Chapter 13: Powerhouse

Third POV:

'How much time has passed?'

Nephis stepped back from her furious exchange of blows with Sunny who seemed quite nonchalant at the moment.

Between the two, one was heavily breathing while the other simply stood there waiting for the other party to strike again.

'Who would guess that I was the one who taught him how to wield a sword..'

Almost five hours had passed since they started their spar, and the cohort members were equally as shocked as Changing Star herself. At the Far side of the marble arch, only Cassie sat beside the fire while the rest of the cohort circled around Nephis and Sunny from a safe distance eyeing their spar with interest.

It was Caster who was shocked the most.

But that shock was quickly diminished.

'How can a mongrel like that scum actually push Changing Star back? Who even I couldn't without her holding back? Yeah, she's definitely holding back....'

Unbeknown to him, that was his sorry attempt to save his fragile ego from collapsing.

On the other side, Nephis immediately cleared her head. To win this spar, she had to be absolutely clear, and absolutely focused. She couldn't allow herself to feel anything, or be distracted by anything.

Only determination. Only resolve.

'What type of a teacher loses to their own pupil after only three months of separation?'

Definitely not the type she wants to be.

Just like that Nephis brought the pommel of her sword to her shoulder.

White flames ignited in her eyes.

An excited smile graced her lips.

And then, suddenly, she lunged forward.

She sure was fast, But not fast enough to not give Sunny enough time to react. Raising the Midnight Shard, he dashed forward to block her furious assault.

But just moments before they clashed, Sunny Slightly lowered the tip of his sword and swung it in a vertical upward cut. Striking Nephis's long Sword from under mid-swing, and flicking it off.

Neph shuddered the force of the impact sending a shock through her entire body.

It felt as though her sword had collided with a mountain and bounced off.

She quickly regained her composure. Swinging her sword downward, Nephis aimed for his right shoulder. Waiting for him to sidestep, she was ready to deliver a follow-up through the same motion using her momentum to land a clean hit.

But to her surprise, Sunny seemed to have foreseen it.

He didn't sidestep but instead shifted his weight to his back feet and held his sword in a reverse grip. He immediately shot his arm forward striking the blade of Nephis's Sword with the hilt of his sword, swaying her off balance and evaporating her momentum.

Nephis Felt like she was being read like an open book.

Immediately after, Their blades got entangled for a moment, and then separated. Almost immediately, the silver longsword lashed out again, appearing from an unexpected direction.... and then again, and again, and again.

But Sunny Simply blocked it or redirected it in an unwanted direction.

It seemed like Sunny knew all of her tricks and methods.

'How?...'

They never sparred with each other before, so it was quite reasonable for her to be bewildered.

At this point, Nephis had long abandoned the idea of hiding her swordsmanship from Caster. She was too thrilled, too excited, and too engrossed at the moment to even care about that.

Soon it was Sunny's turn to attack.

With each Strike, Nephis feverishly defended, chaining blocks and deflections into one uninterrupted sequence of swift moves. Despite her best efforts, she reeled slightly after each strike. It was as though she was being hit by a hurricane of adamantine sledgehammers, each hit making her bones tremble and groan.

'When did he become this Strong?'

By now, Neph had almost saturated her core, bringing her to the pinnacle of what a human of her Rank could achieve in terms of physical ability. Her power was further doubled by the augmentation of her flames, making her more akin to one of the Awakened than to a mere Sleeper. No dormant human should have been able to match her power in every regard.

And yet, Sunny did. More than that, he was more powerful than her, tremendously so. He was more like a Nightmare Creature than a human; his movements were fast as lightning, As Sharp as a blade, his strength was terrifying, and his technique was flawless, leaving her no chance to exploit even the smallest of mistakes.

His swordsmanship was oozing with experience, and lifetimes of deadly battles. It was refined, beyond what she ever thought was possible. It looked like a specially crafted masterpiece of a sword from the finest blacksmith in the world.

They exchanged several more blows and disengaged for a fraction of a second, then closed in again.

With each clash of their swords, Nephis was evolving, understanding and adapting to Sunny. So in return Sunny was setting it up a notch every time Nephis seemed to have glimpsed a portion of his battle essence.

Their violent clash must have looked furious and morbidly beautiful. Both moved with incredible speed and possessed ferocious strength, both were skilled and experienced, forged into formidable killers by hundreds of deadly battles.

One was darkness and shadows, while the other was radiance and light.

