"What? This is Master Sunless?"
"But he's our age!"
"Of course he's our age! It took him less than two years to Ascend! Why do you think he is famous?!"
"...He's not at all like the actor who played him in the Song of Light and Darkness! The casting director must be crazy!"
Sunny, who listened to all that with the same pleasant smile, cleared his throat. Immediately, the students grew quiet.
"Good morning, Awakened. I am Ascended Sunless. You can call me Master Sunless, or simply Master. Welcome to the first lecture of the Resource Management during Prolonged Expeditions and Intercitadel Travel course. As some of you might know, I have a tiny amount of experience with that…"
I few polite chuckles resounded from the audience, making him wince internally.
'Damn. Tough crowd!'
As this was his first day as a teacher in the Academy, Sunny was unsurprisingly nervous. He would much rather fight a room full of Nightmare Creatures than speak in front of a room full of people.
He could kill the Nightmare Creatures, at least!
Sunny paused for a moment, then said:
"We will explore various topics in the course of these lectures. But first, let me ask you a question…"
He looked at his students and smiled.
"What was the biggest threat to your life in the Dream Realm?"
***
Overall, the lecture went better than Sunny had expected. If not for the fact that many female students had stared at him a bit too intensely, for some reason, he would have been completely comfortable teaching these young Awakened.
After all, he was basing the lessons on his own experience, and the students, while not as battle-hardened as him, were not amateurs themselves. Each of them had survived the First Nightmare and a journey to the Dream Realm. So, the lecture was more of an exchange of knowledge between professionals than a traditional lesson.
It was even refreshing, compared to his tutoring sessions with Rain. Although his sister was incredibly talented and hard-working, not to mention nice to be around, there were many things he simply couldn't explain to her with words.
With a sigh, Sunny turned off the projector and looked at the empty auditorium.
Was this his life now?
Six months had passed since the cohort returned from the Second Nightmare. During this time, many things happened. He had celebrated his twentieth birthday just a few weeks ago… some of the changes were good, and some were bad.
On the bright side, he got to spend a lot of time with Rain, teaching her how to protect herself and slowly growing closer to her. Sunny had been careful not to appear too friendly, though. He still did not want anyone, including the girl herself, to know that they were siblings.
He had also spent a lot of time talking to Aiko and trying to turn the Brilliant Emporium into a small, but thriving business.
However, there was one big problem that loomed over everything he did.
Ever since returning from the Nightmare, Sunny was not able to enter the Dream Realm again. He had spent all six months in the safety of the waking world. And the reason for that was the strange situation he had found himself in with clan Valor.
While Saint Tyris had done everything in her power to shield Sunny and Cassie from the wrath of the great clan, her influence was not unlimited. The White Feather clan itself got into hot water with their overlords. From what Sunny learned, they were dismissed from ruling the Chained Island and burdened with another duty.
What that duty was, he did not know.
Both Cassie and he would have fared poorly if they remained Awakened. However, their Ascension changed things substantially and gave them more room to bargain. If before the great clans would have been inclined to make them disappear, now, they were more careful in their approach.
Which did not mean that everything was fine.
The issue was too nuanced and sensitive to be solved quickly. So, the preparations for the negotiations took a lot of time. For the time being, both of them had to protect themselves.
Things were much worse for Cassie, who seemed more complicit in Mordret's escape. After all, she had requested to be stationed in the Night Temple, only to leave after a while and return, causing the disaster.
Since no one except for Saint Tyris knew about Sunny's clash with Mirror Beast, it was easy to believe that Cassie had come in contact with the imprisoned prince during her stay in the Citadel, and then orchestrated his escape… or that she had this goal in mind from the very beginning.
As the result, things turned a bit ugly for the Fire Keepers. After a couple of them disappeared, the rest took shelter in the Ebony and Ivory Towers, where the ocean of divine flames and the Crushing protected them from any threat. They rarely returned to the waking world to avoid problems.
Sunny was on the opposite side of things. Thanks to Master Jet, he enjoyed a bit of protection from the government. Since the Great Clans had a lot of influence in the Dream Realm, but were not as powerful in the waking world, he was advised to remain there for a while.
Which meant that he could enjoy some peace and quiet for a bit.
…It also meant that he could not hunt the Nightmare Creatures and saturate his cores, unless a Gate suddenly opened nearby.
This… was a problem.
Chapter 752: Solid Foundation
After the Seed of Nightmare had been destroyed, something unexpected happened. A Gateway took its place, turning the Ivory Tower into a Citadel.
At the same time, the Dream Realm anchors of the cohort members shifted, becoming tied to it. Masters did not have to travel to another world every time they slept, but they still needed a Gateway to return to reality. Changing an anchor was as easy as making use of another Gateway, but there lay the problem.
The only way to leave their new Citadel was to either brave the Crushing, somehow, or to go through the portal to the Ebony Tower and rise from the depths of the Sky Below on the flying ship.
While that made the Ivory Tower incredibly safe, it also meant that there were no Nightmare Creatures around for them to hunt. There was no point for Sunny to go to the Dream Realm at all, especially after he had explored Hope's former prison, finding nothing of particular interest inside.
...It also meant that Mordret was most likely tied to the same Gateway. However, the Prince of Nothing had never shown himself. Either he had found a way to change his anchor, or he had chosen to remain in the waking world as well.
In any case, there was no safe way for Sunny to collect shadow fragments in the Dream Realm. He was also cut from his main source of Memories, which he had hoped to put on sale through the Emporium.
At first, Sunny was very unhappy with this situation. He was both much stronger and still far behind Nephis in terms of raw power. Even though there was a vast gap of two Ranks between them now, his soul lusted to grow even more.
He could never have enough strength, never be powerful enough to protect himself and those he cared about from the vicissitudes of life. He was still too weak to challenge fate.
…But after a few days of peaceful life in the waking world, Sunny had started to slowly change his mind.
In the past three years, his power had grown tremendously, and at a breakneck pace. While that was extremely beneficial overall, there was a negative side to such speed.
His foundation had turned unstable. He had been so preoccupied with gaining more power, more strength, deeper insight, greater understanding… that he had not spent enough time actually assimilating all these gains into a coherent whole. Internalizing and absorbing all the lessons he had learned into his very bones was very important, yet he had neglected it for the lack of time and opportunity.
He needed time to truly make the vast power he had won his own.
Additionally, there was something else that concerned Sunny. His... mental state.
Ever since he had been infected by the Nightmare Spell at sixteen, his psyche had been subjected — sometimes by the circumstances and sometimes through his own volition — to incredible abuse. Sunny prided himself on the fact that he never broke, no matter what ghastly horror and gruesome agony he had to endure.
