It was night, the Gate had been closed and the sleepers were sent back to their rooms.
Now finally since coming back from the mountain Sunny had time to assess his situation.
"It's beginning…"
Things were starting to pick up the pace and the peaceful year he had was coming to an end.
"What a shame, if only this cursed world wasn't the way it is."
First he unwrapped the Gloomy shadow from his armor. He still hadn't talked to his first and most trust-worthy Shadow.
He had postponed this moment due to the presence of the Sin of Solace.
Sunny kept the inner layer of [Puppeteers Shroud] at all times, making sure to have his shadow wrapped around it for maximum effectiveness.
Strangely enough the mad wrath did not immediately appear. Silence was a way of torment as well.
Not knowing when he could and would appear was just as frightening.
"We can finally see each other aren't you happy?" Sunny said while waving his hand.
The shadow looked at him, and using the same hand that was waving just a moment ago, flipped him off.
As if to say "How dare you talk to me only now?! You ungrateful idiot"
Sunny could not believe it. "Hey hey calm down, have you seen my life? I had enough on my plate to handle."
The shadow turned his head around and shrugged his shoulders as if to say "Couldn't care less"
Sunny face-palmed himself, which was strange since usually it was the other way around.
"I can't believe this guy. Nice to meet you too Gloomy one"
With that he wrapped it again on the fine fabric of his armor, not giving it any time for another disrespectful response.
Despite his words Sunny was smiling of course.
It was good to have him back. And while the shadow might have put a bit of a show, it too knew how much it was valued by its master.
Now it was time to think about the difference in his aspect.
He was definitely stronger now. Not marginally so, but enough to make a difference during a crucial moment.
His new innate ability allowed him to grow stronger among his kin.
Sunny hand't felt anything different, even while the sun was setting and the shadows were deepening.
So it was unclear how it affected him, that was until he had decided to augment his body instead of his armor. Then he felt it.
The usual feeling of his augmentation was there but there was also more to it. It was akin to a seventh of a multiplier? He was not sure.
It did seem more like an addition rather than a multiplier.
Which means that if he was understanding correctly, once he had 7 cores, and 7 augmentations stacked on himself, he would feel like there were 8 instead.
A great boon, surely granted thanks to his lineage.
This addition in power would benefit him greatly later on, but not so much at the beginning, still every little amount mattered.
Then there was his [Shadows Control], it allowed him to move the ambient shadows in rudimentary ways, it didn't seem like that great of an ability at first.
After experimenting with it during the battlefield? Sunny immediately changed his idea.
The reason was simple, in order to see the true potential of his new ability he had to think of his evolved attribute [Prince of Shadows].
Not only was he recognized by the shadows, he was also their rightful ruler. And within them Sunny was much harder to detect, which allowed him to strike the weak points of the Nightmare Creatures before they could realize he was coming.
It was important to keep in mind that he was fighting against mostly Dormant and Awakened beasts who had no intellect or awareness.
So the true limits of his stealth still needed to be investigated.
All in all, it was a great day. He had gained a good amount of fragments and learned how to utilize his new powers.
"Well it could have been better, I just know that tomorrow is gonna be a headache. All these teens asking questions… I'm really not looking forward to it, at least I don't have to answer all of them anymore."
Talking alone was another habit of his that he did not manage to lose while regressing.
In another room a white haired girl was performing basic katas.
She'd have preferred to train on the dojo but after what they've done today?
Everyone would try to enter her graces as a way to climb the social hierarchy.
And she was not one to either want these frivolous "friendships" or care about them.
"How?" She said with a gasp.
Her arms were hurting, her lungs were asking for mercy.
'How is he so strong? It makes no sense!
Those were not the movements of someone from the outskirts, not even from someone with great tutors from the government.
That was a true battle art… but why? Why does he have one? And how can a Sleeper have one to begin with?'
The wind kept being cut by her sword.
'He is not who he says he is.'
She was a strong sleeper, but was she the strongest?
She did not have the luxury to not be certain about it, especially while a new potential threat had just appeared.
And with these thoughts burdening her, Nephis kept training until morning.
Meanwhile on a third room a blond girl with beautiful blue eyes could be seen rolling on her bed covered in cold sweat.
She was having a vision, and it wasn't a pleasant one.
She was seeing herself. But it wasn't her. This woman was older, her face a map of tragedies Cassie hadn't lived yet.
She was suspended in a chamber of cold, shimmering light, her body held tight by strings of burning gold. They weren't just holding her; they were inside her, threaded through her skin and soul.
The chains were heavier than the concept of weight itself.
She wasn't alone. There was a man.
He was shrouded in shadows so thick they seemed to swallow the light of the stars.
He moved with the terrifying fluid grace of a monster, his skin pale, and his eyes—the eyes were what broke her.
They were overflowing with grief so deep it felt like an ocean, and yet his hands kept performing atrocities.
He was leaning over her, his fingers glowing with a dark, invasive power.
Every time he touched her, Cassie felt her own soul ripping, as if her very being was being peeled away like old paint.
A silhouette of an idea was standing beyond the man. It didn't move, but Cassie could feel his will pressing down on the man's neck, a leash made of words and blood.
Pain, unbearable, indescribable pain.
She felt it all.
"I'm sorry," the man whispered. His voice was a jagged wreck of what might have once been kindness.
"I'm so sorry, Cassie. Please… please forgive me"
The man was crying, the tears falling onto Cassie's shackled hands, but he didn't stop.
He couldn't stop.
He was a tool being forced to break his own heart to satisfy the hunger of whatever was hiding in the corner.
The vision snapped.
Cassie woke up screaming, her hands flying to her sigthless crying eyes.
Hugging her knees while still feeling the sense of absolute helplessness. It was sickening.
Her breath came in ragged, terrified gasps.
She didn't know the creature's name who forced the man to act that way.
All she knew was that somewhere in this Academy, there was a boy who would one day become a monster. And when he found her, he would destroy her while begging for forgiveness.
The cold, systematic way those hands had disassembled her—was burned into her mind.