Arriving back at Sunny's house, they entered.
"Where do you want to put it?"
"Well… that creepy basement you have seems like a good spot."
Neither of them bothered turning on the lights with both of them being able to see in the dark.
Descending into the basement, Sunny summoned the Covetous Coffer once more.
Holding it over his head, he tilted it to Jet.
"Catch."
Grunting slightly, Jet caught the massive sleeping pod. She then shuffled over to where Sunny's sleeping pod was placed before dropping it down beside his.
A loud bang was heard as a bit of dust was kicked up.
Dusting herself off, Jet turned to Sunny.
"What's for dinner?"
"I already ordered something. You're paying though."
Jet nodded, before she then gave him a serious look.
"Alright. Do you wanna tell me about the Echo now? And the… Soul Serpent?"
"Hm. Seems a little unfair to reveal so much about my aspect when you haven't revealed yours, doesn't it?"
Jet scratched the back of her head awkwardly, realising he was right.
"Okay then… if you tell me about yours I'll tell you about mine?"
"Good enough."
And when Sunny said that, the room darkened.
A massive serpent revealed itself slightly, most of its body submerged in shadow.
And next to Sunny, sparks of essence were weaving themselves into existence, revealing a beautiful woman wearing black, lusterless leather armour.
"This is the Soul Serpent, an Ascended Titan."
"And this is Solvane, a Transcendent Demon."
Jet's eyes looked like they were going to pop out.
"A-A… A Titan?! And a Transcendent?! How the hell…"
As she did not directly ask him how he obtained them, Sunny did not answer.
"And… What about the one that made the lightning? Was it one of these two?"
"No, that's another one. A Transcendent Devil."
Jet seemed like she was about to pass out.
"Tra- Transcendent… Devil… What. The. Fu-"
She was unable to finish her sentence, her brain seemingly malfunctioning.
"Just ho-.... Nevermind. This is incredible, Sunny! You… you could kill a Saint with this much firepower! Right?"
"Maybe. Depends on the Saint and depends on the circumstances."
Realising that she hadn't reciprocated Sunny's trust yet, Jet began explaining her own aspect.
"Ah… well now I feel embarrassed, but my aspect allows me to absorb soul essence from things I kill, and my Awakened ability lets me attack a soul directly, bypassing all physical defense…"
Sunny nodded.
"Not bad. I can control shadows somewhat, and I can see through the ones created by my aspect. My Awakened ability lets me step through them."
Although it definitely pained Sunny to reveal so much about his capabilities, Sunny didn't want to hide things from his allies in this life.
His past life held so many regrets. There were so many things he never got a chance to say.
"And… My Flaw is that I can't lie."
Jets eyes widened upon hearing that.
"Your Flaw?! W-why would you tell me?"
"So you'll believe me when I say I wasn't staring at my echo's breasts!"
Upon being reminded of that, Jet covered her mouth as she laughed slightly.
"Ah… Well, since you told me your Flaw, I'll tell you mine."
"You really don't have t-"
"I am dead."
"..."
'Again with this! What's with these people?!'
"You are dead?"
"Yeah, my aspect is the only thing that keeps me alive. Somewhat. I'm not truly alive, but it's a faithful imitation…"
An awkward silence descended after that.
"...Strange, your shadow definitely feels alive."
"That's a thing?"
"Yeah. Pretty cool right?"
"A little bit…"
As an awkward silence descended again, until the doorbell was heard.
Jet perked up upon hearing it.
"Is that the food?!"
Rushing upstairs, she opened the door.
…A few minutes later, Sunny was enjoying a nice meal as night fully descended outside. Across from him, Jet was scarfing down a bunch of food, chewing loudly.
'Why do I always live with gluttonous women? Damnation!'
He had ordered two servings just for Jet, but she had already finished it!
She was even reaching for his food now, not even asking before taking it.
'Whatever. I'm not that hungry anyways…'
Sunny watched with fascination as all the food on the table disappeared.
