Shadow Slave

Sunny stared at Master Jet, a strange expression frozen on his face. After a while, he asked:

"...That's great, but... what the hell does "SS" mean?"

She smiled and sipped her tea, looking at him across the table. Placing the cup back down, she then shook her head slightly and said:

"The government — and the powerful Legacy clans, of course — keeps track of every Awakened in the world. That shouldn't be a surprise for you, right?"

Sunny slowly nodded.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Master Jet shifted slightly, then continued:

"Firstly, because every Awakened technically has a duty to respond when a Gate opens near their location — that's what the special communicator is for. In exchange for all the privileges we receive, we have to protect this world from the Nightmare Creatures."

A dark grimace appeared on her face.

"Of course, realistically, no one can force you to actually fulfill that duty, or at least no one is going to. Many Awakened turn around and run as soon as they receive a Gate Crisis alert."

Sunny grimaced. On one hand, he understood such a reaction perfectly. Why would they want to risk their lives for random strangers? Not every Awakened was good in a fight, too. Not everyone was like the Artisans of the Dark City, who had gone into battle side by side with those Dreamers who possessed combat Aspects.

...But on the other hand, the idea of running away while monsters were devouring mundane humans and wreaking havoc in the real world simply rubbed him the wrong way. It seemed as though Sunny had somehow developed a bit of pride in the past year. He didn't want to run from the Nightmare Creatures and capitulate to the Spell. He might have even been infected with having morals…

'Better squish this lunacy fast...'

Oblivious to his thoughts, Master Jet continued:

"Secondly, newly Awakened are monitored because everyone wants to recruit the best of them. Talents need to be nurtured, and for that, they need to be recognized first. So the most promising Awakened receive a mark on their file. Usually, it's SA, or simply S. Do you know what that means?"

Sunny shook his head.

She grinned:

"SA means "strategic asset". There's not a lot of Awakened who are considered to be important enough to be assigned that designation. Having one means that you are viewed as a person who can potentially be important to the very survival of humanity, or at least make an impact on the global scale. Simply put, it's either someone whose Aspect can be extremely useful to society or someone who has a high chance of becoming a Master, maybe even a Saint."

Master Jet took another sip of tea, then gestured lazily at herself.

"Like me. Not to brag, but people with the S designation are few and far between. That's why we usually receive a lot of attention and support from either the government or the Legacy faction we decide to align with. But here comes the best part…"

She grinned.

"Currently, everyone is running around and foaming at their mouths because of you guys. All hundred of those who returned from the Forgotten Shore were marked as strategic assets. That is… that is an unprecedented event in human history. A sudden appearance of a hundred powerful Awakened is not that important in the grand scheme of things. But if those Awakened all have a very high chance of becoming Masters, maybe even Saint… that would be enough to completely shatter the current status quo."

Sunny stared at her, thinking. Up until now, everything that he heard was in accordance with how he had imagined things to be. But…

"I get it. However, what's that about me being marked as SS? What does SS stand for?"

Master Jet nodded.

"I was about to explain. Above those marked as strategic assets, there are those marked as special strategic assets. SSA, or SS for short. This designation is even rarer. Actually, very few people had ever gotten it. What it means is that you are considered to have a very high chance of becoming a Saint. You know how rare Transcendent are, right? So, of course, everyone now wants to be your friend. Including the government. Hence the seventh rank citizen status."

She looked at him with an apologetic smile and added:

"...Granted, out of the five people with the SS designation, you are the least outstanding. No offence."

Sunny glanced at her and smiled slightly.

"None taken. Who are the other four?"

Master Jet shrugged.

"Three of them are the only ones who received True Names from the Spell after leaving the Forgotten Shore — Awakened Athena, Awakened Kai, and Awakened Cassia. The fourth one is Awakened Song Sei Shan, who is… well… from one of the great clans. To be honest, your own achievements — while still incredible — pale in comparison to theirs. But someone had noted that you went from being the second to last in the Academy rating to leading a hundred Sleepers to the Gateway during the last leg of the journey. You are seen as someone with great growth potential, in short."

He nodded, somewhat satisfied by that answer.

'It's not as bad as I thought.'

Actually, it was perfect. It was exactly the result he had hoped for — to be considered one of the best, but also the worst of the best.

He needed status to receive all the best opportunities in this world. He needed to have value.

Looking at the beautiful Ascended in front of him, Sunny took a sip of the tea, then smiled brightly.

"So, uh… that really sounds great. A great honor, and so on. But what I really want to know is what exactly can I get thanks to being the fifth most incredible person of an entire generation?"

Master Jet laughed and glanced at him with approval.

"Good. Straight to the point. Well, that depends. What is it that you want the most?"

Sunny didn't hesitate before answering, his tone steady and firm:

"To be free."

The smile disappeared from her face. Looking down at her tea, Master Jet lingered for a while, and then said wistfully:

"Then you're out of luck. I am sorry, but freedom is just a myth, Sunless. No one is free in this world. Mundane humans have to toil and struggle to remain alive. Even if they are fortunate enough to reach the height of success and acquire great wealth, their lives still belong to the Awakened who protect them from the Nightmare Creatures. But the Awakened… we are not free, too. Our lives belong to the Spell."

She paused, then added with slight sadness:

"If we want to survive its trials, we need to tether ourselves to others, be it powerful clans, or the government, or even just the members of our cohort. We have to depend on our allies and companions, and they in turn have to depend on us. All of us are chained to one another, Sunless, and that is the only way we can survive. So… think again about what you want. Think carefully."

Sunny stared at her for a long time, his eyes full of a dark, deep, heavy emotion. After a while, he sighed slowly, then said:

"If that is the case, then I want to be strong."