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Chapter 3022: Outside Perspective
Shadow Slave

Sunny grimaced, glanced at the sun, and then took a step back to stand in the shadow. The Stormsea was usually covered in mist and quite somber... why did it have to be so bright every time he crawled out of the shadows to take a proper look at the growing city?

“I see that the unfinished island ships survived the recent storm. That's good."

Ananke nodded.

"The River People know a lot about storms. And according to the people whom you call the House of Night, the storms here are much weaker than they are deeper into the sea, having exhausted all their fury."

Sunny studied her for a moment, then said in a curious tone:

“You seem to be adapting well. It has been a year since you and your people escaped the Tomb of Ariel, hasn't it? So... how is it? What do you think about the world beyond its walls?"

Ananke hesitated for a bit.

“It is a wondrous place, Lord Sunless."

She paused for a moment and then added with a smile:

“And incredibly bizarre. Things are easier for me, since I had a long, long time to grow accustomed to the stillness of the Great River. But my people have only known it for a short while, so it is difficult for them to adapt to the Dream Realm."

Ananke glanced at Sunny.

"As for me personally, I... am still a little stunned."

He raised an eyebrow.

“By what?"

Ananke lingered, choosing her words carefully.

"By the scale of the vast world outside the walls of Ariel's Tomb, and by the scope of your people as well."

She shook her head.

"I... simply did not know that there could be that many people living in the world. Even at its peak, the population of the River People was merely a fraction of the inconceivable immensity of the War Realm's population. All of my people can probably fit into one of those harrowing human hives in the place you call the Siege Capital... NQSC."

Ananke shivered.

"NQSC... what a peculiar name! Visiting it shocked me the most, no doubt. Honestly, I was a bit terrified.”

Sunny let out a chuckle.

“Terrified? What can terrify a Supreme?"

She shifted uncomfortably.

“The... solidity of it all. Nothing moves, nothing flows. There's no water anywhere, only solid ground. And an endless mass of metal looming over me. A suffocating number of people — too many of them to fathom — locked inside metal hives, hidden underground. Gods! For a moment, I thought that I was in hell.”

Sunny glanced at her incredulously.

"Hey, that was a respectable district close to the city center. You should have seen the place I grew up in... it's ten times worse."

Ananke let out a nervous laugh.

“The way you experience time is also very strange, Lord Sunless. I couldn't quite wrap my head around how a civilization can just... exist, despite everyone knowing that time is slowly devouring them, no matter what they do — and having no control over their lifespans. Bizarre, it's simply bizarre! Just thinking about it gave me a headache. Not to mention that there's simply nothing above us. Just a vast, boundless emptiness... that's a frightening thing to imagine."

Sunny blinked a couple of times.

“Well... now you know how I felt in the Tomb of Ariel."

She smiled.

“And speaking of that..."

Ananke reached into the folds of her nebulous mantle and produced a booklet printed on synthetic paper. On its cover, a few words were arranged into a neat title: Exploration Report on Everything, by: Nobody.

She glanced at it with a complicated expression.

“It felt really peculiar to read about the Great River — and myself — despite having no memory of that... version of me. Of Weave being destroyed by a mad Titan, the Serpent King ruling a great city. Life is sure full of surprises... especially when you are involved, my lord."

Ananke chuckled.

"Oh, but there were great things, as well. I quite like the city you call Bastion, even if it is imposingly enormous. Then, the place called Ravenheart... that was the first time I saw snow. Snow is a lovely thing, Lord Sunless! And there is the Garden of Repose, as well — truly a wondrous vessel, one worthy of carrying a god."

Over the past year, Ananke had visited several places both in the Dream Realm and in the waking world. The latter repelled her with as much force as it did Sunny and Nephis, but she still stayed for a few days, exploring the alloy jungle of NQSC and meeting various champions of the Human Domain.

Her people, too, visited Earth with the help of the Saints of Night. They needed to establish tethers there, after all, to be able to travel between the worlds and rapidly relocate resources.

It seemed that the River People did not have a good impression of the waking world, perceiving it in the same vein as its people would perceive a Death Zone. And who could blame them? Toxic air, overcrowded siege capitals, hordes of Nightmare Creatures wandering the desolate expanse of deadly wastelands...

If Sunny had not been born on Earth, he would have seen it as some kind of hell, too. Ananke fell silent, lingered for a while, and then sighed.

“But mostly... it's exactly the same."

Sunny frowned slightly.

"Exactly the same?"

She nodded.

