Shadow Slave

The underground dojo was submerged in darkness, and as soon as Sunny willed the drop of ichor to manifest itself into reality, that darkness suddenly came to life. Countless shadows moved and danced around him, forming an invisible whirlpool. Their movements were strange and erratic, fraught with anticipation, excitement, and longing.

Slowly, golden sparks of light appeared in the air in front of him and then shot toward a single point in space, coalescing into a small radiant dot. However, the Memory did not appear yet. Instead, more and more sparks flew into it, thousands upon thousands of them, until, at last, it seemed as though wide streams of brilliant golden light were constantly flowing into the slowly growing sphere of radiance.

This continued for almost an entire minute, and when the sparks finally disappeared, a brilliant drop of golden liquid was floating in the air in front of Sunny. It was suffused with a beautiful light that didn’t seem blinding, but was somehow able to illuminate the entire expanse of the dojo.

…However, there was also something dark about the shining drop of divine blood. Contrasted against its golden radiance, the shadows around him were now suddenly much deeper, darker, and starkly pronounced. All their movement ceased, as though they were frozen still by awe and reverence.

‘…That is Shadow God’s blood, alright.’

Sunny forced himself to look away from the Drop of Ichor and summoned the runes describing it. He had to make sure that his guess was right.

Tense with anticipation, he read:

Memory: [Drop of Ichor].

Memory Rank: unknown

Memory Tier: unknown

Memory Type: unknown

‘Just like the last time…’

Not surprised, he lowered his gaze and studied the string of runes that were his real goal:

Memory Description: [Before, there was only boundless, eternal void. From that dark abyss, the -unknown- were born. Just like chaos itself, they were endless and everlasting, vast and forever changing. But then came desire, and with it came direction. From it, the gods were born.

When gods appeared, the void was not eternal anymore.

When gods appeared, the darkness was not endless anymore.

When gods appeared, the chaos was not orderless anymore.

The gods appeared, and brought with them war. This drop of divine blood was spilled by Shadow on one of the battlefields of that war, before the void was bound.]

Sunny stared at the runes, flabbergasted.

That was… a lot to take in.

‘So… unlike the Unknown, the -unknown- were indeed a type of creatures. Primordial beings that existed before time, space, and even death itself, in a boundless dark void. And the gods were… different from them. But also their kin?’

At least it was clear now what terrible enemy the gods had faced long before the daemons and their rebellion. And why Shadow God had been compelled to create Death. How else would they be able to defeat eternal creatures? Were time, space, and other concepts Sunny had always thought to be absolute also created as weapons in the war of the gods against the -unknown-?

​ At least it was easy to tell which side had emerged victorious. However…

The most frightening detail was that the description never said that the primordial void had been destroyed. Only that it had been “bound”.

…Was it still bound, now that the gods were dead?

Sunny shivered and shook his head. The short description contained a vast amount of information, which had an even vaster amount of implications. He couldn’t encompass all that in a small span of time.

‘Maybe after I consume the drop, I’ll learn more.’

He hesitated, then glanced at the radiant drop of golden liquid once again.

Immediately, the Spell spoke. This time, however, its voice did not sound subtly excited.

‘Weird…’

[You have acquired a drop of ichor. Do you wish to consume it?]

Sunny sighed, remembering the agony of the previous two times he had decided to snack on a piece of divinity. Then, he gritted his teeth and said:

“Yes.”

[…So be it.]

‘What is that supposed to…’

The golden drop suddenly separated into three equal parts, which then shot toward his chest, abdomen, and head. The radiant droplets entered his three Shadow Cores and disappeared, dissolving into the darkness of his soul.

Sunny flinched.

‘A—already?’

The shadows surrounding him exploded with motion, and at the same time, the darkness inside of him seethed.

He felt something entering his bloodstream, a cold and unfamiliar energy that brought with it both pain and euphoria.

‘This… this is it! It’s starting!’

He lowered himself to the floor, preparing for the torturous process of transformation. The cold energy spread through his entire body, reaching every corner of it. It surged, on the cusp of assimilating into the very essence of his being…

And then, something strange happened.

Sunny opened his eyes wide in shock and horror.

As the lineage of Shadow God flowed through his veins, Blood Weave suddenly surged, too. But its behavior was not at all normal, or caused by Sunny himself. It was acting of its own volition, and felt full of ominous, dark intent.

…And hunger.

‘What?!’

He was prepared for indescribable pain, but the pain never came. Instead, he could feel the cold energy being hungrily and ruthlessly devoured by the Blood Weave, like it had been starving for thousands of years.

‘What the hell is happening?!’

A sudden spasm ran through his body, and Sunny fell down with a short yelp.

Inside of him, two forces were fighting for control over his very being. One was the lineage of Shadow God, and the other was Blood Weave. And despite the fact that one was complete and came from an actual divinity, while the other was fragmented and incomplete… the forbidden inheritance of Weaver was winning.

It was like a savage beast that sunk its teeth into the soft flesh of its prey and refused to let go.

‘Stop! What are you…’

…And before he knew it, it was all over.

The cold energy of Shadow God’s lineage was gone, and Blood Weave was back to its usual self, peaceful once again, as if nothing had happened.

Peaceful, but yet… stronger.

As Sunny stared into the darkness in absolute shock, there was no announcement of him acquiring a new Attribute.

Instead, the Spell said with a hint of dark satisfaction in its voice:

[Blood Weave has evolved.]

[Bone Weave has evolved.]

[Ember of Divinity has evolved.]

[…Your Memory has been destroyed.]

Sunny remained silent for a long time, and then let out a furious, outraged scream:

“…Weaver! You bastard!”