Chapter XXIII: William, the Combat Professor

Six Carapace Scavengers wandered through their natural habitat, their stomachs grumbling from hunger.

These six had been kicked out of the feast by their stronger brethren, causing them to join up and search for whatever morsel of food to sate their hunger.

It was then that all six immediately stopped in their tracks. They smelt something in the air. A smell that was so tantalizing and delicious that it put the grand carcass feast to shame.

The way they followed after the smell made them seem more akin to dogs rather than fearsome nightmare creatures, but their simple, beastly minds were already hooked on the salivation-inducing aroma.

After a few moments, the smell got stronger. It appeared as if their meal was coming towards them on its own.

When they reached a small circular clearing with tall coral ridges circling it, the nightmare creatures found their quarry.

A lone, tiny biped with soft, pale skin and twig-like arms was standing at the end of the clearing, staring at them. The smell coming from him was nearly driving them insane.

Awakened beasts, as per their name, were no more intelligent than mere beasts; thus, they didn't find it strange that their prey was not running away even though it was facing six monstrous scavengers - rather their prey had a mocking smile on its face. It said something in a language they couldn't understand.

Their hunger at its peak and their minds enraptured by the aroma in the air, the six creatures wasted no time in charging at their prey.

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"Come on, you freaky bastards," William yelled as loud as he could and hoped that his two companions would understand the signal, "your lunch is here!"

He felt the muddy ground rumble as the six nightmare creatures were charging at him with unnatural speed.

Frostmourne took less than a moment to manifest in his hands, its cold, cursed metal giving him a strange feeling of comfort.

He simply waited and observed as the horde crossed the halfway mark across the clearing. His eyes skimmed through the surrounding coral for any sign of his companions.

After a while of not finding any signs of them, a mocking voice laced with venom whispered in his ear, "They betrayed you. They left you to die to save their own skins."

He knew that voice all too well; after all, it was his own.

A seed doubt began to sprout in his heart as he stared at the approaching horde.

"The Changing Star barely trusts you and that Lost from Light has treachery ingrained in his very nature."

Seconds stretched into mortifying minutes as half a dozen Carapace Scavengers continued charging at him with reckless abandon.

"Let's not forget about that manipulative oracle. You know that she is also going to betray you in just a moment to save her own skin. You already know what she did to Sunny even after all the help he gave her.

Yet, you continue to coddle her just because of some resemblance she has for Sarah. Well, she's not her! You left Sarah six feet under when you came here! Stop tarnishing her memory!"

A droplet of cold sweat trickled down his back inside the [Osseous Exoarmor] as his hands tightened around the grip of the cursed mourneblade. William's hearbeat began to increase rapidly.

'Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it.....,' he yelled over and over in his head in an effort to make the voices stop. 'Fuck off and leave me alone!?'

It was then that he saw a girl with silver hair silently emerging from the coral. Following behind her, hidden by her shadow, was a pale, dark-haired boy. The voices immediately ceased as if they were never there. Yet, the cold sweat on his forehead and his racing heart attested to the occurance of the previous conversation.

Shaken cerulean eyes met clear grey, and their owners nodded in silent agreement. Then, Nephis and Sunless started running towards their targets with swords in hand.

William let out a breath he didn't know that he was holding, and as soon as the monsters were just a dozen or so feet away from him, he activated his [Mantle of Death].

The monsters let out cries of abject fear and horror as their primitive minds got assaulted by visions of their own vicious deaths.

At the end of the day, even the lowest of beasts fear their mortality.

Their deadly charge skidded to a halt as their scythe-like legs cut deep grooves into the soft mud in an effort to run away from whatever monstrosity they were envisioning.

However, their fates were already sealed.

Nephis and Sunless each chose a target whose weak point was the most prominent and aimed for the kill with their swords.

Not to be outdone, William drove his mourneblade through the armor gaps in the torso of one of the scavengers at the forefront of the group. The cursed sword was long enough to reach its spine and severe it - effectively ending its wretched life.

The foul blade glowed with glee as it devoured its newest meal.

[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.] (D20 = 5)

[Your soul grows stronger.]

Unfortunately, due to the nightmare creatures being a full rank above William, his ability had a limited duration of effect on the gruesome beasts.

The three still living scavengers were momentarily confused as the vison they had been experiencing vanished.

However, that confusion quickly turned to rage as they saw three of their own kind slain.

