Shadow Slave: Eternal Dawn

Nico entered the Bright Castle after a few minutes and ate breakfast alongside the other Sleepers.

After finishing his meal and exchanging dry comments with Gemma, he retrieved a few items — seeds, a hammer, and a chisel — from the Artisans and had a short conversation with Kido. The two of them agreed on postponing experiments for a few weeks so he could try and tackle the issue of transferring his essence.

There was just something intangible in his that separated the two. Hers, as well. It wasn't a true exchange like it should've been.

After descending back down to the outer settlement an hour later, he spent some time scavenging better materials from the unmanned hovels — unblemished pieces of stone and tough hides. With them, he planned to build himself a better house of his own or improve a half-built one. He hadn't decided yet.

Setting himself to work, Nico chipped away at the stone while using his roots to boost his strength, creating roughly shaped blocks that would be the foundations of his new home.

Then, when the searing pain of his Attribute overwhelmed him, he departed to go hunt in the Dark City. Scouring the ruined streets alone would've been a death sentence for most, but Gemma had already given him plenty of experience, and he hid himself well, exploring unknown areas and weaving through danger with his almost omniscient soul sense.

He found another Awakened Monster — a Blood Fiend — just a few hours later. He ordered Shaman, as he'd taken to calling it, to possess it, then crept back through the city with the creature trailing half a kilometer behind.

Yesterday, he had thought it might've been tricky to attempt braving the city while dragging a Nightmare Creature along, but it had been simpler than he thought. It was still an abomination, even while enthralled. As long as his Echo kept it from established hunting grounds, and no particularly ravished kin stumbled onto its path, it would be unbothered.

That way, he led it all the way back to the base of Bright Castle's hill, up the winding slope, and killed it without hassle.

[Your soul grows stronger.]

[Your soul grows stronger.]

Nico listened to the Spell's whispers with satisfaction.

'Should I try and go for another one?'

Testing his luck was a luxury he seemed to be possessing more and more frequently, but still, if he didn't return the Bright Castle by night, he'd be well and truly stranded until morning.

So, instead of trying to find another Awakened straggler, he took a breath and granted Shaman both his soul roots.

Today was going to be the day he attempted enslaving a Fallen One.

He turned back to the corpse beside him.

'One more thing first.'

Gripping the skeletal skull of the Blood Fiend by its empty eye sockets, he dragged it back to the slums and discarded its corpse at the first line of hovels.

Again, the slum dwellers seemed confused.

They slowly crowded around the body, watching as Nico took the few things he wanted with him. Its stained shroud, a single sharp claw, and a morsel of meat. He hadn't really any need for the meat since he was still eating breakfast in the castle, but he was trying to keep up the best appearance that he was still living like them. Pretending to eat the same creatures as them would help that.

Still, he hardly cared. It was just a meager act. Nothing the slum dwellers wouldn't see through.

He was here because he had to be. And he hunted because he wanted to. Sure, he was kind enough to drag the carcass back with him, but he still absorbed all the shards for himself.

After taking a cursory glance at the slum dwellers as they began to divvy up the corpse, he made his third trip along the winding road.

'If I can enthrall a Beast, I'll have to kill it on the spot. It won't go well with the Host if they discover I can tame Fallen.'

Unfortunately, it was a bitter truth he would have to deal with. Nico had let the Castle Guard watch him bring two Awakened Monsters up the hill with him because they would only assume that, at most, he had gotten a powerful new Memory from the Awakened Devil he had killed. If he brought anything of a higher rank as a thrall, there would be immediate problems.

Too much strength was a beacon of disaster.

Leaning into his soul sense, he searched the area for any Fallen.

'They sure do fester like ants.'

Turning his head slightly, he peered in the direction of a Fallen Beast that he had noted in the area a couple days ago when departing with Andel, Gemma, and the Hunters to track the Devil.

Climbing through rubble and overturned buildings, he skulked towards the creature. The streets felt more familiar to him than ever.

