Scarlet king in shadow slave

The Sleeper part of the compound was relatively small and situated in the southern part of the Academy, surrounded on all sides by training fields and parks.

It was a low, modern building constructed with reinforced materials. Like the majority of buildings in the Academy, most of it was hidden below the ground, leaving only a couple of floors above it. With its white, pristine alloy walls and wide windows, it must have looked beautiful in the summer, contrasted against all the greenery around.

Inside, the building was spacious and well-lit. Ares, Sunny, and the silver-haired girl were taken to a large hall where a hundred or so of young men and women — Sleepers of the same unfortunate timing as the three of them — were already waiting for the beginning of the induction ceremony. Most of them were nervous, tense and excited.

everyone was well-dressed and in possession of a suitcase, a duffel bag, or at least a backpack carrying their personal belongings. They were obviously coming prepared, most likely from home, sent off by their families. So the weird trio, who came empty-handed and wearing simple police-issued clothes, were an eye-catching anomaly.

and it seemed Jet wasn't the most beautiful woman he had ever seen anymore, most people here were blessed with beauty, the only difference was aura, master jet had one of a grim reaper, or an undead lord, basically death, the difference between masters and sleepers is enormous.

the trio split up, each doing their own thing, nephis was listening to music or something, Sunny disappeared into the crowd, looking nervous, and Ares went to a corner and observed people, from time to time a person or two would come to him and strike up a conversation, which he didn't keep up for long. he noticed nearly everyone was stressed and a bit afraid, and as teenagers, they tried to forget their misery by talking to people.

Ares got important info from whoever talked to him, nightmare creature ranks, the first nightmare, the spell, all sorta known knowledge, they were surprised when he told them he was from the outskirts, so most of them gave him information that everybody should already know, and what a fucked up world they were in, he could already see the world not lasting in the future.

he noticed a group of people that monopolized attention, legacies, as they were called, hailing from a prominent family or group of Awakened with deep historical roots, typically established by powerful First-Generation survivors of the Nightmare Spell, unlike normal people or outskirt rats, these individuals were trained from the moment they could walk, preparing for the dream world, they had everything ready and prepared for them, if they stayed alive long enough of course, the dream realm is full of surprises after all.

in the center of these legacies, a figure stood out, named Caster. The young man had brown hair and a gentle, handsome face. His eyes were green, with a hint of friendly humor. His posture, figure and attentive gaze betrayed someone who went through extensive training. Everything about the young man screamed of nobility and strength.

another oddity was a quiet girl sitting alone in a corner.

The quiet girl was delicate, demure and very pretty. Her clothes were tidy and neat. They weren't very expensive, but still rather tasteful. With her pale blond hair, big blue eyes and exquisite face, she looked like a beautiful porcelain doll.

She was subtly breathtaking. it was weird that she was alone despite her looks, sadly Ares didn't get a good look at her.

Suddenly a commotion hooked his attention.

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Sunny's plan worked flawlessly till now, if you don't count almost being smacked, she went around talking with people, getting the hang of her flaw. After a short series of conversations, Sunny had acquired a reputation of an obnoxious, foul-mouthed pervert. This reputation was quickly solidified. she was almost slapped, luckily the person took pity on her thinking she went coocoo after her first nightmare. She also discovered a couple of new things about her true self — namely, that deep down inside she was apparently rude, arrogant, and more than a little bit lustful, all in all, a normal 'healthy' teenager in her books.

Sunny didn't forget what her main goal was — to make sure that no one ever finds out her True Name. To achieve that, She had to create an impression that she was the most pathetic, weak person in this whole building. Someone who would never receive a positive appraisal, let alone a divine Aspect and a True Name.

However, since this would be a lie, She couldn't just go and say it.

So how was she to convince everyone that she definitely did not have a powerful Aspect and an impressive record with the Spell?

Her dark eyes fell on a particular group of Sleepers. There were five or six of them, gathered around a tall, confident young man.

The young man, was of course, Caster.

Just at that moment, one of his companions was saying with a tone of amazement:

"Ascended? You have received an Ascended Aspect? What… what was your Appraisal?!"

The young man smiled humbly.

"Oh. It was "excellent."

Sunny stopped in front of the group, as though by accident. After hearing the young man's answer, She frowned and looked at him with disdain.

Then, with a voice full of utter bewilderment, Sunny said:

"Ascended, excellent? That's it? What's the big deal?"

her words instantly silenced the crowd, The Sleepers looked at Sunny with a hilarious assortment of emotions, ranging from bewilderment to shock. The young man with humorous eyes just smiled politely.

'the plan might work!'

#couple of words later#

'it worked!....maybe way more than it should've.'

Sunny looked up at the boy towering over her with a raised fist.

"How dare you disrespect Caster! He's a Legacie while you're just an outskirt rat that got lucky to be here!"

The boy was infuriated as if he was Caster himself!

"just forget about h-" Just as Caster was done enjoying the show and wanted to intervene, the boy was hasty and eager to bootlick the legacy.

"Know your place, rat!" the boy hurled his fist straight toward Sunny's face.

*swooch*

'brace for impact!' Sunny closed her eyes waiting for the hit, but it never came.

*thud*

A voice she came to know lately resounded.

"Try to touch her again, and I'll shove that arm up your ass." she opened her eyes to see Ares standing in front of her, the bootlicker's fist in his palm, he looked nonchalant as if it took no effort at all. 

'Ares...'

"And who do you think you- AAAAAH" the boy screamed as his legs buckled, pale as a ghost, he fell down in a small puddle of his own piss, losing consciousness.

' [terror], what a niche ability.'

"that's enough." Caster quickly arrived in front of Ares, on his face was a gentle smile, but it was obvious to everyone he was pissed off.

Ares and Caster had a staredown for 5 seconds, sizing each other out.

Ares had a smirk on his devilish face, not taking the legacy seriously.

"...I'm sorry for what my friend almost did, it was just banter, we'll be in the same hell after all." Caster tried to look good as he diffused the situation, everyone was staring at them after all.

a large hand clenched Sunny's head, Ares turned the other way with Sunny in his grasp and scoffed. "put a leash on your dogs next time." then he walked away without giving Caster another glance.

Sunny looked like a puppet the way Ares lifted her by the head.

"...tch... I'll remember this..." grunted Caster as he turned around and left with his 'dogs', he was never humiliated like this before, him, a legacy, made a joke by outskirt rats. the short one could be passed off as lunatic talk, but that red haired scum, he'll pay one day.