Maybe it was their insticts as beasts telling them to fight for survival or some deeply ingrained loyalty towards fellow members of the Fallen Legion that had withstood their curse's corrupting influence that told them to take revenge for their fallen comrades.

Either way, the Carapace Scavengers cried bloody vengence and began attacking with their large, sharp pincers.

William pried off his sword of the dead creature, causing azure blood to spurt all over his armor.

However, he didn't have time to be disgusted as he rolled to the side to dodge the pincer that had shot down towards him like a lance.

Against his better judgment, William glanced at the ongoing situation with his companions.

Nephis, as usual, seemed to be in control of the battle's tempo as she cut and weaved through the monster's attacks. With each attack the monster made, a new wound would appear on its chitinous armor, which leaked azure blood.

The heiress of the fallen legacy clan seemed to be completely in her element.

Unfortunately, Sunny hadn't completely healed from the fight he had the day before, so he accidentally slipped on the loose mud, resulting in him falling prone. Thus, he was vulnerable to his opponents already raised pincer.

'Oh, no, you don't,' thought William as his hand subtly glowed in a sickly green light.

The pincer that was about to directly smash the dark-haired boy into mush suddenly lost its target and slammed a few inches away from the prone Sleeper.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Sunny rolled away from the pincer and jumped up to his feet with his [Azure Blade] gripped in his slightly shaking hands - his eyes were widened at the near death experience he just had.

Unfortunely, every action has begets a reaction.

William felt the air being pushed out of his lungs as his opponent slammed its giant pincer at his chest and threw him towards the coral ridges.

With such monstrous strength, no wonder their echoes have the [Strong] attribute.

With a dull Crash! William's back slammed against the hard coral causing spittle and few drops of blood to escape his mouth.

Thankfully, the [Death Aegis] enchantment on his armor provided high defenses against physical and soul attacks; otherwise, this attack would've displaced much of his organs just from its sheer intensity.

Picking himself up from the ground, his left eye cringed at the soreness he felt all over his chest.

Fortunately or unfortunately, he had suffered much more painful experiences in his first nightmare and that was before he became an awakened.

He could manage this much pain.

Seeing that its prey didn't seem that much injured by its mighty attack, the Carapace Scavenger grew even more enraged.

Like a bull that had just seen a red drape, the nightmare creature charged at William with reckless abandon using its two pincers as makeshift lances like some form of demented knight charge.

Instead of running away, William, too, rushed at the monster with Frostmourne firmly gripped in his palms. Just when they were about to meet, the white-haired youth immediately took advantage of the mud's slippery nature and slid right underneath the charging creature's legs.

As he did so, the Malevolent Star didn't forget to severe the scavenger's leg joints.

One slide, one blade arc, and two severed legs were the end results of his gamble.

Having been basically crippled, the scavenger tried to defend itself with its pincers, but once it had lost its mobility, it was as good as dead.

Thus, without further ceremony, William jumped onto the monster's back and pierced the discolored patch of carapace there.

Frostmourne pierced into the chitinous carapace like a hot knife through butter.

Once inside, William twisted the blade as petty revenge for being flung across the clearing.

He didn't remove his sword until the Spell's voice rang in his ears.

[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.] (D20 = 18)

[You have gained a memory: Whetstone.]

[Your soul grows stronger.]

Removing his weapon from the cranial cavity of the scavenger, William looked over at his companion to assess their situation.

Thankfully, they seem to have just slain their respective opponents, too.

Nephis looked no worse for wear as she gazed at the burning Carapace Scavenger with an unreadable expression.

When she noticed his gaze, her attention shifted away from the burning carcass and focused on him.

The Living Undead noticed a glimmer of an emotion in her steel-grey eyes - different from her usual feigned apathy.

Was it appreciation.... acknowledgment..... or was it guarded wariness towards him.

Then, her gaze turned towards his armor as if checking for something.

'She saw me get hit, huh?' the young man hypothesized uncertainly in his head.

Truth be told, William doubted that even the original author knew what was going inside that girl's mind half of the time.

Sunny, on the other hand, was already busy cutting into his dead opponent's chest to extract the soul shard.

For someone who was supposed to acquire the inheritance of the most enigmatic daemon, he was surprisingly easy to read but that was only because Shadow Slave was mostly written by exploring his point of view.

Thus, it was natural that he understood the Flower Boy's character better than he did the enigmatic Changing Star.