“There might not be a Defilement in the Dream Realm, but there are Seeds of Nightmare. People still live in fear of the Corrupted, fighting a losing battle against them in order to survive. The future is bleak and terrifying, but everyone has blinded themselves to the truth — because that is the only way to live on without drowning in despair."

She sighed.

"That was how it was in the Tomb of Ariel, as well, shortly before the end."

Ananke remained silent for a moment, and then smiled faintly.

“But, beneath all that despair... there is still hope. And people find the strength to live because that single ray of hope does not allow them to give up."

She glanced at Sunny.

“My people did not give up, and because of that, they found salvation. I am sure that all of us will find salvation, as well — as long as we do not give up hope."

Shadow Slave
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  1. Offline
    Atlas
    + 1 ⋅ 0 -
    its still so surreal to see Ananke as just one of the main characters chillin in the real world lol
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    Rei-absolute
    + 13 ⋅ 0 -
    Chapter 3023 A New Student

    Not long after, Sunny and Ananke were in a spacious chamber, seated at a table. A beam of brilliant sunlight fell through a tall window, illuminating its weathered surface. There were several items laid out on the table, glistening in the light: a silver bell, an ordinary-looking rock, a beautiful glass bottle, a needle emanating a faint golden glow, a folded mantle woven out of sublime black silk, and a small lantern carved out of stone.

    They were, of course, Sunny's Memories.

    "Are you ready?"

    Ananke nodded, inhaled deeply, and then summoned a Memory of her own.

    A black wooden mask obscured her enchanting face, replacing it with a ferocious visage of a snarling demon. It was Weaver's Mask — a lesser replica of it that priests and priestesses of the Nightmare Spell had worn once, thousands of years ago.

    Ananke had inherited it from her mother, and now, Sunny had used his own skill as a sorcerer to modify its elegant weave.

    It had taken him a long while, and as a result, they were going to have their first lesson today.

    Sunny gestured to the Silver Bell.

    "Can you see it?"

    Ananke peered at the small bell, deep darkness nestling in the eyes of her mask... but then, it seemed as if a faint glimmer of gold ignited in their depths.


    "I do."

    Sunny smiled in satisfaction.

    The enchantment he had woven into Ananke's mask served a simple purpose and was inspired by the [Where is my eye?] enchantment of the real Weaver's Mask. It did not allow her to gaze upon the great tapestry of fate, but it did allow her to see the intricate spellweave of Memories.

    The purpose of the enchantment was simple, but the enchantment itself was anything but. There was a reason why it had taken Sunny close to a year to successfully implement it, after all.

    Granting people abilities similar to his own was not easy. In the past year, Sunny had spent countless hours trying to create an enchantment that would allow others to see spellweaves, but all his attempts ended in failure. Over, and over, and over again... months spent in researching and experimenting, with no result at all.

    In the end, he had to change his approach entirely in order to succeed — and in the process, elevate his own mastery of Weaving further by accident.

    The minor breakthrough Sunny has made expanded on the principles he had already known, but never considered deeply. Funnily enough, it had nothing to do with creating a spellweave — instead, it concerned the materials from which the Memory was made.

    He knew, of course, that only materials of sublime quality could sustain the burden of powerful enchantments — one needed something like blessed steel to forge a Transcendent blade, for example. Mundane alloy would simply crumble under the strain of potent sorcery.𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

    He also knew that materials had innate qualities that responded well to certain kinds of enchantments and were inefficient with the rest. One could make a lethally sharp wooden sword with a bit of effort, for example, but forging it out of metal would be far more effective.

    By exploring this relationship further, Sunny discovered that there were enchantments that required highly specific kinds of mediums to take hold, refusing to function with any other. And in the case of the enchantment that could grant someone the ability to see spellweave... there simply did not seem to exist a medium like that.

    That was what Sunny had thought, at least, before taking a look at Ananke's mask. After studying it for a while, he was surprised to discover that it was highly suitable to serve as a medium for the enchantment he had in mind — so suitable, in fact, that it almost seemed as if the mask had been created for that exact purpose.

    He even found sections of its spellweave that were designed to serve as a foundation for an additional enchantment — the potential shape of which was very close to his own design.

    It made sense, really. Sunny knew that there had been weavers among the priests of the Nightmare Spell, even if only a few. They had to have a means of perceiving spellweaves, so he theorized that those with talent for Weaver's sorcery were granted special kinds of masks that allowed them to do just that. It was just that Ananke's mask was not one of those.

    It hadn't been, rather, until Sunny completed the enchantment.

