Darkness.
His mother's hand, sticking out from beneath the fallen pillar, unmoving.
"Mom?"
His father's scream, cut short.
Then, Starfall's laughter, echoing through the ruins, golden aura pulsing.
'No... not again...'
Sunny gasped, bolting upright, cold sweat drenching his hospital gown. He coughed, a dry, hacking sound, his hand flying to his throat.
'A dream… just a dream.' But it felt too real. The phantom smell of smoke and blood still lingered in his nostrils.
He cursed under his breath, a raw, shaky sound. "Damn it."
His eyes scanned the room. White walls, the rhythmic beep of a monitor beside him, the faint antiseptic smell.
'Hospital. Again.' So much had happened. The ice dungeon, the heroes, the armored attacker, Nyx…
'Are they okay?'
As if summoned by his frantic thoughts, a cascade of glowing blue windows erupted in his vision, one after another, overlapping, demanding his attention. He flinched, overwhelmed.
[HOST SURVIVAL CONFIRMED]
[VITAL SIGNS STABILIZING]
[QUEST COMPLETED: UNEXPECTED SAVIOR]
[DESCRIPTION: ENSURE THE SURVIVAL OF AT LEAST ONE MEMBER OF YOUR CURRENT PARTY DURING THIS DUNGEON EXPEDITION. YOU MUST BE THE DIRECT CAUSE OF THEIR SURVIVAL.]
[MEMBERS SURVIVED: ARIA EVERHART, BRYNN, LINA, NYX]
[REWARD: SILVER RANK SKILL (RANDOM) GRANTED!]
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: SHADOW STITCH (SILVER RANK) - ASSIGNED TO SHADOW SKILL BRANCH!]
'Shadow Stitch... Silver Rank?' His head throbbed.
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL 3 → LEVEL 4]
[LEVEL 4 → LEVEL 5]
[LEVEL 5 → LEVEL 6]
[LEVEL 6 → LEVEL 7!]
[ALL STATS +4!]
[NEW SKILL SLOTS AVAILABLE (4)!]
'Four levels? From that one absorption... and the fights?' He remembered the chained woman, the torrent of power.
[UNIQUE SKILL: VOID ABSORPTION AWAKENED FURTHER!]
[ESSENCE ABSORPTION FROM "THE FROZEN WITCH" COMPLETE!]
[VOID ABSORPTION REACHED LEVEL 4!]
[VOID ABSORPTION TOTAL UNLOCK PROGRESS: 50%!]
[NEW SUB-SKILL UNLOCKED: ESSENCE DRAIN (VOID ABSORPTION LVL 4)!]
[SUBSEQUENT ESSENCE RESONANCE WITH HEROES' SHADOWS PROCESSED!]
[VOID ABSORPTION LEVELED UP TO LEVEL 5!]
[VOID ABSORPTION TOTAL UNLOCK PROGRESS: 51%!]
[SKILL TREE EVOLVED: SHADOW BRANCH SOLIDIFIED!]
[UNIQUE SKILL ASPECT: SHADOW ESTABLISHED AT LEVEL 2!]
[NEW SUB-SKILL UNLOCKED: SHADOW GRASP (SHADOW LVL 2)!]
'Void Absorption at Level 5... 50% unlocked... and Shadow is its own branch now.' The complexity was astounding.
[PASSIVE SKILL: PAIN TOLERANCE HAS REACHED LEVEL 4!]
[PASSIVE SKILL: ENDURANCE HAS REACHED LEVEL 3!]
[PASSIVE SKILL: TOXIC RESISTANCE REMAINS LEVEL 3]
[PASSIVE SKILL: ACID IMMUNITY REMAINS LEVEL 1]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: FROST WOLVES (X3) - 75 EXP]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: ICE GOBLINS (PACK) - 50 EXP]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: FROST SERPENT - 40 EXP]
[DUNGEON BOSS: "THE FROZEN WITCH" DEFEATED (VIA ESSENCE ABSORPTION & VOID BOLT)!]
[REWARD: 25,000 CREDITS, LARGE EXPERIENCE GAIN (ALREADY APPLIED)!]
[LOOT RIGHTS (TRANSFERRED TO RADIANT DAWN GUILD VIA SEM CONTRACT)!]
[BONUS REWARD: RETURN STONE (CONSUMED)!]
'Twenty-five thousand credits for the boss… and they got the loot.' He gritted his teeth. 'Fair enough, I guess. I just wanted them out.'
[ENEMY "UNKNOWN KNIGHT" FORCIBLY EJECTED FROM DUNGEON VIA RETURN STONE!]
