After Sunny calmed down a little and had time to think about it, he realized that things weren't as bad as he had thought.
Yes, living this close to the rambunctious huntress was a very special kind of trial, especially due to how much joy she seemed to derive from tormenting him, but there was one redeeming aspect to all of this… aside from the fact that he would get to constantly feast his eyes on… wait… back to the topic!
It was that Sunny was a nocturnal creature. He didn't have to sleep on the cold floor or interact with the vigorous huntress that much, because he would be asleep during the day and out hunting during the night. The window of time when they would both be awake and stuck in the hidden chamber together was not that large.
More than that, Effie had brought enough food to satiate her unnatural hunger in that bottomless bag of hers, so he didn't even have to feed her. So hosting her was not going to be as bothersome as he had initially assumed.
After showing the huntress around and enduring several more good-natured jabs, he finally had some time to himself.
Finally!
Sitting down in a remote corner of the chamber, he closed his eyes and dove into the Soul Sea.
As always, the tranquil sea met him with calming darkness and peaceful silence. Not paying any attention to motionless shadows that stood at the edge of the visible part of it… not even to gaunt and pitiful Harper… he walked over and stood beneath the black sun of his Shadow Core.
Then, Sunny summoned the Stone Saint.
"Hey there, darling. Guess what? I brought dinner…"
Before commanding the Memories he had purchased with the help of Kai down, he quickly glanced at the runes surrounding the taciturn monster:
Shadow: Stone Saint.
Shadow Rank: Awakened.
Shadow Class: Monster.
Shadow Attributes: [Battle Master], [Stalwart], [Spark of Divinity].
Shadow Fragments: [6/200].
Only six fragments, and she was already so strong. He couldn't wait to see his monster grow even more ferocious.
Not wasting any more time, Sunny summoned the first Memory — a strange sword with a stupid amount of useless gems embedded into its blade, for some idiotic reason — and handed it to the Shadow. She took the sword without showing any emotion and ruthlessly shattered it with her gauntlets.
[Your Memory has been destroyed.]
Sunny made a face.
"Why thank you, Spell! I wouldn't have guessed if it weren't for you. So helpful."
Two torrents of ethereal sparks entered Stone Saint's body and were absorbed by the dark embers burning in the depths of the living shadow that hid in her body.
[Stone Saint has grown stronger.]
Was it just him or did the Spell sound a bit hurt?
'Well, tough. I didn't hear you complaining when Neph was promising to rip you to shreds.'
He grinned and glanced at the runes again.
Shadow Fragments: [7/200].
Satisfied, Sunny summoned the next Memory. The process repeated itself.
[...Stone Saint has grown stronger.]
[...Stone Saint has grown stronger.]
[...Stone Saint has grown stronger.]
As the number of shadow fragments saturating the core remnants inside his pet monster grew, his mood continued improving. This was the best feeling ever!
Shadow Fragments: [8/200]
Shadow Fragments: [10/200]
Shadow Fragments: [11/200]
Finally, after the ninth Memory was consumed, the runes describing the number changed to twenty out of two hundred. The Stone Saint looked considerably stronger already. Remembering the changes that happened to his own body after his first few kills, Sunny could more or less gauge how much her condition has improved.
The increment wasn't really that substantial… but in battle, the tiniest advantage could often decide everything. Especially considering that it was going to be doubled by the augmenting effect of his indispensable, but impudent shadow.
All of this was just a prelude, anyway. The main event was yet to come.
Full of anticipation, Sunny called the onyx armor down. If his calculations were correct, this relic alone should give the Stone Saint twelve shadow fragments — almost as much as the nine lesser Memories Combined.
The jet black suit of ancient plate armor appeared in the air in front of him. Surrounded by the lightless vastness of the silent sea, the feeling of dark grace it emanated was even more pronounced. Sunny clicked his tongue.
'Ah, what a beauty.'
It was almost a shame to destroy it.
…Almost.
Slightly reluctant to part with the ancient armor yet, Sunny read the runes describing it.
Stev was right. Even the Spell couldn't make sense of the damaged Memory.
Memory: [M… Un…old].
Memory Rank: ?
Memory Tier: ?
Memory Type: unknown.
Memory Description: [...Pr… …first …army …shed …own…]
Memory Enchantments: —
Many of the runes were missing, and those that did appear refused to coalesce into any sort of comprehensible words. However, Sunny did notice a few of the strange runes that made his head hurt, the same ones present whenever the Spell mentioned the mysterious Unknown.
'Just as I thought.'
The armor was clearly connected to the same tribe of Nightmare Creatures that the Stone Saint had belonged to before becoming a Shadow. The origin of the strange living statues was tied to the Unknown, so it was logical to assume that the onyx armor had something to do with them too.
Well, no matter. He knew that this Memory was severely damaged when he bought it. Sunny was never planning on using it, anyway, only feeding it to the Saint.
"Time for dessert!"
With a wide smile, he pushed the beautiful black armor to the stone monster.
However, the smile soon froze on his face.
Because the Stone Saint did not move to take and shatter the armor like she did with all the other Memories. Instead, she simply turned her head and looked at it. The hue of the crimson flames burning in her ruby eyes ever so slightly changed.
It was almost as though they were filled with the tiniest shadow of… sorrow.
"Come on! Eat it!"
But no matter how much he tried to get the Stone Saint to destroy the armor, she refused. The living statue just stood there and did nothing.
After a while, disappointed, Sunny stared at the onyx armor and sighed.
Well… serves him right. To be honest, he had a slight inkling that this would happen.
Nevertheless, Sunny had decided to buy the armor anyway. It's not every day that you stumble upon a tier-six Fallen Memory, even if it's damaged beyond your ability to repair.
Perhaps he would don it one day... if Nephis would actually manage to open the path to the Gateway and he would somehow find himself among those lucky few to reach it alive and become Awakened.
Until then, the awesome black armor was pretty much useless.
With a deep frown, he left the Soul Sea and summoned it into existence. Soon, the armor appeared on the floor of the hidden chamber.
Effie looked at it with interest:
"Wow. What is this?"
Sunny lingered for a long time, and then finally answered:
"A decoration… I guess."
The huntress raised her eyebrows.
"Really? Well, what are you staring at me for?"
He gritted his teeth.
A few awkward moments later, Sunny said:
"Uh, can you help me move it? It's… too heavy for me to lift…"