Sunless looked satisfied.
"Wow! I can't believe she called her a burden."
Fortunately, things went as planned, even faster than expected.
But when did Nephis learn to be such a chatterbox?
Between her and Yuki, two words are too many, and one is too little.
Not to mention their stubborn habit of not letting show any emotion on their faces.
Although for some reason, Yuki seemed to melt more in his presence. In fact, Through her shadow, Sunny felt as if her emotions were like frozen inside a cage of ice.
Could this be her flaw?
Seeing things going well, Sunless called Gloomy back and headed to his room to start training the Shadow dance.
Reaching the third step before the Solstice was crucial.
Then he also had to think about how to trade [Cloth of War] for some Memories. He could even ask Professor Julius, but they weren't that close yet. Maybe it would be better to ask Jet; she adores him.
As he walked toward his room, he heard through the shadows many students gossiping about him.
Sunny would have preferred the shadows to keep him in oblivion.
Many girls seemed drawn to his mysterious appearance and the "dark prince aura" he seemed to emit. The boys, however, were jealous of him and wanted to punch him; others simply wanted to shake his hand and pat him on the back.
All this because not even his second day at the academy, and he was already surrounded by three gorgeous girls, two of them the famous 'twin queens' of the academy.
Apparently, he quickly gained a reputation as a womanizer.
'What the hell do you want from me, you horny ba******!? If I'm lucky with women, it's not my fault.'
Putting that issue aside.
Sunny was more worried about [the Heart]. Since consuming the Shadow lineage, it seems it has been...
Asleep?
[The Heart] was still there inside him; Sunny could feel it, but it didn't have its traits anymore.
Not to mention that his body was now a corpse. His heart wasn't beating anymore, and his body was as cold as death.
And his blood —if this could even be called blood anymore—seemed to made entirely of shadows.
What the hell did the Shadow lineage do to him?
Not having been able to figure out the issue, he chose to leave this aside for the moment.
Sunless hasn't forgotten about [Shadow Weave].
Being able to use his own shadow to see the weaves that connected the shadows to those casting them and even damage them was far too overpowered.
It was basically the ultimate assassination skill.
He was wondering if he could also use it to see the weaves of the memories and also touch them.
Upon entering his room, Sunless locked the door and started testing.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he first summoned the [silver bell] and the [puppeteer's shroud], placing them both in front of him.
He immediately separated Gloomy again and sent him to the adjacent wall, looking toward the Memories.
Closing his eyes, Sunny focused on the sight of his shadow.
Controlling his shadow to look toward the Memories, a golden web of intricate threads immediately appeared on them before his eyes.
"Yes!"
Bringing his shadow closer, Sunny began studying the weaves, summoning the other Memories as well.
Unfortunately, he seemed unable to touch the weaves of the Memories with his shadow, unlike those of the shadows.
Where was the difference?
A few minutes later, satisfied with his study, he began practicing his shadow dance.
When time was up, Sunless headed to Professor Julius's classroom to begin class, where he met up with Cassie and Yuki.
After the class, Sunny was scolded by Cassie for leaving her to be trained upon by that fighting maniac.
Nephis went even too harsh on her.
However, after the scolding, Cassie thanked him for restoring a bit of her self-confidence.
Then he went to the training room to finally fight against Nephis and keep their deal.
He told her to take it easier on Cassie for their upcoming training sessions, but Nephis didn't seem to understand what he was referring to.
Apparently, even in this timeline, Nephis is still the same Autistic Star.
What else could he expect from her?
During their fight, thanks to the Shadow dance, his suspicions were confirmed. Nephis's battle art was a blend of the battle arts of various Clans, with nothing original in itself.
Either she didn't know her father's style, or she refused to use it out of pride, seeking to replace it with another better one.
Obviously, Sunny got defeated.
But not before fighting three hours straight and forcing her to use her flame to augment herself and fight seriously.
He, instead, didn't use his shadow augmentation or Serpent.
Sunless preferred to keep his cards hidden until the Dream realm.
Furthermore, while Nephis's augmentation merely doubled her strength with a single flame, Sunless with [Shadow Weave] and the Shadow lineage could multiply his strength tenfold with a single shadow.
The difference would have made it difficult to hide his strength, so he limited himself to fighting with pure technique.
Nephis seemed satisfied with the fight and demanded to spar again the day after.
At her request, Sunny trembled. His [Shadowspawn] attribute gives him a great durability, yes! but not so much!
When night fell, everyone slept except one shadow.
"Hi Sunny, what do I owe the pleasure to?" Said Jet from the communicator.
"Hi darling, Why? Can't I just call you because I want to?" Said Sunless.
He was currently in his room, sitting in his desk chair, with the communicator on his ear.
"You usually call me only to harass me or to smash some gangsters." Said Jet in a joking tone.