"Were you really that hungry?"
"Yes! Hungry for good food, that is!"
"You're cleaning this up."
"Fine by me."
Sunny stood up before going upstairs to shower.
…After changing into a fresh set of clothes, Sunny came down to a surprisingly clean table and sink.
'She actually knows how to clean? How surprising…'
Jet was now currently sprawled out on the sofa, nodding off.
"Shouldn't you get in your sleeping pod if you're going to sleep?"
She then seemed to snap out of it, sucking in the bit of drool that was leaking from her mouth.
"Right! Goodnight, Sunny!"
She then descended into the basement, retiring for the night.
Sighing as he sat down on his sofa, Sunny summoned the echo of Solvane.
As he let a shadow observe her weaves, Sunny sat down and began weaving a couple
enchantments on his memories.
Memory: [Covetous Coffer]
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: IV.
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: ["You are very strange!" said Noctis. Why was his new friend so deathly afraid of chests? Why was he so timid and pale? "Don't be afraid, these are just my treasure chests. They won't bite. Well... except for this one. This one will eat you alive.]
Memory Enchantments: [Mendacious Coffer], [Capacious Chest], [Locomotive Chiffonier], [Lurid Trunk].
'Hmm… The description is still the same.'
Sunny was sure the description had come from what was once his second nightmare, and the pale friend Noctis had spoken to had actually been Sunny.
But… He wasn't going to repeat the events of the second nightmare.
This time, he was going all out.
Taking a page out of Mordrets book, he planned to kill Hope.
'Would I be able to do it? Killing a Daemon… If Mordret thought he could do it, why couldn't I do it?'
The thought excited him a little, but it also terrified him.
Even thinking ill of a daemon was a terrible risk, but here he was planning to kill one.
Silently planning as he began to weave an enchantment onto the Coffer, Sunny thought deeply.
***
'Done!'
The Coffer could now store living beings, although Sunny didn't have anything that could produce oxygen just yet, he was sure the government had some for sale.
'Maybe I'll ask a Nightwalker…'
Sunny also wondered whether or not Nightwalker was still alive currently.
Very little was known of him, and Sunny had no idea how he died or what happened to him in the future. There were some theories though, like how he attempted a nightmare and failed…
Dismissing the Coffer, Sunny proceeded to summon the Ordinary Rock. He was planning on weaving the speaking enchantment onto the rock, as if he entered the second nightmare as the Shadowspawn again, he wanted to avoid any awkward situations.
'Would I even land in the body of the Shadowspawn? I'm a Titan now…'
Putting the thought aside, Sunny continued to weave as his shadow observed Solvane.
…And as the sun was rising outside, Sunny was done.
Now setting his sights on Solvane's Echo, Sunny decided it was time. He had observed her weave enough, he had observed many weaves before and with the upgraded Blood Weave, he could peer extremely deep into a soul. He had already committed the important parts to memory.
Before he could dive into his Soul Sea however, Sunny heard a voice.
"...Sunny?"
Leaving his basement, Jet tiredly walked out as she rubbed her eyes sleepily.
Snickering slightly as she saw what Sunny was doing, she couldn't help but ask.
"Have you been 'observing' her the entire night?"
"I have, actually. I'm about to turn her into a Shadow."
Jet's eyes then widened.
"That's a thing? Is that how your other Shado- Ohhh, that makes sense actually. Can I watch?"
Sunny shook his head.
"It only works in my Soul Sea, I'll just show you the end result."
Jet nodded in understanding.
"Alright…"
Dismissing Solvane's Echo, Sunny dove into his Soul Sea.
Bringing forth the echo, Sunny put a hand on its shoulder.
[Transform Echo into Shadow?]
[Yes/No]
"Yes."
Sunny observed the process, as light came falling down from his shadow cores, landing on the echo and the shadow of Solvane and the Wormvine.
The shining strings forming the echo disappeared, giving way to the darkness of Sunny's soul. As the echo started growing less and less lifeless, Sunny felt intense power radiating from it.
