The screen revealed the viewing's next scenery.
It was a jagged and lonesome mountain that dwarfed the other peaks of the same mountain chain. On one of its slopes the remnants of an old road could be seen, to its right side a sheer cliff face rose as an impregnable wall, and to the left a sea of nothingness, like an endless fall, was the only fate for those that stepped onto it.
Time reverted, as if a hundred years were passing by in seconds.
Below the snow, several human bones were revealed, but soon even these bones disappeared, revealing a caravan.
[ [Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…] ]
[ 'What… what the hell is this?' ]
What they saw was nothing more than surprising. Nightmare trials were overall known, or at least believed, to be fair, and yet what they were seeing now was a young boy, as skinny as an almost-to-be corpse.
Since the focus was on that child and considering the inner voice that had sounded from the viewing...
This was Sunny, and he was in chains.
The sight sent several shivers along various members of the audience.
In the Alter Room, a certain Great Titan looked at the chains that had been placed on him, his fists thightening.
[ 'What kind of a situation is this?!' ]
Sunny's thoughts echoed through the several rooms. In front of him was a man with broad shoulders, while behind him was a man that had a shifty-looking face.
"T-This... what kind of bullshit is this?!"
In the Longing Room, Effie completely forgot about the child sitting beside her, openly cursing upon seeing this situation.
Not that her reaction wasn't justified, a lot of people in the same room and others were feeling the same.
If Nightmare Trials were truly fair, then this desperate situation meant that Sunny was bound to have a powerful aspect and attributes, which matched their image of him as a Sovereign.
Still, this situation was far from ideal.
In the Alter Room, several Sunny's familiar with this environment were left completely unsurprised.
Regressor Sunny was looking nostalgically at the sight, considering what he had faced after this, his Nightmare Trial almost felt cheap in comparison.
"Sunny, was this your First Nightmare as well?"
"Yes."
He answered, leaving behind the fact that he had challenged it more than once.
They saw as the young Sunny tried to summon his runes, only to get hit by another surprise.
[ 'What?! What the actual fuck?!' ]
[
Name: Sunless.
True Name: —
Rank: Aspirant.
Soul Core: Dormant.
Memories: —
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Fated], [Mark of Divinity], [Child of Shadows].
Aspect: [Temple Slave].
Aspect Description: [Slave is a useless wretch with no skills or abilities worth a mention. A temple slave is just the same, except much rarer.]
]
Eyes widened.
How could this be possible?
"A useless aspect..."
No one knew who said that, and yet they couldn't help but think the same. The Spell itself described it as such, after all.
No one had ever heard of something like this, then again, if someone had a useless aspect, chances were they had died horribly in the trial.
So how did Sunny survived.
Some people on the Alter Room could ask that to their own Sunnys, but for those in the other rooms, things were not as easy.
"Oh wow! Are Nightmare Trials always this difficult? No wonder Sunless and his friends were so tenacious."
"I'm afraid I will have to correct you, Sir Noctis. The Nightmare Spell is fair in it's First Trial. This difficulty only highlights my Lord's great prestige and power, including the one that he would get from the future."
Ananke corrected Noctis.
[ "Whore's bastard! Watch where you're going!" ]
[ "You little shit! I'm going to kill you!" ]
Due to the shock his runes provided, Sunny ended up entering a conflict with the broad-shouldered slave, causing him to curse and threaten him.
Some white-haired ladies gently imagined the slave burning in intense pain.
[ "Why bother? The weakling will be dead by sunrise anyway. The mountain will kill him." ]
[ "It'll kill you and me, too. Just a bit later. I really don't know what the Imperials are thinking, forcing us into this cold." ]
However, it gave up on pursuing his threat.
As they were talking about the danger of the mountain, a third voice entered the conversation. It was a little gentler than the other two slaves.
[ "This mountain pass is usually much warmer this time of year. We just had really bad luck. Also, I would advise you against harming this boy." ]
Some brows shot upwards, confused.
However, in the Nightmare Room, a certain sorcerer suddenly gasped in realization.
"Ah! Temple Slave! I knew that it sounded familiar, so he became a temple slave in his First Nigthmare? Considering his powers in the future, I will guess that he came from a temple of Shadow God."