And there had been plenty.
However, he also never forgot the conversation he had with Master Jet on the way to Shadow Blade Kurt's execution. He knew that Awakened, no matter how great and powerful they seemed, were also the most likely to crack. The nightmares they brought back from the Dream Realm haunted them, and many succumbed to the relentless strain.
Sunny had been gutted, beheaded, and burned. He had watched friends die or be left behind. The amount of torturous pain he had gone through could only compare to the amount of mental anguish he had experienced. The Red Colosseum, the nightmares, and all the rest… it was enough to crush a dozen people. And yet, he still stood tall.
But for how long?
While Sunny considered himself to be a resilient person, maybe even incredibly so, he was not prideful enough to think that he was better than every over human out there. Would his soul and mind continue to remain strong if he continued to carelessly abuse them, or would small cracks appear on their surfaces?
Maybe there were countless cracks on them, already.
…In the end, he had decided that taking a break to consolidate his foundation and give his mind time to heal was worth it. The situation with clan Valor, while unpleasant, was not critical. It just demanded time and caution. Slowly but surely, the sides were going to come to an understanding and find a compromise through negotiations.
As Masters of considerable renown, Sunny and Cassie had enough influence and weight to reach a favorable outcome in these negotiations, especially because fifty of the most promising Awakened of their generation were following Song of the Fallen.
He was going to use the time before that happened to his benefit.
So, although the past six months had not exactly been exciting for Sunny, they had been very fruitful.
He had spent a lot of time practicing his combat skills and Shadow Dance, properly assimilating everything that he had learned to elevate his mastery of battle to a new level. He also had to relearn a lot of things to adjust to his new power as a Master, and adjust all his techniques to this new incredible reality.
One of the more valuable discoveries he made during this time was that the inherent problem he had been struggling with — the threat of losing himself to the formlessness of Shadow Dance — was easily remedied by a simple thought exercise. He just had to remember his True Name. No matter how far gone he was, it always brought him back.
Apart from that, every single aspect of Sunny's combat ability was vastly improved by his newly profound control of shadow essence, as well as the time he had taken to fully absorb all of his rich battle experience.
Battle techniques were not the only thing he trained, though. He also dove deep into the intricacies of Shadow Manifestation, first learning how to properly wield it, and then leveraging his cunning and creativity to push its uses to their limits.
His new Ability was an incredibly versatile one, so there was a lot he could do with it. Not only did it have the potential to be powerful on its own, it could also be weaved into every other facet of his battle performance in unexpected and insidious ways. Almost every day, Sunny discovered something new he could do. The possibilities were simply limitless.
That limitlessness, however, was its own problem. Just because Sunny could do a lot did not mean that it was wise to do it. So, it took a lot of time to find the most effective and efficient ways to use Shadow Manifestation. Slowly but surely, his arsenal of true and tested tricks and methods grew. He practiced each one until they became as instinctive as his combat techniques, so that he could use them without wasting even a split second on thinking about and concentrating on the desired result.
Lastly, there was sorcery.
After the initial breakthrough he had made in the Nightmare, Sunny spent a lot of time widening the scope of his understanding of spellweave. This was perhaps the most unassailable and tough field of expertise he was trying to study, since there was nothing and no one to teach him how to do it.
The scope and complexity of the subject were boundless, and all he could do was blindly stumble in the darkness, learning tiny bits through trial and error. It did not help that he could only experiment with Memories, which were a rare and finite resource to him.
Sunny worked around that limitation, somewhat, by turning mundane things into Memories and experimenting on them instead. However, that produced its own obstacle — he needed soul shards to do so, and soul shards were very expensive in the real world.
And he could not procure them in the Dream Realm, for now!
To solve his resource problem, Sunny turned to the only source available to him… the merit points provided by the government, which could then be exchanged for various valuable things.
To get points and fund his research, he had compiled another paper with the help of Teacher Julis. The Exploration Report on Chained Isles, by Ascended Sunless… did not produce as big of a ripple among the general public, but caused a real explosion in the Awakened academia.
The data about all the ancient Nightmare Creatures, the culture, and the bizarre nature of the Kingdom of Hope was a true boon to the collective knowledge base of humanity. Sunny, of course, kept the most sensitive pieces of information to himself, but just what remained brought him vastly more contribution points than the report on the Forgotten Shore.
Information from Nightmares was ten times more valuable, after all, since very few people ever challenged them, and even fewer returned alive.
These contribution points, as well as other benefits and privileges he had become entitled to as a Master, allowed him to not only pour his mind and soul into studying sorcery, but also kept the Brilliant Emporium functioning without a constant influx of his hunting trophies.
Sadly, even that was not enough.
…And hence, Sunny found himself teaching young Awakened at the Academy. While that was not the best and most efficient way for a Master to earn, it was still rather profitable for someone in his situation.
Sitting in the empty auditorium, Sunny sighed and looked at his communicator. A pale smile appeared on his face.
"She must be already here…"
Today was a special day for more than one reason.
A few days prior, Master Jet had suddenly contacted him. This was not too strange, since they interacted often in these past six months… but this time, something about Soul Reaper's voice sounded a bit off. Not exactly bad, just… different.
She had told him that she had some good news, and some bad news, and requested a face-to-face meeting to discuss an important issue.
That meeting was about to take place at the Instructor's Cafeteria.
Shaking his head, Sunny stood up, dismissed his chair, and walked to the door.
"I wonder what Master Jet has to say… gods, was there really a need for all this mystery? She made it sound as if the world is ending…"
Chapter 753: Crux of the Matter
Now that Sunny was a teacher at the Academy, he was very much looking forward to gaining access to the Instructor's Cafeteria. He remembered the last time he had eaten there in perfect detail. The food was simply to die for.
…It might have been one of the major reasons why he had accepted the job of a lecturer, to be honest.
'No, no it wasn't! I am not that shallow!'
Walking inside, Sunny glanced at the tasteful interior, gaining a new appreciation for the wooden furnishings. By now, he was not shocked every time he saw natural wood in the waking world. However, this was not just any wood… if he remembered correctly, all this lumber came from the corpse of a slain titan.
A titan killed by the great clan Valor, to be precise. Perhaps even by Anvil himself. What irony it was, to enjoy a dinner on one of the cafeteria's tables while being secretly hunted by the people who provided the titanic lumber for its creation.
With a sigh, Sunny looked around and noticed a familiar face. An exquisitely beautiful woman in a deep blue uniform sat in the corner of the cafeteria, cradling a cup of coffee in her hands. He confidently walked over and sat down across from her.
