"Hay, don't you think that your aspect is just too powerful?"
" I don't think so? Why you ask?" Raine asked, a bit confused.
"Why else? We are killing fallens like it's nothing, it's just feels wrong, you know. ....Those are a whole two rank above us? And your aspect is just ascended rank. That's too low to be this powerful." Sunny said.
"Didn't I tell you about strength multiplying itself when used wisely? ...Ok, ok, I think I understand why you think my aspect is overpowered. You are comparing it to your own right?"
"I can just knock you out whenever I want and that looks unfair, right?"
Sunny just nodded.
"But that's the point. That's the exact point why aspects are given,you know? To make us stronger." Raine told him.
"And mine seem more powerful but it's not anything special, ....atleast in spell's eyes."
Sunny gave a confused look.
"Ok,....Let me tell you how this works." Another explanation followed.
"The human body is made of seven parts."
"Blood, Bone, Flesh, Mind, Soul, Spirit and lastly Shadow."
"Your aspect can be realted to any one of them, or maybe even some even rare elements like time, space or even fate."
"You think it's unfair because I can knock the spirit out of body, but did you think how unfair it would be to see everything coming even before it happens?"
"Someone can just kill you when you are a baby because you will be a threat when you grow up. If that isn't unfair then some motherfuckers can even manipulate time, you know what that dose?"
"You will be frozen in place, and someone will just kill you slowly as if you are a snail. That's how unfair it is."
"But in spell's eyes everything is equal."
"These concepts are complicated for us. We can't think anything other then putting a tough armour around our body and that's our problem, not spell's, you know."
"It know everything, so in it's eyes, a aspect related to time manipulation is just as vulnerable as one boosting your strength though some body enhancement."
"So you get it? My aspect is only powerful because my opponents don't know how to to defend against it, and that's just common among nightmare creatures."
"They are created to test ourselves. And they rose in difficulty as we move up the rank. That's why beasts are dumb, that's why upper class are intelligent, and at highest level some even posses soul or spirit corrupting powers."
"So you get it? This world is just a trial ground to prove ourselves in front of spell. If you do that you are rewarded, if you fail you are dead. Simple as that."
Sunny thought for moment.
"You know a lot about this stuff, hah? Ok tell me what powers dose thses elements have? ..Like you can knock out your opponents through Spirit, right? What dose others do?"
"Ok..., the one related to physical body are preety simple. The bone increase strength and toughness, the blood increases your overall metabolism, the flesh make you more powerful like possesing more muscles to work with, you know. Together they made physical body and their role is to strengthen it."
"And as for later once, mind is your ability to think, if it's disturbed, you can't move, because we don't even know how to move without thinking of which diraction to go. Your body takes instructions from mind to do everything, if someone invade that system them they can manipulate you to do anythingcthey desire."
Sunny rememberd the time when he was put in mind hax.
"Soul is just cosmic supply of power for everything. If it's damaged, you are dead. If the energy is currupted, you become an abomination." Raine said.
"As for spirits, that's just what make us different then normal mindless monsters.... They have brains too, but they can't think anything complicated. Because they lack the Delicate mixture of mind and soul that we have. They have it more crude. The Spirit, ..the bridge between corporal and incorporal body. If it's disturbed,... I think you know how this goes...."
Sunny nodded and asked...
"And what about Shadows? What are shadows made for?"
....
....
"That ...I don't know."
...
Sunny was speechless.
Raine continued.."How we are supposed to know when only a few shadows are even alive in this whole world and they always have some tragic ends, that's why nobody knows how they works. They are like Mysterious creatures that anyone don't even know that they even exists."
"Maybe that's why the shadow god is also the god of Mysteries too"
"I don't know what they are capable of, like they just follow you around like dumb creatures, they even disappear when it's night, only god knows what can they do...or maybe you can figure it out too, you know?.. as a shadow user your self....?" Raine told him as he kicked at his own shadow, which kicked back.
"Maybe that's why you are weak..., you don't know how to use your own element..... You only do what spell tells you to do, but that isn't the right way."
"You know, if I did that, the most I'll be able to do is just leave my body to just turn into spirit, but here I'm knocking people out as if it's not a big deal, cause I figured it out that it can be used like that too." Raine said.
"You just need to figure it out too."
"The only advice I can give you is that they might be related to death,..... because the shadow god is also the god of death."
...
Sunny started at his shadow, which was not moving for some reason.
'I'll figure it out.'
'We'll figure it out, buddy.'
....
....
....
"Man, I miss my Prisma so bad..., how is she doing in there, is she tired, is she making progress, you sure you can't let me see her?" Raine asked.
"Sure, I can take you in there, but then....you won't be able to return from there, you know?" Sunny replied with a smile.
"What, you are saying you are going to kill me? Dream on. I am not foolish enough to agree to that,....even if the reward is very tempting."
"Yeah? And I think she's making progress in there. I don't know if it's her own efforts or maybe some effect of my own soul sea, but her own shadow getting a bit darker." Sunny told him.
"It's definitely her hard work, my Prisma is just that awesome, I bet it won't take long before she kills a real shadow." Raine said.
"...I hope she doesn't kill me after that...." Sunny said as he remembered the behaviour of the sword around him.
"Nah, she is a good girl, she won't do that...if you don't give her a reason to, off course.."
"Say, do you wanna know her attributes, I can tell you, she really is awesome..." Sunny asked Raine.
"I.....I think I'll wait...you know.. until she becomes a shadow.. I'm the guy who saves the best things for last, you see.... I want to get hit by it all at once."
"I hope you don't die from all that...."
....
It has been a week since Raine and Sunny started working together.
Raine had already filled his soul core.
This week was a nightmare for nightmare creatures themselves.
