Shadow Slave: Endless Souls

Everything having to do with Sleepers was situated in the same building. Edward quickly the dormitories, which were situated on one of the lowest levels. Luckily everyone got assigned their own private room, meaning he doesn't have to experience the hell of having roommates again.

It had a bed with a soft mattress, a table, a dresser, and a separate bathroom. The materials were new and aesthetically pleasing, the air crisp and sterile. It was warm inside, and the outer wall was equipped with a hidden screen that seamlessly imitated a wide window, opening to a picturesque vista of a snowy park.

There were even several sets of clothes with the Academy emblem provided to him for free.

He was kind of glad they did this because he didn't bring anything from his home, you could also say this is kind of guilty consciousness, probably whatever humanity left of him. After all, before he possessed this body the original had his own family and life. This means from now on he will start a new one, his own new life.

'Should I buy some [Memory]? Hey system, my spiritual body will be naked as well? You know same as how Sunny gone to the Dream Realm.'

[Yes, if you go to the Dream Realm then you will be completely naked.]

'Then will my spiritual body look the same as the one in the First Nightmare?' If so he was a little afraid that Sunny would recognize him.

[No, it will be the same as current you.]

'Good.' The soldier and he might have general similarities in look but there was a subtle difference between them, for example, the soldier had long hair but Edward didn't, he looked older and more mature than his seventeen-year-old self.

So he needs to pick up a suit for himself to wear in the Dream Realm, who knows what kind of shit he will go through after reaching that place called the Forgotten Shore. Sunny didn't have an easy time he sure won't have an easy time either.

Since he can't kill anyone right now he has no other choice but to make use of his remaining SP, how annoying. He doesn't possess Awakened or above rank [Memories] like the main cast which leaves him with no other option than buying Dormant one. Of course, there is always the option of waiting at the Forgotten Shore and benefiting from the slaughter that's happening there but he doesn't wanna go there naked.

Soon the time for supper came, Edward didn't discriminate against the food filling his plate with little from each option. Creating a small hill of food which was about half of Sunny's small mountain on his plate. They didn't sit together during the supper each finding their own free seat now since the heat period of socialization which was the ceremony was over he was no longer surrounded by students. Still, there were countless curious gazes thrown at him from time to time.

After finishing his meal in almost no time, turns out [Warrior Soul] didn't only enhance his physical prowess but also his metabolism too, turning him into a big eater. Soon, it was time for his appointment with the Academy personnel.

After leaving the cafeteria he found himself in a small office, sitting across from an administrative worker. The worker was very friendly and started the interview right away.

He didn't bother with psychological counseling or anything like that, quickly switching to important questions. He didn't need to give them clear answers but he also can't give too vague ones too. He made up some kind of physical enhancement type of Aspect ability followed by minor combat-related precognition and stealth enhancement.

Staff thanked him for his cooperation at the end and even became more respectful once the interview ended. He also thought it was natural after all combat-related Aspect abilities are more prioritized by the current era, with good combat abilities it will be easier to hunt down Nightmare Creatures.

After that, he returned to his room, undressed, and went to sleep.

***

Sunny woke up in a happy mood after all he was going to eat a lot of delicious breakfast but now, his mood is spoiled. Sitting at the table with Edward and the blind girl from yesterday caused his face to grimace. Edward's existence alone attracted a lot of curious gazes to their table which turned into unfriendly ones once locating him. He also felt uncomfortable in the company of someone who was practically a dead person, but there wasn't much of a choice.

However, before he could finish his food quickly and leave the table, a sudden commotion drew his attention.

'What's going on?'

He looked up and noticed that a lot of Sleepers were gathered around the large screen hanging on the wall of the cafeteria, their faces filled with excitement and awe. On the screen, a list of names was displayed, ranking the new batch of Sleepers from weakest to strongest, most likely deduced from the results of the interviews.

Not particularly interested, he quickly found his name near the bottom of the list. The only Sleeper who the Academy judged to be less likely to succeed than him was the blind girl. Turns out, her name was Cassia.

But the commotion was a bit too loud to be just the result of the ranking. Curious, he moved his gaze up. The Sleepers were restless.

"How… how can this be?!"

"I'm not seeing things, right?"

"What kind of a monster is she?!"

Caster was placed in second place. Surprisingly enough, right below it, there was Edward's portrait with his iconic never-smiling blank expression, and right above him, the portrait of the silver-haired girl could be clearly seen.

To the right of it, two simple lines of text were displayed:

"Name: Nephis"

"True Name: Changing Star"

So, the silver-haired girl, Nephis, also received a True Name in her First Nightmare. To get his own, Sunny had to deal with Auro and Mountain King while escaping from that devilish bastard's tricks with his own life in hand followed by having a completely useless Aspect — an impossible feat that seemed to have pleased the Spell very much.

'I wonder how she had gotten hers.'

