amt of a

in chain, cutting the night sky with its sharp edges. A r

en through the snow. To the right side of the road, a sheer cliff face rose as an impregnable wall. To the left, a silent black sea

the sky and disappeared in the east. Snowflakes jumped from the ground and returned in

wn Sunny's back as he noticed human bones littering the ground. A moment later, the bones were gone, a

ed, and then resum

Nightmare Spell. Prepare

hat the he

ep. Anot

nic was nearly useless against the biting wind. His wrists were the main source of agony: badly hurt by

f a situatio

of him, a man with broad shoulders and a bloodied back was walking with a measured gait. Behind him, a shifty-looking guy with quick, desperate eyes was quietly cursing under his b

ged it, things

sually, freshly chosen aspirants would find themselves in a scenario that presented them with a fair amount of agency: they would

ckled and already half-dead, was as fa

eman said, it created trials, not executions. So Sunny was pretty sure that, to counter

... how do

"myself" and "information". Indeed, as soon as he focused, shimmering runes appeared in the air in front

scribing his Aspect... and,

at the act

*

: Su

Nam

Aspi

ore: D

ori

oes

[Mark of Divinity],

[Templ

ith no skills or abilities worth a mention. A te

convince himself that he was maybe just seeing th

ss Aspect

ythm of his steps and stumbled, pulling the chain down with

rd! Watch wher

ied to recover his balance. A moment later, he was once again walking stead

hit! I'm goin

in front of Sunny chuckle

ll be dead by sunrise anyway

nds later,

ter. I really don't know what the Imperial

fty guy

lf, fool! I'm pla

is head and concentrat

charmi

ersation from somewhere further back. T

time of year. We just had really bad luck. Als

is

is head slight

crimes or misfortune. He was born a slave. A temple slave, to be precise. Not long ago, the Imper

ldered man cas

a half-forgotten, weakling god? He

ot afraid to burn down a few temples. But we here are not protected

ed man grunted, no

cuirass, armed with a spear and a short sword, he looked dignified and noble. To Sunny's irritation, the a

going o

nace in his voice, even so

ated, the gentle-vo

d. Especially our young friend over there. This j

looked at Su

? You're not much older

didn't say any

k a flask from his belt be

. We will stop for the night soon.

d? Ch

s often mistaken for someone younger. Usually, he didn't hesitate to use it to

was real

and suddenly Sunny was in a world of pain. He stumbled, once again p

hat sliced the back of Sunny's tunic open and drew blood belonged to him. Without even glan

u think you

oldier's fa

iving this bo

r with the rest of

ut

ds. Understood? They're not even people. Treat th

nny, then lowered his head and

with slaves again, newbie. Or next time

d his whip in the air and rode past them, radiating threat

, but I will watc

direction of the younger soldier, who was

ou, se