Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2162

Almost three years had passed since the Awakened Academy welcomed its first batch of the Second Generation Sleepers.

The world had settled a little. Humanity was still besieged from all sides in the Dream Realm, but no Citadel had been overrun in quite some time. The waking world was still plagued by the Nightmare Gates, but they did not pose an existential threat to mankind anymore.

For now.

Young Anvil had become a fearsome warrior and a widely admired champion among those who defended Bastion. Together with Madoc, who had conquered the First Nightmare a year after his younger brother, the sons of Warden now led the Knights of Valor into battles against the dreadful creatures of the hungry forest.

He also collaborated with his Academy companions, Broken Sword and Smile of Heaven, often — all three had gained quite a bit of fame, becoming known as the brightest stars of the new generation.

The power and prestige of both the Valor clan and the Immortal Flame clan continued to grow. The only other clan that could compete with them was the coalition of the prominent Awakened families united by Nightwalker, the House of Night.

The culture of the Legacy clans was swiftly being cemented. In fact, Jest had even found himself as the head of a clan of his own.

Considering that he did not have a fancy True Name, he just named it Dagonet as a joke.

Sadly, no one seemed to realize that it was a joke. So, people called him Master Jest of Clan Dagonet in all seriousness now.

That was a bit of a fiasco...

His one remaining son was fifteen now.

That was why Jest did not feel at ease, even though things seemed to be going fine.

Warden remained restless, as well.

One day, while visiting Bastion after joining the retainers of his clan on a patrol of the Mirror River, Jest found him in the underground chamber deep below the castle, gazing at the great mirror that stood there, surrounded by silence as it towered above the dark hall.

There were no reflections in the mirror, of course, since it was covered by canvas.

They had discovered this underground hall decades ago, when clearing the castle from the Nightmare Creatures populating it. The mirror had not been covered back then, and so, they glimpsed the sight of the harrowing realm within.

Many members of the initial group had perished as a result, and the mirror had mostly remained covered since then. It was only when Warden became an Ascended that he dared to venture into the mirror realm once more.

Jest was not quite sure what his friend had found there, but his already formidable powers seemed to have gained a considerable boost after that.

"Oh, no. You have that look on your face."

Warden turned and smiled after noticing Jest. After spending two decades side by side, the two of them had long become so used to each other that their relationship transcended mere friendship.

One could even say that still being able to tolerate Jest after all these years was one of Warden's most amazing feats...

In any case, he raised an eyebrow.

"What expression?"

Jest sighed.

"The 'I am about to stir trouble' expression."

Warden hesitated a bit, then nodded.

"Indeed."

He remained silent for a while, then sighed and turned his back to the covered mirror.

"Let's leave this dreary place."

Soon, they were in the main keep of Bastion, looking at the maps scattered on a large round table. Some of the maps depicted the Dream Realm, but most of them, surprisingly enough, showed the familiar continents of the waking world. ṝΆ₦𝘖𝔟Еš

Warden stared at them bleakly.

"Those dots all represent Nightmare Gates — both active and those few we closed. The red one all appeared this year. The Category can be seen from the size of the dot — Category Three Gates are larger than the Category Two Gates, naturally."

He paused for a moment, then pointed to another map.

"That one is from before the Gate Crisis. Of course, the Obel Scale did not exist yet back then, so its accuracy is not too high. And speaking of the Obel Scale, now that it operates stably, the efficiency with which we can deal with the emerging Gates has increased by magnitudes. The world is at peace... as close to at peace as it realistically can be, at least."

Jest studied the maps for a while, then asked in a somber tone:

"You're not just studying the maps from before the Gate Crisis for fun, are you?"

Warden had lost his wife during the Gate Crisis, so it was a sensitive topic.

He shook his head.

"Immortal Flame became an Ascended nine years after the descent of the Nightmare Spell. Twelve years have passed since then, and humanity is yet to take the next step. How long do you think the Spell will continue to spare us? I don't think that it's going to be long at all." _{fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓}

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