Sleepers in the cafeteria were struck dumb by the revelation of this achievement. They were staring at the screen with astonishment, fear, and admiration. Listening to their excited whispers, Sunny felt a childish desire to scream "Me too! I have one too!".

But, of course, he kept quiet.

Looking around, he noticed Caster's gaze fixed on the screen. There was a strange, somber expression on the humorous young man's face. But the weird thing about it was that, as far as Sunny could tell, Caster wasn't looking at the line of text containing the True Name.

Instead, he was staring at the line of text that read "Nephis", as though the girl's actual name held more meaning to him than the one given by the Spell.

Edward who held the third position in the Academy's ranking was almost finished eating his meal and left the cafeteria not caring about the ranking one bit.

'Interesting. Do they know each other?'

Why would a lofty Legacy know someone who came to the Academy in a police-issued tracksuit? And speaking of Nephis… where was she?

Sunny glanced around the cafeteria and quickly noticed the silver-haired girl, who was sitting quietly in a corner with a cup of coffee in her hands. She wasn't paying a lot of attention to the commotion, seemingly immersed in her thoughts. Her grey eyes were serious and distant.

"A Sleeper with a True Name? That's impossible!"

"It's technically possible. Smile of Heaven received her True Name in the First Nightmare, I think. But yeah, I'm doubtful…"

"Maybe she lied in the interview?"

"Are you stupid? If it was that easy to deceive the administrators, the crazy pervert from yesterday would have been in the first place instead!"

Sunny's face twitched. Crazy pervert, huh…

"Well, why don't we just ask her?"

Suddenly, there was a deafening silence in the cafeteria. Following the suggestion, Sleepers stopped talking and turned around, staring at Nephis. However, no one seemed to have the courage to approach her first.

Finally sensing something, she raised her eyes and looked at them with surprise.

"Mmm. What?"

Even the blind girl, Cassia, turned in the direction of her voice.

After a couple of moments, Caster suddenly walked over and made a small bow.

"Lady Nephis. I am Caster from the Han Li clan. I see that your trial went well?"

Lady? Why is he addressing her that way? And he had to introduce himself… so, they don't know each other? Interesting.

Nephis seemed to be a little bit perplexed by the question. After thinking for a while, she smiled brightly and shrugged.

"It is what it is."

Caster awkwardly returned the smile.

"I see. I am very glad that you returned unharmed. Uh… not that I doubted your abilities."

Nephis nodded.

"Thank you."

After that, she returned to her coffee, indicating that the conversation was over or simply oblivious to everyone's attention.

Sunny sighed.

'How mysterious.'

There were a lot of thoughts on his mind. However, none of them could distract him from the most important thing… breakfast. A few seconds later, he had forgotten all about the awkward dynamic between Caster and Nephis and was happily shoveling down his food. Besides disappearance of Edward caused the peeking eyes towards their table to disappear causing great relief to Sunny.

***

Edward was in a large dojo, he was thinking about picking Wilderness Survival like Sunny did but he decided not to in the end. The reason behind it is dumb but he just didn't want to study anymore since he remembered Wilderness Survival demanded Sunny learn many theorical knowledge starting from rune language.

Currently, he and his fellow Sleepers were in a large dojo under the guidance of Instructor Rock, they were going through the motions of the introductory combat class.

Today was mainly dedicated to testing their general competency and abilities. After that, the Sleepers were going to be separated into groups based on their level, such as novice, advanced, or expert, as well as their weapon of choice. Some would be assigned a personal tutor or paired together.

Currently, Sleepers were taking turns delivering their strongest punches to a wide plate attached to a special measuring machine. After each strike, the machine would display a number corresponding to the Sleeper's physical strength.

In theory, a machine like that was not hard to build. However, considering that many Sleepers had combat-oriented Aspects that enhanced their might in a variety of ways, it was actually a marvel of engineering and durability.

Their technique and training also affected the final result.

Most people were getting numbers ranging from ten to fourteen. It was considered a good result, something that only the most athletic people could reach. However, a lot of Sleepers, obviously those with enhancing Aspects, were able to achieve a score of fifteen or even sixteen.

Soon it was Nephis's turn, with a swift crushing blow to the machine, Edward could only say it was a flawless blow from what little he knew about martial arts.

After that, it was Caster's turn. His fist was fast, so fast even with his enhancement Edward could only see some shadow of it. The machine trembled and took more time to calculate. Finally, two numbers appeared.

Twenty-one.

Everyone gaped at the display, stunned. More than a few admiring looks were thrown at Caster, who simply bowed and took a step back. Instructor Rock smiled. Then he looks at Edward the only remaining person that didn't attack the machine.

He positioned himself before delivering a quick jab to the machine, his fist wasn't as skilled as Nephis's or fast as Caster's but it contained something neither of them carried. A raw physical might that was supported by speed that goes beyond human limit. The machine trembled again and took even more time to calculate his score than Caster's one.

Twenty-nine.

The friendly smile on Caster's face was momentarily lost before finding it is way to his face once again in the next second.