It had hardly been an hour after completing the First Nightmare and Sunless was already training again.
They tested his aspect, learning about his shadow, Gloomy, as Sunless called him (Revel and Stalker hated it). It could be wrapped around himself and his Memories to double their strength.
But Silent noticed something about Sunny's shadow during his spar with Revel.
"It's not following you."
"What?"
Sunless asked, confused.
"The shadow, when it is just acting as a shadow, it doesn't follow you, it makes your moves sharper, more efficient. You should look at it while fighting."
Gloomy looked smugly at his master.
Basically saying: "I am better than you!"
Sunless glared at his shadow in response.
"Like a battle art?"
Revel asked.
Silent nodded.
"But it's not something very easy to do, how can I fight while looking at my Shadow?"
It's not that he couldn't, it's that it was almost impossible.
Making precise movements while looking at your own shadow is a one way ticket to look ridiculous.
Revel looked up, thinking, and then her eyes widened in clarity.
"But your shadow is not fixed in your body.
It can separate, link itself to something else… Why not people?"
"That… actually makes sense…"
Sunless said, surprised he took that long to notice, Silent nodded, agreeing.
'Can you do that?'
He asked Gloomy in his mind and almost instantly the shadow moved to Revel.
A vein popped in his head.
'I am not THAT bad…'
The dear sisters held their laughter.
"Okay, okay, me and Silent will spar a little, slow enough so you can see us, tell us if you notice something."
Sunless nodded, his gaze still burning his shadow that was on Lightslayer.
He stepped back from the arena and let his sisters spar.
"So, remember, no aspects and fight slowly, Sunny needs to-"
Stalker didn't let Revel finish, she was already attacking with a training spear.
The swordwoman parried effortlessly, sighing in annoyance.
"You could try to beat me some other time you know!"
As the sisters were… "Sparring", Sunless was watching intently, ignoring how Silent was trying (and failing) to beat Revel. At least they weren't going insanely fast… He could still see them.
More specifically, he was watching his shadow that was linked to Revel.
And he saw what his sister was talking about, how his shadow was moving, the art, the imitation, mimicry…
Sunless saw a new way to fight.
That night, Sunless had a dream, he was the temple slave once again, but now, he was a baby, and he was in a dark temple with a woman dancing, a dance of shadows.
In the morning, Sunless unlocked his Aspect Legacy, The Shadow Dance.
—--
In 9 months, Sunless learned a lot.
Of the 7 steps of the shadow dance, he was able to unlock one. The reason was simple: he had to figure out what the steps actually were, the spell didn't tell him.
So, with the help of his sisters, his mentors and a few legacy children that served as training partners, he discovered that the first step involves observing an enemy's combat style, understanding their body structure, and mimicking their moves to counter them.
His reward provided by the spell was a Echo, well, the spell called it a Shadow, but it was an Echo.
[Soul Serpent.]
Rank: Dormant.
Class: Beast.
Shadow Description: [When the end came, Shadow was the last of the gods to be destroyed. Many have resented him for creating death, but in the end, death embraced all.]
Shadow attributes: [Shadow Guide], [Soul Weapon].
[Shadow Guide]
Attribute Description: "Soul Serpent guides shadow essence as it flows through your body."
[Soul Weapon]
Attribute Description: "Soul Serpent can assume the form of a weapon."
It was weak right now, but it allowed me to use essence somehow thanks to [Shadow Guide] and he could see its attributes, maybe because it was part of his Aspect Legacy. The sisters kind of freaked out when they discovered that. A sleeper using essence? Unheard of.
Plus, it could turn into a tattoo in my body, it looked alive, and moved in my skin. Revel was jealous…
Aside from that, he got another Echo as a present from Silent.
Echo: [Dire Wraith]
Rank: Awakened.
Class: Demon
It looked like a spectral wolf, transparent fur, wounds that reveal bones and flesh.
But what was most striking was the missing eye.
But even something as simple as an Echo revealed more of Sunless aspect.
He could turn Echo's into Shadows, like Serpent, although he needed 200 shadow fragments for that. But it was worth it, because, different from Echos, Shadows grew stronger by feading them Memories.
Speaking of fragments…
Sunless was leaning on the wall of the training grounds looking at his runes.
Name: Sunless Song
True Name: Hollow Death
Rank: Dreamer
Shadow Core: Dormant
Shadow Fragments: [837/1000]
Memories: [Silver Bell], [Puppeteer's Shroud], [Nine's Regret], [BloodRaven], [Bone Fang], [Steelbone armor].
Shadows: [Soul Serpent], [Dire Wraith]
Echos: -
Attributes: [Fated], [Ember of Divinity], [Child of Shadows], [The Blood's Shadow]
Aspect: [Shadow Purpose]
Aspect Rank: [Divine]
Aspect Ability: [Shadow Control]
[Your shadow is more independent than most. It is an invaluable helper.]
-
Sunless sighed.
'If I didn't turn Dire Wraith into a shadow I would already be saturated…'
Thanks to his Core being a Shadow Core instead of a Soul Core. He could not use soul shards to grow his core, the only way was killing nightmare creatures, the higher the rank and class, the more fragments he got.
He discovered that when training with Eunbin's thralls, since then, training with her became routine.
But since they were weak, he just got Memories that were just inferior to what he already had, he just kept an armor and some others that he found useful, the rest, he let Wraith consume them.
The main difference between Shadows and Echoes was that Shadows could grow.
As soon as he turned Dire into one, a counter of Memories appeared, saying how much it needed to evolve the Shadow.
He could still picture the flabbergasted faces of each of his sisters…
Howl and Moon becoming Saints didn't stir them as much as him becoming a Sleeper…
Getting back to reality, he looked at the shadow wolf that was currently biting the neck of a nightmare creature.
[You have slain a Dormant Monster, Claws of Torment]
[Your Shadow grows stronger]
[You have received a Memory, Endless Torture]
The wolf finished eating the monster and walked to his master, who kneeled and caressed its fur. The dog-like being made no sound, but it clearly liked the affection I was showing it.
After becoming a Shadow, the wolf now was like a pool of darkness with the shape of a Wraith, while still holding the same characteristics that it had, it was just harder to see them.
In the end, Sunny loved his new pet. The 200 fragments were worth it.
"You will kill all my thralls at this rate."
Eunbin said entering the arena, chuckling as she did.
Sunless dispelled the shadow and looked at his sister.
"Well… Maybe I am overpreparing…"
"You are not."
Bin said… Too fast.
"You are going to fully saturate your core. Got it?"
Bin's voice was serious and strict. Not calm and easygoing as it usually is. Her face mirrored her tone.
Thinking back… Why was he killing so many?
Normally, his sisters didn't have the core saturated when entering the dream realm…
But he didn't push it.
"Okay, okay… I will. I just need 163 more fragments, and there's still 1 month left."
Eunbin took a deep breath and her usual tone and demeanor returned.
"Alright… It's time you go to the academy."
Sunless blinked.
"That 's today?"
She smiled maliciously.
"Of course! Did you forget?"
"I wanted to forget, why do I have to go again?"
She chuckled at his reaction.
"You need to form allies to survive, that's why. You can't survive the Dream Real alone, even Rev has allies and friends, like Dire Fang."
"I have Dire Wraith and Serpent."
"They are Echos."
"I have Gloomy."
"That's even worse! It's your own shadow! Do you want to be known as a loner?"
"Agh!"
Sunless gave up like a child.
"Alright… Let's go 'socialize'..."