'I am so bored.'
It had been a week since he got into the academy and it was…
Disappointing.
He tried all classes, but all of them were something he had already known, and it didn't help that he knew much more in-depth than what they taught, he only didn't go to the combat classes, but he had no interest in that.
The only class he went to was wilderness survival, but that's because teacher Julius was Saint Lunae's friend and because Sunny really liked him, besides, he was the only one in the class, and their conversations were fun. And reviewing survival was good, that was the most important.
But aside from that, he was bored. Thank the dead God's he was going to the manor the next day to train more with Eunbin, getting closer to saturating his core.
He had just finished Julius class and was heading to the mess hall. As soon as he entered, people that were already there started whispering about him, the famous 2nd place that didn't stick to a class for more than a day, not paying attention to anything.
"Is that the lazy one?"
"I heard he bribed the interviewer to get 2nd."
"What a disgrace for his family…"
He ignored all of that and got his lunch, sitting in a corner.
He was eating kind of fast, he wanted to finish fast, he was getting really tired of the gossip.
—
Caster entered the mess hall. The past week has been frustrating, first that the legacy of the Song Domain not only ranks above but also insults him, then he almost loses to Changing Star while she never used her aspect.
'Tsk, what a bother…'
He was eating the subpar food with the other legacies.
"Immortal Flame is incredible!"
"She beat us all without even using her aspect!"
"Almost, Caster beat her."
"But you did have to use your aspect a lot, right Caster?"
Frustrating, so frustrating, because they were right. He had to become stronger, to complete his mission.
Then he saw Sunless enter and sit next to the cripple girl, it didn't seem like he knew who was beside him…
What was his deal? It was obvious for Caster that he was of the Song Domain, and the agents of Valor in the academy confirmed that, so why did he say he didn't care about Immortal Flame? It didn't seem like he was lying. And him being a outskirts rat…
'hgh… it's hopeless. But…'
Castor thought of something he could do to prove himself. And to know more about his potential opponent…
'Or ally.'
—
'Finally, I finished.'
Sunless was about to get up and get back to his room.
But Caster stopped him.
"Fight me."
Sunless stared at the legacy confused.
"Why?"
A girl invaded the conversation.
"Because he wants to prove himself."
Both boys looked at the blind girl, Caster was bewildered, on the other hand, Sunless was surprised.
"How did you…"
"It's pretty obvious, and I had a vision of you two fighting, one where Caster snapped at Sunless."
Both boys stared at the girl speechless.
"You are… A seer?"
Sunless said.
"And to be this precise… No wonder your flaw is so severe…"
Caster completed.
Seers were valuable, Sunless knew that better than most, having Hel as a sister and Divine Strategist as a mentor, they were game changers in the battlefield…
Even if the Divine Strategist was lazy and Hel was… Hel.
"So… You are saying that I will fight this guy?"
Sunless pointed at Caster, annoyance explicit in his voice.
"It's inevitable, if it is today or tomorrow, next year, that I don't know."
A sight escaped Sunless' mouth.
Castor wanted to force him into a fight, that would be against everything mother taught him. On the other hand, it seemed that they would fight regardless of his wishes.
But there was a way to make things interesting…
"Fine Caster, I'll fight you. But in return, you'll have to do me a favour…"
—
The combat classes of Awakened Rock were nothing special to the heir of Song, Sunless didn't even break a sweat when doing the exercises. The only excitement he could have would be on the spars.
But even that was boring, and he could only blame himself.
He offered to go first, entering the arena, his opponent got in his position.
He was a legacy, strong build and sharp features, he looked like a tank.
"I am going to prove you are a fake!"
The legacy stated as if it were fact.
All sleepers were watching intently, even Awakened Rock paid close attention.
The infamous 2nd Rank would be fighting.
Including a certain silver haired girl that was very interested in the newcomer.
"Begin!"
Awakened Rock shouted to start…
But seconds later, it was over.
Sunless immediately got close and before the legacy could react, hitted his solar plexus and swept his legs, making the legacy fall like it was nothing.
The room went silent for moments, all had shocked faces.
All except Nephis, who had already envisioned the result.
"The winner is Sunless!"
Rock finally announced.
The next matches weren't different, regardless of who got on the arena Sunless took them down, methodically, with precision.
A guard break with an uppercut follow up.
A kick to the leg and a punch to the jaw.
A high kick to the face.
Everyone, regardless of social status, wealth or aspect, fell to him.
It was like he had already seen all of them fight and already knew how to counter everyone.
"H-How did he do that?"
"My body hurts…"
"How strong is that guy?"
—
Caster watched every fight and got more and more nervous each time Sunless took down more and more people. Not because of how fast he did it, but because of how he did it.
It changed every damn time. From fast and precise, to stealthy and lethal, to patient and cruel.
