That's great! I'm sure you'll fit right in with Clan Valor."
Aria seemed to nod gratefully.
"Thanks, Sunny. What are you going to do at the Chained Isles? Sounds like a scary place."
"Well, I'm going to…"
Continuing their somewhat mundane conversation so it didn't look strange, Sunny spoke with Aria for a while before it was time for him to leave.
"See you around."
"You too."
Bidding each other goodbye, they went their separate ways.
***
Lying in his room in the academy, Sunny was staring at the ceiling.
For the past couple of days, he was looking through his new memories as he got settled into the Sanctuary of Noctis.
It was a little disheartening, but…
"Useless… Useless… Useless… Useless! All of these memories are… they're terrible!"
Out of all the memories he had received, only about two were useful, and one he just kept for no reason in particular.
One was the [Fountain Keeper], a tool that could store a lot of any particular liquid. Having tested it, Sunny could keep perhaps a couple hundred gallons of water within it. It certainly wasn't bad.
'It's just… not the Endless Spring.'
The Endless Spring never needed to be refilled, and was a very reliable memory that he had missed dearly.
Another memory he had obtained was a garment type called [Robes of Yore], an ascended memory of the third tier that increased his mental acuity and decreased mental fatigue.
And the last one was…
'You again.'
[Ordinary Rock].
'Just… How the hell…'
Somehow he had once again gotten the talking rock.
Deciding to keep it as a memo, Sunny sighed in disappointment at the fact that all his other memories were borderline useless.
'At least I can just feed them to Shrike.'
Speaking of Shrike…
Shadow: [Shadow Amalgam].
Shadow Rank: Ascended.
Shadow Class: Devil.
Shadow Fragments: [122/250].
'All that just for it only to be halfway…'
Most of the memories as well as echoes fed to shrike were only of the Awakened rank, so Sunny couldn't immediately get it to Transcendent just yet. Sunny had also decided to hold onto the Fallen Beast temporarily just in case he needed a meat shield or something of the like.
All in all, it wasn't too bad.
'Besides, now I can hunt down Corrupted…'
He had an Ascended Titan as a Shadow after all.
Even if Sunny's luck with memories was atrocious, he had enough experience with the spell to know how to increase his chances with memories.
Like when killing unique one of a kind nightmare creatures, nightmare creatures far more powerful than himself, or nightmare creatures with certain fates.
Some examples he could think of were when he killed things like Sybil of the Fallen Grace.
Such a unique and powerful nightmare creature was bound to give him a memory. But if he just slaughtered several hundred Carapace Scavengers, he doubted he would get much.
An example of memories coming from certain fates, were of course, the Chain Lords. Each and everyone of them that were killed had given some kind of armour memory. With Sunny getting the Undying Chain from Solvane, Kai and Effie getting their own armour from the Sun Prince and Sevirax.
And speaking of Solvane…
'It's time to kill you a third time.'
A dark grin lined Sunny's face at the thought.
He was petty after all.
But she'd have to wait for now, Sunny wasn't going on any big expeditions into the wild just yet. He still needed to get settled with all his roles and accommodations, as well as sort everything out in the waking world.
Like buying a house!
Sadly, someone was living in his old house next to Rain's, so Sunny would have to look elsewhere.
But he already had an idea of where his next house would be.
But for now…
Climbing into his sleeping pod, Sunny slowly drifted off into sleep.