They were chased and hunted down by these two madmans.
Dark City was running low on monsters to hunt.
Nothing could stand in there way if they were just fallen rank.
Some were more powerful but they didn't need to fight them.
So now they were back at the cathedral again.
...
Raine was lying on the bed, Sunny was sharpening his sword.
He didn't need to, but it felt cool doing this before a big battle.
They were finally going to hunt down the knight patrolling below them.
Sunny summoned Saint.
A fearsome warrior clad in black armour appeared in front of him.
Raine shot up from bed to look at the Shadow closely.
"Fascinating, she really is a women, she even have breasts, why did she even need them? Do they reproduce? ...Don't tell me she has ..that...too?," his gaze fell on the lower part of Saint.
"Stop that, you pervert, she is made out of stone, and she is a Shadow." Sunny told the man to stop examining Saint so closely.
"I can't help but notice that you mentioned her being made of stone before you said she is a Shadow...dose that mean if she was m-"
"Ok, enough..... Don't ask that. Or we'll have a problem, you hear?" Sunny was afraid because he couldn't lie.
It was true that he also wanted to know what was underneath that fearsome armour. But he had some self dignity to not do it.
"She also have nice as-AWWHHH..."
CRACK
"Hahahhaha, Surves you right, bastard. Do that again, Do that again...." Sunny laughed as Raine was launched to a wall by a single punch from Saint.
"Damn, She hit really hard.... Definitely a capable women in my opinion..." Raine wiped some blood from his mouth.
He dusted his white imperial looking suit which was as white as the day it was brought.
"Ok, we should start the show, I don't think this bastard will take that much time to kill ...but I also wanted to save it for last, to feel it personally...you know?" Sunny said.
"Ok, I got you. Let's do this..." he jumped on the bed again.
Sunny jumped down to the hall.
The knight noticed him.
Sunny approached. Saint just stood there waiting for a command.
The fight begins.
Just like the last time the knight was weakened. He couldn't use all his flashy darkness abilities.
It was still a though fight for Sunny alone, but he wasn't getting overpowered either.
'I can do this alone.'
Sunny wrapped his shadow around the blade. After a weak of hunting monsters in dark City, he had filled his core more then half again. So he was strong compaired to before.
So when he moved next, he ignored the knights attack and went for finishing blow.
After a weak of working together he trusted Raine enough to pull something like this.
And he wasn't disappointed.
Suddenly the knight couldn't maintain his grip on his weapon, and that sword left his hand to get launched far away.
Sunny's own blade sliced through the knights neck.
[You have killed a fallen devil, Forsaken Knight.]
[Your shadow grow stronger.]
'I did it.... I killed this bastard with my own hands..... I finally got my revenge..'
But strangely he didn't felt as satisfied as he thought he would....
[You have recieved a memory : Cloak of Dread.]
'A memory?'
He summoned the runes.
.....
Name: Sunless.
True Name: Lost from Light.
Rank: Dreamer.
Shadow Core: Dormant.
Shadow Fragments: [573/1000]
Memories : [Puppeteer's Shroud], [Midnight Shard], [Endless Spring], [Mantle Of Underworld], [Cloak of Dread]
Echoes : [Quite Dancer]
Shadows : [Stone Saint]
Attributes: [Fated], [Mark of Divinity], [Child of Shadows]
Aspect: [Shadow Slave].
Innate Ability: [Shadow Bond].
Master : Carl
...
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Abilities: [Shadow Control]
Aspect Ability Description: [Your shadow is more independent than most. It is an invaluable helper.]
Flaw: [Clear Conscience].
Flaw Description: [You cannot lie.]
...
Sunny looked at his runes. Then chose to read the discription of Cloak of Dread.
...
Memory : Cloak of Dread
Memory rank : Ascended
Memory tier : III
Memory type : Armour
Memory Discription : [After Killing everything in his path, No one approached him anymore. He was feared by all.]
Memory enchantments : [Dread], [Cloak], [Fortitude]
Enchantment : Dread
Enchantment Discription : [Enemies will be affected by a strong mind attack and won't be able to move in your presence.]
...
Enchantment : Cloak
Enchantment Discription : [ Erase the presence of user when surrounded by Darkness]
...
Enchantment: Fortitude
Enchantment Discription: [Boost the strength of mind]
....
'Ok, this thing looks great... The second enchantment isn't that much good for me but ...mind attack hah...that will make this even more easy...'
Sunny was checking the runes when Raine jumped down from the roof wall too.
"So did you get anything?"
"Yeah, This." Sunny summoned the cloak which appears behind him as a cloak. It was dark which was connected to his shoulders.
"Why is that everything you get is black?, Did you told spell that your favourite colour is black?"
"Bastard, that knight was black as well so it isn't that uncommon if i received this..."
....
Next thing they did was open up the knight body to get the soul shards.
"Hay, what's this black ball...?" Sunny asked Raine.
"Oh, that? Hmm...give it to your shadow, she will eat that...you know to get stronger..." Sunny got curious.
He gave the dark ball to Saint, who was still standing at her previous position.
"...She ...she really ate it....what the hell?" Sunny was bewildered.
"That's how it works, you see.... Everyone have a element related to their affiliates, and they can consume it to grow stronger... Of course, it should be in consumable form, I think." Raine told Sunny.
"So that's how it works, hah..." Sunny said.
...
...
"Ok, now that we are done here, we should leave the dark City." Raine told Sunny.
"Why? There's still some monsters left here to kill? Why should we leave? And where are we going?" Sunny asked, already prepared for moving.
"Oh, we are going to the catacombs...."
"Why?" Sunny asked.
Raine pointed at the goddess statue. "To get the key to that basement?"