By the time he drew close enough to see it, he was on top of a half-demolished rooftop a couple hundred or so meters away.

Nico peered over a chunk of stone to see the creature.

A towering amalgamation of gray flesh and bone was what he saw. White armor, marred with blood and jagged spikes, coated a long, rotten mass. It was some sort of snake or millipede. Or both. However, instead of legs it had tiny tentacles that made it slide along the ground and over obstacles with eerie grace. An empty, circular maw of thousands of serrated teeth crowned its front.

Right now it was coiled into a tight ball, asleep.

'Gross,' he thought, giving a silent command to his invisible Echo.

Like an unseen force, its bright soul shifted through the air towards the unaware Fallen Beast. Empowered by his roots, he watched as the minutes passed, and the creature slept without worry.

This process was usually short, immediate, and vicious when he had watched it use its mind-attack on Awakened creatures. But now, it seemed subtle and insidious. Like the slow tightening of an unseen noose.

Around thirty minutes passed. Nico noticed the Fallen rouse from its slumber, maw opening and closing as its coils shifted to let it peer above. Anxiously, it scanned around. Nothing. Something strange was happening, though. Its mind was foggy. Drifting. Before it realized, it had shifted and went back to sleep again.

It repeated fifteen minutes later.

Then five.

Until every minute the creature was awakening.

After a whole hour of torment, it was beginning to thrash wildly, desperate to find whatever thing was corrupting it. Stone shattered into dust under its frantic movements. The half-destroyed area near it turned to rubble before five minutes had passed.

But it was too late.

After being poisoned by the hex for so long, it was weakened. Now, the Awakened Devil's full strength crashed into it. Immediately, the beast noticed where the wraith was attacking it, and how. But it was merely a Beast. Before it could try and devour the empty space where the creature was or run away, its mind fogged over and stilled. Then, something new and vast entered.

With an unnatural, inhuman grace, it opened its putrid maw and slithered away, up buildings and through streets, until it reached a half-demolished roof and towered above it with its head arched downwards.

Nico stared for a moment, then let out an exhale.

'Even knowing Shaman is using its mind, it's quite strange to be beneath a Fallen's gaze.'

As the maw of the creature lowered, resting on the roof with a thump, he summoned the [Mourning Star] and attempted to crush the creature with a swing.

His mace bounced off the tough armor leaving only a few scratches.

'I thought as much.'

It seemed everything possessed by Shaman were only as durable as the creature themselves, and not the soul hosting it. Overall, he figured it a good thing.

But, it still posed a problem with killing the damned thing.

If he took back one of his soul roots to empower himself, he risked the Nightmare Creature breaking free from its possession. Well, he didn't really know it would happen, but he didn't want to find out, either.

Instead, he sent a command to the Echo.

'Kill it.'

After a single moment, the Fallen Beast shifted, its head rising farther into the air, its armored tail turning upward like a pike behind it. With a sudden jerk, its vile mass slammed into the tail spike, skewering its neck and brain and releasing a powerful shockwave that spread in all directions.

A gust of wind fluttered his hair.

Nico watched the putrid core within snuff and die, leaving behind a single radiant shard.

[You have slain a Fallen Beast, Bone Worm.]

Sighing, he jumped down from the rattled stone and empowered himself and his mourning star with one root each. With them both, he was just strong enough to bash his way through its flesh and dig out the Ascended shard.

He crushed it.

[Your soul grows stronger.]

Feeling a trickle of strength gradually reforming his body, he checked his runes.

Soul Cores: [2/7].

Soul Fragments: [247/2000].

'I've been making good progress lately. Only four days and I've gained twenty-two fragments. If I keep up this pace, in a year's time, I'll have gained just over two thousand fragments.'

He turned away from the corpse and began walking back to the Bright Castle.

'Probably even faster. Just today I got eight fragments, so it won't take long before I've formed my Demon core.'