Time of Preperation

For what felt like forever, I continuously guided Sunny higher up. Each time he tried to go higher, the damn tree would influence him against it. 

For a grueling month and a half, I slowly guided Sunny upward. It was more than I thought I could handle.

The worst part was that, even though I was immune to the tree's influence, that didn't mean I didn't feel it. 

Almost as if to add insult to injury, I was forced to feel the constant pull of the tree. I wasn't going to follow it, no matter what, but it still made everything more difficult. 

But none of that mattered now. Finally, the time had come, and I could communicate with Sunny. To say I was elated would have been a gross understatement. 

[Ahhh, Sunny, you have no idea how happy I am right now. That took SOOOOO LOONG.] I let out a hoarse chuckle. 

(I bet it did.) Sunny was about to say something, but I cut him off. 

[As much as I'd love to catch up, you need to give me control. As long as you're in control of the body, you can still be influenced by this damn thing.] Sunny nodded slightly, and I was finally able to take control. 

Slowly, I felt like I was in a body again. Being without one for a month had been truly horrible. Having to focus on guiding Sunny without anywhere to sit or anything to distract myself had been beyond exhausting. 

As I got to my feet, I was hit by the fatigue Sunny had been struggling with. Every part of my body ached, so I sat back down. 

[Damn, this baby did a number on you, didn't she… or is it a he?] 

Sunny chuckled, and I could feel him relax slightly. 

(As if I care about the gender of a Great Devil. Oh, and I'm curious about something.) 

I perked up a little. [About what?] 

(Is this the thing you mentioned you needed dead? The reason you were on that soul shard diet?)

[Ahh, yeah, this thing was the reason. I know you're probably mad because I knew you'd be ensnared by the tree, but... it was worth it, right?] 

Sunny hesitated for a moment. 

(I am a little mad, but since I did get quite the boon, I'll let it go.) 

Nodding, I relaxed for a moment and switched POVs with one of my ravens. 

Three of my ravens were in the Dark City. Two were scouting around the Hollow Mountains, and one was watching over the Night Temple. Of course, Blisto was watching Sunny. 

I switched to one of the ravens in the Dark City. The first one I sent was keeping an eye on Effie, while the other two were alternating between watching the castle and the outskirts of the city. 

I focused on the one observing the people of the Bright Castle eating in the expansive hall. The room was mostly quiet.

Some murmured between one another, but no one seemed to be in a good mood. 

'Figures' I thought as I looked at one of the armed guards near the entrance. I focused on him. 

With a thought, I used [Antithesis], and as I did, the guard immediately widened his eyes and collapsed to the ground.

The one next to him looked concerned and rushed over. Everyone's attention turned to the commotion, and the room fell silent.

Meanwhile, I shot up and stretched my limbs with a smile. 

After a minute of stretching, I whistled, and soon Blisto flew toward me, perching on my shoulder.

He rubbed his head against my cheek, looking both worried and relieved. He cawed softly, and I smiled. 

"I'm alright, buddy. Better than ever, actually." He still looked concerned but cawed loudly before flying into the sky. 

(How did you get rid of all that fatigue?) 

'Well, I just used [Antithesis] and switched my physically exhausted state with the guard's not-tired state.' But, of course, I wasn't going to say that. 

[It's probably because I took control, and all the exhaustion vanished.] 

(Mhm, well, whatever. What's your plan now?) 

[First, I'm going to enjoy absorbing some soul shards.] 

Walking closer to the bird, I kicked it a few times. Knowing it was dead, I smiled.

Summoning my sword, I opened up the bird with a burst of repulsion and took out four Supreme Soul Shards. 

Holding them in my hands, I nearly drooled.

Controlling myself from absorbing them immediately, I summoned the [Covetous Luggage] and opened its trunk. 

Inside, there were just a couple of bags of rations and some toolkits.

I had to throw out a lot of things to make space for all the soul shards I'd collected, but it was worth it. 

I took out every soul shard and kept only three Transcendent Soul Shards and two of the Demon Soul Shards I'd taken.

My hands brushed against the Awakened Soul Shard Sunny had given me when he killed the first scavenger.

Not willing to part with it, I put it back. 

