In the Combat class of the awakened Academy, a shadow entered unnoticed by everyone.
The test of strength has been over for a while now, the students were just starting with the duels.
Sunny, through his shadow, watched the students fight. His Shadow Dance, already at the second step, was instantly copying every battle art used.
The fights were not very exciting.
Until the main men entered the stage.
Nephis, Yuki, and Caster were defeating every opponent almost instantly.
Their battle arts were more refined, and all three of them showed more experience than the others.
Gloomy, looking around, saw Yuki noticed him.
"How in the Spell!?" Screwed Sunny in his room.
"How did she notice it?"
Returning to the lesson now, Nephis and Caster stood opposite each other in the circle.
Nephis regarded her opponent with her classic expressionless face; however, Sunny could clearly sense her hostility from her shadow. Caster, for his part, wore a smug smile.
"Lady Nephis. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Said Caster with an elegant bow.
Nephis didn't reply.
Caster continued, "I'm longed this meeting for a long time. I must say! You are far more beautiful than the rumors say."
Hearing this, the other students murmured. The fact that the two of them were betrothed wasn't a secret to the public, much to Nephis's outrage.
'So! This time Caster is not aiming for the kill.' Sunless was amused by the situation.
"Shut your cur mouth and fight!" Said Nephis straight ahead to him.
Caster for a moment lost his composure, then raised his training sword and lunged forward at high speed.
Their swords clashed. Nephis easily blocks his attack and strokes him back.
A shadow witnessed their fight with silent interest. This fight was much better than any he's seen so far in this class.
Of course!
After watching the fight between two Ascendants in his First Nightmare, this pales in comparison. But it still had its charm.
Caster fought with precision and determination, always aiming below the diaphragm of his opponent. Nephis easily followed his every move and elegantly rejected his high-speed assaults.
After some clashes, the duel ended in a draw.
Caster was exhausted, but Nephis wasn't even out of breath.
She didn't fight seriously.
Caster noticed this; he had used his aspect and still lost. The idea made him burn with rage inside.
He stepped out of the ring and stood against the wall with arms crossed, watching the next sparring with silent anger.
After Instructor Rock announced the end of the match, a new challenger showed up to fight Nephis.
Now it was Nephis versus Yuki.
'Oh oh oh! This is going to be cinema.'
Sunny really wished he had some popcorn right now.
Nephis and Yuki stood in the circle.
The two studied each other.
Nephis's gaze was fixed on her opponent, her training sword raised in both hands.
Yuki kept one eye on Nephis and the other on the gloomy shadow, more attentive to him than her opponent. One hand held the sword, the other was behind her back in a clenched fist.
Instructor Rock announced the start of the fight.
This time, Nephis advanced first. Yuki stepped forward. Their swords were about to clash, but before they did... Yuki stepped back, raising her sword defensively, lowering her hips, and with a left turn, she delivered a heel kick to Nephis's left leg below the knee.
Nephis met her sword, but, surprised by her opponent's move, she took the blow and fell on her side.
Everyone remained silent at what had just happened in front of them.
"..."
"..."
"Wait! That's it?" Sunny said, sitting on the bed with a bucket of popcorn in his room.
"Man! That was... disappointing."
Then Sunny saw Nephis stand up and pick up her sword again.
"Come on, Autistic Star! Show them who you are!" Out of excitement he accidentally threw a handful of popcorn on the floor.
Nephis was back on her feet. His eyes burned with rage. Wrapping herself with her flame, she shoots at Yuki again.
This time, Yuki held the sword with both hands and blocked the assault.
The fight took another turn.
The two girls fought each other like madmen.
Every slash calculated. Every thrust was flawless. Every kick and punch was precise.
At one point, Yuki even used her aspect. The room's temperature suddenly dropped, rivaling the heat of Nephis's flames.
A freezing mist enveloped Yuki's body. True to her name, she looked like a true Yuki-onna now.
The fight became even more ferocious.
Everyone present was left silent by the spectacle of ice and fire created by the two fairies. Not even Instructor Rock wanted to stop the fight before someone might get hurt.
Shards of ice and sparks of fire flew across the room as the two girls continued to dance with their blades.
Even the gloomy shadow watched all this speechless, not that the shadows can talk anyway.
"What monsters..."
Sunny, still in his room crunching popcorn, was breathless.
In his mind, he was going through different scenarios where he stood against one of the two or also both of the girls.
Even if they weren't as strong as Thene, they were still amazing.
His shadow dance was copying their battle arts, but he still could not think of a way to win against them.
This, if he fight them without any preparation.
The duel continued.
Nephis swung another downward blow. Yuki deflected it and, moving behind her, kicked her. At the last moment, Nephis turned and parried the kick, taking a few steps back. Regaining her balance, Nephis moved forward again. Yuki intercepted her with a horizontal blow from the left. Nephis gracefully dodged it with the flat of her sword.
The two continued like this for another three hours. Neither was able to land the final blow.
Eventually, even this duel ended in a draw, both fighters exhausted.
Leaving the circle, Yuki looked into the corner of the room where the gloomy shadow had been standing the whole time.
Gloomy waved at her; Yuki nodded back and smiled, pleased with the support of his shadow friend.
After that, the lesson ended. Sunny, surprised by Yuki's smile-that Snowoman knows too much-retreated his shadow to his room.
