Shadow Slave FanFic - Hopeful Life

During one of my breaks, I looked out at the setting sun. Just as it disappeared beyond the horizon, the ocean rose once more, and in only a few moments, the raging waves calmed and grew still. 

'It's night already. I've been scaling for hours, and I'm barely halfway there,' I thought, staring at the branches further up.

Unlike the ones where we stayed, these branches had scarlet leaves.

Staring at the beautiful sight, I kept my focus higher up, growing hesitant. 

'Is it really worth climbing up this massive tree just for a few better fruits?' 

{It probably is. I bet I'll get a ton of shadow fragments.} 

The thought of gaining more fragments lifted my spirits slightly, but not by much. 

{I do wonder how good they'll be. I can already imagine the faces Neph and Cas will make.} 

The idea of Cas smiling was pleasant, but imagining Nephis smiling was... 

'Wait, what was I thinking about?' My mind grew hazy. I tried to recall what I'd been thinking about, but if I forgot it, it probably wasn't important. 

{Haaaa…} 

'Why am I annoyed?' I yawned, my eyelids heavy. As I began to close them, a horrible headache struck me like a hammer, forcing me to groan in pain.

Looking upward, the headache subsided, and I relaxed a little. 

{Guess I should start climbing again.} 

Just the thought made me hesitate, but I felt the headache creeping back. After a brief rest, I continued my ascent.

My hands grew sore, and my feet ached—the climb was growing more exhausting with every passing minute.

Along the way, I picked some fruits within reach. To my relief, the fruits tasted richer, and I gained two shadow fragments, unlike the usual one. 

'Wonder how many shadow fragments I have now?' 

Bringing up my runes, I stared at the number: 

Shadow Fragments: [687/1000]. 

I spit out the fruit in shock. 

'600?! I had a two hundred when I came here, but six hundred! How long have we been…' 

My mind went hazy again, and I dismissed the runes. I had probably forgotten how many I had before.

I'd been eating about thirty fruits a day, so it made sense that I had six hundred when I came here. 

'We've probably only been here for a week.' 

Finishing the fruit, I resumed my climb. As the sun began to rise again, the coral forest beneath the ocean was revealed, but I had no interest in it.

I just kept climbing, eating more fruits along the way. The amount of fragments I gained remained at two per fruit. 

{Maybe higher up I'll get three or four from just one fruit!} 

The thought filled me with excitement, but I forced myself to stay calm and kept climbing. 

After another few arduous hours, the sun set again. Thanks to my enhanced vision, I could still see clearly. Ahead, I noticed that the branches just above me were twisted downward, weighed down by something.

I couldn't see what it was through the dense wall of scarlet leaves. 

'Interesting.' 

{Very interesting.} 

I jumped and grabbed onto a higher branch, pulling myself up. Careful not to fall, I approached the leaf barrier and forced my way through.

I had to enhance my strength and agility using the shadow. Finally, I pushed through the last layer of leaves and took a step forward.

Then, I froze, my eyes wide with wonder. Right in front of me, hidden from the world in this secret pocket of twisted branches, was a giant, elaborate bird's nest nestled among the scarlet leaves.

The nest was spherical, with a round hole at its center. The branches were twisted and interwoven together, creating gapless, onyx-black walls.

Although I wanted to explore the nest, the fact that it was built here by something dangerous gave me pause. 

{But, what if there's something incredible inside?} 

In the end, I couldn't resist my curiosity. Plus, how could anything tied to the great tree be unsafe?

Moving closer to the entrance, I balanced on the edge of the branch and tried to peek inside, but I wasn't tall enough to see anything but the roof of the nest.

Not wanting to wait any longer, I jumped, throwing myself up and over the lip of the entrance.

I landed on a soft surface. The lower part of the nest was covered in a thick cushion of white, silky spiderwebs.

Time had made them brittle and pliable, like sand. For a moment, I thought I was inside a cocoon, but no—it was just a nest.

And there, in the center of it, was a… 

I blinked. 

At the center of the nest lay an egg. A giant, ancient egg as tall as me, grey and seemingly lifeless, as though turned to stone by time. 

'How… fascinating.' 

I felt a strange excitement—a sense of discovering something incredible, something no one except me had ever seen. To think that I had a passion for exploration was a nice revelation as well. 

'Let's check this thing out.' 

Walking on the soft silk, I slowly circled the massive egg. At first glance, it seemed to be made of stone, colored in various shades of grey that overlapped like moving clouds.

The pattern was beautiful, giving the egg an aura of mystery. But beyond that, it was just big and smooth.