"Master Jet."
Soul Reaper Jet looked up from her cup and smiled at him.
"...Master Sunless."
'Well that… sounds weird.'
He shifted uncomfortably, not accustomed to being addressed that way… at least not by her. Although the two of them were technically of the same Rank now, Jet was still older than him. The gap between them had grown much smaller, but he still felt a lot of respect for her.
Looking at his fellow Ascended, Sunny suddenly frowned.
Master Jet… looked different today.
He was accustomed to her usual, slightly unkept and careless appearance. However, the person in front of him looked like nothing if not an exemplary officer. Her uniform was perfectly ironed and buttoned all the way, with not a single crease or blemish marring its surface. Her silver epaulets were glistening with a polished sheen. Her leather boots were freshly shined.
Her raven black hair was perfectly arranged, and her icy blue eyes were sharp and piercing.
He raised an eyebrow.
"You… uh… look nice?"
Jet's smile widened.
"Oh, this? I had to attend a… a special ceremony in the morning. Promotions are flying off the shelves in the government these days."
Sunny cleared his throat.
"Congratulations, I guess."
Soul Reaper laughed, then pushed a small alloy box toward him.
"No, no. Congratulations to you. Happy belated birthday."
He blinked a couple of times, then opened the box and looked at the glimmering soul shard that lay inside. His eyes sparked when he recognized its Ascended rank.
"Ah, this is exactly what I needed! Thank you so much! But… isn't it too luxurious?"
A shard like that cost a lot.
Master Jet shrugged.
"Perks of being a public servant. I have more access to such things than most."
She grew silent and looked at him expectantly. For a few moments, neither of them spoke.
Finally, the Ascended beauty sighed.
"What, no present for me? I recently turned thirty, you know."
Sunny froze, then chuckled awkwardly:
"Oh. Well, in that case, dinner is on me."
Soul Reaper seemed more than happy with that arrangement.
"Ah, you know me too well, Sunny. In that case, don't mind if I do!"
Some time later, they finished their food and leaned back on their seats in satisfaction.
Master Jet took a sip of coffee and smiled:
"Credit where credit is due… you Academy people really know how to treat your staff. I am regretting my choice of career, a little."
Her voice trailed off a little, and a wistful expression appeared on her face. Then, she shook her head and finally addressed the true reason why they met today:
"Good news first. You can relax, Sunny. Valor seems to finally be ready to behave reasonably, so the worst part is over."
He inhaled deeply:
"At last! What changed?"
Master Jet shrugged.
"Well, a lot of things. But mainly, they just don't have the energy to pursue small matters anymore. The tension between the Great Clans seems to be growing, so Valor elders have a lot on their plate. That plays in your favor, because you and your cohort have managed to make yourself valuable. With Saint Tyris advocating on your behalf, everything is ready for a sincere and friendly negotiation."
Sunny frowned.
"Sincere… friendly? What about the Fire Keepers that disappeared? You might have not noticed, but the survivors of the Forgotten Shore are a tight group. To them, this is not a small matter."
She smiled.
"They are alive... although maybe not well. Their release is one of the points you and Song of the Fallen will have to negotiate. However, I don't foresee any problems with that. As long as you told the truth and neither of you had conscious plans of assisting that mysterious prisoner of theirs in the escape, everything should be fine."
A dark expression appeared on Sunny's face.
Master Jet knew the general situation, but not the details. The problem they had with the great clan Valor was very simple. Although Sunny and Cassie had caused a great deal of harm to the clan's interests, because of the lack of witnesses and Saint Tyris volunteering to act as the scapegoat, that by itself was not something intolerable.
However, the crux of the matter was that no one in the Great Clan knew if their actions had been simply the result of a misfortunate happenstance, or premeditated. What Master Jet had just told him meant that Valor was ready to abandon their hostile paranoia and accept the version of events where neither Sunny nor Cassie had helped Mordret escape willingly, as well as grant them an unofficial pardon.
With the White Feather clan taking the responsibility for the death of Saint Cormac, that would leave them in the clear.
However… although the great clan knew that Mordret had escaped as the result of their actions, no one except for the members of the cohort knew that he had followed them into the Nightmare. If the fact that the five of them had become Masters together ever came into the light… then, no matter what the truth was, no one would believe that the bastard simply manipulated them all!
They would all think that Sunny and Cassie were his willing allies.
So, this secret had to remain buried, forever.
Sunny grimaced.
"So what do they want?"
Master Jet shrugged.
"I can't say, really. But you have to be ready to make some concessions. Valor will probably insist on recruiting you to their side, at least in some capacity. Whether you manage to resist their forceful invitation or not depends on you."
She thought for a bit, and then added:
"What works in your favor is that you, Song of the Fallen, Nightingale, and Raised by Wolves are a package deal, as far as everyone is concerned. Valor might have ambitions of making all of you their asset, but they will probably be satisfied by ensuring that none of you becomes entangled with their opponents. Recruiting just one would make it so that the rest would not join the opposite side."
A deep scowl appeared on Sunny's face.
"...Are you telling me that we will have to sell one of us to clan Valor?"
Master Jet smiled.
"You make it sound as if becoming a member of a Great Clan is something horrible! Most Awakened would kill for such a chance, you know? Granted, you will never be treated as a trueblood descendant, but that does not mean that they won't shower you with resources and opportunities. Probably."
Sunny remained silent for a while, then sighed.
"I know. But I... I need to think about it."
She took a sip of coffee, then leaned back.
"Well… think fast."
He looked at the beautiful Ascended with a dark expression and asked in a low tone:
"And why is that?"
Master Jet grinned.
"Well, because the representative of Valor will be here tomorrow! Your friend Cassie is coming back to the Waking World, too. You will meet here in the Academy, as it's neutral ground. So… you have until tomorrow morning to prepare for the negotiations, Sunny. Good luck!"
Chapter 754: History Lesson
Sunny remained silent for a few moments, then scowled.
"What do you mean, good luck? Aren't you going to be there to mediate the negotiations?"
Master Jet took a sip of her coffee, then shook her head.
"No. While the government often serves as a neutral party and the connective tissue between the Great Clans, this is not one of those cases. Besides… I simply can't. I am being transferred out of the city. This is my last day here, for a while."
He stared at her, dumbfounded.
Master Jet… was not going to be around anymore? Sunny suddenly felt a pang of discomfort. He had grown accustomed to her being present out there somewhere... not exactly close to him, but at the same time within reach.
Noticing the expression on his face, she sighed.
"Actually, that is the second thing I wanted to talk to you about. The bad news."