"Good job, buddy!"
Gloomy nodded at its master.
While it was returning, Gloomy noticed that the boy where it went first was still swearing.
"Yeah! Maybe I should apologize to that guy tomorrow." Said Sunny with a little guilt.
He will never apologize to that guy.
Satisfied with his results, Sunny got out of bed and commanded Serpent to use his [soul weapon] to transform into a short sword.
Sunny had planned to try a spear or a simple sword as a training weapon, but when he trained with Thene, this was his weapon of choice.
Besides, being in a room without reinforcements, he couldn't train fully as it would damage everything.
He couldn't even call upon the Shadow Priestess to help him with the Shadow Dance.
While Thene was in [Shadow Walker] mode, she was practically unnoticeable, but an ascending shadow wandering around the institute?
A little hard to miss.
Shaking his head, Sunny began to practice all the styles he had just witnessed through his shadow.
His sword swung in the air.
The first were the basic, rude, and awkward styles of the first ones to win a fight or two. Then came the battle styles of many Legacies. Between them an expert could distinguish those of the minor Clans of Valor, Song, and House of Night. Then the big three of the Combat class.
Caster, with his steely but speed-related battle style.
Yuki, her battle art was precise and focused on defeating the opponent with the least number of blows exchanged.
And in the end.
Nephis.
Nephis's battle art was... odd.
It didn't seem like the famous style of the Immortal Flame clan, the one taught to her by her father, Broken Sword.
It resembled a little bit of the Song's style and a little bit of Valor's style, but looking further, there was something that Sunny could not figure out.
Strange!
Nephis didn't seem to have restrained herself while fighting Yuki. They were fighting even too hard for her to hold back.
However, with what he actually had, Sunny continued his practice.
Two hours later.
Despite the intense exercise, his body didn't shed a single drop of sweat. The Shadow lineage had, now, rendered his body entirely dead.
In fact, he couldn't even feel [the Heart] responding within him anymore.
Sunny looked at his runes.
***
Aspect Legacy: [Shadow dance]
First relic: [claimed]
Second relic: [claimed]
Third relic: [unlearned]
Fourth relic...
Fifth...
***
Sunny sighed in disappointment.
'I guess I can't have everything right away.'
He was very close to his third step, but close is not enough.
Since his [Shadowspawn] attribute allowed him to stay awake for longer periods of time than a normal sleeper, Sunny spent the rest of the night refining his essence with the help of Serpent.
With his knowledge, he wanted to attempt natural awakening.
The day after.
Sunny was sitting at the cafeteria, talking with Cassie and Yuki.
All of a sudden, Caster and other Legacies approached their table. Ignoring the other two, Caster turned to Yuki.
"Miss Yuki, good morning." Caster bowed his head slightly in greeting. "I wanted to congratulate you. Last night's fight was spectacular. You and Nephis are truly the academy's gems of this year."
Yuki looked at Caster, without responding she accepted his compliments.
Seeing that he was being overshadowed, Sunny resumed eating in silence.
"If it's not a bother, may I ask which clan you're from? A genius like you, it's hard that I have never heard of you."
"No one," answered Yuki.
Caster and the other legacies were taken aback.
"I see! Well, you must be a once-in-a-thousand-years born genius, Miss Yuki."
'Come on, Caster! How long do you plan to play the hidden-villain character?' Thought Sunny, who was hear him while eating his breakfast, unbothered.
"Miss Yuki, would you like to join at the table with me and the other legacies?"
"No."
With that, Yuki returned to her plate.
The legacies with Caster were outraged by the girl declining the kindness of their boss.
"Are you sure?" Caster tried again, but this time Yuki didn't turn toward him.
"I can promise you that we are a better company than those two mongrels."
Sunny wasn't bothered by his words. After all, he'd been told worse things in this life and the previous one.
Cassie, on the other hand, was mortified. Seeing her, Sunny squeezed her hand from under the table.
'Oh! I will enjoy killing you, Caster; I will really enjoy it!' Swear Sunny to himself.
No one can insult his Waifu and get away with it.
Hidden from all, a devilish smile appears on his face.
Suddenly, the temperature around the table seemed to drop. Cold shivers ran down Caster's spine and the other Legacies.
Sunny, surprised, turned toward Yuki; the girl noticed him and held back.
The cold disappeared shortly afterward. Caster and the Legacies calmed down.
Yuki, always expressionless, snapped out toward Caster and said, "This 'Mongrel', as you call him, is stronger than anyone else here."
"Hm!?" Sunny, with the bite of food in his mouth, looked up at her. His eyes were wide and his eyebrows raised in shock, incredulous at what the girl had just said.
Hearing this, the Legacies burst out laughing. Sunny swore to see a vein pulsing in Caster's face.
Sunny really wanted to jump into the Forgotten Shore right now.
'What's the deal with you, ice-Neph!?'
Cassie, sensing that Sunny was embarrassed, squeezed his hand from under the table and offered him a smile.
Seeing her, the smile returned to his face.
"As you wish!" Finally said Caster, failing to hide the anger in his voice.
He and the Legacies left them, not without mocking Sunny while returning to their table.
The table where Sunny, Cassie and Yuki were eating fell silent again.
The three resumed their meal undisturbed...
Or so Sunny hoped.
After a while, Nephis approached their table.