Shadow Slave: Shameless Self Insert

Shadow Scavenger

I took one long look at the scavenger in front of me. It was obediently standing there with its powerful pincers laying limply at its sides.

I had done a lot of thinking about Carrie and I came to a decision.

He would become a Shadow. At this point I was fairly certain that I would be having a confrontation with Saint myself, so I had done some thinking.

If there truly was a limit to the amount of Shadow's you could have, why wouldn't the Spell display that in my runes? It would be very strange for it to disregard that.

"Kai I'll be in the soul sea for a bit." he nodded and went back to... studying the wardrobe of the priestess.

I dove into my lightness soul and called down a shining orb of light, larger than the others. Carrie was now again standing before me, and I put my palm on his chitinous torso.

[Transform Echo into a Shadow?]

Except... I turned around.

There, standing silent and still, was a shadow.

A frail young man of short stature and sunken eyes was staring back at me. It stood before Carrie, before Mountain King, and even before the first Larva I had slain. I could imagine that if he wasn't a shadow, he would have the same pale skin as mine.

He didn't seem to have any objections to my decision.

What was strange about him was... he didn't give me any Fragments. He was there for me to see once I inherited blood weave, but didn't empower me in any way, not even counting as a Dormant Beast in that way.

Apart from that... he had helped me a lot. In some moments of dire need he gave me a push in the direction I needed to save myself. Sometimes it was an actual instinct to move, sometimes it was a sudden thought that wasn't my own, and occasionally I would feel a sudden dissatisfaction or other emotion.

'Focus.'

I turned back to the scavenger and said:

"Yes."

Instantly, two beams of darkness descended on the Echo and its corresponding shadow. The essence strings that the echo was controlled by dissipated, being replaced by a deep shadow that inhabited the vessel.

The only thing left was a core that was as lightless as my own, and the shadow that gave it life.

[You have created a Shadow Beast: Carapace Scavenger.]

I decided to study him immediately.

Shadow: [Carapace Scavenger].

Shadow Rank: Awakened.

Shadow Class: Beast.

Shadow Attributes: [Cursed].

Shadow Abilities: [Scavenge].

Shadow Description: [Shadow Scavenger was created by Lost From Light in the cursed darkness of the Forgotten Shore. Consumed by that curse, this soldier has broken his Oath.]

Shadow Fragments: [0/100].

"So the carapace legion were soldiers of the seven 'Heroes'."

It was pretty much already confirmed, but this just solidified it.

"Does that mean you might gain more human tendencies as you evolve? You were human before..." that was a disturbing thought, but the Scavenger shifted a bit. It clearly didn't understand a word I said.

I sighed and continued looking.

[Cursed] Attribute Description: "The curse has given this Shadow strength."

"What is that supposed to mean. Is it talking about its chitin? That is certainly a huge boon."

I had realized that most Awakened creatures did not possess the incredible defense that the Scavengers did. They were anomalies, at least in terms of beasts.

[Scavenge] Ability Description: "Reap greater benefits from others consumed by the curse."

"Interesting."

Shadow Fragments: [549/1000].

'The same as 25 scavengers. 25!'

It was painful, and I felt weaker. But it was worth it, I knew.

I regretfully exited the soul sea and summoned a Memory.

***

[You have slain an Awakened Monster: Blood Fiend.]

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

With my shadow augmenting Carrie — which made him look like death incarnate — he was able to dispatch a blood fiend with relative ease. Of course, not accounting for blood being in the vicinity.

It did seem to be able to follow commands, it just couldn't really do complex thinking itself. It would follow its instincts on things if I gave it free reign. He was currently devouring a previous victim of the fiend.

"I swear, if you eat every carcass that we come across, I will feed you to the next Shadow I create."

He must've at least understood the threat, because Carrie paused for a moment before cautiously continuing.

Shadow Fragments: [10/100].

It was wild to see the fact that Carrie was already a tenth of the way to Ascension, but that was a fluke provided by the Memory market. I also needed to save Memories to improve Saint as well, so it was a balancing act.

Kai had gone to retrieve Nephis and Cassie from their trip, as I wanted to speak to them about Saint.

I had been studying her battle style for a while, and I noticed something.

She was... mad. Although she was immune to mind attacks, it seemed her mind had been affected by corruption nonetheless, which reflected in her actions.

Every creature she fought seemed to get tortured before being put out of its misery by the Stone Knights. It was a greatly disturbing, possibly purposeful show of power by the more intelligent statues. However, Saint would not usually spend useless moments keeping the prey alive.

That left an opening. The perfect time to slay her would be during those short moments of "mercy".

I could now form a plan.