'What a powerful will…'
Was this the Will that was mentioned by the [Slaying Blade] ability Serpent had? Perhaps he should begin trying to practice it…
Dark flames emanated from the echo, as a spark of life was born within. Or rather, the shadow of a spark of life.
And as the process came to an end, Sunny looked at his new shadow.
Solvane's features remained roughly the same, untainted by the darkness of Sunny's soul. Her beautiful chestnut hair swayed slightly from the remnant energy caused by her creation. The lovely red tunic Sunny had once seen her wear had returned, exposing her bare shoulders.
'How the hell?'
This was the first Shadow he had gained… that didn't look like a Shadow! It looked like a normal woman!
The only thing that indicated she was a Shadow was the darkness in her eyes, her silver irises long gone, alongside a light black flame radiating from her body.
Sunny looked at her a bit worriedly, before nodding in satisfaction. Leaving his Soul Sea, he refocused on the real world.
Summoning Solvane to get a better look at her, Jet looked on in amazement.
"Wow… She feels completely different now. Did you… give her life or something?"
"Kind of, I think? It's more like a shadow of a li-"
Sunny could not finish his sentence.
Because a hand suddenly gripped tightly around his throat, lifting him into the air.
'W-What?!'
Something was attacking him!
Turning back to Solvane, he realised… it was her!
His Shadow had attacked him!
"Why… Am I…"
'S-She spoke?!'
"Sunny?! What's going on?!"
Both Sunny and Jet were panicking as the room darkened severely, Solvane's Transcendent aura radiating throughout the surroundings.
'Right! Her will held for thousands of years even when she was suffering horribly! Of course it would remain intact even if she's just a Shadow!'
Sunny had no idea this could even happen!
Kicking his legs slightly, Sunny tried his best to speak.
"Put… me… down…. Let's.. talk first.."
Sunny then felt his feet hit the ground as he gasped for air, his throat having been let go.
"...Talk."
Coughing slightly, Sunny tried to explain himself.
"The… The Nightmare Spell gave me an Echo of you, so I turned you into one of my Shadows. I didn't realise your consciousness would remain like this. I'm sorry."
"Suffered… for… so… long…"
Holding onto her face, Solvane seemed to be struggling, her mind only able to recall the suffering she endured for thousands of years.
"I know. Nobody deserves what happened to you, and I'm sorry for that. Do you want to… return?"
Solvane's presence seemed to grow even darker upon hearing that.
"No… No! Never… die… again… only… glory!"
Sunny could only look at her in stunned silence at the statement.
'What… a fucking maniac.'
Even after suffering for thousands of years, the moment she came back from the dead she wanted to fight.
"Well then, that's fine. As one of my Shadows you'll be in plenty of battles to come. And if things get serious enough… I'm sure there'll be war for you to join."
"Glorious… battle… I… accept… Shadow…"
"Thank you. For now, rest. I'll call upon you when I find powerful enemies. And please, never do that again… You scared the life out of me!"
"So… be… it…"
Solvane proceeded to dismiss herself, resting within Sunny's shadow core.
'Phew… Thank the gods she's not hostile.'
He had never been faced with such a terrifying situation, being attacked by his own Shadow like that.
If she wanted vengeance on Sunny for any reason… he doubted he would've been able to defend himself.
"S-Sunny… What the hell was that!"
Jet had fallen to the ground, the transcendent aura frightening her severely.
Rubbing his neck slightly, Sunny grimaced when he responded.
"What did it look like? I guess she was more alive then I thought… I didn't even know this was possible… All my other Shadows are loyal as can be…"
"That… What the hell?! She could've killed you!"
Sunny's mood dimmed at the thought.
"Probably… Maybe I could've commanded her to stop for just a moment, but… I had no idea that was going to happen."
Jet shivered.
"Remind me to not be around the next time you create a Shadow. Actually, will there be a next time? Is there a limit to that?"