"Which means that it was most likely destroyed by the Empire that was escorting these slaves." Solvane added.
[ "Why is that?" ]
[ "Haven't you seen the markings on his skin? He is not like us, who fell into slavery due to debts, crimes, or misfortune. He was born a slave. A temple slave, to be precise. Not long ago, the Imperials destroyed the last temple of the Shadow God. I suspect that this is how the boy ended up here." ]
The audience silently grasped the meaning of the term and quietly asked themselves.
How did a temple slave, a Child of Shadows, end up becoming the Sovereign of Death, the Lord of Shadows?
[ "So what? Why should we be afraid of a half-forgotten, weakling god? He couldn't even save his own temples." ]
[ "The Empire is protected by the mighty War God. Of course they're not afraid to burn down a few temples. But we here are not protected by anything or anyone. Do you really want to risk angering a god?" ]
Nephis couldn't help but feel pity for any fools that considered Shadow God a weakling. Besides the scholar-vibe slave's reasoning, Nephis herself knew the power behind the shadows.
In another room Mordret himself ridiculed the slave. After all, in his opinion Sunny's powers were way more creepy than his own.
[ "What is going on here?" ]
[ "It's nothing, sir. We are just all tired and cold. Especially our young friend over there. This journey is truly too hard for someone that young." ]
A new voice interrupted the slave's discussion. He was a young and handsome man, riding a white horse. Hearing the other slave's words, he looked at Sunny's small figure.
[ 'What are you looking at? You're not much older than me!' ]
Sunny's thoughts were heard, and yet none of the audience, except the Sunnys themselves, could help but see Sunny as younger than he was in the viewing.
[ "Bear with it a little more, child. We will stop for the night soon. For now, here, drink some water." ]
[ 'Child? Child?!' ]
The gentle voice of the soldier sent Sunny's thoughts to figuratively grow louder.
Nephis couldn't help but feel her mouth curl upwards.
And Rain felt that this was somewhat familiar.
[ Due to his thin body and small stature, both caused by malnourishment, Sunny was often mistaken for someone younger. Usually, he didn't hesitate to use it to his advantage, but now, for some reason, being called a child really irked him. ]
The Narrator's voice sounded, explaining Sunny's thoughts that weren't said by his "Inner Voice".
They saw as the soldier was about to hand Sunny some water when he was interrupted.
[ "What do you think you're doing?" ]
[ "I was just giving this boy some water." ]
[ "He'll receive water with the rest of them once we camp!" ]
[ "But…" ]
[ "Shut your mouth! These slaves are not your friends. Understood? They're not even people. Treat them like people, and they'll begin imagining things." ]
A sudden sense of fury erupted from Nephis.
For some reason, seeing Sunny as a slave, seeing him being treated as someone less than a person, felt irritating enough that if she still had her capabilities, this room had become a toasted chamber of debris.
Beside her, Cassie felt a knot in her stomach settle, as if the topic of the viewing was going somewhere she deeply disliked.
[ 'I don't know how, but I will watch you die first.' ]
Sunny's thought echoed, vocalizing his own pettiness into murderous intent.
[ 'And you, second.' ]
They understood Sunny was someone, at least during this time, that would take things to the extreme. A really petty person.
After thinking that, Sunny walked along with the caravan for a long while.
Once he calmed down, thanks to the oddly liberating existence of fresh air, he decided to look into his attributes more carefully.
[ The last time he was too outraged by the Aspect and didn't study the Attributes well. While not as important as one's Aspect, the Attributes were often the deciding factor between life and death. They represented one's natural traits and affinities, sometimes even providing passive abilities and effects. ]
Indeed, while the Aspect was useless, there might still be some hope in the attributes, however, no one was expecting an attribute capable of turning the tables with no effort, of course.
[
[Fated] Attribute Description: "The strings of fate wrap tightly around you. Unlikely events, both good and bad, are drawn by your presence. There are those who are blessed, and there are those who are cursed… but rarely both."
[Mark of Divinity] Attribute Description: "You bear a faint scent of divinity, as though someone briefly touched by it once, a long time ago."
[Child of Shadows] Attribute Description: "Shadows recognize you as one of their own."
]
Cassie looked at the first attribute, her brows furrowing.
