DRIIIN... DRIIIN...
DRII...
CLICK.
"Aaaah! I hate life."
Sunny said as he slowly wake up.
His eyes opened with difficulty. He rubbed them, the sleep still printed on his face.
Today was the day of the Winter Solstice.
The long-awaited and feared day of judgment for the Sleepers of all the world was finally here, but he didn't care.
The bed was so warm, so soft, so comfortable!
Sunny really wanted to dream for another decade at least.
After all, he was already dead something like... seventeen years ago by now.
Not to mention what the hell the Shadow God's ichor did to his body.
Why can't he just get some rest?
Trying to gather what little strength he had at the moment, Sunny lifted the covers and got out of bed.
Once standing up, Sunless gazed at his left arm where the head of his Serpent was resting in its tattoo form.
He silently greeted his Serpent, then Serpent greeted him in return.
If he had woken up three hours earlier than expected, it was because it was time for him to awaken.
Sunny immediately got into a yoga position sitting on the floor, closing his eyes and began to circulate his essence with [Shadow guide].
Two hours later.
... ...
...
Nothing happened.
Sunny opened the eyes, he looked at his hands then the rest of his body; It didn't seem like anything had happened.
Perplexed, he opened his runes.
***
Name: Sunless
True Name: Lost from Light
Rank: dreamer
Shadow core: dormant
Shadow fragments: [260/1000]
***
And in fact nothing had happened.
Sunny blinked, then got up from the floor, even more confused.
'Why am I not an awakened yet?'
He was really torn right now.
Sunny was very sure to be just one step away from awakening, he had followed every point; step by step.
What was he lacking?
Sunless commanded Serpent to separate from him, to give his shadow a break.
Suddenly, a snake with pitch-black scales and abyssal eyes appeared before him, its figure occupied almost the entire room.
Sunny then sat down on the bed, the Serpent put the head on one of his leg to beg for some cuddles.
While stroking the shadow's head with one hand, Sunny rubbed his chin with the other, trying to figure out the problem; his gaze fixed on nothing. The shadow wasn't exactly very light, but it didn't bother him.
Its scales were soft though, they gave him comfort.
Sunny thought about it for a moment: what was he missing?
The instructions weren't so complex.
Saturate the core.
Daily circulate your ess...
...
His eyes widened, Sunny re-opened his runes.
***
Shadow fragments: [260/1000]
***
"THE CORE!" Said Sunny slapping his head with a hand. Serpent tilted its head, surprised by its master reaction.
Sunny threw his back onto the bed, pressing both hands to his face and kicking his legs in the air. He groaned at his superficiality.
Then he released the grip on his face and looked up at the ceiling of his room where he saw the head of his shadow looking down at him worriedly.
Serpent had raised the head to look at its master, it was not able to talk but it understand that he was troubled.
Sunny looked sad at Serpent.
"The core! I'm an idiot! I have to saturate completely my core first to awaken, but how in the Spell should I do that now?" He said to him trying to lessen his frustration.
Sunny knows very well that his shadow couldn't give him an answer, and in fact Serpent couldn't.
Serpent lowered its head, it was sad that it couldn't do anything about it.
Serpent just wanted the cuddles.
Sunny looked back at the ceiling of the room with regret, still sprawled on the bed.
He had finally remembered that to awaken naturally, one had first to saturate completely his core, but he could not do this, because he was special. Sunless was a divine aspect holder, he had not only one core, if he wanted to he could have until seven cores. So, if he wanted to awaken naturally, he had to form all the seven cores and then saturate all of them, only then he could finally awaken.
How did he forgot this?
Forming all the seven cores was not an avoidable option, because the saturation part was essential for awaken; but by saturate his core, he will simply create another one and have to repeat the whole process again and again.
But thinking about it with a clear mind, the Spell already formed his core no less than a month ago, although it's not awakened yet.
So, how many chance did he really have to awaken naturally with the Spell in between?
In an instant, his plan for awakening broke, it went up in smoke like nothing. All the time spent and work done until now were wasted.
Especially the lost sleep, just thinking about it made Sunny want to cry.
His [Shadowspawn] attribute allowed him to stay awake for three nights straight without feeling tired, but the lack was still felt.
Sunny lift his back to sat again on the bed, a disheartened expression on his face. Serpent, seeing this, gently rubbed the top of its scaly head against his to comfort its master.
Sunny looked at him again and raised a hand to caress him.
"You really are a cuddles enjoyer, aren't you?"
The Shadow hissed at him happily.
The soft scales of Serpent rub against his cheek, the smile returned to Sunny's face.
In the end, it didn't matter! Even if he couldn't awaken, Sunny had already done the most important things that he had to do in this month.
Serpent really helped him to cheer up.
Sunny put this issue aside for the moment; he got up from the bed and went to the bathroom, getting ready for the day.
Settled and dressed, before heading to the cafeteria, Sunny looked at his beautiful bedroom with a melancholic expression —for someone from the Outskirts it was even too luxurious.
He knows that many months await him beneath the chill nights of the Forgotten Shore and the dampness of those few rocks high enough to be not submerged by the black sea.
Ah!
Right!
The sea is actually a Great Titan.
F*** YOU!!!!!
Locking the door of his beloved room for the last time, Sunny headed to the cafeteria.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arriving at the cafeteria, Sunny watched the other Sleepers from afar while walking toward his table.
The Solstice hit them hard.
Some were crying, some were depressed, some were even so self-assured that were showing no interest in the Solstice.
"Bah! Amateurs!" Sunny said to himself.
If they hadn't been so superficial and had prepared themselves seriously, perhaps they could have survived.
As he approached the table, he found it empty. Above the table there was only a folded piece of paper with his name written on it.