Sunny looked down in thought.
"Probably. I won't be making any for a while though unless I receive another impressive Echo. And I'm limited to seven Shadows."
"Damn! Alright… I'm… I'm gonna shower. I have to go to work. But… that was kind of awesome? That lady seems like a total badass…"
Sunny nodded in agreement.
As Jet went upstairs, Sunny looked at the runes of his new Shadow.
Shadows: [Soul Serpent], [Shadow Amalgam], [Death Maiden Solvane].
'Death Maiden?'
Was that Shadow's version of War Priestesses?
'Hopefully that doesn't diminish her power or anything…'
Shadow: [Death Maiden Solvane].
Shadow Rank: Transcendent.
Shadow Class: Demon.
Shadow Description: [Even after being killed after suffering for thousands of years, Solvane could not rest. Once slain by -unknown-, she was brought back as his Shadow to fight anew.]
'Yeah… I do kind of sound like an ass when you put it like that…'
Shadow Attributes: [Maiden of Death], [Conqueror], [Solace], [Mystery Pryer], [Flame of Divinity].
[Maiden of Death] Attribute Description: "Returned as a Shadow, Solvane had become a Maiden of Death, created to bring peace with eternal rest as her weapon."
Sunny blinked.
'What a fancy way of saying she was born to kill.'
[Conqueror] remained the same, so Sunny skipped over it.
[Solace] Attribute Description: "When Solvane grants eternal rest to her foes, she grows stronger."
'It's basically the same thing…'
[Mystery Pryer] Attribute Description: "Solvane can pry into mysteries, unveiling deceit and seeing the unseen"
'Hmm. I see.'
Most of her attributes had remained the same, it was just that they now had an affinity to shadows.
And seeing as her abilities remained the same, it seemed Sunny was right.
'Does this mean she can absorb spirit essence while in the shadows and during battle?'
What a useful ability to have… his shadow creation was truly miraculous.
But at the bottom of the runes, Sunny saw a dreadful sight.
Shadow Fragments: [0/300].
'What!'
This was just as much as Nightmare, who was a Terror!
No... wait.
'Right… She's basically a combination of two beings. It makes sense that she would need more fragments…'
Sunny sighed as he dismissed the runes.
"More work to do…"
Sunny also planned on obtaining Nightmare in his second nightmare, as having a Shadow that could control dreams in a world ruled by the Nightmare Spell seemed like a good idea.
He also planned on turning the Coffer into a Shadow, but he doubted he would bother ascending it, as its size depended on how much soul essence he had, not the chest itself.
But it was clear to Sunny that Solvane was more of a wildcard than he had hoped. He was sure that over time her clarity would return, and he had to get strong enough to resist her before then.
'If Solvane could resist, why didn't Shrike resist too?'
Was its will too weak? Or was it because it truly saw Sunny as its master?
'Gah! Whatever!'
It had shown its loyalty so far, and Sunny wouldn't start doubting it now.
He just had to treat his Shadows well…
Sunny grimaced slightly as he thought back to the little imp he once had as a Shadow.
'So complicated…'
Summoning his runes, Sunny checked how many fragments it had cost to make Solvane.
Shadow Fragments: [6000/7000].
'A… A thousand?!'
Sighing slightly, Sunny leaned back. It seemed he was going to have to hunt some more nightmare creatures to regain the lost fragments, or he could simply sacrifice his trove of soul coins to Noctis' altar.
He sighed.
Rubbing his hands together, Sunny smiled.
Sunny had gained a powerful Shadow today, and it only tried to kill him a little bit!
Life was pretty good!
Now sitting on his sofa, Sunny began meditating.
After seeing how impressive Solvane's Will was, he couldn't help but want to try it himself. He was attempting to feel the Will that he had been studying.
But after a few minutes, there was nothing.
'Will this even work if I'm only an Awakened?'
Maybe he should try tapping into spirit essence first…
'Or wait… What if I naturally ascend?'
