Sword Saints
Back when Nephis was teaching Sunny how to use the sword, he had never been good enough to be her sparring partner. Once he learned enough to be of any use in a training fight, their fragile alliance had already broken and shattered to pieces.
So, apart from that short altercation on the somber slopes of the Ashen Barrow, they had never actually crossed swords with each other.
Now, it seemed, Changing Star had found a reliable sparring partner. Caster had not only replaced Sunny as her right-hand man, but also filled the roles that Sunny had been either reluctant or unfit to take on.
'Well… good for them.'
Once the Memories of the cohort were close to being fully restored, Nephis and Caster moved to the far end of the white arch to practice. Now, they were standing opposite each other, ready to begin.
Although no one called him over, Sunny approached the two Legacies and sat down, ready to enjoy the spectacle. He was keenly interested in observing these two immensely skilled swordsmen in action.
Both of them had been trained for combat from the day they could walk. Watching them would surely be helpful to his understanding of battle styles and techniques. Not to mention that he was very interested to see the rematch between Nephis and Caster. The last time he saw them fight, Changing Star had lost, but not by much.
She also had held back her Aspect Ability at that time, but he doubted that that would change today. Neph's flame could be used both to heal and annihilate, but sadly, not to train.
Caster glanced at him and frowned with visible displeasure.
Was he irritated because Sunny was about to learn a thing or two about his technique, or because Sunny was ruining his alone time with Nephis?
'Either way, I don't care.'
"What are you doing?"
Sunny shrugged.
"Watching. Why? Does this part of the arch belongs to your clan or something?"
The proud Legacy shook his head and turned away.
"Do as you wish."
Neph glanced at Sunny and didn't say anything. However, he could tell that she didn't mind.
In fact, it was almost as if she was approving of his decision.
Without wasting any more time, the two of them clashed in a whirlwind of steel, moving with the kind of speed that made it difficult for Sunny to follow along. The clangor of swords filled the air.
A bit stunned, he stared at the furious fight with a blank expression.
'...Damn.'
After the months of hunting monsters in the Dark City and his lessons with the Stone Saint, Sunny thought that he had developed his skill a lot. And he did. It's just that compared to Nephis and Caster, he was still so far behind that it was nothing short of disheartening.
Before, he had sometimes entertained the thought of maybe being able to stand against them… well, at least one of them… on equal ground. But now, this illusion was ruthlessly broken.
If things went south and he ended up on the opposite sides of the barricades with Caster, facing him would be tantamount to committing suicide. For now, at least.
Which, of course, simply meant that instead of facing him, Sunny would have to stab him in the back.
'Duly noted.'
He wasn't going to take on an enemy of this caliber in a forthright manner, anyway. What was he, a fool?
Concentrating on the fight, Sunny watched attentively. With the benefit of his new experience, he was able to discern more and learn more from how these two experts moved and acted. Sometimes, he was even able to predict what they were going to do next.
However, as time passed, a subtle frown appeared on his face.
'What is she doing? That doesn't make sense."
Sunny had been able to notice two unexpected things from how Nephis fought against Caster.
The first one was rather easy to spot. While Caster did not use the full extent of his incredible speed, he did use a fair share of it, making it almost impossible for Nephis to win any of their matches. She lost much more than she won, almost always by a few fractions of a second. Which was seemingly not conducive to training at all.
What was the point of training if one of the participants had almost no chance of winning because of how large the gap between them and their opponent was? There was a reason why Neph had never used Sunny as a sparring partner in the past, after all.
But then, with a bit of amusement, he realized that Changing Star was doing exactly what he had done with the Stone Saint. She was tempering herself against an overwhelming force. That's why she had instructed Caster to use just enough of his Aspect Ability to always be much faster than her.
Losing in a fight against a superior opponent was truly the best way to learn.
'Ha! So I was right in my approach, after all.'
If Changing Star was doing the same, he had to be right.
The second thing he had noticed, however, was much more perplexing.
It was that Nephis was not using her usual flowing and unpredictable battle style. Instead, she was moving with precise and firm elegance, hiding behind a carefully woven wall of defense and patiently waiting for an opening to appear — instead of creating one herself.
While intricate and impressive, this style was still a bit lacking in comparison to her real one. What's more, while it was deliberate and dependable, it was also rigid.
If there was one thing that Nephis would never tolerate in her battle art, it was rigidity. Her whole worldview was built around the idea that nothing had more value than adaptability. That's why the style she had taught Sunny suited her so well.
It was designed to be the epitome of changeability.
So, the question was…
Why the hell she was using something so alien to her against Caster?
The answer was pretty obvious. Either Nephis was trying to experiment with something new in an effort to adopt elements of this style into her own… which didn't seem very likely...
Or she didn't want Caster to know her true combat style too well, for some reason.
But what could that reason be?
Sunny rubbed his chin.