Soul Reaper casually looked around, then summoned a Memory that looked like a music box. Immediately, a dome of silence appeared around them, cutting off all outside noises. Sunny frowned, confused by the need for secrecy.
She had seemed to be perfectly fine discussing private matters of a great clan in the public. What could have been more sensitive than that?
Master Jet lingered for a moment, then said:
"To be honest, Sunny, I was not going to have this conversation with you… at least not yet. But since the situation changed, and the things we are going to talk about can affect the decisions you will make tomorrow, I decided that there is no point in postponing it."
He shifted uncomfortably.
"That is… very suspenseful. What is the matter?"
She smiled, then activated her communicator and summoned a projection. It showed a map of something that looked like a big chunk of the Dream Realm. Sunny saw a lot of water and several large landmasses, each no smaller than the Forgotten Shore by the looks of it. However, no matter how he looked, he could not find the familiar landmarks — the Hollow Mountains, Bastion, Ravenheart… either he was not as proficient at reading maps as he had thought, or he had never seen this land.
Slightly confused, he glanced at Master Jet and asked:
"Is that a previously unexplored region of the Dream Realm?"
She looked at him with a strange expression, then coughed.
"...No. That is planet Earth, you dummy."
Sunny froze in embarrassment, then looked at the image again.
'Oh… right. I am an idiot.'
Soul Reaper grinned.
"Sunny… are you one of those Awakened that know more about the Dream Realm than about the waking world?"
He cleared his throat.
"Well… it's not like I spent a lot of time in school, you know."
Her grin dimmed a little.
"Right. Sorry. Sometimes I forget how young you are… it took me a while to cover the basics after leaving the outskirts, as well."
Master Jet sighed, then pointed to the map.
"In any case, this is our world. As you can see, it is not in great shape. A few centuries ago, it looked very different… there were around twelve billion people living across it. A few million even found their way to the moon, eventually."
She sighed, then added:
"But now, there's barely three billion of us left. And we only populate four of the seven continents. Do you know which continent we are currently on? What our city is called?"
Sunny looked at her with a dark expression.
"I am not a complete fool, you know. We are in… Asia? And the city is called… wait, it has a name? I just thought it's called… uh… the city."
She rolled her eyes.
"Well, you are half-right. We are indeed in Asia, which is one of the four populated continents and one that shelters the most people. The city we live in is the largest and most populous city left on Earth. It is also the industrial, military, and administrative heart of humanity. Around one-tenth of all humans live here… that is why while it is technically called the Northern Quadrant Siege Capital, or NQSC, people usually just refer to it as the City."
Master Jet hesitated for a moment, then said with a hint of darkness in her voice:
"Most of the surface of the planet is either uninhabitable or overrun by Nightmare Creatures, so megacities are the most convenient way to sustain a large population. However… even with spelltech and modern science, they are not capable of sustaining everyone. Hence the outskirts, where around twenty percent of the total city population is offloaded to slowly die out, out of the sight of the rest of humanity. But that is neither here nor there."
She sighed, and then pointed to a continent directly connected to Asia:
"This pit of desolation used to be known as Europe. It was turned completely unsuited for human life long before the Spell appeared."
Her finger trailed across a large body of water.
"This is North America. We lost it not long before you were born, when a Category Five Gate opened there. That was… a big disaster. Because of its proximity to the Gate, South America was mostly abandoned, as well. Now, we only maintain a small presence in its southernmost part. Those settlements are incredibly important, however, because that is where most of our food is produced."
Master Jet hesitated for a bit, and then gestured to a large archipelago situated below South America.
"This is Antarctica, the second most populated continent after Asia and the logistical link between the rest of the continents, connecting both hemispheres together. Believe it or not, before the Dark Times, it was covered in ice. Actually, the melting of all that ice was one of the reasons that caused the Dark Times."
She sighed.
"The sea levels across the planet rose, drowning many cities and displacing billions of people. The percentage of the landmass that was devoured by water was not too radical, but the problem was that many civilization centers were situated along the coasts. With all of them gone and billions of refugees seeking shelter, the global infrastructure collapsed. It did not happen in an instant, of course, but quite fast. That is the danger of building a deeply interconnected society. Lack of self-sufficiency is perfectly fine and even beneficial during the good times, but makes civilizations vulnerable to cascade failure."
Soul Reaper looked at him with a grim expression.
"Which was exactly what happened. The worse things got, the more chaos there was, and the more chaos there was, the worse things got. Endless natural disasters, destruction of global infrastructure, and resource starvation led to an escalating series of wars. Orbital kinetic strikes, nuclear warfare, chemical warfare, biowarfare… in the end, everything was being used. The planet was already in bad shape, and this was almost the last straw. In the end, the terribly reduced population achieved some form of stability… and that was the Nightmare Spell appeared."
Master Jet shook her head.
"...Ah, but am I getting off-topic. The point is, almost all of humanity resides around the Indian Ocean today. Asia, Antarctica, Africa, and Australia are the four remaining bastions of our civilization, forming the Northern, Southern, Western, and Eastern quadrants."
Sunny listened to the impromptu lecture with interest. He knew bits and pieces of human history, of course, but mostly from them being referenced in popular culture and government propaganda… which were more often than not one and the same. Out there in the outskirts, people did not need to know a lot about the world, because their world started and ended in the outskirts.
Even the city proper seemed like a distant land. He would have had more general knowledge, of course, if he had attended school, but Sunny's formal education more or less ended when he was seven. Honestly, the fact that he knew that people lived on the outside of the planet as opposed to on the inside was already an achievement.
He had managed to become a teacher despite all that, had he not?
'Still… I probably should start educating myself on matters not having to do with the Nightmare Spell, now that I have the chance. There are plenty of people as ignorant as me, of course, but still… this is kind of embarrassing…'
Sunny looked at Jet and shifted slightly.
"Uh… thanks for the history lesson, Master Jet. But what does it have to do with anything?"
She leaned back, smiled calmly, and answered in a relaxed tone:
"Oh, it's very simple, really. These four bastions of humanity I mentioned? They're about to become three..."
Chapter 755: Obel Scale
Master Jet's nonchalant attitude was in stark contrast with the gravity of her statement. Sunny froze for a few moments, then slowly put his cup on the table. When he spoke, his voice sounded a little hoarse:
"What?"
She sighed, then looked around the cafeteria. It was slightly surreal, to be discussing something that concerned the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the safety of this tranquil place.
Several instructors were enjoying their meals, and there were members of the staff going about their business. None of them knew of the approaching disaster. This contradiction was chilling, too.
