Shadow Slave

Trying to learn the secrets of the shadow was a very slow process. Sunny could only see glimpses of the mysterious battle style while fighting against the Stone Saint, and doing so usually required his full attention. As long as he wasn't fully concentrated on his opponent, their clashes ended in mere seconds, making so that there was nothing to observe.

But when he concentrated on the battle at hand, he couldn't really pay any attention to the shadow, which in turn eliminated the possibility of observing it. Finding the right balance between the two tasks was not easy, not to mention painful. Every time he failed, a new bruise appeared on his body.

And yet, there was progress. Although Sunny was still unable to peer into the depths of the battle art, he was slowly beginning to get a feel for it. His shadow was more treacherous, fluid, and malleable than he was. There was a hint of a graceful cadence to its movements that lacked in his.

It was as though it was performing a dance. A shadow dance.

Frustrated by the lack of a breakthrough, Sunny wanted to push himself harder, but had to stop himself. Even considering the tenacious effects of the Blood Weave, his training regimen had already brought his body to its limits. He needed to preserve its condition if he was going to join Nephis on her long expedition…

Unless he wanted to enter the Labyrinth while crippled with exhaustion and injuries, of course.

What Sunny failed to realize due to the lack of experience — and the fact that he had been mostly self-taught — was that this accomplishment had already made him an outlier as far as humans went. Most novices weren't even able to master the superficial aspects of different battle styles, let alone recognize their fundamental traits for what they were.

They simply followed the rules without understanding them, regarding styles as something indubitable and rigid. Only the most experienced fighters had enough understanding of the essence of a battle art to attempt to manipulate it.

So he was already far ahead of the curve.

But since Sunny never had a proper mentor, he had no idea that he was trying to accomplish something that an average human would never be able to do. His only point of reference was Nephis, who was an absolute outlier herself.

If renowned masters of combat arts were to learn that a self-taught youth from the outskirts had managed to dismantle two incredibly complex battle styles into basic elements and assemble them together to better suit his tastes, while also trying to learn a third one from his shadow, they would be stunned.

However, Sunny just thought that he was unsuccessful and incredibly slow.

'Ugh! Maybe I'm just stupid…'

Picking himself up from the floor, Sunny sighed and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Then, he glanced at the Stone Saint and leaned on the wall.

"You're done for today?"

Effie was nearby, dying from boredom. Watching Sunny torture himself was her only way to entertain herself in this dark room.

Well, that and torturing him herself. Among other things.

'Whatever.'

He gave her a tired nod.

"Yeah, I think so. It's already dusk, so I'll probably rest for a bit and go out."

The huntress narrowed her eyes.

"By the way, I wanted to ask. How do you even know what time of day it is? There's no windows here, and we can't hear the sea yet."

He glanced at her with a gloomy expression and reluctantly answered:

"The shadow of the Crimson Spire. I can feel it."

Effie blinked a couple of times, then shrugged.

"Ah, I see. Anyway, since you're done… can I have a turn with your girlfriend?"

Sunny gritted his teeth and answered without even thinking:

"She's not my girlfriend!"

Only then did he realize what Effie was asking. She had never shown interest in sparring with the Stone Saint before. Why now?

Not that it mattered.

"And no, you can't."

The huntress titled her head.

"What? Why?"

Sunny scoffed.

"Do I need to explain it? It's too dangerous! What if something happens to you?"

Effie giggled.

"So let me get this straight. You can train with her all day every day, but you think that, for me, she's too tough?"

He shook his head.

"Don't misunderstand. It's just that if something happens to me, the worst outcome is that I die. If something happens to you, however, I'm going to get killed by Nephis. The end result is the same, but one way is vastly better than the other. Get it?"

She crossed her arms.

"Oh, come on! I just want to see which one of us is stronger!"

Sunny scowled.

"No way. Don't even think about it."

Effie silently glared at him.

"I said no, okay? There's no way I'm letting you fight her!"

The huntress grinned.

"Ah, alright. That's not going to be a problem…"

***

A few minutes later, Sunny was staring at the scene in front of him in disbelief.

How did it come to this?

Leaning over the opulent wooden table stood Effie and the Stone Saint. The elbows of their right hands rested on the table, while their palms were pressed against each other.

The Shadow was taciturn and indifferent, while the huntress was full of enthusiasm.

They were… preparing to arm wrestle.

Effie glanced at him and grinned.

"Wanna bet who's going to win? If I overpower your girlfriend, you'll owe me a shard… no, ten shards!"

Sunny sighed.

"What if you lose?"

The unruly huntress winked at him.

"...You know what, I don't even want to know. I don't gamble, so forget about it."

Effie sighed.

"So boring. Anyway… let's do this!"

She gripped the Stone Saint's hand and prepared to wrestle.

"Let's go!"

Instantly, both the Shadow and huntress tried to bring the opponent's arm down. The table groaned, subjected to a crushing amount of pressure. For a moment, it seemed that the Stone Saint was on the losing side, but in the end, her hand only moved by a millimeter.

The monster stared at the young woman with her ruby eyes, her face hidden behind the visor of the helmet. There was no emotion in her gaze.

Effie's hazel eyes, on the contrary, were full of mirth. There was a relaxed smile frozen on her face.

However, Sunny could see that she was putting her all into this struggle. The lean muscles tautened under the olive skin of her back. Her whole body was like a loaded spring, brimming with strength and overwhelming power.

And yet, the Shadow's hand did not move.

It seemed as though neither of them could overpower the other.

'Huh. I wonder who will give up first…'

A second after second passed in silence, but nothing changed. Both Effie and the Stone Saint were persisting, not giving up even a tiny bit of ground. The amount of strength they were exerting to keep this volatile balance made Sunny sweat a little.

'They're both monsters!'

…In the end, the first one to give up was the table. Not able to withstand the pressure anymore, it simply… exploded.

Covering his face to protect it from the flying splinters, Sunny froze for a moment, then stared at the pile of tiny debris.

A feeling of deep sorrow and indignation pierced his heart.

'Oh… oh no! My table!'