40: Learning from the Shadows

[your soul is wrapped in more threads.]

A week after they arrived at Ashen Barrow, everyone had already been enchanted by the tree, well, except Jonathan and Isac, who also seemed to notice it.

"He really is someone special like me, not just because of his aspect rank, but because of his mental protection. I wonder, does he also have something sealed in his soul?"

They were all gathered under the shadow of the soul-devouring tree, eating the fruits that their friend Jonathan had kindly brought them.

He made sure to bring at least four fruits for each of them every day, although, strangely, he always brought two extra for Sunny.

Jonathan managed to prevent the "dream" that Sunny would have had with Cassia warning him about the danger of the great tree, and he never became suspicious of it.

Also, one important thing that happened after everyone was enchanted was that he and Nephis, and occasionally the other members, would gather for duels while Sunny watched their fights.

Today, he would fight Nephis. Sunny had agreed to keep watching while everyone fought. It had been hard to get him to do this, but Jonathan persisted and convinced him. He also told Sunny that instead of observing them, he should observe their shadows and send his own shadow to merge with theirs.

This would continue until Sunny could unlock his aspect legacy, but of course, Sunny didn't know that. All the work Jonathan was doing aimed to strengthen Sunny and Nephis as much as possible for the upcoming events.

...

Sunny observed everyone's shadows while they fought, just as Jonathan had instructed. He still didn't understand why he was supposed to watch their shadows and send his own to mimic their movements in the fight, but...

...he had to admit that he started to notice something: the shadows of the people moved slightly differently, or rather, he could feel them in different ways. It was strange, but he felt a slight attraction to this sensation, as if he were about to discover what it was, but he didn't know how to pull that thread of feeling.

So, he continued watching everyone's shadows while his own imitated them from within their shadows.

All the while, they ate fruits, and for some reason, Jonathan brought him about six fruits every day.

These last three or four days... or week, he didn't know why he did it and didn't want to ask.

Even so, these things were a miracle; everyone knew they gave soul fragments or, in his case, shadow fragments, every time they ate them.

So they kept consuming them happily as the days passed peacefully in the shadows of Ashen Barrow.

After finishing the training, Jonathan approached Sunny and asked:

"Well, Sunny, tell me, can you discern anything from the shadows now? If so, I want you to join the training and fight while observing the others' shadows."

Sunny was surprised by how good Jonathan was at reading him.

Whenever he was around, it seemed like Sunny was an open book that Jonathan could read, and he would ask questions he already knew the answer to, but he still asked to confirm his reasoning.

Anyway, Sunny couldn't refuse to answer something, so he resigned himself and went along with it.

"Yes, there's something strange in the others' shadows and their movements. Although I still don't know what it is, I'm sure if I keep watching, I'll soon find out."

Jonathan looked at Sunny with a doubtful expression before speaking.

"Well, what would you say if I told you that what you're noticing is the basis of a fighting style? A fighting style just for you, created based on your aspect qualities."

Sunny was taken aback by such a question and, doubtful and not believing that a personalized fighting style could be hidden in people's shadows, he replied:

"I'd say it's nonsense. I know there's something strange in the shadows, but to say it could become a fighting style just for me is hard to believe." His response sounded reluctant.

Jonathan didn't care and just said a few words about different fighting styles, sword techniques, and other forms of combat that Sunny memorized to avoid being bothered, and then he left.

Sunny wasn't sure what Jonathan wanted to achieve by telling him all this, but he brought him more fruits than anyone else, and Sunny was grateful for that. The fruits were miraculous and tasty, so what harm could come from a person who gave him something like that? He didn't know, but he trusted him.

...

The days flew by while Sunny imitated the others' movements and watched their shadows to discern the bases of their fighting styles so he could mimic them. That's how he spent all these days under Ashen Barrow, and that's how he did it today as well.

They had been days of hard training with all the cohort members, he was beaten, injured, and his body was full of bruises from so many mistakes he made while imitating their movements.

But today, on this night of the 28th day since they arrived at Ashen Barrow, though for him and those affected by the tree, it felt like less time had passed.

Sunny had a dream...

'...this is crap.'

Sunny opened his eyes and looked around confused.

The world was shrouded in a strange and dim twilight. Deep shadows surrounded him, covering the tall walls carved from black marble. Sunny looked between the powerful columns and saw the black circle of the sun burning in the lightless sky.

'An... an eclipse?'

No, wait… what walls? What columns? Wasn't he supposed to be sleeping in the shadows of the tree?

...What was going on?

Suddenly, a woman's scream broke the silence like a sharp knife. It was filled with pain and suffering. Sunny tried to summon the Midnight Shard into his hand... only to realize he had no hands.

Then, something else resonated in the darkness.

...The cry of a baby.

'Wh-what...'

Almost simultaneously, Sunny realized something terrible.

This was a dream. He was dreaming.

… People were not supposed to dream in the Dream Realm!

'...This is not good!'