Soul Reaper did not seem to mind.
"I have told you about the Obel Scale once, right? It is a very complicated spelltech system that the government uses to predict the appearance of Gates across the globe. Well… I was not entirely honest when I said that a bit of maintenance and calibration would solve all the problems it had been experiencing recently. In truth, the problems we've been having with its readings are not as trivial as I implied. They are just a symptom of a much bigger problem."
Sunny's eyes widened slightly.
"Kurt… Shadow Blade Kurt. He mentioned something about the Obel Scale. It was the reason he had given up and gone mad… one of them, at least."
Master Jet nodded, an expression of mild contempt appearing on her face.
"Yes. However, Kurt was broken and weak. He really blew the issue out of proportion."
The corner of Sunny's mouth twitched.
"I wouldn't call losing an entire continent a small issue."
She shrugged.
"Neither would I. But is not the end of the world, either."
Soul Reaper calmly took a sip of coffee.
"Back when we lost North America, something similar happened. The Obel Scale went out of alignment, making its detection scope unreliable. In the end, a Category Five Gate appeared, and after that, everything went back to normal. However, a few years ago the government noticed growing irregularities in the readings again. After studying these irregularities for some time, we came to the conclusion that something massive was going to happen again."
She pursed her lips.
"This time, it is going to be different. Instead of one gargantuan Gate, there is going to be a… a chain reaction, of sorts. Hundreds of smaller Gates are going to open in relatively quick succession, allowing countless Nightmare Creatures to invade the real world. And all that is going to take place…"
A moment of tense silence passed before she finished the sentence:
"...In Antarctica."
Sunny felt his mouth turn dry.
"But you… you just said that Antarctica is the second most populated continent on Earth."
Master Jet nodded.
"Yes. There are around nine hundred million people living there."
He remained motionless for a while, then looked away.
"...You also said that a compartmentalized global infrastructure is vulnerable to cascade failure. And that Antarctica serves as a logistical hub between the four continents and South America, where most of our food is produced."
Soul Reaper smiled.
"Indeed. However, it is not as bad as you might think. Every megacity possesses robust hydroponic agriculture and is capable of sustaining itself, to a large degree. We've learned our lessons. Yes, losing the connection to South America will be a painful blow, but humanity will survive. There will be a big change, of course… I think you have already guessed its nature. More people will be pushed out into the outskirts. Maybe there will be thirty percent of the population living there instead of twenty. Maybe more."
Sunny still could not let go of his dismay.
"What about the millions of people living in Antarctica? What is the government doing? Can't you throw enough troops and Awakened there to contain the chain reaction?"
She hesitated for a few moments, then let out a wistful sigh.
"...Sure. If we mobilize all our forces — and I mean all of them — and get the Great Clans to fully support the operation, we might keep hold of Antarctica. However, it is not that simple. Everything has a cost, Sunny. There are three other continents we have to protect, and sending so much Awakened into the meat grinder will leave them defenseless. After all, the fact that hundreds of Gates will open in Antarctica does not mean that they will stop appearing everywhere else. Overextending our resources to protect one quadrant will doom all of them. Even if that doesn't happen immediately, in the long term, humanity will cease to exist on Earth."
Master Jet rubbed her face, then smiled.
"That does not mean that we are going to remain idle, however. In fact, the government has been preparing a massive operation for the past two years. It's just that… the situation changed much quicker than anyone could have expected. The timetable has been brought forward by several years, at least. Our current preparations are entirely insufficient."
She grew silent, then added in a neutral tone:
"We thought that there would be much more time to get everything ready. But there isn't, not anymore. So… it's going to be a damn mess of epic proportions."
Sunny scowled, not entirely sure what that was supposed to mean. He could barely accept the fact that losing one of the four continents was an acceptable price for keeping the other three intact. Humanity had already lost North America, after all, and persisted despite the loss. It had arguably grown more powerful as the result.
But if the government was willing to let Nightmare Creatures conquer Antarctica, what operation could it be possibly planning?
"...What exactly is the government going to do?"
Master Jet turned back to the map of the Earth, lingered for a few moments, and then pointed at the large archipelago in the south.
"Why, what else? We are going to evacuate nine hundred million people from the doomed continent while a neverending horde of Nightmare Creatures is pursuing us. Or… we will try, at least. To be honest, I think that most of those who try will probably die…"
Chapter 756: Navigation
Master Jet studied the map for a few moments, and then traced a line across the ocean that lay between the four continents. Then, she suddenly asked:
"Do you know a lot about seafaring, Sunny?"
He slowly shook his head.
"As much as the next guy, I guess."
She smiled.
"Understandable. In truth, navigating the oceans is not an easy task. If it was, we could have just used the Pacific or the Atlantic to transport food from South America. But trying to sail them is pure suicide, for now."
Soul Reaper leaned back and took a sip of coffee.
"Most of our planet is covered by water, and most of that water is infested with dreadful Nightmare Creatures. That is because most Gates open underwater. And since we have very few methods of battling them below the sea — and very little reason to — we just leave those Gates be. Humanity might still hold four and a half continents, but we have surrendered all of Earth's oceans to the enemy."
She sighed, then dejectedly shook her head.
"Still, no civilization can exist without efficient transportation, and shipping cargo across water has been the mainstay of transportation since the dawn of time. So, we maintain a presence in the Indian ocean. Navigating it is not easy, however, because there are unspeakable and uncountable horrors dwelling in the depths."
Sunny hesitated for a moment, then asked with a bit of curiosity:
"Wouldn't it be easier to ship stuff through space, then?"
Soul Reaper grimaced.
"It is not cost-efficient. Getting to orbit requires considerable resource commitment, more so with heavy cargo, and resources are something we desperately lack. Plus… space is rife with its own dangers."
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"What dangers?"
She simply shrugged.
"That… is above even my pay grade. So I don't know. Suffice it to say that simply maintaining a scattering of satellites that support the network and the Obel Scale is already a dire challenge. Whether you like it or now, water is the only way."
He frowned.
"So how do we manage to make use of the ocean if it's so dangerous?"
Master Jet smiled.
"Ah, well. The answer is pretty simple… House of Night."
Sunny blinked a couple of times.
"The Great Clan?"
She nodded.
"The representatives of the House of Night excel in guiding ships through turbulent waters. They are not called Nightwalkers just to honor the clan founder, after all. To move across the ocean, convoys that consist of massive, heavily armored ships employ the services of Nightwalker navigators…"
Sunny leaned back, thinking. He knew a bit about the third and the least prominent Great Clan, but not too much.
