AN: meant to be read after the test was mentioned last chapter, since it didn't contribute much I made this into a .5 chapter. This has two fights and one special (Sunny's first time eating honey)
The first target on the list was a man named Red. He had dark skin and red hair.
'Someone felt creative while naming him!' Sunny thought, fully realising the irony.
The man had a scar starting from his forehead, through his right eye, till his cheek ending around an inch besides the center of his ear. He looked like just another third-rate villain of some random webtoon.
There was a tiny detail that stood out about his appearance, a thing that's best left concealed. Bloodlust and Murder Maths.
It was disgusting. It reminded him of people who looked at others as playthings. People who would be tortured for their pleasure. Those eyes also revealed the experience of a cold, calculative murderer.
There was a location in the list. It was a cabin located in the right side of the city, in the outskirts. There was information about the man given below. It read:
Name: Red
Aspect: Augmenting a certain part of his body, and a greater essence control. The essence control was above that of an average Ascended, even around that time period where the average skill was higher than present.
Sunny turned into a shadow and dissolved into the ground, keeping Red at the periphery of his vision as he left his cabin.
"I can sense your presence little Shadow" a playful voice spoke, somehow sending shivers down Sunny's voice.
It was Red.
Suddenly a knife made its way towards his neck, before he could even react.
Sunny barely tilted his head in time.
"Glad you didn't die, what a boring fight it would be if you died quickly, wouldn't you agree? Li-ttl-e Sha-d-ow." Red licked his lips as a twisted grin flashed on his mouth.
Sunny suddenly appeared from behind Red. Appearing seemingly out of thin air besides a cabin. He readied his Odachi, and rushed towards Red, with a quick change in angle to increase momentum, he struck.
The blade touched nothing but air.
Another knife made its way towards Sunny's arms, attempting to chop it off.
Sunny turned his hands into a shadow, dropping his odachi.
A mistake.
Or so Red thought as he swung the knife towards his eyes...
Red jumped up as a Shadow reached out to grab his legs.
A mistake.
A shadow from the same cabin Sunny appeared out from, and thrust Red's heart.
Next target, A woman.
Her gaze felt like she could see through a person's soul, even in the image.
Her aspect? It revolved around charms. She could enthrall beasts and she prefered keeping the charms in the basement.
Target: Rose
Aspect: Could enthrall beasts, no one knew the last part so the enthrall was an assumption.
Appearance: Fair, bluish and sharp eyes, and black hair. Has a birthmark on her neck.
She looked breathtaking.
Sadly the truth was he would never be able to care about it. After all, he was betrayed enough times already. The bitter thoughts still existed in his nightmares.
In a dim room, with wooden floor and flickering light bulbs, there stood an army.
A barely visible army.
Those creatures looked, he didn't understand it.
They looked undescribable.
Unimaginable.
They looked like wraiths, except they weren't.
A faint hue, but not intangible.
Shadows rose from the depths of the floor, a tentacle at one spot, a sword from another, a spike from a different place.
Some places had chains rising up, chaining the creatures and crushing them.
Each creature was different, and needed a different way to kill.
Some strangled, some torn, some brutalised, some pierced, some flattened etc.
All the while the charmer was preparing something. A weird bomb was being made. A part of aspect no one knew. The creatures that died nearby were being mixed together for the bomb.
She knew where the Pesky Cockroach of a Shadow was.
And so did the Shadow.
The creatures which were killed, all combined into one short ball of energy.
Was it... The essence?
Yes essence, that's what it was.
It absorbed a large portion of essence and fused it into one beam. The Shadow couldn't attack her earlier due to the beasts defending her.
The Shadow rose from the ground, appearing human.
A man with porcelain skin, black hair and onyx black eyes was standing in front of her. He looked like a child, except his almost well concealed eyes which said otherwise. The kid was obviously low on essence after all those attacks.
Sunny was low on essence, and that's when the [Ring Of Twilight] acted. He absorbed and almost filled all four of his cores.
He timed it just right, attacking with just enough time before finally being able to kill his target. He had to clear the beats before fighting, after all.
He used the Shadows to become the Shadow Fiend he was meant to inhabit in the Second Nightmare.
He sighed inwardly. To not letting his thoughts wander again he focused on the battle at hand.
An odachi formed from Shadows appeared on one of his hand, the other held a spear while the other held a shield and the fourth... Held nothing.
Or so it seemed.
There was a charm that buffed him with respect to how much blood was on the ground.
The essence bomb was thrown at him, and exploded.
BOOM!
Sunny couldn't dodge the attack, so he fought it head on. Shadows rose from the depths and formed a wall. Thick instead of wide.
The bomb, having spent more time forming, was stronger. Significantly so.
It broke through the walls with the quality of an ascended devil.
The shield barely managed to withstand, all the blood did help.
Until it evaporated.
Sunny lunged at the girl.
CLANG!
The swords clashed. It appeared on the woman's hand from seemingly nowhere. It was as transperent as the corpses around.
They exchanged more strikes, until an opening appeared in the girl's defence.
He took the opportunity.
It was a feint and Sunny paid dearly for the mistake, as a sword found its way through his shoulders.
Sunny, instead of flinching back from pain, killed Rose with a thrust of his Odachi.
She died, and Sunny smiled, passing the test sucessfully. Now all he was left to do was collect his Memories and end the Nightmare.
Side Stories:
Sunny sat on the dining table with Alex, eating waffles with something new... It was a yellow liquid, its amber sweetness taking in the sunlight to become a perfect golden hue. It was simply amazing, it's sweetness was something Sunny never tasted.
"What's this sugary syrup?" Sunny spoke between bites, it was his second serve. He, for once, felt jealous of Effie. Jealous because she could eat more of this delicious dessert.
"It's called honey." Alex replied.
"How is this made?" Sunny asked, curiosity brimming inside him, wondering if he could make this in the real world and sell it.
"It's a recipe stol- I mean borrowed from your time..."
A pause.
"You really never ate it?" Alex continued. "How hard was life im the outskirts?"
Sunny flinched at the question... Memories resurfacing.
Betrayal coming back, along with his failures. He breathed in before replying.
"No, and very hard." He paused before continuing "Every day was a struggle, it was hard to adapt to."
"Ah, sorry I asked then." Alex replied, and as if sensing the mood going down, replied to Sunny's previous question. "It is uh... How do I put it? It's a sort of liquid that special insects produce by ingesting and regurgitating floral nectar, I suppose."
Sunny paled before puking.
'D-damn rich people! What else are they going to make? Coffee made using cat's shit?' He picked up the plate, walked over to the garbage can, and shoved the rest of it inside, all the while Alex laughed.
'D-damn bastard!'
"Y-you traitor! You knew this would happen didn't you!?"
"That's what friends are for." Alex continued laughing, a laugh which had no malice.
A pure genuine laugh.