Taking the slip of paper and unfolding it, Sunny read the message.
----------------------------------------------------------
Come to the Wilderness Survival class! Cas
----------------------------------------------------------
Sunny smiled.
'What a sweetheart! She threw me a surprise party for my birthday.'
At that moment, Sunny shameless vowed to marry Cassie at all costs.
After Jet, of course!
He crumpled up the paper, threw it away, and went straight to the Wilderness Survival class.
On the way, while trying to hide his smile to appear surprised, Sunny activated his Shadow Sense.
After Caster that day, no one had ever tried to threaten him again, but safety is never enough!
And today, no Legacy! No fate! Not even the Divine or the Profane will stop him from reaching his destination!
Otherwise! They will learn to fear the Shadows!
Somehow, Fate must have heard him, because while walking he accidentally met Caster along the way.
When Caster saw him, he immediately paled, looked away and went in the opposite direction.
Whatever happened to him, it's not a priority for Sunny right now. So he let him go and continued on his way undisturbed.
Arriving in front of the class, Sunny clenched his jaw to keep it from smiling.
Confirmed by the shadows that the girls were behind the door, Sunny deactivated his shadow sense, opened the door and entered.
The room was completely in the dark.
Ah! They don't know about his shadow abilities.
So, to avoid spoiling the surprise, Sunny had to close his eyes.
Suddenly...
The lights in the room went on, revealing a cake in front of him with the words 'Happy Birthday Sunny' written on it, and behind him were four people who shouted in a cheerful chorus: "Happy Birthday!"
Sunny turned back to see Cassie, Jet, Nephis and Yuki standing behind him.
Smiling, he turned to Jet, "Did you tell them about my birthday, darling?"
He didn't hide the nicknames he and Jet gave to each other.
Jet shooked her head, "Nope! It was an idea of Cassie, here."
She said glancing at Cassie to her left.
Cassie stepped forward, her hands clasped in front on her skirt, her head slightly bowed.
"I just wanted to thank you for giving me hope and helping me, Sunny. I'm very grateful that you are my friend, really!" She said.
Sunny looked at her, her fear showing despite the happy event.
It was sad to see her like this, despite the gift she'd just given to him; this party.
So! Sunny decided to take advantage of the situation and act out of shamelessness.
He leaned toward her, gently putting a kiss on her check.
SMACK.
Because of the walls of the classroom, the kiss echoed throughout the whole room.
The girls, especially Cassie, blushed deeply for his act. All except Jet, who smiled at him smugly and crossed her arms while raising a thumb up with a hand as to say him: "Nice play!".
Cassie was now like paralyzed, her eyes wide open. She knew that she was doing him a pleasure when she threw him a birthday party after seeing Sunny celebrate one in her visions, even though he didn't seem very happy there. But this... what should she do now?
Her heart was pounding so hard, so hard that she felt like it might explode at any moment.
She knows it well! She was behaving like a little girl in front of her first love. Actually, she probably is...
Damn it Cas! Snap it! You can't be so easy!
It's just a kiss on the check, right? It can't mean so much... RIGHT?
The fault is all of those Romance Novels that she read since she was a child, they had messed up her mind! It was much better to be an horror fanatic.
Meanwhile Nephis also seemed to shrink where she was, fearing to be the next.
And she will be! Cockroach's word!
Then Cassie, as if he hadn't already inflicted her enough, felt Sunny put a hand on her left shoulder.
"Thanks, Cas! It really means a lot to me." He said in a kind voice, "I have also a surprise for you. well! Another surprise at least."
Cassie snapped at him, trembling. What now? What did he want to do to her now?
Sunny continued: "I have an Echo that I want you to keep for me until we'll meet again in the Dream Realm. It's an Ascendant Beast, its name is Serpent and don't you dare say no!"
Everyone were taken aback, speechless as their jaw dropped.
This guy had pull out an Ascendant Memory just some weeks ago, and now this?
Where the hell did he even get all this junk?
Sunny smiled, pleased by their amazement.
He looked at each one of them. Nephis was looking at him suspicious, didn't Sunny say that he wasn't from any Clan? How does he have all this stuff? Nephis was starting to have doubts. Yuki was simply shocked. Jet sighed as she facepalmed herself, by now she should be used to his manner, this Devil of a rascal!
Finally he stopped again on Cassie.
"Yep! You heard me, oh! But don't worry about me, I have another one, this one is also a stunning beauty, so I'll be fine." He said waving a hand to them.
A pair of them laughed even for his manner.
A tear appeared on Cassie's doll-face, she started to cry and threw herself on Sunny, hugging him tightly.
"Thank you, Sunny! Really thank you! Thank you for everything!"
A feeling of relief finally started to appear in her heart. Maybe, just maybe... she will survive.
Cassie let out everything she'd been holding in his arms, letting the tears flow and wetting his black shirt with them in the process.
Sunny didn't push her away; instead, he returned the hug with equal affection.
After a few seconds, Nephis and Yuki looked at each other and chose to join them too. Comforting their blind friend.
She had held back really a lot, because this was the first time that they had see her cry.
Jet didn't join the hug, feeling unwelcome, despite Sunny's constant inviting glances, which were almost too provocative for her taste. Instead, she chose to stand aside, looking at the foursome with a little smile and leaning with the arms crossed.
Sunny, while comforting Cassie, raised his eyes toward her.
He spoke to her not with words but using his black eyes to reassure her, communicating in a way that was only perceptible to Jet at that moment.
"It will all be fine!"
Jet did the same, she nodded, without add anything else.
It wasn't necessary.
His eyes spoke for himself.
After this, they finally eat the cake.