Unlike Valor and Song, which resembled most Legacy clans and had originated from a single family, House of Night was born from an alliance of several prominent clans. They resided in a dire region of the Dream Realm known as Stormsea, and controlled one of the three Great Citadels — which, as far as he knew, resembled a giant ship and was most likely left behind by one of the seven daemons.
Sunny also knew that the House of Night did not possess a Sovereign of their own. Anvil of Valor and Ki Song ruled their families, but Asterion was seemingly not related and had nothing to do with the third Great Clan.
It was not clear why the other two powers did not consume the weaker one. Now that Sunny learned of the pivotal role Nightwalkers played in sustaining human civilization, he guessed that they simply offered too much utility to be pressured into submission.
Alternatively, the nature of the region they controlled might have simply been too hazardous for either Valor or Song to invade, or their existence created a bit of much-needed balance and deterrence between the two dominant Great Clans.
…What was clear, however, was that the House of Night was deeply connected to Storm God. There were just too many coincidences between their powers and the deity of depths, oceans, darkness, stars, travel, guidance, and disaster.
Did… did Nightwalkers bear the lineage of Storm God?
'That would certainly explain a lot…'
Master Jet, meanwhile, continued:
"The scions of the House of Night allow naval convoys to reach their destinations, which is both a blessing and a curse. The problem with that situation is that while there are more Nightwalkers than there are descendants of the other two Great Clans, their number is still limited. And so, the number of convoys we can operate simultaneously is limited, as well."
She sighed.
"We can only evacuate people across water. By our calculations, it will take at least two years to evacuate the population of Antarctica that way. That is even if we commit the bulk of our navy to the operation. However…"
Her voice grew dim.
"The chain reaction is going to start in a few months, at most. It won't be too severe at the beginning, but quickly ramp up, drowning the entire archipelago in Nightmare Creatures."
Sunny remained silent for a bit, then asked:
"So what is going to happen?"
Master Jet finished her coffee and offered him a smile.
"Well… the government is going to transfer a very substantial part of its forces to Antarctica. Pretty much everyone who can be spared without leaving the rest of humanity completely defenseless will be transferred to the expeditionary force. They will try to stall the Nightmare Creatures for as long as possible to allow as many people as we can save to escape. Oh, also... I will be on one of the first ships myself."
Sunny looked away, not knowing what to say. Master Jet herself had judged that many of those who were going to take part in the evacuation would not be coming back.
Still, she was Soul Reaper Jet, was she not? Surely, she of all people was going to be okay…
Master Jet sighed, then looked around once again. Then, she said calmly:
"Of course, that will never be enough. In a couple of months, the government will announce a voluntary mobilization, both among the Awakened and among mundane humans. Many people will answer the call, while most will not. As I've said, the loss of Antarctica is not a world-ending event. Dying there is not really worth it."
Sunny gritted his teeth.
"So why are you going? With your position, I am sure that you could have chosen to stay behind. Did you let the propaganda get to your head? Honor, duty, and sacrifice… do you actually believe in that crap?"
Soul Reaper laughed.
"No. I am as cynical as you, Sunny. However, I have my own reasons."
She lingered for a few moments, and then added in a suddenly serious tone:
"...And I think that you might understand my reasoning very well. We've known each other for a while, Sunny, and I always shied away from giving you the recruitment speech. However, times have changed. So, tomorrow, when the representative of Valor tries to invite you into their great and illustrious clan, I want you to refuse."
She leaned forward, looked him in the eyes, and added:
"Instead, I want you to leave everything behind, enlist… and come with me."
Chapter 757: Professional Sensibility
It was hard not to get swept up in Master's Jet cool presence. However, Sunny was not so easy to sway. He held her gaze for a few moments, then turned away.
His expression grew somber.
"...You just spent a lot of time convincing me that losing Antarctica would not cause irreparable damage to humanity, and that most of those who go there would end up dead. And now, you suddenly want me to go as well? Why would I?"
Sure, fighting a noble and glorious war against the Nightmare Creatures sounded exciting. But Sunny was not an inexperienced kid anymore. He knew the price of glory all to well. To him, war casualties were not an abstract concept, but instead a very familiar and grim reality.
He was not arrogant and ignorant enough to consider himself immune to death.
Master Jet leaned back.
"Don't you want to defend your fellow humans?"
Sunny shrugged.
"Don't get me wrong… I really want all those people in Antarctica to survive. However, none of them helped me when I was starving to death in the outskirts. None of them were there when I was drowning in my own blood on the Forgotten Shore. The government didn't do crap to uplift me, either."
He frowned, and then added:
"In fact, one might argue that the government not only abandoned me entirely, but even did everything in its power to make sure that I die swiftly after being used up to bring it a tiny bit of benefit. Like my parents did. But, despite all that, I survived and managed to build a decent life for myself. And now that I finally have something good going for me… you want me to throw it all away and go risk my life to maybe save a bunch a strangers?"
Master Jet sighed.
"I get it. Trust me, I do. But…"
Sunny raised his eyebrows:
"But what? I do believe that you get it. You are from the outskirts yourself, after all. Maybe your life there was not as bad as mine, but it wouldn't have been too different. So why are you going to Antarctica?"
She lingered for a few moments, then looked away.
"I guess it's hard to explain. Honor, duty, sacrifice… you're right, those words don't mean much to me. Working for the government is a means to an end. However… I do work for the government. And I take pride in my work."
Soul Reaper studied the visitors of the cafeteria with her icy blue eyes, then glanced at Sunny.
"I might not have a lot of affection for humanity, but maintaining the fragile balance that allows it to exist is something that I chose to make my responsibility. My domain. So, watching Antarctica go up in flames from the sidelines would be against my professional sensibility."
Sunny remained silent for a while, thinking about what she said. He felt that, in a sense, Master Jet was very much like him. Too stubborn to give up, unwilling to let the world have its way… however, there was a big difference between them. While Sunny aimed all that spite and resentment at surviving and elevating only himself, she had chosen something much grander as her target.
Instead of going it alone, Soul Reaper had decided to tie herself down to a much bigger whole.
Was it worth it? He did not know for sure, but felt that it wasn't. People like him and her deserved to be selfish. The world had never treated them well, and so, they had no obligation to return the favor. Dying for someone you did not care about was utter foolishness.
He looked at her and said dakrly:
"But I am not in the same profession as you."
Master Jet smiled.
"True. However, I wasn't finished. My work ethic is only part of the reason why I am going to Antarctica. The other is… the future."
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"The future?"
She nodded.