    And so, Ananke gained the ability to perceive spellweaves.

    That was only one requirement for becoming a weaver — the second was the ability to touch and manipulate essence strings. Sunny suspected that those who practiced Weaver's sorcery in the ancient past possessed tools that allowed them to do that, but Ananke didn't need any.


    Her Aspect already allowed her to both create and manipulate essence silk, which could be turned into essence strings with just a little bit of practice.

    Therefore... Sunny was excited to know that there would be a second weaver in the world soon, if everything went well.

    He pointed to the Silver Bell.

    "This is the first Memory I received. And the first one I modified, as well. Its weave is relatively simple."

    He pointed to the Shadow Lantern next.

    "Compare it to a Divine Memory. This one's weave is almost infinitely complex. Even I can't fathom it, let alone replicate it. So, one would think that starting to study sorcery with the Silver Bell as the example would be a smart decision."

    Sunny chuckled.

    “But they would be wrong. Only a fool would start with the Silver Bell... like I did... unless they had no other choice. Because even if it is a weak and simple Memory, it is still a Memory created by the Nightmare Spell. And the Nightmare Spell is the greatest weaver in existence — there is infinite skill hidden in the deceptive simplicity of its designs."

    He shook his head and smiled, then pointed to the folded mantle.

    "No, if one really wanted to understand Weaving, they would start with this. Because, unlike the Silver Bell, this Memory was created by a mortal."
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    1. Online Offline
      Rei-absolute
      + 13 ⋅ 0 -
      Chapter 3024 Weaving 101


      Sunny leaned back and sighed.

      “But let us not rush to studying spellweaves. First, we need to define the terms. What is a Memory, for example? Well, the answer seems to be simple.”

      He gestured to the items displayed on the table.

      “A Memory is a magical item created with the help of Weaving. But that is not entirely correct, because while all Memories are Woven, not all Woven items are Memories. I once enchanted an entire mountain, for example... but that did not make it a Memory."

      Ananke tilted her head a little.

      "You've... enchanted a mountain, Lord Sunless?"

      He nodded.

      “As with most of my incredible feats, it was done out of desperation. I had to fight a Cursed Nightmare Creature, you see, as well as its pack of Great abominations. So, I enchanted a mountain to absorb the impact of the Cursed One's blows, and then blew it up. Ah... the detonation was quite spectacular."

      Sunny remembered his short tenure as an Academy lecturer as he continued.

      “But let's not get distracted. What is a Memory? A Memory is a Woven artifact imbued with a number of specific rudimentary enchantments — one that allows it to be stored within the soul of its master in the form of essence, one that allows it to be reassembled from essence into matter, one that allows it to repair itself when dismissed, and a few more. A combination of these rudimentary enchantments constitutes a Memory, and by memorizing their patterns, you will be able to create Memories of your own."


      Sunny rubbed his neck.

      "The first Memory I created was a slave collar. I lost my head as a result, but hey... it worked!"

      He paused for a moment and then added in a somber tone:

      “These foundational enchantments... I call them rudimentary, but of course, they are anything but. Storing items within the soul is something that only Supremes can do, and yet, Memories grant that ability to all Awakened. Turning soul essence into matter — well, I don't have to explain how stunning that power is to you. Infinite self-repair is an astonishing quality, as well. In short, the fundamental enchantments that make Memories what they are are staggering, from the point of view of sorcery."

      Ananke nodded.

      "Indeed. That was why the Nightmare Spell was so alluring to many in the era of the Doom War. Being able to wield Memories was a great advantage to all people back then."

      Sunny was inclined to agree.

      “Creating such powerful enchantments and making their spellweave so simple that even an untrained Awakened like me could replicate them... that is a level of skill in creating sorcery that even I can't imagine. Which leads me to believe that it was Weaver's own design — the Nightmare Spell merely inherited the principles Weaver had instilled into it.”

      He sighed.

      "The problem, of course... is that Weaver was obsessed with secrets and knowledge. They believed that knowledge was power, and therefore surrounded themselves with countless lies. That devious daemon never shared what they knew, so naturally, they never bothered to make their personal sorcery accessible to everyone — unlike Hope, who bestowed writing and runic sorcery to all people."

      Sunny scratched the tip of his nose.

      "The only weavers of the past eras were those who received the ability to perceive, manipulate, and create spellweaves from the Demon of Fate. We don't know how they received that power, so... we'll have to invent our own ways."

      He looked at Ananke and smiled.