But no matter how many times Nephis tried...it was impossible for her to control the Flow of the Combat.

Which was the essence of her Battle Style.

But how could She? when her opponent was the one who controlled the flow of combat, using her own domain to lure her into an inescapable trap every time they clashed...

Despite all of this, she was thoroughly excited. She never thought that she would one day enjoy a spar against someone like this. Someone who she was fond of.

Unbeknownst to her. Nephis Wore a sincere smile on her lips as her eyes shone with inextinguishable flames.

********

Some time had passed since Nephis and Sunny Started Sparing. The horizon had dimmed significantly indicating that the night was close.

"Your swordsmanship has changed."

Nephis's voice was exhausted from their intense sparring, and currently, she was sitting across from Sunny greedily drinking from the eternal spring.

"It Sure did."

Sunny answered.

Neph's favored style was always flowing and unpredictable, and Sunny's style which was based on Neph's style wasn't that different. but now, it had assumed a strange, almost mystical quality.

"Your swordsmanship looks.... more like you now."

Nephis smiled at him, Her smile soft and barely noticeable.

"How so?"

Nephis lingered before answering. Then she eventually said:

"In our journey through the catacombs, I was observing you. Your swordsmanship looked insidious, shapeless, formless, and ever-changing."

She lingered for a moment as if at loss of words, then she eventually said:

"...just like you."

From her perspective, Sunny had been a complete novice when they first met. His skill now, however, was incomparable with that of four months ago... he had grown with an explosive, truly astonishing speed.

It showed her how adaptable her pupil could be.

Sunny smiled.

"I guess it did."

Sunny had reached this level of swordsmanship through years of exhausting struggles and hardships. His experience was built upon countless deadly defeats and victories. To the point where concepts like time or death became nearly meaningless to him.

But Nephis didn't need to know that.

At least....not yet.

Looking at the horizon, the Dark Sea could be seen marching to cover the forgotten shore and drown it in a starless night oozing with darkness from all sides.

Looking at the cohort, they all wore different expressions and reactions to their spar. Effie looked quite surprised. Even after spending a whole week with Sunny she still was reluctant to accept that Sunny was Stronger than her when it came to might and strength. She simply assumed that Sunny specialized in augmenting himself, and scouting after all, it was widely known that Sunny and Cassie were just a dead weight that Changing Star brought along, but she soon realized that she was wrong.

Through their journey in the catacombs, she witnessed how terrifying Sunny actually was. If it wasn't for him, they would've suffered severe injuries after all.

And just through observing Sunny's Spar with Nephis, Effie was sure that Sunny was the actual powerhouse in the cohort.

As for Caster, he was Shell-Shocked to his core.

Whatever was going through the head of the scion legacy was none of Sunny's business.

As for Kai, he simply chuckled and shook his head in disbelief before dismissing himself.

*******

After an awkward long silence Sunny finally decided that it was time to give Kai the Blood Arrow, but this time he only took the Charm that produced fire since it was the only useful one out of the three memories that Kai had given him in the previous timeline. Since there wasn't a Stone Saint in this timeline that needed to feed on the memories, Sunny didn't see the need for the memories aside from his training in weaving.

His Saint was already Transcendent.

Soon after, the night came and the cohort fell asleep leaving Sunny and his Shadows for the watch that he volunteered for.

Left with nothing to do but to think, Sunny Summoned the Prowling Thorn and started tossing it around.

Which led him to a specific thought.

The Prowling Thorn that was consumed by Onyx Saint back in Antarctica alongside the Eye that he Received from the basilisk-like creature in his early days at the Dark City and was later Consumed by Stone Saint, were still there in his soul sea. Both were memories that were fed to Saint. On different points in the timeline.

'Would I still be able to regain the memories I fed to Saint, if there was no Saint to begin with?'

Similar questions and theories circulated his mind.

Sunny didn't really know how exactly the Ring had sent him back to the past or which mechanism it used in order to do so but he could make a guess.

He couldn't still tell how it altered his rank but Sunny wasn't stupid enough to simply assume that it just sent him into the past.

There were a lot of bizarre things regarding that ring but what he could guess was only how the ring was able to hold onto his memories even after sending him back to the Dark City.

'It's slightly similar to how the Great River worked and how the Mad version of myself was able to make the Estuary key trespass the loop. It is quite the same but vastly different in a way.'

Lost in his thoughts The morning finally came and the Dark Sea retreated. Soon the cohort woke up and began to prepare for breakfast.