In total, I had three hundred and twenty-six Awakened Soul Shards. 

Whistling in satisfaction, I placed the four Supreme Soul Shards into the luggage and set aside the two hundred of the three hundred and twenty-six Awakened Soul Shards. 

(Why not absorb everything?) 

[I'm just going to absorb everything here. I'll keep ten Awakened Soul Shards, though. I'm planning to use a certain skill.] 

(What skill?) 

[Weaving. With it, I can turn soul shards into memories. I'll need some practice, so I'll keep ten for that. But first, I need to absorb a few of them.] 

(Making memories? Aren't you a bit too powerful?) 

[Eh, probably. But are you complaining?] 

Sunny answered with a mixed response, but I focused on absorbing a hundred soul shards first.

The sensation was warm and comforting.

It only took a few seconds for each, so in about an hour and a half, I absorbed all but ten of the shards. 

[Soul Fragments: 216/1000] 

Satisfied, I could finally use my aspect ability. Awakened and higher-level users needed soul essence to use aspect abilities, but sleepers like me didn't.

My [Envisioning] required essence, not for use, but for what I created. I focused, feeling my hands tingle as my soul core drained slightly.

Then, I opened my eyes. A small light began to transform, and within seconds, a sleek metal pole appeared in front of me. 

It was half a meter long and only a inch wide. I felt Sunny musing over it. 

[Behold, Sunny! This is the power of my aspect ability.] I smiled proudly, but Sunny felt... pity? 

[What? Why are you pitying me?] 

Hesitating for a moment, Sunny spoke with a tone of sadness. 

(Is... is it to create poles?) 

Dropping the pole, it made no sound as it hit the spiderwebs. 

[What the hell?! Of course not! I can create anything from my essence! What's wrong with you? Are you still influenced by this damn tree?]

I smacked the tree, leaving a dent in the thick webbing. Now Sunny was the one bewildered. 

(You can create things? What kind of favoritism did you get from the spell? First your attributes, then your memories, and let's not forget the sorcery. Do you even have a flaw?)

Frozen, I stopped for a second, gulping as I frowned slightly. This all but confirmed his suspicions. 

(DO YOU ACTUALLY NOT HAVE A FLAW?!)

Coughing uncomfortably, I picked up the pole. 

[Well, everyone has flaws, Sunny. That's the nature of the spell... well, for everyone but me, that is.] 

(So... you really don't have a flaw? Are you joking?)

[Well, as they say, don't hate the player, hate the game,] I said, making my way out of the nest while pocketing the awakened soul shards into the [Puppeter's Shroud].

I then walked over to the crown of the tree and examined it.

It was stable enough, so I sat down.

As I did, Sunny finally digested all the information and soon began his rant.

(The game? This is more than a game, Pleiades! You're telling me you don't have any weaknesses? No downside at all? How's that even fair?)

I sighed, feeling the tension in the air grow heavier by the second. Rubbing my temples, I tried to think of a reasonable way to explain it.

[Look, I get it, Sunny. It sounds crazy, but you know how the Spell works. For everyone, it balances out strengths and flaws, shaping each person's Fate,] I paused, sensing Sunny's growing irritation.

[But in my case... I guess the Spell saw fit to make me different, since i'm something of an outer being that doesn't fit into this one. Maybe I'm supposed to balance out some larger cosmic thing, who knows?] I lied

(Or maybe you're just broken,) Sunny said, half-joking, half-frustrated. Letting out a chuckle, I responded

[Yeah, definetly! But hey, it's not like I asked for it.] i lied.

[Besides, if I didn't have all these advantages, we'd both probably be stuck in that tree's influence forever. So, I'd say it's working out just fine for both of us.]

Sunny stayed silent for a moment, clearly still processing. Then he finally spoke.

(Okay, fine. I can't argue with results, but still... no flaw? That's unheard of.)

[True, true] I responded and looked over the pole.

[But let's not dwell on all of that. It can come later.] I then took an awakened soul shard and looked over it before turning my attention to the [Midnight Shard].

I saw its weave, like usual. Because of my soul weave, I was able to see the weaves of memories, though I wasn't an inheritor of weavers' lineage.

Instead, I just got the ability to see and interact with them.

