Shadow Slave

Leaving behind a few cracked cobblestones, Sunny arrived at a particular gate and waited for a while, expecting a giant wolf to come barreling out to engulf him in a hurricane of excitement, enthusiasm, and slobbery puppy love.

However, nothing of the sort happened. Sunny had been preparing himself to act annoyed, but now, he was strangely disappointed.

‘Ling Ling, that brat... does he not smell his favorite uncle standing at the door?’

Sunny waited a bit more, then sighed and raised his hand to knock at the gate. Before he could, however, it opened, revealing the sight of a toned, shapely, and sculpted torso. Sunny studied it for a few moments, then looked up... and then, with a sigh, a little higher still.

Effie was standing on the gravel road barefoot, wearing well-worn, comfy sweatpants and a makeshift crop top with a faded Night&Gale logo that heroically held back her ample figure. Her hair was disheveled, and she was rubbing her eyes while yawning.

Seeing her in such a mundane set of clothes felt a little strange, considering who she was and where they were. But then again, Effie had never been one to care about her exalted status.

Looking over Sunny’s head, she gave the street a dubious look.

“Huh? No one is here?”

‘Goddammit!’

He greeted his teeth.

“Hey! Stop pretending that you can’t see me.”

Effie raised her eyebrows and slowly lowered her gaze. Then, she lowered it some more and smiled brilliantly.

“Oh! It’s you, Shadow Boy. Sorry, didn’t notice you there... and by there, I mean down, down there...”

Sunny furrowed his brow in annoyance.

”How does it even make sense? Sure, let’s say you didn’t notice me. What about that huge bundle on my back? The one that is three meters long? Only a blind person would fail to notice that!”

Effie looked at the bundled item protruding high above his left shoulder, then scratched her head in embarrassment.

“Well, fine. You got me there... anyway, come in. I was warned that you’d be showing up, so I’ve been waiting. This is officially my first day of vacation! | didn’t even know that I get to have those, you know? Granted, since you are involved, it will probably be a work trip at best... now that I think about it, I think I was swindled out of taking a break...”

Sunny followed Effie past the gate and looked around.

“Huh? Where’s Little Ling? And his dad? I was hoping to catch up”

She gave him the side eye.

“Ling Ling is punished and is helping his dad around the farm. Also... I find it weird that you are friends with my husband. Really weird!”

Sunny blinked a few times, aghast and dismayed.

“What? Why? Let me tell you, | am an awesome friend.’

Effie nodded energetically.

“Exactly. You are way too awesome! In the literal sense of the word, I mean. You are a Sovereign, for Spell’s sake. What business does my husband have being pals with a Sovereign?” ɽÃɴỗᛒΕś

Sunny scoffed.

“That guy is married to a Saint and is raising another. I think he can handle being buddies with a Supreme. Don’t sell that guy short... he is just that kind of impressive.’

Effie glanced at him, then looked away with a soft smile.

“Okay... that’s true. He is indeed a little impressive, isn’t he?”

Before they entered the house, Sunny gestured for her to stop and took the bundled item off his back with an audible sigh of relief.

”Wait a bit. I’m not sure that we can take that thing inside.”

The grounds of Effie’s manor had been treated to be able to support the titanic weight of her Transcendent form — as well as survive Little Ling’s overabundant energy — but he wasn’t sure about the house. Her husband had built it from the mystical wood from the woods around Bastion, but they were dealing with something truly special here.

Resting the bottom of the bundled item on the ground, Sunny supported its weight with one hand and used the other to massage his hurting shoulder.

“Ah. That’s better...”

Effie studied the narrow object with a curious expression.

Sunny grinned.

“This... is a little gift from me to you.”

He lowered it to the ground carefully and then knelt to remove the straps. Of course, both the cloth the item was wrapped in and the straps were made from manifested shadows, so he could have simply dismissed them... but where was the theater in that?

Plus, the more Sunny became akin to a deity, the more he learned to appreciate these small, human moments. Sure, he could teleport around and make the shadows do everything for him so that he never needed to lift a finger, but walking where he needed to go on his own two feet and doing what he wanted to do with his own pair of hands was its own small pleasure.

As he was unbundling the item, he gave Effie a mischievous smile.

“It’s nothing too crazy. I just thought of you when I saw it.’

From within the cloth, an imposing spear was revealed. It was around three meters in length, devoid of frivolous adornments but beautiful in design. The great spear was both solemn and resplendent, seemingly forged from pure gold — despite that, it emanated a sense of indescribable fierceness and crushing gravity, inspiring awe and reverence in anyone who glimpsed it.

The spearhead was long, capable of both piercing and severing, while the shaft was flawlessly straight and seemingly indestructible. As soon as the spear was revealed, the air suddenly smelled of a lightning storm, and sparks of electricity arced across the grass.

It felt... ancient, unfathomably powerful, and holy. The world itself seemed to react to the presence of the golden weapon, becoming brighter and solemn around it.

Effie looked at the great spear, enthralled.

”What...”

At that moment, Sunny beamed.

“A beanpole for a beanpole!”

She forced herself to look away from the spear and gave him an unamused look.

“Wanna die?”

Sunny laughed.

Effie studied the spear some more, then asked in a tone of wonder:

”No, really. What is this beauty?”

Sunny shook his head and finally dismissed the shadow cloth. His tone was nonchalant when he explained:

”This... is a divine relic.