"How… how the hell…"
Sunless…
Caster couldn't help but feel respect for his opponent.
The last student to be defeated in the hands of Sunless cursed as he got out of the arena. It was Caster's turn.
Getting in the arena, his mind raced.
'To defeat him, I need to use my aspect! But even with the family charm, I can't use it carelessly like that, I only use it on Immortal Flame to get her to use her aspect.
Even then, I can't lose against him…'
Caster had an idea, to make this fight quick, no unnecessary things, one move, one punch. One outcome.
—
As Caster got in the arena, Sunless formulated a plan.
Truth is, normally he wouldn't be able to humiliate every student like he had been doing, sure, his core was almost saturated and that made a huge difference but the main reason was his aspect legacy, Shadow Dance.
In the past few days, he had been in his room testing his shadow Gloomy in scouting, sending it through the whole academy and getting more used to the feeling of doing two different things at the same time.
In these scouting sessions, he went to a combat class and saw every single student fight, and through Shadow Dance, he understood how everyone fought.
So, he defeated all of them by exploiting their weaknesses.
For Caster, he only saw him fighting Nephis, the fight had been close, with Changing Star never using her aspect, which she still maintained a secret for some reason, and Caster only winning because of his aspect.
So Sunny wanted to win the same way Nephi had, by-.
'Huh? Wait.'
Sunny's eyes widened. Caster's posture was different, his face more focused, determined, his shadow showed…
'What will he do?'
That changed things, Sunless' plan to copy Changing Star and then surprise Caster with his own aspect was out of the question. That in mind, the secret Prince of Song changed his own stance.
Normally, a defensive style would be the default people thought of while facing an unknown opponent or threat, but Caster's aspect made that not optimal.
Not only Sunless didn't know any good defensive, grounded styles, since all of those were done by mediocre, amature sleepers. Caster's aspect was so overwhelming that any simple defence would be null and void.
So Sunless chose another style, a more instinctual and powerful style.
The style of Lonesome Howl, his sister.
His sister's battle art was focused on her senses and her ferocity, with that, she trusted her instincts to flow in the fight, destroying her opponents with might.
Sunless breathed and closed his eyes remembering Terra's spars and how her shadow moved. All his senses got better as he focused more and more, as he did, he felt his understanding of Shadow Dance getting deeper…
He opened his eyes, ready to face Caster.
—
Nephis stared at both fighters as they got ready.
All sleepers were looking at the arena, watching closely to know who would win.
The 'lazy' 2nd Rank,
Or the 'popular' 3rd rank.
Almost all of them were cheering for Caster, wanting Sunless to fall because he was 'arrogant'.
'If only they knew the arrogant one was Caster…'
Nephis was still thinking about the fact that the black haired boy was the son of Ki Song, and what he said to Caster that day…
Was it true? Did Song really stop disrupting her Clan? Did they not want her dead?
There was no reason for him to lie, if anything, lying was worse for him. It put a bigger target on his back if Valor thought that he didn't want to kill Nephis, because they would want to know why. Ki Song was know for her schemes after all.
Nephis curiosity for the Song Prince only grew, and now that she saw him fight, it didn't stop.
She snapped out of her thoughts and looked back at the arena.
Awakened Rock shouted.
"Begin!"
But neither fighter moved, they stood still, not moving a muscle.
The spectators waited, holding their breaths.
A few heartbeats later…
Nephis sighted.
'I hope he is telling the truth…'
Because if he was lying…
Nephis would have a terrible enemy.
Caster sprinted, activating his aspect, but instead of going head on against his opponent, he started to run in circles around Sunless, getting speed and looking for a weak point in Sunless' guard.
But the other fighter just waited, his expression seemingly showing indifference to the scion of Han Li's powerful aspect.
Until Caster made his move, charging at Sunless. Most would expect him to attack the back of the enemy, where they would be the most unprotected.
But Caster attacked from Sunless' right side. The Valor's agent noticed how his opponent normally used his right hand to strike, so going to that angle made Sunless unable to counter attack with his better hand, and with the speed and strength he would hit him…
Dodging or blocking is out of the question.
And he would be right…
If his opponent wasn't Sunless Song.
Twisting his body modding his footwork, he wound up a punch with his left hand to be in the trajectory of Caster's attack.
A telegraphed punch, a powerful punch, with a strength never seen before and a punch that hit Caster right in the face.
The scion of the Han Li was launched to the ground, hitting it hard, knocking him out and creating a small crater on the arena.
The room was silent, nobody spoke, processing what had happened.
The victor of the fight broke it.
"It was a good gamble, but you lost, Caster. I am ambidextrous."
There was no arrogance, no joy or euphoria, no emotion. He just stated a fact.
Nephis understood two things in the battle she witnessed, that Sunless Song could be either her worst enemy or her strongest ally…
And that his aspect had something to do with shadows.