Looking at the end results of his plan, a strange feeling of accomplishment suffused through the tall youth's being.

He was no grand tactician by any stretch of the word, but seeing his plan - if you can even call it one - succeed with such stellar results made him feel good about himself.

It was like the time he fell that goddamned Bone Centipede after all his numerous attempts and trials.

After basking in the brief glory of victory, William turned his attention to the carcass sitting before him. It was time to get his hard-earned loot.

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Cassie didn't know for how long she had been waiting for her companions to return while sitting on the back of the echo generously given to her by William.

To say that she was surprised when she received it was an understatement. An echo was far more precious in an awakened's arsenal than even memories since they can fight autonomously based on the echo's memories.

It is basically like having an extra ally help you in a fight.

Of course, she already knew that William had an ability that allowed him to raise nightmare creatures to do his bidding since and she had a general idea what they were capable of.

Even now, she was certain that those same creatures were protecting the area around her if the scuttling she was hearing was anything to go by.

As childish as it was, especially in the situation they were in, she felt an inexplicable feeling of satisfaction knowing that only she knew about his ability. It showed how much William placed his trust in her.

Then, her mood took a nose dive as she remembered what she said to him before he went to fight the Carapace Scavengers.

'Why did you say that, Cassie! You idiot!' she berated herself in her head while gently biting onto her thumb's nail. 'You already know the burden he carries! Why do you have to make it more difficult for him?'

'What if he thinks that you're being too nosey? He will surely abandon you; especially when he has much more useful people to travel with. You're just dead baggage that drags them down.'

Fortunately, before Cassie could drive herself more into the mud, the sound of three familiar voices reached her sensitive ears.

"...can't believe that your crazy plan worked," that voice sounded like Sunless. From what she heard, it seemed that they had succeeded.

"I'm just glad we got away unharmed," the expression on the blond girl's face brightened as she heard William's voice, but then it turned into a worried frown.

"You got hurt," noted Nephis in her usual matter-of-factly way.

William didn't say anything further since they arrived at her location.

"Cass," she heard him call out to her, "we're back!"

"W-Welcome back!" she stammered. 'Get it together, Cassie!'

"Are any of you hurt?"

"Pshhh, nah. We finished the job without a scratch," William lied.

Cassie didn't like it when he lied to her.

"William got hit by a scavenger," Nephis tattled.

"THAT'S not important right now," he said as he glared at the tattle tale, "what's important is that we move before more scavies find their way towards us. Sunny, is the path ahead clear?"

"Uh," replied the group's scout as looked through his shadow's eyes, "as far as I can tell, it is safe."

"Great, let's move it, people," he ordered confidently as he marched ahead, "daylight is burning!"

"Huh, that's one way to avoid a conversation," Cassie heard Sunless mutter under his breath, and she was inclined to agree.

"Agreed," it seemed that the Changing Star was of the same mind as she looked at William's armored back.

Then, she began to move after him with Sunless following shortly.

Cassie continued to look at the direction William had gone to for a few moments before letting out a worried sigh and ordering her echo to follow the others.

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The group had been able to reach the knight statue before nightfall thanks to them not wasting their time in taking long-winded detours through the intertwining labyrinth.

However, thanks to their aggressive tactics and a little help from [Fateless], they had come into skirmished with fourteen additional Carapace Scavengers in addition to the group of six that they had ambushed.

William had managed to slay 7 scavengers, Nephis managed to slay 4 scavengers, and Sunless had managed to slay 3 on his own.

Of course, this number would've increased if William's minions weren't supporting them in the background by killing any stray scavenger that got close to their rear.

{7 personal kills + 6 minion kills. D20 = 3, 9, 16, 7, 16, 11, 10, 7, 7, 4, 6, 8, 12}

{ +2 weapon Memories: [Azure Spear], [Azure Warhammer]} 

It was at the end of the day that both Sunny and Nephis understood that William was not bragging when he said that he could fight for two people.

It was not even a matter of skill anymore, since if he were to be compared to Nephis; then it was clear to anyone that she was the one with the superior martial skills.

Yet, despite this, the white-haired youth killed almost double the number of monsters she did.

It was then that Sunny and Nephis came to a realization.

William was relentless in his battles against the nightmare creatures - if they didn't know any better, they would've thought that the boy had a death wish. 