"Harass you? Me? No way! I am a gentleman. I let you know: I had been here barely for two days, and I had already made two girls smile without even touching them with a finger."
Sunny sighed with a false-dramatic tone: "Poor me. I'm destined to be always around beauties."
Indeed, even the original Sunless was always surrounded by beautiful girls. How the hell did this novel avoid becoming an harem genre?
Sunless deserved more!
"Hm-hm!" said Jet while rolling her eyes.
"So! How are you doing in the Academy?"
"Good, actually. Following your advice, I tried to make friends, but aside from a couple of girls I met, no one else. Apparently, some bastard spread rumors that I'm a womanizer, and consequentially, I've been ostracized."
"Pffft... Hahahaha!!!" Jet's laughter went from his ear to the other. "You sure work fast, uh? Little devil! But don't be discouraged; it's better to have a few 'good' allies than the opposite."
Jet really couldn't contain his laughter.
"Hahaha! Just make sure you don't scare them away with your sweet talk."
"What do you think I am? I'm not that clingy. But don't worry, no matter how many girls I will have in my life, you'll always be my number one." Sunny told her seductively.
"Sure! Sure!" Jet was still laughing.
After Jet had calmed down for a moment, Sunny continued:
"Anyway, still on your advice, I only took the Wilderness Survival course; I have to admit, I'm enjoying it. Maybe I could even consider it as a career—the researcher, I mean—when I get back from the Dream Realm."
Sunless has not forgotten how in the novel it was said that the researcher's activity was a well-paid job. He was so tired of all these boring part-time jobs for two whole lifetime.
"And you? How's work going?"
"Like always. Being one of the few masters in the government means that Saint Cormac makes you work day and night. Gates keep appearing all around NQSC, and someone has to be there to clean up."
Jet sighed.
"Of course! It would all be better if I returned home and found a cute boy who had just cooked for me."
Sunless and Jet didn't live together. In the past few years when they met, when Jet hired him to help her with her investigations or to train him, Sunless would often sleep in her house for a couple of days. He had even cook for her.
She must have really enjoyed his cooking, because she often had him stay longer just to cook.
Hearing this, Sunny smiled with satisfaction.
"Well! You know what they say: love pushes you harder than... I don't remember the rest." Sunny shook his head.
"Anyway, I hope you're not getting too tired, are you?"
"No, don't worry about it. Instead, tell me about these friends of yours."
Sunny and Jet continued talking like this for a while. Sunny told her about his day in the Academy and Cassie, Yuki, and Nephis, while Jet told him about his work and Gates's activity. After a while, he remembered:
"By the way, I need your help with another matter."
"Like always. What do you want from me this time?"
"The usual, give you a kiss and, if you can, help me to trade an ascendant memory of the first tier."
Jet blinked in disbelief, then blinked again.
"...I'm sorry, did I hear you right?"
"Yep!" Sunny was really enjoying her disbelief.
"An ascendant memory of the first tier!!! Where the hell did you even get that, Sunny?" Her eyes were wide open with amazement.
"Oh! Nothing much; I just had to kill an ascendant of War in my first nightmare after an army commanded by an awakened tyrant had to bring him near to death."
Jet sighed, a hand on her temple to relieve her headache.
"And with what kind of memories do you want to trade it?"
Sunless rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. Since he had not made up his mind, his flaw was not pressing him to answer.
With only an ascending memory to trade, he couldn't expect to receive anything beyond the awakened rank. He wasn't very familiar with the difference in value between the various ranks.
Having already the [puppeteer's shroud], he didn't need any additional armor. With the [Soul weapon] of Serpent and the [Shadow shaper] of Priestess, he was also comfortable with weapons. Aside from combat, however, he lacked any useful memories.
A bag, a device for underwater breathing, and a couple of enchanted arrows might do the trick.
Then there was Cassie's issue. He needs to find a Memory to boost her senses.
Also, that fucking tree.
Maybe he should also get her an armor Memory, but...
Naaaaah!
Why not enjoy the view?
"So, I'd need a memory for storage, one for breathing underwater, a couple of enchanted arrows, one for boosting senses, and another for burning stuff."
"That's all?"
"..."
Sunny was a bit confused. "Yes, why? There's more?"
"Do you really want to trade an ascendant memory for just six awakened?"
Sunny was taken aback. Was the difference in value between an ascendant Memory and an awakened one so vast?
"Ehm! Yes... Yes, that's all I need.
...
...
Oh! But if you want anything like a garment Memory, or something else, you can add it. Think of it as a gift from me."
"Well, thank you! I will gladly accept it."
"Perfect, I'll wait to hear from you once you've found the memories. Goodnight Jet, I love you!"
"Goodnight to you, little devil."
With that, the call ended, and Sunless went back to refining his essence.
Two weeks later.
[Your Aspect Legacy mastery level has increased.]
[You have received the right to claim a Legacy Relic.]