      "That mask of yours, coupled with your Aspect, is already a good start. You possess all the tools to master Weaving now... all that remains is to accumulate knowledge and skill."

      He pushed the folded mantle closer to her.

      "So, let's start with this. First, you will need to develop a sense of where the distinct patterns of the spellweave are, and how they are connected to each other..."

      The lesson continued.

      Ananke was an amazing student, absorbing knowledge like a sponge — well, it was no surprise. She was a demigod, after all, so concepts that took Sunny years to comprehend and master were like a light appetizer for her Supreme mind. Additionally, Ananke possessed an innate affinity to Weaving due to her Aspect. In fact, she was a born sorcerer — it was just that the inaccessible nature of Weaving had prevented her from ever mastering its art. So, the lesson progressed swiftly. By the end of it, she was already capable of turning mundane items into Memories.


      Sunny pushes a small object — a pebble of manifested shadows — toward her, placing a Dormant soul shard nearby.

      “Now, we will move to practice. You will have to recreate the basic pattern of the summoning enchantment, anchor it in this soul shard, and then fuse it into this pebble. But first, you will have to create essence strings. Try to manifest a string of essence silk, but stop just shy of turning it into solid matter..."

      As Ananke tentatively attempted to follow his instructions, Sunny could not help but imagine the future.

      He had no doubt that Ananke would become a proficient sorcerer soon. He also believed that she would take pupils of her own one day, finding a way to share her newly granted ability to perceive spellweaves with them.

      So, would there be dozens of weavers walking the vast expanse of the Dream Realm one day? Perfecting each other's craft, competing, sharing ideas...

      It was a nice thing to imagine. Sunny liked the idea of not being the lone weaver in existence — not only would it potentially lead to his own improvement as a sorcerer, but it would also boost the power of humanity, no doubt.

      He smiled.

      ‘Ah... the future is bright.'

      There was not a lot of the future left, considering that the world was ending, but the little time they still had was bound to be bright — just like the Stormsea was bright today, ready to fall back into the embrace of twilight.

      Enjoying the time he got to spend with Ananke, Sunny allowed his mind to wander and focused on a different incarnation. That one was enjoying life, as well.
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      1. Offline
        Kai_the_Son_of_G3
        + 1 ⋅ 0 -
        you are the great titan.
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      2. Offline
        Mr. Dro
        + 1 ⋅ 0 -
        Rei, you beautiful man/woman
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      3. Offline
        Wait no
        + 1 ⋅ 0 -
        Greatest human being in existence
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      4. Offline
        Fellow reader
        + 2 ⋅ 0 -
        Let’s chant the name Rei together bretheran
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  3. Offline
    Fellow reader
    + 2 ⋅ 2 -
    She is cute acting like the curious cat she is(cute cat)😊
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  4. Offline
    MUHAMMAD HUZAIFA SOHAIL
    + 1 ⋅ 0 -
    where are the chapters
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  5. Offline
    Harsh Handore
    + 6 ⋅ 0 -
    Chapter 3023 : A New Student
    Chapter 3024 : Weaving 101
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  6. Offline
    Redist_King
    + 10 ⋅ 2 -
    Some angry dude is disliking everyone's comments with an alt account lol✌️😭
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    1. Offline
      Fellow reader
      + 1 ⋅ 1 -
      Fr my perfectly normal comments got 2 dislikes
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  7. Offline
    Blue Flames
    + 1 ⋅ 0 -
    Okay I have been stacking after sunny shares his adventures with lightslayer before meeting aiko. So should I start reading or keep stacking. And please no spoiler.
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    1. Offline
      qwerty1705
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      keep stacking. nothing happened yet
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    2. Offline
      Djflawless17
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
      Keep stacking. I like to read something else entirely or reread this. By then you'll have a nice stack and G3 will have cooked up a gourmet meal 5 star chef that he is
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  8. Offline
    DaFastest Snooper
    + 4 ⋅ 2 -
    Can't blame the river people not liking the Waking Worlds air. If you lived the majority of your life in the countryside, every breath of air feels fresh and smells of dew, in the cities it's a mixture of sweat, smog and noise, scale it up to 100 for a hive city and it's understandable.

    Ananke read the report, that means she also learned about Sunny's epitaph for them as well.
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  9. Offline
    Eternity of Reading
    + 1 ⋅ 2 -
    Ananke butwhy
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  10. Offline
    Psihovscky
    + 4 ⋅ 2 -
    Absolutely beautiful chapter. I really enjoyed it.

    I want to hear even more about their thoughts and opinions.
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