With his sinister-looking sword, he cut into one creature after another in an endless assault while flawlessly weaving through their brutal strikes as if he had already memorized how they attacked and moved.

Once one creature was slain, he quickly moved onto the next target as he fully took advantage of his inexhaustible stamina.

Even when he received the injuries, it would heal upon minutes.

It was like he was a machine solely made for battle.

However, this in and of itself raised several questions, especially for Sunny.

It was already night, and the Dark Sea had already retaken its lands taken from it by the sun.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Sunny asked as the group was eating their dinner while sitting around the campfire on top of the headless statue.

Luckily, William had enough insight to secure enough wood in his [Scout's Sack] to setup a campfire. Otherwise, they would've had to resort to eating dried strips of meat.

Sunny was immediately met by three sets of curious looks upon him asking his question.

"I-I mean, I never saw anyone in the outskirts fight the way you do," the dark-haired boy added in panic due to the attention he was receiving.

William took a bite out of the magically processed meat in his hand, chewed it slowly, then swallowed. Meanwhile, all three of his companions were waiting for his answer anxiously.

"That's because I didn't learn it from the outskirts, Sunny," responded the youth with a sigh as he took another bite out of his dinner.

"Then where?" prodded the shorter boy.

William gazed at the fire for a few seconds while he formulated a response.

"I 'borrowed' it from someone," he said with finality.

Sunny cursed at William inside his heart. Now he had even more questions!

The rest of their meal was eaten with awkward silence thanks to detective Sunny.

When they finished their dinner, Nephis cleared her throat, "Today's spoils."

It took a second for them to understand what she meant.

Both William and Sunny took out the loot in their respective bags. After a few moments, a veritable pile of twenty-six soul shards lay on the ground.

"Damn," uttered Sunny incredulously, "never saw so many soul shards in one place."

William felt a tug on his arm, and then Cassie's voice came in a whisper, "How many are there?"

"Twenty-six," he whispered back.

"Oh my," she exclaimed softly with her eyes widened, "you guys defeated so many scavengers?"

Nephis didn't seem that impressed as the rest of her companions, probably due to her Legacy background. They most likely had vaults full of this stuff back in the day.

Without narry a word, she began distributing the pile based on the day's kill count.

She gave William eleven soul shards, herself nine, and Sunny six.

"Right, here's my end of the bargain, Sunny," William shoved two soul shards towards the dark-haired male. Then, from his nine soul shards, he gave five to Cassie.

"I-I can't accept this, William," she said in panic upon receiving the shards. She didn't deserve to have them since she wasn't remotely useful in fighting against the nightmare creatures.

"I said that I would fight for two people. This is just your share," William ruffled her soft blond hair as he let out a mirthful chuckle.

That was effective in stopping whatever complaints that were about to leave Cassie's mouth, as she let out an inaudible, "Thank you."

Nephis observed the interaction between the two for a while before she focused on absorbing her soul shards.

Meanwhile, Sunny was alternating his attention between Nephis and William as if contemplating something.

"William," Sunny then came to a decision and cleared his throat, "I want to make a trade."

This statement caught the attention of the other three Sleepers as they immediately focused their attention on him.

"What do you want to trade for exactly?" inquired William with a healthy dose of curiosity and suspicion in his voice.

He may have liked Sunny as a novel character, but he was not going to let him rip him off.

'Curses,' thought Sunny. He didn't like being put under the spotlight, 'Should've chosen a better time for this.'

Sunless took in a deep breath and exhaled, "I want to trade in my soul shards and all the soul shards I acquire until we reach the castle. In return, I want you to teach me how to fight."

'What's happening, Sunny? You should've asked Nephis for this, not me.'

"Why me?"

Sunny knew that he couldn't say that it was because of his belief that Nephis wouldn't teach him fully due to her being a lofty Legacy while and he himself was a simple kid from the outskirts.

In the end, he didn't want his to sour his brittle relationship with her more than it currently was.

Moreover, even though William had his quirks, Sunny could still deal with him comfortably since he was from the outskirts - the same as him - unlike Nephis.

The tall, pale youth watched as the dark-eyed boy tried to give an answer only to swallow down his words.

He looked extremely troubled.

After a moment of deliberation, William nodded his head, "I accept."

Sunny was elated, but it didn't last long.

What he heard next made him feel as if a bucket of icy water was poured on him.

"However, I won't take your soul shards."

