Shadow Slave

Some time later, Sunny left the Bastion manor of the White Feather clan in lifted spirits. It felt good to be the bearer of good news, for once…

‘Perhaps I do only speak with Tyris when something awful has happened.’

Sunny pondered his habits for a few moments.

But then, he couldn’t quite imagine just visiting Sky Tide casually. A social call, to Sky Tide? How would that even look like? Sunny remained motionless for a while, then shook his head and continued walking.

‘Plus, it’s awkward, because everyone else thinks I’m dead.’

Being both dead and a demigod limited Sunny’s opportunities to socialize quite a bit. On the bright side, that only made him appreciate the few relationships he did have so much more.

And speaking of those…

The speech was going to start soon, so he had to hurry.

Reaching a deep shadow cast onto the ground by the wall of the Castle, Sunny stepped into it and emerged in the corridor of a tall building that stood in one of the lakeshore neighborhoods of Bastion.

He knocked on it, waited for a bit, and knocked once more.

A moment later, a familiar voice resounded from behind the door.

“Come in!”

Sunny walked inside and smiled.

“I was in Bastion, so I decided to pay a visit…”

There was an old man with disheveled hair and eyebrows that seemed to have a life of their own inside the room. He glanced at him and grinned.

“Sunny, my boy!”

Then, he froze for a moment, covered his mouth, and whispered:

“Oh… I’m sorry. Sunny, my boy.”

Closing the door behind him, Sunny chuckled.

“Thank you for your understanding, Teacher Julius.”

Julius was one of the few people Sunny had revealed himself to after returning from the Tomb of Ariel. Back then, the moment he walked through the door, the old man joyfully welcomed him in this exact manner. He did not seem shocked by the fact that one of his students had magically risen from the dead at all.

In fact, Sunny had been a little disappointed back then. Looking at the old man, he hesitated for a moment and then asked:

“You don’t seem surprised to see me, Teacher?”

Julius chuckled.

“I might be old, but I am not feeble-minded yet.”

With that, he opened a drawer and pulled out a copy of the Exploration Report on Everything.

The old man patted its cover lovingly.

“Sunny… do you know how people sometimes say that they would want nothing more than to forget a book they love, just to be able to read it for the first time all over again? Well, who could have known that it would actually happen to me?”

He chuckled.

“The first few weeks after my memory was wiped — and everyone else’s — were quite hectic. But then, I discovered this paper and… by the dead gods! It was like I turned into a little kid again, having received the best gif of my life. Not only was the paper riveting, but I also couldn’t help but recognize my own student’s writing style. Each true explorer has their own approach, you know?”

Julius shook his head and pulled something else from the drawer.

It was a familiar-looking letter.

“And then I found this. Ah… you almost made this old man cry, Sunny.”

He looked at the letter for a while, then put it down.

“To think that when we met, you could barely write…”

Sunny frowned.

“What are you talking about, Teacher? I was perfectly literate, thank you very much! The fact that I wasn’t fluent in a bunch of dead languages does not mean that I couldn’t write!”

Julius waved a hand and turned back to the Exploration Report once more.

“And now… the River People are actually back. Real natives of the Dream Realm, Sunny! Do you even understand… well, of course you do. You had something to do with them emerging from the Tomb of Ariel, I bet!”

He laughed.

“As expected of my student…”

Sunny shook his head and sat down, pointing to the Exploration Report with a wry smile.

“You don’t even know the half of it, Teacher. I did not remain idle after writing that, you know. In fact… I spent a bit of time in an actual pre-Dark Times society, reached the bottom of the Stormsea and raided… uh… explored a mystical city built by the Demon of Repose, conversed with not one, but two Supremes from the ancient past of the Dream Realm, found the original Seed of Nightmare, got robbed by a Terror who had once stolen Weaver’s eye…”

He paused for a moment.

“Oh! And I also met the Wandering Archon. Granted, we didn’t get a chance to speak.”

Sunny fell silent, remained silent for a while, and then grinned.

“So… how many contribution points do you think we can get?”

That was almost a year ago, and today, Teacher Julius was finishing the work on the Annotated Commentary and Addendum to the Exploration Report of Everything — in the free time he had left after fulfilling his duties as the architect of the new education system, tutoring Little Ling, and being one of the people responsible for diplomatic relations with the River People.

The old man liked to stay busy, it seemed. Sunny sat down and glanced around, trying to guess what Teacher Julius was working on now.

“Are you not going to see the speech today?”

Julius chuckled.

“Of course I am going. It is a historic event, after all — quite possibly one of the last few historic events we have left. However, there are too many people in Bastion, and too few of them can get close enough to Lady Nephis to make the experience memorable. So, in a short while, I will depart for the waking world and listen to the speech on the screen of my communicator. That will be far more convenient.”

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

“Surely, you could get a good spot if you wanted to, considering your status.”

Teacher Julius smiled.

“These old bones are more comfortable on my sofa at the Awakened Academy. Let the young and the restless compete for a glimpse at the shining goddess of humanity… I’d rather surrender my spot to them.”

He paused for a moment and chuckled.

“Plus, I have an audience with Lady Nephis in a week. So why would I compete at all?”

Then, Teacher Julius gave Sunny a wry look and asked:

“But did you really just happen to come by, Sunny? Or was there something you wanted?”

Sunny sighed.

“Oh, well… actually, I have something for you.”

When he produced a printed booklet and handed it to Julius, the old man’s eyes lit up.

“You did it!”

There was a title on the booklet as well, reading:

Observations on the Frozen Wasteland (In Short: It’s Really Cold), by: Soul Reaper Jet (No One Can Survive There Anyway, So Why Am I Wasting My Time on This?)

Teacher Julius glanced at the booklet, a wide smile appearing on his face.

“I knew that if there was anyone who could convince that murderous woman, it was you! Well done, my boy!”

Sunny shrugged.

“You are welcome. And yes — she did indeed discover where the Hollow Mountains end, which disproved the Universal World Wall theory posed by…” The two of them dove into a lively discussion, losing track of time.

So, before they knew it, Teacher Julius had to depart for the Gateway.

And Sunny… Sunny had to focus his attention elsewhere.