Shadow Slave

Sunny held his breath, staring at the runes intensely. He knew what that Memory was.

Another drop of divine blood…

And knowing where the Shadow Slave Aspect had come from and to which deity it was connected, it wasn't hard to guess whose blood it was.

Shadow God… this Memory was of a drop of Shadow God's blood.

...And in that drop was his lineage.

"Can't be…"

But it was. Sunny had just received a second Lineage Memory… more than that, that lineage was a complete one — like [The Fire] that Neph had inherited from Sun God — not a fragment of a forbidden bloodline that he had inherited from Weaver, the Demon of Fate.

Sunny studied the runes for a while, then slowly turned away.

He wasn't ready to summon the Drop of Ichor yet. Not because of the pain that consuming a Lineage Memory would bring — who knew, maybe there wasn't going to be any this time. After all, this one was not forbidden.

He simply had to prepare himself mentally.

Sunny paced for a bit, then sat down and meditated for some time.

Then, he decided to study the Memories he had received in the Tournament to distract himself.

He had already studied the Memory of Ice in detail, so three more remained.

The arrow, the shield, and the final reward he had received from Morgan… the Memory created in the forge of the Great Clan Valor.

The real reason he had joined the Dream Tournament, in the first place.

Sunny hesitated for a moment, then looked at the list of his Memories.

Memories: [Silver Bell], [Puppeteer's Shroud], [Midnight Shard], [Ordinary Rock], [Prowling Thorn], [Endless Spring], [Blood Blossom], [Dark Wing], [Moonlight Shard], [Mantle of the Underworld], [Weaver's Mask], [Broken Oath], [Blackhorn Bow], [Full Quiver], [Autumn Leaf], [Cruel Sight], [Covetous Coffer], [Undying Chain], [Heavenly Burden], [Memory of Fire], [Memory of Ice], [Strike of Thunder], [Patient Avenger], [Morgan's Warbow], [Drop of Ichor].

'So it's a bow… but what's up with that name?'

Well… it made sense, actually. If this was really a custom Memory created for a specific user, then why wouldn't its name fit theirs?

Sunny concentrated on the arrow first.

Memory: [Strike of Thunder].

Memory Rank: Ascended.

Memory Tier: II.

Memory Type: Weapon.

Memory Description: [A powerful spirit was once trapped in a glass bottle for a thousand years. This lightning is a manifestation of his rage.]

Memory Enchantments: [Caged Lightning].

Enchantment Description: [This arrow strikes as fast as a bolt of lightning, and chains its devastating damage to several nearby creatures.]

He grunted.

'So… lightning in a bottle, huh?'

Even though the arrow's single enchantment was an active one and required a lot of essence to access, which meant that it couldn't be used often, the effect was very good. It was able to deal damage to groups of enemies, which could come in handy in many situations.

Satisfied, he shifted his gaze to the shield.

Memory: [Patient Avenger].

Memory Rank: Ascended.

Memory Tier: III.

Memory Type: Weapon.

Memory Description: [Aflame with hatred, she waited and watched. When the time came, her vengeance was colder than ice.]

Memory Enchantments: [Tenacious], [Burning Heart], [Cold Steel].

[Tenacious] Enchantment Description: "This shield is especially durable."

[Burning Heart] Enchantment Description: "This shield can store a portion of fire damage it receives to augment another weapon of its wielder or unleash a devastating shockwave."

[Cold Steel] Enchantment Description: "This shield can store a portion of impact damage it receives to augment another weapon of its wielder or unleash an immolating wave of fire."

'Huh…'

Sunny thought for a bit. So, this shield was basically able to convert heat to kinetic energy, and vice versa. The stored energy could be used to enhance another weapon or released all at once to deliver a powerful attack. Which meant that the more hits the shield received, the more devastating the resulting retaliation would be.

Saint was long overdue for a good shield Memory, and this one would suit her very well. A weak smile appeared on Sunny's face.

'And finally… the main prize…'

He sighed, then concentrated on the bow he had received from Ascended Morgan of clan Valor. He also summoned it.

A composite bow made out of black horn and dark polished wood manifested itself from a storm of crimson sparks. It was entirely black, however, its string was of a vibrant scarlet color. There was also a brand carved into one of its limbs near the grip, its contour of the same color as the string. It depicted the crest of the Valor family — a straight sword thrust through an iron anvil.

The bow was quite beautiful… but more importantly, it radiated a feeling of immense power.

Sunny admired the weapon for a few moments, and then turned back to the runes:

Memory: [Morgan's Warbow].

Memory Rank: Ascended.

Memory Tier: IV.

Memory Type: Weapon.

Memory Description: "Death is worth living for. Love is worth waiting for."

'How romantic... and how morbid.'

Sunny didn't know who created this description — the Spell itself or the person who had forged the bow. If it was the latter, then maybe this was a message to Morgan, or a lesson the spellsmith wanted to impart to her.

But what kind of a lesson was that?

Curious, Sunny looked beneath the surface of the black bow, wishing to see if the spellweave of a Memory created by a human was different from that created by the Spell. However, it seemed pretty much the same — vast, inconceivably complex, and eerily beautiful.

In any case, he was excited to see that this Memory was of the fourth tier. It was powerful, indeed… no less powerful than the Cruel Sight. Encouraged, he continued to read the runes.

Memory Enchantments: [Soul Arrows], [Unbending], [Burden of Peace], [Death Dealer].

'Four enchantments… first two are passive, the other two are active. Not bad…'

He concentrated on the first enchantment.

[Soul Arrows] Enchantment Description: "This bow attunes to the soul of its wielder and is capable of creating arrows that share its affinity."

[Unbending] Enchantments Description: "This adamantine bow demands a giant's might to be bent. Because of that, arrows shot from it travel as far as the eye can see, and strike with terrible strength, piercing both armor and flesh."

The passive enchantments were not bad, to say the least. Sunny wasn't sure what arrows that shared the affinity of his soul could do, but the fact that the bow itself could produce an unlimited amount of arrows was already a great boon. It basically made the Full Quiver, his previous arrow-type Memory, pale in comparison and completely redundant.

Each of the soul arrows would also share the tier and Rank of the Warbow that created them, which was simply incredible.

To test it, Sunny grabbed the sting and tried to draw the warbow. Even with all his strength, Sunny was only able to do it after augmenting himself with two shadows. As soon as the string moved, a black arrow that looked as if it was made out of solidified shadows suddenly appeared on it.

Sunny released the string, and in the next moment, one of the armored plates on the opposite wall exploded.

'Crap!'

He stared at the broken plate dejectedly, then sighed and looked back to the runes.

[Burden of Peace] Enchantment Description: "After soul arrows pierce the flesh of an enemy, their weight can be drastically increased."

'Interesting…'

Sunny could already think of several useful applications for this enchantment, be it to make wounds dealt by the arrows more severe or simply to slow the enemy down.

There was one last string of runes left:

[Death Dealer] Enchantment Description: "This bow is able to consume a large amount of essence to deliver an obliterating strike."

That sounded... ominous.

Sunny was curious to know how obliterating exactly that strike was supposed to be, but he was not going to test it in his dojo. It already suffered enough.

Morgan's Warbow… was indeed a weapon worthy of an Ascended knight from a Great Clan. It was a truly formidable and versatile weapon. In any other circumstance, Sunny would have been mad from joy after receiving it.

And he was… sort of...

But there was one more Memory he had to deal with.

It was time. He couldn't postpone it anymore.

Sunny glanced at the beautiful bow for the last time, then sighed and dismissed it.

As soon as the flood of scarlet sparks disappeared, he summoned the Drop of Ichor.