After breakfast, which transpired in somewhat awkward silence, Sunny sprawled on the ground and smiled happily.

"You know, guys. These past few weeks made me realize something."

Effie stretched, Sunny almost stuttered and lost the train of thought for a second, then Effie smiled with satisfaction and glanced at him.

"Really? And what is that?"

Sunny shook his head for a few moments and said:

"When I was a little kid, I loved reading webtoons about the Awakened. You know, the ones where they always explore ancient ruins, battle Nightmare Creatures, and grow more powerful with each victory."

He chuckled.

"The hero and his cohort decide on an adventure, vanquish evil, gain mighty Memories, then return to the real world and sell their spoils at the adventurer shop. They spend their money to upgrade their equipment, and immediately set out on a more epic and dangerous adventure."

Cassie smiled.

"I loved to read those too."

Sunny glanced at her.

"Yeah. But when I got older, I couldn't help but think — what are they thinking about? Exploring ancient ruins is not a wise thing to do. In fact, only crazy people would do it. No matter how good you are, sooner or later, you will meet something more terrifying than any human can handle and die. If this was real life, why would all those adventurers go into the ruins over and over again?"

The blind girl tilted her head and opened her mouth, but then closed it again.

Sunny smiled.

"But then it hit me! They were not doing it to vanquish evil. They were doing it to collect a wide variety of powerful Memories. You see, the real dream is not to be the hero, one of their companions, or even the love interest. The real dream is to be the owner of the shop where the hero sells his trophies and buys new equipment! That way you can live a pretty life without risking your neck. That's the real goal."

He crossed his arms and added:

"After a few short years of adventuring around the Dream Realm and collecting Memories, you can retire, open a shop, or a restaurant in my case, and live comfortably for the rest of your life. All you need is to sell a Memory once every couple of years. Maybe make some money off making some delicious recipes too."

Kai laughed and looked at Sunny with curiosity.

"So... say that we somehow manage to return to the real world and become truly Awakened. Is this what you're going to do?"

Sunny thought about it for a few moments and shrugged.

"I hope so but I don't really know. Right now I don't really have a lot to do in the real world, apart from compiling all the things I've learned about the Forgotten Shore into a report and giving it to a teacher who was kind to me back at the Academy, and make some preparations for my second nightmare. And few more stuff. So... maybe? I do have enough Memories to open a store, though."

He glanced at the charming archer and smiled.

"What about you? What is the thing you really want to do if you return to the real world?"

Kai suddenly turned away with a look of embarrassment on his face.

"Oh... I don't know. I haven't really thought about it."

But after several seconds, he suddenly said in a shy voice:

"...Avatar Singer."

Sunny smiled at him.

"Very typical of you."

The archer looked at him embarrassed. Kai hesitated for a while and then explained:

"Avatar Singer is a music competition show. Popular singers compete with each other, but the twist is that they are all using the stock VR avatars to perform. So the judges can only evaluate their voices and skill. They only learn the singer's identity after."

Sunny hummed.

"Well, I bet Neph will be the first one to recognize you. She's your biggest fan."

At that Neph's face grew stiff.

Nephis's stiff expression was Sunny's new favorite expression of hers. It seemed like he had developed a strange habit of trying to make her flustered every chance he got.

Effie giggled, and turned to Kai.

"Why would you want to hide your pretty face, Night? It's your best feature!"

Kai was silent for a few moments and then smiled gently.

"I just... I just think that it would be nice, to be judged based on my skill and talent alone, with nothing else getting in the way. Also, that would be such a great way to announce my return to the fans! Just imagine... they would be so excited! That would be a perfect media storm."

Talking about things like fan reactions and media storms with a straight face was really something only Kai could do... did he even hear himself?

Even though he wouldn't have the chance to achieve his dream, it was a nice dream, at least.

Turning to Effie, he asked:

"What about you? What would you do in the real world?"

The huntress grinned.

"I don't even have to think about it. I would go eat chicken wings... the real ones. And then start preparing myself for the Second Nightmare. Pretty simple."

Effie then turned to Sunny.

"You count me in Doofus, for challenging the second nightmare. If I want to do it, I would at least want it to be with people I can trust."

Sunny simply nodded at the huntress.

Everybody grew silent. After a while, Cassie said:

"Are you sure that you want to challenge another Nightmare?"

Effie shrugged.

"I have my reasons. So yes. For me, that is the only choice."