Scratching the back of my head, I stepped closer and placed my hand on the egg's surface.

Immediately, I felt a jolt of astonishment. The egg was warm to the touch. 

'Is it… still alive?' 

Suddenly, I felt a strange pull on my core. It was as though the egg was trying to steal my life force! I jerked my hand away, heart pounding. 

The damn thing wasn't just alive—it was capable of sucking the life out of anything that touched it. It only failed to consume me because of one reason: I was the only existence in two worlds without a traditional soul core.

Instead, I had the Shadow Core. 

'Phew. That was close.' 

{Huh, little bastard. I should break this egg open and give it a piece of my mind.} 

Summoning my sword without a moment of hesitation, after a few seconds i felt its cold grip in my hand.

I raised the blade and slashed at the egg. However, the sword merely slid off its surface with a metallic clank. Was it made of iron? 

{Maybe I should augment the sword with my shadow.} 

I did so and slashed again. The result was the same—no mark, no scratch. 

'Tough little bastard… as if I'm running away from an egg.' 

Determined, I raised the blade high and brought it down with a crushing blow. Enhanced by the shadow, the dark blade bit into the stone surface of the egg, splitting it apart.

Cracks ran through it, and a flash of sinister crimson light shone through the cracks before vanishing into darkness.

A torrent of viscous, black liquid spilled onto the white spiderwebs. 

In the ensuing silence, the Spell's bewitching voice spoke: 

[You have slain a Great Devil, Vile Thieving Bird's Spawn.] 

[Your shadow grows stronger.] 

[You have received a Memory.] 

I stood frozen, my mind blank. I dropped my weapon and looked on in shock. 

'A…a Great Devil!' The very mention of it sent shivers down my spine. 

'Wait a minute. How many shadow fragments did I get?' 

Summoning the runes, my mouth fell open in disbelief. 

Shadow Fragments: [768/1000]. 

Before killing the Devil, I had seven hundred and four. I had gained sixty-four! 

'This is crazy!' 

{Wait, I got a memory, right!} 

Quickly summoning my runes, I saw the memory. 

Memory: [Drop of Ichor]. 

Memory Rank: unknown. 

Memory Type: unknown. 

Memory Description: [The loathsome Thieving Bird was hated both by the gods and -unknown-. However, it only cared about shiny things. Enamored by Weaver's beautiful eyes, it stole one on a dark, starless night. Impatient, the vile creature gazed at its bounty mid-flight. However, when it saw the reflection of -unknown- frozen in Weaver's pupil, it went mad and dropped the eye. All that remained in its greedy beak was a single drop of pure, golden ichor.] 

I frowned. 

'What the hell was that?' 

Summoning the memory, golden sparks appeared in the air before me, coalescing into a spherical drop of radiant, golden liquid. 

'What am I supposed to do with thi…' 

[You have acquired a drop of ichor. Do you wish to consume it?] 

Standing still, I studied it cautiously. 

'Consuming a memory?' 

{Well, if it's an option, I guess it's safe.} 

The safe choice would be to store the drop away and never touch it. But letting a Memory from a Great Devil go to waste? That was against my nature. 

Licking my lips, I said: 

"Yes. I want to consume it." 

[As you wish.] 

The golden sphere split into two streams of radiant liquid. The streams flowed toward my face, caressing my cheeks before entering through my eyes. Soon, it was gone.

I waited. A second passed, then another. 

Suddenly, blinding pain tore through my entire being. Opening my mouth, I let out a terrible, wailing scream as the agony spread like wildfire.

Every muscle, every fiber of my body was being ripped apart and reassembled, only to be torn apart again. My eyes felt as though molten metal had replaced them. 

I tried clawing at my face, desperate for the pain to stop. It didn't. If anything, it worsened. Then my voice was gone, too, leaving me in silent torment. 

Finally, the pain subsided. 

Lying on the soft bed of spiderwebs, I could only hear my ragged breathing. Then, the Spell's voice whispered softly into my ears: 

[You have acquired a new Attribute.] 

[One of your Attributes is ready to evolve.] 

Ignoring the spell, I stared at the remains of the egg, clarity slowly returning. 

My heart stopped for a second as I recalled a familiar sensation. 

(…Pleiades?) I asked weakly. 

For a moment, silence. 

Then, he screamed: 

[Sunny? You hear me?] 

A smile crept onto my face. (Yeah, I hear you. Loud and clear.) 

There was another pause, then he roared: 

[FINALLYYYY! THAT TOOK WAY TOO LONG! FUCK THIS TREE WOOOHHOOOOOO!] 

Next Chapter: Time of Preperation