[NO EXPERIENCE GAINED FOR EVASION!]
[THREAT NEUTRALIZED (TEMPORARILY)!]
The sheer volume of information made his head spin. So many changes, so much new power, all gained in a brutal, desperate fight for survival.
'Silver rank... shadow skills... I actually did it.'
He felt a surge of something hot and fierce, a mix of pride and terror. But mostly, he just felt exhausted, down to his bones.
He stared at the final notification that popped up, separate from the others.
[MESSAGE FROM PATRON DEITY: "Not bad, kid. Not bad at all. That knight was a real piece of work. You used your head, and that shadow of yours is finally waking up. Keep feeding it. Keep fighting. You might just survive this after all. And maybe, you'll even be useful to me."]
Sunny let out a shaky breath, his mind reeling.
'Useful... right.'
He closed his eyes, the glowing windows fading, but the weight of it all pressed down on him. He was stronger, yes. But the path ahead felt even darker and more dangerous than before.
He tried to sit up further, wincing as pain flared in his shoulder. 'Dislocated. forgot about that.' He vaguely remembered popping it back in during the long, delirious trek out of the dungeon, or maybe his shadow had helped. The details were hazy.
He flexed his fingers, feeling the phantom tingle of raw power still echoing within him. 'Level 7 now. Shadow Stitch… Essence Drain… Shadow Grasp.' New tools. Dangerous tools.
A knock echoed through the quiet room, making him jump.
'Who's that? Hospital staff?' He wasn't ready for questions. Not yet.
The door creaked open, and a familiar, scarred face peeked in. Garrett.
"Kid? You awake?" he whispered, loud enough to be heard down the hall.
Then Miller pushed past him, followed by Jackson and Cooper. Gamma team.
'My team,' he thought, a strange warmth spreading through his chest despite the aches.
"Thought we'd find you in here," Miller said, her usual gruffness softened by a hint of concern. She surveyed the room, her gaze lingering on the advanced medical monitors. "Looks like you had a rougher time than usual."
"Heard you were on a 'special assignment' with some heroes," Garrett boomed, stepping fully into the room. He looked Sunny up and down. "Damn, kid, you look like you wrestled a grinder beast and lost."
"Something like that," he mumbled, his throat dry.
Jackson handed him a bottle of water from the bedside table. "The nurses said you were brought in with the Radiant Dawn party. All of you looked like death warmed over." His eyes were sharp, observant.
'He always sees too much.'
"Are they…?" Sunny started, his voice raspy. "The heroes, are they okay?"
"Stable, last we heard," Cooper piped up, surprisingly solemn. "SEM is keeping a tight lid on the whole thing. Said it was a 'dungeon anomaly'." He snorted. "More like a damn warzone, from the look of you lot."
"What happened in there, Sunny?" Miller asked, her voice low. "Walsh isn't saying much, just that the mission went sideways and you somehow dragged everyone out."
Sunny hesitated. How much could he say? 'I absorbed a dungeon boss, fought an A-rank psycho, and unlocked a new branch of my freaky god-power.' Yeah, that would go over well.
"It got… complicated," he said finally. "The boss room wasn't empty."
"No shit," Garrett said. "You got that look. The one survivors get after seeing something they ain't supposed to." He clapped Sunny on his good shoulder, thankfully. "But you made it. And you got your crew out. That's what matters."
'My crew?' He thought of Nyx, bleeding out to protect him. Aria, Brynn, Lina, fighting despite their injuries. 'They're not my crew. But I couldn't just leave them.'
"We brought you something," Jackson said, pulling a worn data chip from his pocket. "Your pay for the last few jobs, plus a 'hazard bonus' SEM threw in for this hero gig. Looks like they don't want you talking too much."
Sunny stared at the chip. Money. It felt so distant from what he'd just been through.
"Thanks," he said, taking it. His fingers felt clumsy.
"Rest up, kid," Miller said, turning to leave. "Looks like you earned it."
"Yeah," Cooper added. "And when you're out, first round's on us. Again." He managed a grin.
Garrett gave him a final, appraising look. "You're tougher than you look, Nimbril. Way tougher."
Jackson nodded slowly, his gaze thoughtful. "You definitely are."
They filed out, leaving Sunny alone once more with the rhythmic beeping of the monitor and the weight of his secrets.
'They don't know,' he thought. 'They can't know. Not about the system, not about the shadow.'
But for a moment, seeing their familiar, worried faces, he hadn't felt quite so alone.