"Yes. The world is changing, Sunny. What happens in Antarctica might not end humanity or even change it too much. But it will change the Awakened. Think about it… with so many of us going, either as part of the initial force or as volunteer reinforcements, the power balance of the Awakened society will shift. Thousands will die, but those who survive will grow stronger."
Soul Reaper leaned forward, her voice suddenly intense:
"How many will fully saturate their cores? How many will achieve a breakthrough in their combat skill? How many will Ascend? There are less than a thousand Masters alive in the world right now. How many will there be after the battle for Antarctica? I'd wager much more than that. How many new Saints will emerge? Everything will shift, Sunny… you can either be a part of that shift, or be left behind."
Sunny studied her face for a few moments and shrugged. Then, he asked in a somber tone:
"Are you hoping to become a Saint in all the chaos, while all the Great Clans are looking elsewhere?"
Master Jet sighed, then slowly shook her head.
"No, not really. You are mistaken if you think that their monopoly on Transcendence exists only through preventative measures. Even if you become a Saint, they still can, and will, make you disappear. Plus, entering the Third Nightmare is not something that can be done in the heat of the moment. If you want to survive, you need years of preparation and an ocean of resources, not to mention a powerful and cohesive cohort. Jumping into a random Seed will just get you killed."
Sunny remained silent for a bit, then scowled.
"...What are the Great Clans doing about this situation, anyway? The House of Night is supplying its navigators for the navy… are they going to join the ground forces, as well? What about Song and Valor?"
Soul Reaper grimaced and shook her head.
"No. The Great Clans are staying clear from the ground operation… for now. Maybe they will join eventually, but currently, all three are withholding their forces."
His face grew dark.
"Why? Isn't protecting human lives the purpose for their existence?"
She sighed.
"It is. And they are. They just have their own thoughts on what that implies."
Master Jet hesitated for a few moments, and then added:
"The Great Clans have given up on Earth a long time ago, Sunny. Instead of trying to protect humanity's old home from falling apart, they set their gazes at building a new one. They have big plans for the Dream Realm..."
Chapter 758: Crossroad
Sunny left the Academy with a lot on his mind.
As a Master and a high ranking citizen, he had the right to acquire a PTV license and more than enough money to purchase one. However, Sunny had no idea how to control a personal transport vehicle and was too lazy to learn, so he still used public trains to move around the city.
Around the… Northern Quadrant Siege Capital.
Paying no attention to the captivated glances people threw at him, he looked into the window as the train slid forward on its magnetic guideway, flying through district after district with incredible speed.
The city… was a nice enough place, as long as you were not born in the outskirts. Tall buildings burrowed deep underground and rose high into the sky, connected by tunnels and aerial bridges into a complicated maze of graphene composite and reinforced alloy. Here and there, artificial trees and grass broke the white monotony with vibrant shades of green, yellow, orange, and red.
Everything seemed clean and bright despite the heavy snowstorms that were prevalent this time of year, not at all like the dirty, dim, poisonous clutter of the outskirts. There were large screens displaying beautiful vistas of breathtaking landscapes that had not existed on planet Earth since centuries ago, and propaganda projections that had been masterfully designed to brighten the mood of the citizens.
…Most of all, the city seemed full of life. Endless streams of people were crowding the crosswalks, with a rare PTV or two appearing from time to time. Millions… hundreds of millions of humans called this place their home. Only here, protected by the colossal outer barriers and protective air filtration systems, as well as powerful Awakened, could they survive and thrive.
It was strange to imagine that many similar human shelters in Antarctica were going to be abandoned and destroyed by the endless tide of Nightmare Creatures very soon.
Sunny had seen the panic and mayhem that an unexpected manifestation of a Gate could cause. However, his imagination failed when he tried to envision what would the same disaster, but magnified hunderfold look like. All he could picture was the horde of abominations that the Dreamer Army had faced under the Crimson Spire suddenly appearing on these peaceful streets.
Already, that image made him shudder.
…However, he still stood by his words.
He did not owe these people anything. Sure, if a Gate opened right in front of him, Sunny would have been inclined to fight and buy the civilians time to run away. This was just human nature. But he was not going to go out of his way and seek death just to fulfill some abstract obligation. No one had helped when he had been desperate for help. He had survived despite humanity, not because of it.
And he would continue to put himself first…
Most likely.
Sunny would have lied if he said that Master Jet did not put a seed of doubt in his heart. Sure, the expedition to Antarctica seemed like a suicidal exercise in futility, but she was right. Those who survived that ordeal were going to grow much stronger.
Although Sunny would not be getting any shadow fragments from the hordes of Dormant and Awakened abominations that were going to flood the Southern Quadrant soon, he could still collect plenty of soul shards and Memories, maybe even Echoes. There would be more than enough of Fallen Nightmare Creatures roaming Antarctica, as well.
…However, he also did not believe in the government's ability to accurately predict what would happen there. They seemed to think that only lower category Gates would appear during the chain reaction, but was that assessment right? Who could say with certainty that another Category Five Gate would not manifest itself instead?
The last time it happened, the likes of Immortal Flame and Smile of Heaven perished in the fight. Could Sunny guarantee that he would fare any better? No, he definitely could not.
In the end, it all came down to a simple choice that depended on tomorrow's negotiations.
If all went well, Sunny would regain the ability to enter the Dream Realm. There, he would be able to achieve much better results than the expedition to Antarctica could ever provide, and with much less risk.
More than that… he could even pledge allegiance to the illustrious clan Valor. By now, he had more than enough value to negotiate a supremely lucrative deal. With their training, support, and resources, becoming a Titan would not be out of the realm of possibility.
The barrier that stood between him and Transcendence would instantly disappear, too. Instead, he would be in the best position possible to attempt conquering the Third Nightmare!
Perhaps he would even be able to enhance his understanding of sorcery by leaps and bounds. Valor was widely renowned for creating incredible Memories, after all. He had also seen how proficient the representatives of the Great Clan were in using runic sorcery, back in the Night Temple. There was so much knowledge that they possessed! So much he could learn from them.
As for the fact that the Great Clans seemed to be preparing to abandon Earth in favor of the Dream Realm…
Were they even wrong?
Sunny still remembered the conversation he had had with Effie in the ruined cathedral of the Dark City. She, too, believed that the waking world was dying, and that the Dream Realm could become humanity's salvation. Her argument was… dreadful, but compelling.
In any case, if something went wrong, he would always be able to leave Clan Valor behind. Pledges of allegiance did not mean anything to Sunny, after all. As a person who abhorred the word honor, he was more than willing to betray any promise he made as long as it suited him.
Deserting a Great Clan would probably not be easy, but by then, he was going to be powerful enough to manage.