"Me too."

Sunny added.

The blind girl was quiet for a bit and then said:

"I would go and spend time with my mom and dad. That's the thing I want to do most in the real world."

Caster glanced at her and courtly nodded.

"I agree with Cassie. Family is the most important. When I come back, I will greet my father and look him in the eyes with pride, knowing that I did not let our clan down. Then, I will try to do everything in my power to grow as fast as possible, to relieve him of his worries and propel our bloodline to new heights."

'How very... Legacy-like of him. But I got a bad news for you….'

Finally turning to Nephis, Sunny looked at her with a subtly dark expression and decided to not say a thing.

Nephis noticed his gaze, she was silent for a while, looking into the distance with a calm expression.

Then, she sighed and spoke out in a quiet voice:

"I would go visit my mom, too."

Everyone grew silent. Cassie blinked, a little confused about what she heard.

"Wait. Your mom? I thought she was dead."

Nephis lingered for a bit and then turned her face away.

"She is. Technically."

A few moments passed in tense silence, which was broken by Changing Star's sigh. Looking at them, she said evenly:

"My mother is one of the Hollow. She became Hollow while pregnant with me, actually. So I never really met her. Just her... body."

Nephis grew silent. After a while, a strange smile appeared on her face.

"It's funny, really. When my grandmother was still alive, I made a point of treating that body as nothing but a corpse. But once she passed away and we were the only ones left... well. I found myself getting a bit confused."

Nephis shrugged and turned away once again.

"Anyway, before leaving for the First Nightmare, I used what little money there was left of our estate to buy her a VIP spot in a specialized Hollow care facility. They are treating her really well. But still... I don't like the idea of her being alone there. So when I return, that's what I'm going to do. Visit her."

No one said anything, heavily affected by her words.

Sunny stared at Changing Star, trying to imagine what it must have felt like, to grow up in the company of your parent's soulless shell. With death staring at you through those empty eyes every day, always looming over you like a dark shadow... both of your past and your future.

That was a part of the reason why Neph hated the Spell so much.

Sensing the heaviness in the air, Changing Star glanced at them and smiled darkly.

"What? Is this your first time meeting a hollowborn? Well, I can't blame you. Creatures of my breed are pretty rare. In fact, even I have never met another one."

Then, she sighed and stretched her legs, moving them closer to the fire.

"So yeah, that and dye my hair. These are the things I would do in the real world first."

Now it was Kai's turn to blink.

"...Dye your hair?"

Nephis nodded.

"Why?"

Kai asked.

"I'm not used to it, and it's weird. Do I need another reason?"

He stared at her with a perplexed expression. Noticing it, Changing Star frowned and asked with a tiny hint of amusement in her voice.

"did you guys perhaps, think that this is my natural hair color?"

They were silent for a while, Effie opened her mouth and closed it again.

"...It's not?"

Nephis looked at her for a while with a strange expression, and then suddenly exploded with laughter.

Her laugh was melodic, pure, and very pleasant to the ear. Sunny wished that their lives were different so that people could hear Nephis laugh more often. But they weren't, and would probably never be.

So Sunny took an oath on himself to make sure that she would laugh and smile without the need to wear a mask this time around no matter what.

"I thought so too."

Sunny said drawing her attention. She glanced at him and smiled.

"Sunny, it's silver, for Spell's sake. Who has natural silver hair?"

Luckily, at that point, Kai suddenly declared:

"Actually, I thought that it's natural too. Ah... it suits you very well, Lady Nephis."

Changing Star turned to him with an expression of utter surprise. Then, she glanced at Effie with a silent question.

The huntress nodded.

"Yeah, me too. I mean... who knows what you Legacies are even made of?"

Nephis blinked a couple of times, then shook her head in bewilderment.

"Well... no, it's not natural. It became like that after my First Nightmare."

Kai leaned forward with curiosity:

"Really? What color was your hair before?"

She shrugged. Turning to Sunny.

"Black. Just like yours."

Sunny blinked at her choice of words.

'What was that?...'

Shaking his head he said:

"I have a memory that would allow you to change your hair color...but you will have to escape this hell hole and become an Awakened in order to use it."

Changing Star frowned and asked with a tiny hint of amusement in her voice.

"Does it require essence to be used?"

Sunny nodded. Noticing that, Nephis Smiled and looked at the horizon before turning her gaze back to him, then she said, her voice determined:

"Well that's one more reason to leave this place then."