He could try to bring himself to the brink of ascending, and then fully ascend himself in the midst of his Second Nightmare… If he faced his challenges as a Master, he would have a lot more confidence.
'That's… a damn good idea! Why didn't I think of that already?'
Even though it was literally the exact strategy he had used on the Forgotten Shore, Sunny somehow didn't think of it before.
Sunny continued meditating for a few more minutes, circulating his essence, attempting the refinement Ananke had once told him about. But… Sunny had already fully saturated his cores, so he could not use the essence of powerful beings to speed up the process.
'Maybe I can? Surely having all my cores would make ascending easier?'
Sunny continued to meditate.
But as he heard soft footsteps coming downstairs, he opened his eyes.
With wet hair that was still glistening slightly, Jet came downstairs.
"What's with the meditating?"
"I'm refining my essence."
"Ref-what? Why?"
"To make it stronger. I'm interested in ascending naturally, you see…"
Jet looked at him, slightly stunned.
"You… you can do that?"
"I have no idea. I'm only trying it myself now."
Jet shook her head, making her way to the door.
"Tell me if you succeed then I guess. I'm off."
"Wait."
Jet looked at him curiously as Sunny tossed her a small card.
"...What's this?"
"Key to the house, you'll need it won't you? Don't worry about me, I have spares."
"A key to a house… Thanks Sunny!"
Running out the door with a smile on her face, she seemed to have completely forgotten about the terrifying situation that had just occurred.
Sunny waved at her slightly before he returned to meditating.
…Several hours later, Sunny felt like he had made the first steps of progress.
'I think… My plan is feasible.'
His schedule might have to be moved forward a bit though…
Within the seven lightless soul cores, Sunny could feel the power coursing through all of them. Using the Soul Serpent as a guide, Sunny could feel his essence being refined in real time.
As he had already been an Ascended once, he simply tried to replicate how his essence felt and moved from back then.
'At this rate… It'll only take me a few months.'
It was decided then, the moment he felt he was about to break through into being an Ascended, he would enter the second nightmare, or whenever he was ready.
There were still plenty of things he wanted to do in the Waking World currently though…
Like visiting Rain!
But he also needed to buy more delicious food, as well as gather information on the current state of the world.
'I'll just ask Aria for that…'
He would visit Rain… tomorrow. For now he wanted some rest, his neck still bruised after being grabbed by a Transcendent. Leaning back on his sofa, Sunny continued refining his essence.
Meditating, he sent his shadows out into the world — he was going to gather information on the current Transcendents and powerful Masters.
***
Somewhere in the Dream Realm, a fight was happening.
"My lady, there are more nightmare creatures approaching, what should we do?"
A tough looking woman with black hair looked at subordinates.
"You promised to fight, no? We will fight!"
Awakened Radiant Dawn was currently defending a minor citadel that was near the western reaches of Valor's territory.
She had been sent here by Valor's nominal leader, Saint Whispering Blade, as a test of her power. She had been defending the newly conquered citadel for several months, leading an elite team of Awakened as defenses were built into the citadel. The Awakened continued clearing the surrounding area of any nightmare creatures, aiming to establish new territory in the name of Valor.
Holding a shining blade above her head, Aria led the charge, a red gem gleaming on her forehead. Despite having fought for several months now, she felt…
'This is kind of boring…'
She did not enjoy leading armies. She yearned to simply hunt strong nightmare creatures, she wanted to test her limits!
But instead she was stuck defending a small citadel with barely a hundred people, constantly fighting off Awakened and Dormant nightmare creatures.
She missed being in a small cohort, exploring the wilderness, finding treasures, hunting unique and strange nightmare creatures… Sitting here was dreadfully boring.
'At least I was able to gather information.'
She had gotten the names of many of Valor's Saints and Masters, she'd be able to deliver them to Sunny soon.
But for now…
Swinging her blade as she rushed into the horde of nightmare creatures, she sighed.
'I hope something interesting happens soon…'