…So, if negotiations went well, he had no reason to do something as stupid as following Master Jet to Antarctica.
If they went poorly, however, that would be pretty much his only choice.
That was why Sunny had not given Soul Reaper a definitive answer. She did not ask for one, anyway. Master Jet had just told him to think about her offer and inform her of his decision during the next two months.
As the train approached the terrace distinct, Sunny sighed and headed for the exit.
'Damn… my head hurts. Why did all of it have to happen on the day of my first lecture? That's too much excitement for one day!"
Worse still, tomorrow promised to be even more exciting…
Chapter 759: New Developments
Sunny continued to ponder as he walked from the train station to his home. Once there, he opened the door and walked inside, then sat down in the living room and stared at the wall for a while.
'This is not good.'
Right now, he was supposed to be mentally preparing for tomorrow's meeting with the representative of Valor. Antarctica or not, these negotiations had the potential to decide the course of his life… maybe even whether or not he was going to live at all.
The sudden revelation of the impending disaster discombobulated him, making it hard to concentrate on the immediate issue.
Facing the emissary of Valor… was going to be a delicate dance. Sunny was helped by the fact that he had never intended to set Mordret free. However, he was not entirely innocent, either… after all, he had sided against Welthe and Pierce, even slaying one of the two Knights of the great clan with his own two hands.
Not to mention that Mordret had followed him into the Nightmare and Ascended.
Sunny had many things to hide... but could not lie. Even though he was confident in his ability to twist the truth with misleading answers, the negotiations could still derail really quickly.
'Whatever. As if anyone would believe that an Awakened like me was able to kill one of the famed Knights of Valor…'
Now that Sunny had become a Master himself, he lost most of his ability to feign weakness. However, no one but his closest friends knew how powerful he really was, and especially had been. This was another fact that played to his advantage.
'It all depends on the emissary and how they conduct themselves.'
If Valor sent someone cavalier and arrogant, Sunny would be able to dance circles around them. He had plenty of practice dealing with haughty individuals, after all.
If they sent someone smart, however… that could be a problem.
Sunny stared at his shadow, then sighed and stood up.
He really hoped that everything would go smoothly tomorrow, but it paid to be prepared. Worst case scenario, he was going to have to join the Fire Keepers in their Dream Realm exile for a while. So… unless he wanted to return to a monotonous diet of eating nothing but monster meat, it was best to prepare a few things.
Soon, a big metal chest appeared in front of him, then opened its heavy lid, revealing rows of massive triangular fangs.
…Covetous Coffer had changed after the Second Nightmare, as well.
The [Mendacious Coffer] enchantment allowed it to mimic the form of any inanimate object, but was limited by Sunny's core capacity. Now that he was an Ascended, the capacity of his cores increased tremendously, so there were a lot of options.
Sunny had experimented with the form of the Coffer a lot in the past six months. He had made it into all kinds of things, from alloy safes to leather armchairs and sleeping pods. He had even made it into a refrigerator once. However, after having fun with it for a bit, Sunny came to the conclusion that not all forms suited the Memory well.
Items that already had the function of storing things worked the best. So, he ended up simply turning it into a large chest of reinforced alloy.
Now that the Covetous Coffer had grown up, its size and strength were enough to make the [Lurid Trunk] enchantment truly dangerous. If before the small box could only bite off a few fingers, now it could swallow a potential thief whole.
The [Capacious Chest] enchantment had grown stronger, as well, vastly increasing the Coffer's storage capacity. Now, it could store an entire room's worth of items. The [Locomotive Chiffonnier], meanwhile, did not change a lot, but due to its new size, the chest could move around much faster.
…In fact, the Coffer was now large enough for Sunny to sit on top of it, using the Memory as a bizarre mount. In that regard, it was not too different from the original Mordant Mimic, whom Sunny had ridden all the way down to the Ebony Tower once.
Not that he wanted to repeat the experience!
And speaking of mounts…
If there was one thing that had really frustrated Sunny in the past few months, it was that he had no opportunity to learn how to properly ride Nightmare. He had even ordered a custom-made saddle from an exclusive leatherwork boutique.
The mundane professionals working there often received commissions to create various harnesses for Echoes of all shapes, so they were used to strange requests… and since only wealthy Awakened possessed Echoes, their prices weren't cheap. The cost only ballooned when Sunny had to sacrifice a precious soul shard to turn the saddle into a Memory.
And yet, it had all been to no avail. Sunny was unable to travel to the Dream Realm, and summoning the dreadful steed to move around the city would not have been too convenient. Even if he did not mind attracting the wrong kinds of attention, there surely were laws and regulations in place to prevent exactly that.
…It was not all bad, though.
As a terror, Nightmare possessed an ability similar to that of a tyrant. In his case, the stallion accumulated literal nightmares instead of corporeal minions, and the more of them he ruled, the more his power grew. Eventually, the dark destrier was supposed to unlock his final ability, [Dream Curse], by gathering an army of a thousand nightmares.
Sunny had not known where to find these phantasms or how to create them, but the six months of idleness allowed him to figure it out.
There were two ways: Nightmare could either create his dream minions, or subjugate them.
Creating one was not easy. First, the black steed had to sow a seed of terror into an enemy's soul. If the enemy escaped and the seed took root, they would be haunted by the memories of the dreadful destrier and see him in their dreams. The weaker the will of the victim was, the more chances there were for the nightmare to grow and become more and more potent. However, a brave person would cause the seed to wither and die.
Eventually, if the nightmare fully formed, the stallion would be able to use his [Dreamwalker] Attribute to harvest it.
The second way was also troublesome. The black steed could travel into the dreams of powerful beings and subjugate their own nightmares. In the waking world, that meant Ascended. However, that task was not easy — the more powerful the dreamer, the more powerful the nightmares haunting them were. To subjugate such a nightmare, the Shadow had to defeat it in battle inside the dream.
Nightmare had returned severely wounded more than once from such battles.
Still, he managed to gather several minions that way. Neither of them faced any real enemies since returning to the waking world, so for now there was no other option.
…Sunny gathered a bunch of supplies and stored them in the Covetous Coffer, then dismissed the Memory and sighed. Accumulating a thousand nightmares for his Shadow was not going to be easy. Maybe he should have accompanied the black steed into other people's dreams. However, there were enough things haunting him already. He did not need to experience someone else's fears, as well. Getting close to sleeping Masters was also rather perilous...
At that moment, one of his shadows noticed a familiar figure walking toward the door.
Sunny checked the time and smiled.
"Oh, she's already here. My favorite pupil is nothing if not punctual!"