'Come to think of it, Nephis was hesitant about letting Sunny take them on the boat in the novel. I guess she still won't be now.' Even though my influence was substantial, I wasn't too sure about what would happen.

'Guess I should get ready for her too.' Closing my eyes for a second, I began to create an ability.

Ability Name: Less Talkative PleaseDescription: Enables the user to make multiple targets unable to speak. There can be a timer for how long the targets can't speak, or the user can simply keep them from speaking for as long as he wishes.

Ability Name: Percaution

Description: This ability will only actiavte when the users life of mind are in danger, if the user were on the brink of losing his mind or life the ability will activate and fix the issue in the most effective way possible, while also giving the user a greater boon. This ability will have acess to 'Absolute Ability Creation' and would create the necessary abilities to help the user, or have a completely diffrent approach, all approaches will greatly benefit the user.

Pleased with it, I focused on my soul core. After creating the pole, I wasted about ten percent of my essence.

Even though it was a lot, I wasn't too surprised. Creating eight more, I was left with next to no essence in my core.

I then switched back to my raven's POV and used [Antithesis] once more on some poor chap that was in the cafeteria.

My core was now full again, while his on the other hand, was all but depleted. He, too, fell to the floor, both confused and scared.

I then created six more poles, putting fourteen of them into the luggage while leaving the last one in my hands.

I activated [Hachi] and cut it into twenty small pieces. For the first time, I activated [Grafting]. Somewhat nervous about using such a potent ability, I concentrated hard.

Gulping, I focused on the pieces and began to reassemble them into small orbs. The orbs were only about the size of marbles.

'Haaa, guess I have a couple of Subarus here,' I smiled and used my aspect ability to create a small red bag, which only took a small bit of my essence.

Then, I concentrated on creating another ability.

Ability Name: Explosive Arrangement

Description: The user can turn any object they touch into a potential explosive of catastrophic proportions. The longer they hold onto it, the more potent the resulting explosion becomes. After an hour of contact, the detonation could obliterate a small island. However, the moment the user releases the object, its explosive potential is halted and would stay at the level it was when it was no longer in the user's grip, rendering it harmless until the user desires its detonation. The user is also immune to the explosions. The explosions will also not blow up or destroy soul shards.

Gripping the marbles in my hand, I activated the ability, then stood there waiting patiently.

(So what are you planning?)

[What else? I'm getting ready to fight Nephis.] Audibly gasping, Sunny panicked.

(Fighting Nephis?! Are you crazy? Why would you want to fight an ally?)

[Simple, really. She's still ensnared by the tree, so she won't come with us willingly. I'll just beat her up a bit and get her to fall asleep.]

(Wha... Mmmhh. Well, where will we go? To that city? But what about the ocean?)

Smiling, I stood up while still gripping the marbles and pointed with my free hand downward. In the distance was a small dot.

[That right there.] Sunny was confused.

(The Demon's Corpse?)

[Yup, I'll turn it into a boat for all four of us.] Having a hard time imagining this, Sunny only understood it somewhat.

(Alright, I guess it's a good idea, but is there really no other choice but to fight Nephis?)

[If she attacks me, I'll fight back. Simple as that. But if she complies, then we'll go without incident.]

(Okay then... but what are you going to do now?) Giddy like an idiot, I turned back and went to my previous sitting position.

[Say, Sunny, how many Shadow Fragments do you have?]

(Seven hundred and sixty-eight.)

[Well, you see, I--- Wait, HOW MUCH?]

(What? You were the one who guided me the whole time.)

Clearing my throat, I calmly reworked my plan.

But to think his progress was this substantial, over the month and a half everytime sunny was full i'd swich his fully fed self with one of the outskirts hungry self, so in turn he ate about thirty to fifty a day.

[Well, change of plans. We'll first fill up your core. After that, we'll turn Krabs into a shadow. Then, I'll play with making memories for a bit. After that, I'll make the boat. We'll also be staying here the whole time, and I'll be the one in control the entire time.]

Thinking for a moment, Sunny agreed. And with that, i held the marbles for half and hour and put them in the small pouch i had made.

I then focused on the [Midnight Shard] once more. It was time to get down to business.

Next Chapter: Beginning of the Clash