"Then.... What do you want?" asked the dark-haired boy with deeply ingrained distrust.

"I will teach you what I can, and in return, you will owe me a favor," replied William with a grin.

Sunless gulped the saliva that had been pooling in his mouth.

This was not going according to his plans.

He could've easily given William soul shards without being at a disadvantage - he didn't have any use for it, after all.

Yet, now, William had refused his soul shards and, in turn, only asked for a favor in turn.

William's offer was the epitome of generosity and consideration - that is, if Sunny was a normal awakend. Unfortunately, the shadow master was as far from being a normal awakened as one could be.

However, he was forced to accept the damned offer since if he refused, then he would make himself look suspicious to his companions.

As a result, he was unknowingly forced into William's trap again.

"Thanks," said Sunny, his face decorated with the best fake smile he had.

"No problem, my friend," the cerulean-eyed young man replied with a chuckle as he gave a friendly slap to Sunny's back, "us outskirt kids must stick together in these troubled times."

Sunny grunted from the impact before he tried to play along - albiet unenthusiastically, "Haha..... ha..."

Nephis watched this all unfold with a curious glint in her eyes and narry a word spoken during the entire conversation.

Meanwhile, Cassie simply listened on with a gentle smile on her face while holding a soul shard her friend had given her in her hands.

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In a dark void where the concepts of time and space held no value, the golden strings of an immeasurably massive and complicated weaved tapestry shifted ever so slightly from their positions and attached themselves in a different order.

The darkness shook in agitation, and the gestating embryo began growing ever so slightly.

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"So, when do we start?" inquired William's student.

"Hmm," hummed Sunny's teacher while rubbing his chin sagely, "we could start now."

"Now? Like, right now?"

"Why not? It's not like we have much else to do," shrugged the white-haired youth.

"Today's lesson would be a theoretical one. Cass and Princess can listen, too."

"But they didn't pay," complained the disgruntled Flower Boy.

"Neither would've you if you just asked instead of proposing a deal. Unfortunately, that ship has already sailed, so sit your ass down and pay attention."

'Okay, time to put what I read from Shadow Slave and learned from Arthas to good use,' he sent a brief apologetic look towards Nephis, 'sorry for taking your student.'

Like this, two hours passed as William explained the theories of combat to his companions; focusing on connection between the body, mind, and the weapon of a warrior.

Of course, most of it was plagiarized from the ex-prince, but he was sure that Arthas didn't mind.

Fortunately, he didn't fuck up since even the Changing Star herself began paying rapt attention to his impromptu lecture. Spell, she even looked slightly impressed.

"Alright class, a final question before we end today's lecture," said William as he fully took on the role of a professor.

"What do you think is the essence of combat?"

Silence reigned over the class as his students were lost in thought.

"Victory," came Cassie's answer.

"Survival," Sunny stated with confidence.

Nephis didn't speak; instead, she opted to wait for William's answer.

Seeing that no further answers came, the cerulean-eyed youth chuckled as he shook his head.

"Sadly, no. The true essence of combat is to kill your opponent before they kill you. It is a dance of death where only one person leaves alive. Beliefs, idiologies, morals, and such bullshit are things people hide behind to justify their reasons for spilling blood. At the end of the day, your weapons and fighting styles mean jack shit. The only important thing is to be the only one left standing on top of the mountain of corpses."

The macabre statement caused both Sunny and Cassie to swallow down their saliva while Nephis was rubbing the back of her neck while lost in thought.

Noticing his students' states, William clapped his hands to draw their attention back to him, "With this, we conclude tonight's lecture. I suggest we hit the hay to allow the information to sink in, no?"

It took a while before all of them settled into sleeping positions; all but William who volunteered to take on night duty like the day before.

'Well, if he wants it, he can have it,' Sunny was thankful to rest up his tired body and have a few more hours of sleep.

Alas, it was not to be, since by the early hours of the morning, he was woken up by the sound of a sharp scream.

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A.N: Sorry, about the delay for the update. This chapter took a while for it to come out less dogshit than the initial draft I had.

For those wondering why Sunny didn't ask Nephis for training is quit simple: he didn't have to.

You see, in the original novel, he was stuck in a group with Cassie, who's blind, and Nephis.

Thus, his only option was to ask her to teach him. However, this time, he has another option on the table who was much easier to talk to than the curt ice princess.

Anyways, that's in regards to today's update.

Happy reading and have a good day!