Chapyer 57

The life as an Awakened was both audacious and calming for Sunny. He would work in the Academy, research the runes, and explore the Chained Islands in the Dream Realm. Sometimes he would train Rain, maintain his Brilliant Emporium with the help of Aiko, and have some usual quarrels with Nephis and others. There were also times when his [Fated] Attribute would strike out of the blue and force him to fight the abominations coming out of Nightmare Gates.

All in all, life was not bad.

As for the state of the cohort, Nephis had joined the Valor clan's ranks for some reason, which created a rift between them. With her, many others, including Cassie, joined the ranks of Valor. Although the number of Awakened who joined was not large, the problem was that all of those Awakened had the potential to become Masters, and perhaps some of them would progress further. After all, there was no weak person who had come from Forgotten Shore.

Speaking of Forgotten Shore, he had made a work about its lore and described the events that transpired. He did not really expect much, but his work had gained attention from the public and other experts, making his revenue quite big. Apparently, his work was being used as a foundation for an upcoming movie. He was quite curious about how it was going to be portrayed and what actors would be there to play the roles of the cohort.

Thinking for a moment, he chuckled to himself and mused.

"I wonder how they're gonna portray Kiyotaka with his emotional swingings from indifference to madness."

Thinking about Kiyotaka made his mood a bit sour as he wondered how his friend was doing in the depths of the Dream Realm. Their complicated relationship didn't stop him from worrying about him.

Sighing to himself, he returned to his usual duties in the Academy. As he was walking through the modern corridors of Southern, something seemed to stir inside his soul.

The strings of fate intertwined as white radiant strings slowly overpowered the blood-red ones, breaking the balance.

His eyes widened.

Deep within his soul, something moved and rose from slumber, triumphant. Unbreakable, eternal, irresistible. Complete, perfect, and sweet.

Trembling slightly, he summoned his runes and saw an apparent change.

Name: Sunless

True Name: Lost From Light

Master: Changing Star

"Master... Nephis... has become my master?... Wait... does that mean..."

Instantly, all his conflicting feelings were replaced by worry and fear. Composing himself, he immediately shadow-stepped towards the rooms where the sleeping pods were located. On his way of continuous shadow-stepping, he received many curious and annoyed glares, but he ignored them as his mind was occupied with only one thought.

"Curses... please don't tell me it's like that."

As he stepped into Kiyotaka's room, suddenly, a crimson glow illuminated in all directions, blinding him for a second.

"Damnation!"

He couldn't use shadows to see either, as the whole room was pure red light. Struggling to open his eyes, he gazed at the sleeping pod. When he did so, immediately his expression turned to one of shock.

The physical body of Kiyotaka was shattering into a million pieces like a mirror. In panic, he tried to reach out for him, ignoring the blinding light. However, as his fingers were a few millimeters away from his friend, Kiyotaka's body fully shattered, and its remains were extinguished in crimson sparks of fire. The red glow disappeared with him too, as the room returned to its original state.

Sunny stood there, frozen in place as he observed the horrifying scene before him. He didn't move for a long time, still trying to comprehend everything that transpired.

As he was in deep shock and confusion, the door of the room was flung away as white radiant flames entered and enveloped the room's interior. After that, confident yet seemingly hurried steps echoed as Sunny saw a silver-haired woman enter. Nephis was here.

Looking at Sunny briefly, a strange emotion flickered in her eyes. Averting her gaze from him, she looked at the sleeping pod, which was now empty. Her calm demeanor seemed to falter for a moment before she spoke.

"Sunny... what happened?"

Sunny blinked, finally regaining his composure and spoke.

"...He is dead?"

---

Kiyotaka laid on his back, breathing heavily as he felt something happening deep within himself. As he tried to understand the changes, reality seemed to spin as heavy fatigue assaulted his mind. Barely standing on his feet, he summoned Asher and instructed her to get him out of this place.

The Human Echo obeyed her master's command and carried him as she ascended through the stairs of a well and maneuvered through the narrow passages of the underground prison. Soon enough, Kiyotaka found himself near the Statue of the War Goddess and the Nightmare Seed.

Leaning on one of the collapsed icy pillars, he tried to understand what was happening but only felt a sense of discomfort and being lost.

Lost.

That's when it clicked in his mind.

Back then before the Winter Solstice, the instructor had shown them the image of countless people who seemed hollow. Those were Hollows, people who had been "trapped" in the darkness of the Dream Realm, or in other words, died there. However, Hollows weren't the only ones. There were those who became Lost. This phenomenon worked in a similar fashion.

Lost are people whose bodies had somehow been destroyed or died in the real world, leaving their souls stranded in the Dream Realm.

There weren't a lot of them, since most of the time the soul perished shortly after the body had, but there were some.

Kiyotaka himself felt something within his soul stir. Looking at the Nightmare Seed before him, he sighed to himself and stepped closer to it.

To survive as Lost, one had to be extremely lucky so their soul wouldn't perish or they had to become Masters... uniting their soul and physical body in one piece.

There were many things Kiyotaka wanted to do before challenging the nightmare, but as of now, he could only bet on his luck. There was no other way but to challenge the Second Nightmare and become Master to eliminate the possibility of death.

As he walked closer, he felt his consciousness slowly slip away, but he persisted and finally stepped into the Seed.

---

[Sleeper! Prepare for your Second Trial!]

[The Brave One... welcome to the Nightmare!]