Chapter 34

When Shadow woke up, he was laying on the floor of the training room with a pillow under his head. He lifted himself off the floor and stretched his arms, working the tension out of them. As he stretched, he could smell the sweet scent of pancakes wafting through the door. Hungrily, he began to wander down stairs and into the living room. In the kitchen, Solaris was making pancakes while Eclipse, Emperion and Jay were watching something on the TV. Although it looked like Emperion was enjoying himself, he seemed nervous as well, constantly glancing over at Solaris. It was then that Jay noticed Shadow standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hey Shadow! Did you get a good night's sleep?" Jay asked.

"It was great! What about the rest of you?"

"It was good."

"It was better after you shut up."

"I was out cold." Shadow turned towards Solaris for an answer. He didn't say anything, but instead focused on his pancakes.

"I was asking you too, Solaris." Shadow stated. Solaris perked up and looked over at Shadow. A hint of appreciation crossed his eyes.

"It was nice." he said quietly.

"I kind of thought you would have returned to your house by now." Shadow commented.

"I still have something I want to tell you." Shadow nodded before sitting down at the island.

"It feels kind of nice being able to sit out of breakfast making for once." he sighed. He turned his head sharply towards Jay and Emperion. "You two need to learn how to cook if you guys are gonna come here everyday. You practically live here now." he complained, pointing at Jay and Emperion.

"No thanks. I'd rather eat out everyday than have to cook for myself." Emperion moaned.

"But if you cook for yourself, you can make adjustments to the recipe to fit your tastes." Shadow explained. "It's not my fault if you starve to death when I'm not around." he sighed.

"I just said I would order out everyday." Emperion growled, his temper boiling.

"With what money? I doubt you're going to get a job with that attitude." Shadow teased.

"You are so looking for a beating." Emperion threatened in a low voice.

"Do you want to get thrown to the floor? You've seen what my 'self defense' can do up close and personal." Emperion flinched at that. Shadow stood up and started towards Emperion, leaning against the back of one of the couches. "Besides, I wouldn't want to accidentally smash your face in." That tipped him over the edge. Despite Shadow's warning, Emperion launched himself off the couch and at Shadow. Shadow smiled a knowing smile. In a calm, unfazed, manner, he pushed Emperion's wild punch to the side and grabbed under his upper arm. All in an instant, he hoisted Emperion over his shoulder and threw him on the ground. Everything stopped. Shocked, Emperion stayed on the ground a while before he looked up at Shadow, who smiled back. It was a happy smile. Shadow helped Emperion back up and rolled his shoulders, letting out a breath of refreshment.

"Jeez, just how strong are you?" Emperion asked.

"Let's say I practiced a lot even after my... tutor passed away." Shadow replied simply. "Solaris, how are the pancakes coming? Want me to make some toppings while you finish them up?"

"Sure." Shadow let out another big breath.

"I'm getting rusty." he whispered to himself. Solaris was the only one who heard that. Shadow got out a plastic bin of strawberries and began to chop them up before placing the chopped pieces in a small bowl. Then he dumped a lot of sugar into the bowl, covered it with plastic wrap and put it back in the fridge. He then began to set up the island for six. He placed a plate for each person before grabbing cups and forks. It wasn't long before Solaris was finished with the pancakes and began to put them on the plates. Shadow got out the bowl of strawberries and placed them on the island with a spoon before grabbing syrup from the cupboard along with some honey. It was a quiet breakfast. No one seemed like they wanted to talk. Not even the chatter mouth, Emperion. Solaris was facing away from the people at the island as he ate his breakfast. It was a long while before Shadow finally spoke.

"Emperion, will you spar with me after breakfast?" he offered. Emperion paused mid-bite.

"Sure! I'll take you on any day!" he exclaimed, spitting pancake chunks across the counter top.

"Great!" Shadow's face lit up and he quickly scarfed up his pancakes, forgetting to remind Emperion about his manners. "I guess I'll see you upstairs!" he shot from the countertop and flew up the stairs at top speed, even without his wings unfolded. The rest of the people at the island just watched the spot where he disappeared.

"He's unusually enthusiastic today." Eclipse commented. Emperion nodded in agreement.

"Maybe it's because he doesn't want to disappoint his personal trainer?" he suggested.

"I'll watch." Solaris stated. Emperion froze, his mouth open as he was about to take another bite. He then closed his mouth and set his bite back on his plate.

"Are you sure? It'll be really disappointing. Neither of us are that good compared to you." he insisted.

"I'm interested." Solaris stated as he stood up to follow Shadow. Emperion and Eclipse just looked at each other with confused looks. Shadow was practicing basic punches when Solaris saw him. He noticed Solaris in the doorway the moment he appeared and waved at him to come in.

