Shadow Slave: Kindness

Before reaching his class, Sunny lingered in the hallway, casting a glance back.

He remembered how Jack and Jill stood a distance away, surrounded by a small knot of students, chatting animatedly. They were laughing, teasing, and striking up conversations with almost everyone. In just two days that he had time to observe them, they'd gotten friendly with more than half the entire sleepers here.

Too friendly.

And yet... not once had they spoken to Cassie.

Not even looked in her direction.

That... didn't sit right with Sunny. He'd noticed it even yesterday. As if they were intentionally avoiding her while pretending to be sociable with everyone else.

Well...maybe not intentionally avoiding, rather more like there being no need to be social with her.

It wasn't suspicion, not really—just a note of dissonance. A detail out of tune in their otherwise charming performance.

Besides, their "coincidental" meeting with him in the hallway, twice in a row now?

Too clean.

Too smooth.

'It's probably nothing… but I'll keep an eye on them.'

With that thought tucked away, Sunny stepped through the open door of his designated class.

The large plaque read:

[Wilderness Survival – Beginner's Orientation]

Time to learn how to survive.

Not just in the Dream Realm…

But here too.

The classroom was more of a wide training hall, with racks of odd gear and terrain models lining the walls. The sunlight filtered in through skylights, painting the polished wood floor in gold. But most notable was how empty it was.

Sunny froze.

'Did I mess up the time?'

Then, he saw someone sitting at the far end behind a heavy oak desk. An older man with messy grey hair, eyes that drifted in thought, and eyebrows that looked like they could get up and walk away.

Reading a worn notebook and scribbling something down beside it, he didn't look up.

But what really caught Sunny's attention—

Was the figure standing nearby, her expression unreadable and her posture still.

Cassie.

She was here.

He blinked, then blinked again.

She's in this class?

Only then did he realize that he is back to where he had left Cassie sometime ago, his encounter with Jack and Jill had left him too preoccupied with his thoughts, so he hadn't realized while coming to this class.

That's when the man finally looked up, sensing movement.

"Come in, young man!"

His voice was surprisingly energetic for someone with such a sleepy appearance.

"I'm Awakened Julius. You can call me Teacher Julius. Sit down, sit down! What's your name?"

Sunny obeyed, making his way to a nearby seat.

"It's Sunless."

Julius raised a bushy eyebrow. "Ah! What an ominous name. But that's good, very good. We deal with a lot of ominous things here!"

Sunny chuckled nervously.

"…Uh, I'm sorry, Teacher. Did I come too early?"

"No, no, you're right on time," Julius replied cheerfully.

"Are the others late?"

The instructor made a face of absolute disdain. "What others? No one else is coming. Brutes, all of them! They just want to swing swords and look cool. Not many are clever enough to choose survival over vanity."

'So it's that unpopular,' Sunny thought. 'Well… I'm already here.'

"Say, young man… why'd you choose Wilderness Survival, of all things?"

Sunny shrugged. "The Awakened who supervised me during my First Nightmare—Master Jet—she said this course would be the most useful. Especially for someone like me."

"A very wise advice! That Master truly knows what's important… wait. Did you say Jet?"

His eyes widened.

Julius suddenly leaned in, his expression lighting up.

"Jet? As in Soul Reaper Jet?"

Sunny nodded, curious.

The man's reaction was… dramatic.

"Ahh… Soul Reaper. That murderous savage. Who would have guessed a brute like her had such practical advice in her."

"…You know her?"

Julius glanced over both shoulders dramatically. "Who doesn't know her? She may not be the strongest, but her Aspect bypasses armor and directly targets soul cores. She's feared across the sector. But don't worry—there's almost no chance of her becoming a Saint."

Sunny furrowed his brows. "Why?"

The instructor sighed heavily.

"Because of her personality! Who would support a killer with the charm of a swordfish? You need a team, sponsors, and allies to attempt a Third Nightmare. She'll never make it. Still…"

He paused, rubbing his beard. "Strange… I wouldn't have expected her to recommend my class. That's a good sign, wait?!....but why am I here gossiping with my new student?? besides it's not in my character to talk about people behind their backs!."

'I would beg to differ,' Sunny thought sarcastically, but didn't say anything out loud.

He already got a lot of juicy information out of Teacher Julius.

Besides, Julius's words had confirmed of Jet-...Juliet's situation, this makes it quite clear on how lonely Juliet actually is, and from the looks of it, not by her choice but rather she had been forced by her aspect.

'Maybe her flaw has something to do with being aggressive towards creatures..? '

'or something along the lines of her soul eroding itself if she doesn't kill for a time..?'

In any case.

'Maybe choosing Wilderness Survival was the right choice after all.'

Then he clapped his hands together and gestured toward Cassie.

"And you already know your classmate, I presume?"

Sunny turned slightly to look at Cassie, who had stood silently this whole time. She looked just as surprised as he felt.

"You're taking Wilderness Survival?" he asked.

Cassie nodded slowly, still digesting the coincidence. "No, I didn't know that Teacher Julius is the Wilderness survival instructor…and he is the instructor I mentioned before. The one who hasn't given up on me."

Sunny blinked. "You never said he was this cool."

Cassie tilted her head. "You think so?"

"Absolutely."

Julius grinned. "You flatter me. But yes, it's true. I've taken our young Cassia under my wing—tough little sprout, that one. She's sharper than a goblin's dagger and twice as stubborn."

Cassie looked down, a rare flush creeping up her cheek.

"Let's not get carried away…"

Julius winked at Sunny. "Well then, since it's just the two of you, I expect both of you to survive the Dream Realm long enough to come back and thank me."

He paused, his tone shifting just slightly.

"In eight weeks, I'll teach you everything you'll need to live, not just survive. Consider this your second chance. Don't waste it."

Sunny leaned back, a small grin playing on his lips.

'Looks like I made the right choice after all.'

And this time… he wasn't alone.