THE dreaded spell

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

ivering from cold. His threadbare tunic was nearly useless against t

harp pang of pain every time the fr

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

d and thought about words like "status", "myself" and "information

h he did not know this ancient alphabet,

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