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1 | Chapter 1 Nightmare Begins
A frail-looking young man with pale skin and dark circles under his eyes was sitting on a rusty bench across from the police station. He was cradling a cup of coffee in his hands — not the cheap synthetic type slum rats like him had access to, but the real deal. This cup of plant-based coffe... |
2 | Chapter 2 Slave Caravan
Sunny dreamt of a mountain.
Jagged and lonesome, it dwarfed other peaks of the mountain chain, cutting the night sky with its sharp edges. A radiant moon bathed its slopes in the ghostly, pale light.
On one of the slopes, the remnants of an old road stubbornly clung to the rocks. Here and the... |
3 | Chapter 3 The Strings Of Fate
For a few minutes after that, Sunny was in a dark mood. But then he pulled himself out of it and inhaled deeply, trying to enjoy the fresh air. Indeed, air like that was hard to come by in the real world: micro dust and other pollutants made it rough and unpleasant, not to mention the gen... |
4 | Chapter 4 Mountain King
Turning in the direction of the thundering noise, many slaves rose their heads — only to see rocks and heavy shards of ice raining on them from above. They instantly panicked, lurching away in a cacophony of screams. Shadows happily danced on black stones as, entangled by the thick chain, those... |
5 | Chapter 5 Broken Chains
[You have slain a dormant beast, Mountain King's Larva.]
Sunny fell to his knees, breathless. His whole body felt as though it just went through a meat grinder: even large amounts of adrenalin could not wash away all the pain and exhaustion. And yet, he was exhilarated. The satisfaction of kil... |
6 | Chapter 6 Confronting The Tyrant
Sunny was off to face against a Nightmare Creature. And not any creature, at that, but one of the fifth category — a dreaded, fearsome tyrant. The odds of survival were so low that anyone would have laughed in his face if he were to ever suggest attempting to fight it. If they weren't ... |
7 | Chapter 7 Three Slaves And A Hero
'Roll, you creaky piece of s.h.i.t!'
Sunny pressed himself against the wagon, pushing with all he had. Four powerful oxen that used to pull it were now dead, and instead of them, three tired slaves were trying to do the job. Even with the slope of the road helping them, the speed of ... |
8 | Chapter 8 Nothing At All
"Because the monster isn't dead."
These ominous words hung in the silence. Three pairs of eyes widened, staring right at Sunny.
"Why do you say that?"
After thinking about it, Sunny came to the conclusion that the tyrant was, indeed, still alive. His reasoning was pretty straightforward: he... |
9 | Chapter 9 Wishful Thinking
There was a problem.
They were planning to follow the road up to the mountain pa.s.s and then over it, getting as far away from the scene of the ma.s.sacre as they could before the night came. However, the road was no more.
At some point during the last months, or maybe even just yesterday... |
10 | Chapter 10 First Man Down
By the time they decided to stop, Sunny was on the verge of fainting. After hours and hours of traversing the rough mountain slope, his body was almost at its limit. However, to everyone's surprise, Shifty seemed to be doing even worse than him.
The roguish slave's eyes were muddy and unfocu... |
11 | Chapter 11 Crossroads
The three of them stood motionless, looking down in uneasy silence. What happened to Shifty didn't come as a shock, but it was still a hard thing to digest. An ominous feeling settled in their hearts — seeing the broken body of their companion, it was too easy to imagine one of them sharing the s... |
12 | Chapter 12 The Smell Of Blood
Right now, that obstacle was looking down, avoiding Sunny's gaze. His hand was resting on the sword handle. As always, the young slave had no idea about what was going on inside Hero's perfectly shaped head.
The uncertainty was making him nervous.
Finally, after some time had pa.s.sed, ... |
13 | Chapter 13 Moment Of Truth
The smile froze on Hero's face. He lowered his head, as though in shame. After a minute or so pa.s.sed, shrouded in heavy silence, he finally answered.
"Yes. I thought that if I do it when you sleep, you won't have to suffer."
Unseen to him, a bitter grin appeared on Sunny's face.
A long ... |
14 | Chapter 14 Child Of Shadows
Sunny had no choice but to resort to one last, desperate gamble.
He had no chance against the enemy in a direct confrontation, at least not without an advantage. Bloodbane poison was supposed to be his hidden card, but turned out to be nearly useless. Being able to see in the dark did not ... |
15 | Chapter 15 Shadow Slave
[Prepare for appraisal…]
Sunny found himself in a s.p.a.ce between dream and reality. It was an endless black void illuminated by a myriad of stars. Between those stars, countless strings of silver light were woven into a beautiful and inconceivably complex net, forming various nexuses and con... |
16 | Chapter 16 Rebirth
Sunny felt something waking up inside of him. With a startled cry, he clutched his chest and stared into the darkness, trying to understand what was happening. The feeling was not painful or unpleasant, yet it was like nothing he had ever experienced. It was as though his soul was being shaken awake... |
17 | Chapter 17 Three Simple Words
He closed his eyes, then opened them again, hoping that the runes would disappear.
'Please, be gone! Please!'
But the runes were still there, shining slightly, as though mocking him.
Flaw: [Clear Conscience].
Flaw Description: [You cannot lie.]
Sunny stared at these three simple word... |
18 | Chapter 18 Absence Of Light
Sunny was enjoying a hot shower. After their short conversation, Master Jet had sent him to clean himself, saying that he "reeked of Nightmare". The unnatural slumber of the Spell would slow down the body's metabolism, and the medical apparatus he had been strapped into was supposed to take... |
19 | Chapter 19 Crossing The Bridge
Sunny was standing in front of the ma.s.sive, seemingly indestructible red gates of the Awakened Academy. The Academy was, in fact, a city within the city. It was built like a fortress, with a high wall made of hard alloy, deep moat and numerous large-caliber turrets which were placed in... |
20 | Chapter 20 Outcast Once Again
The Sleeper part of the compound was relatively small and situated in the southern part of the Academy, surrounded on all sides by training fields and parks.
It was a low, modern building constructed with reinforced materials. Like the majority of buildings in the Academy, most of it was... |
21 | Chapter 21 First Performance
His words hung in silence. The Sleepers looked at Sunny with a hilarious a.s.sortment of emotions, ranging from bewilderment to shock. The young man with humorous eyes just smiled politely.
To be honest, getting an Ascended Aspect during the First Nightmare was extremely rare. He was cert... |
22 | Chapter 22 Corpse Corner
Satisfied with his performance, Sunny walked back to the deserted corner of the hall. He felt people looking at him with mockery, contempt and pity. No one seemed to be willing to stay close to him. It was just as well: he didn't want to be bothered anyway.
Still, weren't their reactions a bi... |
End of preview. Expand in Data Studio
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