"Can you do a little sparring with me later as well?" Shadow asked with a hopeful smile on his face.

"You'll get destroyed."

"Maybe so."

"This place won't be able to take the force."

"I can cover that."

"You could get seriously injured."

"No one can't get seriously injured at some point."

"It could be fatal."

"Anything can be fatal."

"Pillows aren't fatal."

"You just haven't used enough force. Or put them in the right place." All of Solaris' attempts to discourage him failed and he eventually gave in after some thought. "Thanks, Solaris!" A moment later, Emperion came running up the stairs with Eclipse at his heels.

"Alright, let's get started!" Emperion exclaimed.

"Number?"

"Eight." Shadow paused.

"But you just started getting used to seven."

"So?"

"Do you know what they're talking about?" Solaris whispered to Eclipse, who shook his head in confusion.

"If you say so." Shadow reluctantly walked towards the dial on the wall and turned it up to eight. The sealing pressure made Eclipse and Emperion stagger a bit, but Solaris and Shadow were completely fine. "You ready?" Emperion nodded, taking up a ready stance. Shadow stood a few paces in front of him and they both unfolded their first pair of wings. Emperion was the first to attack, throwing a wild punch as usual. It wasn't a very fast punch but Shadow still had trouble dodging it. Solaris squinted his eyes at Shadow as they continued their fight. Punch and dodge, punch and dodge. Emperion kept Shadow on the defensive as they continued. And finally, Emperion got the first hit, a punch up the chin, but Shadow recovered by hopping back on his hands and landing on his feet. He was breathing heavily but Emperion didn't seem tired at all.

"That's strange. If Emperion was this strong compared to Shadow, how did he get such a low score on the DAF entrance exam?" Eclipse wondered.

"You are too simple minded." Solaris stated. Eclipse flinched. "Emperion is using enhancement and other kinds of magic to boost his physical power while Shadow isn't using any magic at all." he explained.

"But that's so reckless."

"I wonder, was he planning on fighting me without magic too?" Solaris pondered the idea.

"Wait, he's going to fight you again?"

"Yeah."

"And you agreed."

"Yeah." Eclipse stared back at him, concerne. "I tried to talk him out of it." Eclipse's attention was drawn back to the fight when he noticed that Shadow had gotten knocked down.

"Shadow, you aren't trying to go easy on me, are you? Usually I'd have been on the floor a few times by now." Emperion asked.

"It's less of going easy on you and more of going hard on me."

"So you are holding back!"

"I've become too reliant on my magic. I want to get used to not using magic again and focus on building up my reaction time." he explained, standing up. "I noticed it when I threw you over my shoulder earlier. I'm slower than I used to be."

"You were slower?" Emperion echoed. Shadow just nodded.

"Shadow, are you ok?" Eclipse asked. Shadow turned his head towards Eclipse.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I was just a little concerned because you started talking about not using magic. Why would we need to learn how to defend ourselves without magic? We're demons after all." Eclipse explained.

"Our magic isn't limitless. Nor is it eternal." Shadow stated. "If our source of magic comes from vessels like our wings, what if you lost your magic or just couldn't use it? You'd be helpless. My father taught me that."

"Also… about your parents…" Eclipse started. "I was also concerned because… yesterday you said both your parents were dead with such a straight face... so I was wondering if you were right in the head?" he mumbled.

"I'm perfectly sane. It only took me about ten years to accept it enough to be approachable." he said with a smile and a thumbs up. Eclipse gave him a blank stare. "Anyways, I wanted to practice what my father taught me again."

"I'll help with that." Solaris said as he stood up. Emperion and Eclipse got chills down their spines but Shadow seemed oblivious.

"You will? Great!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. Emperion and Eclipse retreated to the wall to give the space. Solaris stationed himself in the same place Emperion was and looked up. He was startled by the intense concentration in Shadow's eyes that seemed to be staring daggers into his heart. Like nothing could be hidden from those eyes. Solaris started by enhancing his eyesight to see the little magic veins that coursed through Shadow's body. His flow of magic was slow and smooth. If he had to describe it, it was a mix of several colors that fit together across a plain of white.

"What type of magic user are you?" Solaris asked. Usually, the color of magic that flows through a demon's magic system can tell someone what type of magic is their specialty. Shadow didn't respond but Solaris noticed the jump in his magic flow. "Your magic is a mix of colors brought together with white. Are you good at using all magic or some new kind of magic?" he pressed. Shadow's eyes squinted and took a deep breath. His magic flow calmed down again and Solaris knew he wouldn't be tricked so easily. It was a smart tactic to try and jumble up someone's emotions just before a fight, but his questions were legitimate and he did want an answer.

"After…" Shadow's words were short and simple. It was probably all he could say without breaking focus. Excitement began to course through Solaris and he prepared his first attack.