Shadow Slave novel Chapter 532

The golden wreath disappeared, and Sunny found himself facing two new images. On one, a knight in a suit of polished armor was depicted holding a bloodied sword. On the other, a warrior in an archaic armor was shown standing back to back with the knight, a slender huntress drawing her bow behind them.

The pleasant voice announced:

"Challenger, select your dream."

Several words appeared above the images.

"Dream of Glory", "Dream of Camaraderie".

'What's with the bells and whistles…'

Sunny rolled his eyes.

The choice was very simple — one image was going to send him into the individual competition, while the other was meant for cohorts.

The Dream Tournament was basically two separate tournaments happening at the same time. This way, those Awakened who didn't have combat Aspects could also participate and earn rewards. It was a good system.

Sunny had no intention of searching for a cohort, so he simply chose the image of the lonely knight and closed his eyes.

Unlike the usual Dreamscape duels, the tournament included various battle modes. They were also broadcasted and happened at a schedule, so he had to wait for the first qualifier round to start.

Standing in the darkness, Sunny couldn't help but feel a little excited.

***

"Challenger! Draw your weapon and prepare! Only the best will survive!"

A bright light suddenly shone from above, and he found himself in the middle of a lush forest. All around him, ancient trees swayed lightly, their leaves rustling in the gentle wind.

Some distance away, a tranquil lake glistened in the sunlight, and from its clear waters, a breathtakingly beautiful castle rose into the sky. The castle was built out of grey stone and was as large as a city, its ancient walls scarred by a thousand sieges that it had withstood. Still, those scars could not diminish the ethereal beauty of the great fortress.

The arena was vast, and encompassed all of the forest. There was no other Awakened near Sunny, and for a good reason.

The qualifying rounds of the Dream Tournament were held in the form of a grand battle royale. A thousand challengers were sent into a large environment, and only the last one standing would be allowed to move on.

Depending on their performance, a few more people could also gain entry into the tournament… but the only concrete method to qualify was to be the sole survivor. This was a necessary measure implemented in the last few years because of the sheer amount of participants.

Arranging and broadcasting so many individual duels was not very practical… or profitable… especially considering that most of these Awakened were not very skilled. The battle royale was meant to weed out the weak and create an exciting show for the viewers.

Sunny knew this, of course, because he had done some research in the past couple of days.

…He didn't need the research to recognize where he was, though.

'Wow… it's even more beautiful in real life…'

Who didn't know Bastion?

This year, clan Valor sponsored the tournament, so the arena was designed to resemble the seat of their power, great Bastion — one of the three most populous human Citadels in the Dream Realm.

Sunny had never been to the ancient castle, but its image was ubiquitous in popular culture. He recognized it instantly.

'So… this must be the Lake of Bones, then.'

On the official broadcast channel, the image of an eliminated player was shown briefly. Then, a rather lighthearted voice spoke: _{freёwebnoѵel.com}