Shadow Slave

Up until now, both Sunny and Morgan had acted relatively tame.

It might not have looked like it from the side, considering how fierce and vicious a battle of two Ascended inevitably appeared. Masters possessed superhuman speed, strength, and resilience. A clash between them would look like a collision of two natural forces to a mundane person, and a mundane building would be swiftly destroyed should it become an arena for it.

Which was why the dojo they were fighting in was lined with durable armored plates, and the training sword Morgan was using cost a fortune.

...Nevertheless, they were holding back.

Not even considering the fact that the two of them had agreed to forgo using their Ascended Abilities, Sunny had yet to make use of Shadow Step. Morgan had not made her weapon sharper, either, preferring to rely on pure technique.

It was as though both of them had silently decided to make this spar a contest of skill... for now.

Which was actually a disadvantage for Sunny. The fewer resources he had at his disposal, the more restrained he felt. Morgan, on the other hand, seemed to only ever need one resource - her sword.

In fact, even that was not necessary. Her body itself was the sword, capable of cutting through tempered steel without hindrance.

So, if Sunny wanted to turn things around, he needed the situation to change, pushing their duel into the next stage.

However, he wasn't sure if he wanted to.

'...What is my goal here?'

He had been curious to compare his strength with Morgan's. He had been given little choice but to accept her request, as well. He naturally wanted to win.

But was a victory really in his best interest?

Now that Sunny was being closely observed by the great clans, there was no possibility of not drawing their attention. Which was why he had decided to accept that fact and settle for creating a very specific impression of himself instead of trying to remain unseen.

Sunny wanted both Valor and Song to think of him as someone strong, exceptional even... but not too exceptional, and not too strong. They had to think of him as a powerful, but crude upstart - a talented outskirt rat that had achieved a lot, and had the potential to achieve even more... but not much more.

As someone who could be predicted and controlled.

Considering all that, did he really want to defeat Morgan?

Could he even defeat her?

'Well... of course, I can.'

Saint, Nightmare, Imp, and Serpent were also part of his power. Morgan possessed a great number of mighty Echoes, but those had come from outside of her Aspect - the Shadows, on the contrary, had come from within Sunny's.

Which meant that he would obliterate her in a contest of unadulterated personal power... which did not matter, really, since such contests never happened in real life. There were always other components involved.

The Transcendent Echoes might have been external to Morgan's own power, but they would rip Sunny apart just as well.

'No... I don't really want to best Morgan today. What I really need to do is lose in a way that will make it easier for me to gain access to her secrets. So, lose in a way that would leave her wanting for more.'

Being a personal sparring partner of the heir of the great clan Valor was a dangerous position to be in - not the least because Morgan could potentially learn much more about Sunny than he would have liked her to - but it was also the best position to be in for a spy.

Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer...

Sunny frowned for a moment.

'Isn't this the same reasoning Nephis used to justify her decision to join Valor?'

Maybe it was... but he did not really care. Many things had changed since then, including Sunny himself and the situation he was in.

'Alright, then... let's do this.'

He deflected another of Morgan's blows, evaded her follow-up strike - three of them, actually, all chained into one predatory, fluid motion - and raised an eyebrow.

"...Should we take it up a notch?"

She took a step forward, sent her sword flying toward his throat with diabolical speed, and smiled pleasantly.

"Let's."

Sunny sidestepped her strike and nodded.

Then, his technique instantly changed.

Before, he was using a fluid mix of various simple styles he had picked up over the years. Such a patchwork technique did not excel in any one thing in particular, but was flexible and hard to predict.

Sunny had held to his best cards, though, unwilling to share them with the enemy... a potential enemy, at least. Broken Sword's style that Nephis had taught him, Saint's grounded technique that had originated from the legions of Nether, the battle art of Solvane's zealots, which had come from the warmaidens of the Red Sect - those, he had hidden within himself.

Now that he wanted to lose in the most interesting fashion, though...

'What would really intrigue a battle maniac like Morgan?'

She had faced and defeated all kinds of Awakened, and had learned all manner of battle styles, no doubt. Her collection was probably even larger than Sunny's own...

So what technique could he show that was both exceptional and fascinating - and, most importantly, unknown to Morgan?

One particular style came to mind.

It was one that he had learned by chance... not from Awakened, Ascended, or even Saints, but from Nightmare Creatures. The primeval hunters that had emerged from the Gate near Rain school, wielding weapons made of flint.

After all, if anything could capture the attention of an obsessed connoisseur of swordsmanship and all things related to combat like Morgan, it was a technique that might have had just lain at the root of all techniques, all styles.

Sunny's movements changed, shifting from fluid and refined to uncomplicated and brutal. His whole demeanor changed, too.

The savage technique of the Barrow Wraiths was straightforward and rudimentary, but there was a primal lethality to its clear, callous barbarity. It was the expression of a pure, unclouded intent to kill - simple, but in no way crude. There was nothing about it to dilute the ruthless resolve of a hunter who sought to slaughter his prey in the most direct, efficient way possible.

Sunny remembered the desperate fight in front of the Nightmare Gate and attacked, cruelly aiming to slice through Morgan's hamstrings.

'Let's see how this goes...'