'Was this why I chose him as the weapon against Fate? It makes sense, if there is someone that by becoming Fateless could bring down the tapestry, a Fated person would be ideal. So in the end, I ended up making everyone forget him because he was the best weapon that I could choose? Was there really no one better for the job?'
While several Cassies wallowed in self-shame and guilt, the other spectators were really intrigued by this attribute and the others as well.
[ 'I guess this is how I managed to receive one of the super rare useless Aspects—and a weird variant of it, at that!' ]
Everyone felt like it was most likely it.
If someone was Fated to come across unlikely events, be they good or bad, then from having a useless Aspect to having a Divine Memory, it was understable.
Those who knew of some of the things Sunny had gone through, thanks to his highly vague descriptions and recountings, could understand why he seemed to be a magnet for trouble.
'I won't be hit by an Unholy abomination if I go on an adventure with him again, will I?' was the thought on the heads of Kai, Effie, and Jet.
[ If [Fated] was his innate attribute, then the other two came from the [Temple Slave] Aspect. [Mark of Divinity] was more or less straightforward—it was supposed to allow passage into certain sacred places inside the Dream Realm and enhance several types of sorcery. Since there were no sacred places in sight and Sunny's Aspect had nothing to do with sorcery, it was useless, too. ]
It seemed to be that way, however, if he were to encounter a sacred place in the mountain, there might be a chance to make use of it.
[ [Child of Shadows] was a stranger one. He had never heard of it and had no idea what it was supposed to do—at least not until the sun hid behind the mountain and the sky began to darken. To his surprise, Sunny found himself able to see perfectly in the darkness, as though it was still as bright as day. This ability alone was nothing to scoff at, and it was quite possible that shadows would reward him with some other, yet unknown, gifts. ]
[ 'Finally something good. I wonder if…' ]
[ "Stop the caravan! Prepare to camp!" ]
As the spectators in the rooms were amazed by the extent of Sunny's darkvision, given by the attribute, the voice of the imperials interrupted both Sunny's and the audience's thoughts.
In the Shadow Room, the members of the Shadow Clan couldn't help but think of their own darkvision. The ability that allowed them to leave under the dark sky of the Forgotten Shore was the only ability that their Sovereign seemingly had in his arsenal during his First Nightmare.
'To think I only ever thought of it as a nifty bonus. And yet it was the only hope for survival for him.' Rain thought.
They saw the slaves and the imperials make camp. The slaves were fed and given water, although there were some complaints still.
[ "By all the gods, they used to feed me better even in the dungeons!" ]
[ "And most of us innocent men in the dungeon were there waiting to visit the gallows, too!" ]
The shifty slave reached for a group of berries that had somehow grown amidst the snow.
[ "I would advise against eating those, friend." ]
The scholar slave warned.
In the Longing Room, a certain professor of Wilderness Survival gasped in recognition.
"Bloodbane!"
"You recognize it, Professor Julius?"
The Nameless husband of Effie questioned his son's tutor, their conversation for everyone to hear.
"Yes. It's a poisonous berry that grew in several places all around the Dream Realm. Considering we found tons of those around places where great battles took place, we assumed it was a product of bloodshed. If this route is regularly used for slave transport, it makes sense why they would be growing at the side of the road!"
[ "You and your advice again! What?! Why?!" ]
[ "These berries are called Bloodbane. They grow in the places where human blood was spilled. That's why there's always a lot of them along the slave trade routes." ]
"Ah!"
A triumphant laugh escaped the old awakened's mouth.
Nephis watched silently, she seemed to start to understand why Sunny held this man in such high regard, she was still not sure, though. Even if the old awakened was an excellent teacher, she couldn't seem to understand Sunny's own sense of loyalty towards the man.
She had never seen him talk about someone with such respect, after all.
[ "Bloodbane is poisonous. A few berries might be enough to kill an adult man." ]
With that, Professor Julius's theory was proven correct, and the shifty slave lost the chance of having a last meal.
There was suddenly a thundering noise.
The mountain shook as pieces of rock, snow, and ice started falling down on top of the camp.
[ "On your feet, fools! Get to the wall!" ]
The soldier from the Empire ordered the slaves to go near the wall of stone, to shield themselves from the falling debris.