'Interesting…'
214 Transient Shadow
Did Nephis distrust Caster for some reason?
Sunny surely did, and to be entirely honest, he didn't even need any reason to do so. His intuition and general paranoia were enough.
But Changing Star was different. He had learned a bitter lesson and now knew that everything she ever did had a firm logic behind it. Even if that logic was entirely different from that of a normal person.
So if Nephis was hiding her true battle style from Caster, there was a reason for it.
But it didn't make any sense. From everything else that she had done, he was her most trusted lieutenant. Changing Star entrusted more to Caster than she ever had to anyone else. Caster himself also had never acted against Neph's interests.
In fact, he was even a bit too loyal. The bastard was always near Nephis, as though glued to her side. He also didn't seem to like it when others got too close to her.
In that regard, he was almost like that flying rapier of Cassie's. During their entire day on the marble arch, the unfriendly Echo somehow always managed to remain between the blind girl and any men who tried to approach her for whatever reason. The message it was sending was quite clear.
I'm watching you!
It was honestly rather comical.
Sunny shook his head. The dynamic of Changing Star's relationship with Caster was really weird. But once again, he didn't have enough information to make any conclusions. All he could do was keep his eyes open and try to sleep with one of them open when the handsome Legacy was on watch duty.
Maybe it was some strange Legacy thing? Like guarding the secrets of the clan against the prying eyes of other clans.
Who knew?
Glancing at the fighting swordsmen, Sunny suddenly got an idea.
After considering it for a bit, he looked at them again. This time, his eyes were burning.
'That… that actually might work!'
The problem with his technique at the moment was that it lacked true individuality. Sunny knew that there was a secret hiding inside his shadow that could become the foundation of his own unique battle style.
He just couldn't understand what that secret was.
His progress at deciphering it had stalled. While training, Sunny had trouble keeping his eyes both on the Stone Saint and on the shadow. Whenever he tried, the taciturn knight would inevitably send him into a sea of pain. But even if he managed it somehow, there was an invisible wall standing between him and anything even remotely resembling understanding.
He was in a dire need of a breakthrough.
So what if… his shadows tried to imitate someone else instead of him? And not just someone, but a real sword expert in the middle of a fight?
Not only would Sunny be able to observe every tiny detail of its movements, but there would also be something to compare them against.
The shadow was a part of him, after all. It was hard to tell where Sunny ended and the shadow began. That's why the difference in how it moved and how he moved was almost imperceptible.
But if it followed someone else, he would be able to separate the cadence and pattern of that person's movements from the shadow's by contrasting it against his own.
This had to work!
Burning with anticipation, Sunny waited for Nephis and Caster to take a short break, and then send the shadow over to the handsome Legacy.
Leisurely strolling over the white marble, the shadow approached Caster and brazenly glued itself to his feet. Then, it crossed its arms and glared at the Legacy with almost palpable disdain.
Caster stared at the shadow for a couple of seconds and then raised his head to look at Sunny. There was a very strange expression on his face.
"What… what are you doing?"
His voice did not sound happy at all.
Sunny shrugged with a carefree smile.
"Oh, don't mind him. This cretin just lost me an ascended soul shard. As a form of punishment, I've decided to make him your shadow for a bit. So, you know. Just do your thing and don't worry about it."
The shadow turned its head and pierced him with a menacing look.
Sunny could practically hear its thoughts…
...Who are you calling a cretin, you cretin?
'That had to be it. Did I guess right, huh? Oh, sorry. I forgot you cannot answer.'
Not paying the offended shadow any more attention, he just smiled wider.
Caster frowned, hesitated for a few moments, and then said through gritted teeth:
"I would prefer if you wouldn't."
Sunny sighed.
"Ugh, alright. Whatever."
With that, he gave the shadow the command to leave the proud Legacy alone.
It separated itself from Caster, pretended to wipe its legs in disgust… and sauntered over to Nephis, only to get attached to her feet with visible delight. It even bowed gallantly to her own shadow and made sure to not get in its way.
'What… what is this moron doing?'
Of course, Sunny had ordered the shadow to approach Neph himself. But he didn't expect it to be so visibly pleased by it.
It was as if the shadow was simply beyond itself to finally follow someone competent.
'You traitor!'
Nephis looked down on the shadow, smiled, and didn't say anything.
'Well... good. Now, fight!'
The two Legacies did not make him wait long. A few moments later, they were once again locked in a furious battle. Only this time, two shadows were following Nephis.
Both of them loyally imitated her movements, however, one of them was slightly… almost imperceptibly… different.
Sunny looked at it with an intensity that threatened to burn two holes in the white marble.
Soon, his eyes widened.
'I… I see it! I think I see it!'
There, in the tiniest difference between the way Changing Star's own shadow moved and the way his shadow moved, he finally saw it.
He had found his breakthrough.