Then something fell.
It was huge, at first, it looked like a lump of dirty snow, roughly round and as tall as a mounted horseman. However, once the creature unfurled its long limbs and rose, it towered over the stone platform like a nightmarish omen of death.
[ 'That thing must be at least four meters tall,' ]
Sunny was shocked by the monstrosity's height.
The creature had two stumpy legs, an emaciated, hunched torso, and disproportionately long, multijointed hands, two of them, each ending with a set of sharp bone claws, and another two, these ones shorter, ending with almost human-like fingers.
On its head, five milky, white eyes regarded the slaves with indifference. Beneath them, a terrible maw crowded with razor-sharp teeth was half-open, as though in anticipation. The creature's drool was running down its chin and dripping into the snow.
What was the most unnerving, however, were the strange shapes endlessly moving, like worms, under the creature's skin.
[ 'Well, that is just… too much,' ]
As soon as those thoughts were voiced into the rooms, the abomination attacked in his direction. Luckily, and because he had acted quickly, he managed to escape the attack.
The creature kept attacking, killing the slaves and imperials alike.
The broad-shouldered slave's corpse ended up on top of Sunny's own frail body.
The chain in his hands twisted and constricted him, however, while the monster kept slaughtering the rest of the camp, the chains finally slackened, freeing him of the pain that they were causing him.
[ 'See, things could have been worse…' ]
""You Fool!!!""
A chorus of similar voices echoed in the Alter Room, as all Sunny's, including the Mad Prince, cursed at the younger version of themselves.
What? You mean most of them did the exact same thing? Since when did that stop the Sunless from cursing at himself?
They saw Sunny in the viewing push the corpse off the top of him. And then he sensed it, below the corpse's skin. As for everyone in the rooms, they saw it.
A wormlike movement under the skin of the dead slave.
[ 'You just had to think about how things could get worse, right, you idiot?' ]
Sunny struggled to get away from it, however, the ever-present chain did not let him get far.
[ "What are you staring at?! Move away from it!" ]
Sunny warned the shifty slave to get away from the ever-convulsing corpse.
However, none of them could get far because the three of them were chained to each other. They saw as the corpse went through a metamorphosis.
They heard Sunny's thoughts as he pondered about the rules of the Nightmare Spell and how First Nightmares were normally occupied by Beasts and Monsters, with the rare Demon mixed in.
And yet, they could definitely tell, after years of experience, they could tell.
"It's an Awakened Tyrant."
Not just a Tyrant, but an awakened one, as if the situation couldn't be any worse.
[ However, the creature had clearly just created a lesser version of itself—an ability that belonged exclusively to tyrants, the sovereigns of the Nightmare Spell, and those above them. ]
Everyone quickly blamed [ Fated ].
How else would one find an Awakened Tyrant in a First Nightmare?
As they were expecting Sunny to momentarily freeze, they saw as he stepped forward and threw the chain over the newly born creature's shoulders.
He threw the chains a couple more times and successfully immobilized the creature's hands. However, he was too far into the creature's range, there was almost no distance between them.
[ "You two!" Sunny screamed, addressing his two fellow slaves. "Pull on that chain as though your lives depend on it!" ]
[ Because they were. ]
He screamed at the two slaves. They pulled the creature tighter, however, the chains would not last much longer.
Sunny used the thinner chains that connected both his hands and wrapped them around the creature's neck. He was using his own body and back as leverage, since his weak body could not possibly strangle an adult male.
This was now a struggle: which would break first, the chain, the monster, or the slave?
[ 'Die! Die, you bastard!' ]
The struggle and desperation echoed throughout the rooms as the young Sunny tried to survive. His wounded back and almost empty stamina.
He wouldn't last long.
Thankfully, he was able to last long enough.
[ [You have slain a dormant beast, Mountain King's Larva.] ]
The Spell's voice carried good news, the people of the rooms released a breath they didn't know they were holding.
However, there was still much more to watch from this struggle.
*********
Author's Note: And the 1st NM has started. What do you think of this reaction style?
Check out my other fanfics:
Cursed Shadow (JJK/JJK Modulo x Shadow Slave)
Trailblazing Shadow (HSR x Shadow Slave)