Shadow Slave

Nephis looked at him and contemplated. This time, she remained silent longer than usual.

Sunny felt a bit nervous under her gaze, knowing that he was being evaluated. With Changing Star's skill and insight, it wasn't hard to imagine just how much she had gleaned from his battle performance. Both his current level and future potential must have been pretty much laid bare in front of her. Were they enough to make teaching him worth her while?

After some time, she took the soul shards and nodded.

"Okay."

Sunny smiled, congratulating himself on a successful deal. Not only did he receive a lot while not losing much, but he had also managed to create a bit of a favorable impression of himself in the eyes of Nephis and Cassie. As far as performances went, this was a great one.

"So when do we start?"

Nephis shrugged.

"Now."

Now?

Sunny glanced at the sun, which was already almost gone. Were they going to train in complete darkness? It wasn't really an obstacle for him. Changing Star, however…

"We will start with some words. That will be enough for today."

After hesitating a little, she added:

"Cassie, you listen too."

Sunny and Cassia turned to Nephis, listening to her like two obedient students. Despite the fact that their age was more or less similar, both knew that, in terms of martial prowess, their companion had authority that was as beyond theirs as a dragon's might was beyond that of a worm.

for a while and then

of combat can be divided into two aspects. One is body, and the other one is mind. Training the body is not easy, but it is rather simple. All you need is repetition and experience. In a fight, things happen too fast to consider every detail in the moment. That's why your technique must exist in your muscles and bones, so much so that it almost becomes

She paused.

more battle experience you have, the deeper a technique will be assimilated into your body. There is no other way. A thousand hours of training won't be as impactful as one real fight. Only those who

hand, the principle of improving through practice was quite logical. On the other hand, Changing Star's statement made it seem like all those

difficulty. So maybe her statement was true. That, however, posed a question of its own… just what kind

I stop calling her

Meanwhile, Nephis continued:

a certain level of skill, the mind is where the true combat takes place. The outcome is often decided before your body begins to move. And to master the mind, the first step is to understand the essence of combat. However, very few people

looked at them

you think that essence

hesitated. The… essence of combat? What might it

tempted to say something stupid like "honor", "valor" or "duty". But he already knew that Nephis did not fit into the image of a noble aristocrat he had in his mind. She wasn't someone who followed

or so, Cassie

"Victory."

almost at the same time, Sunny

"Survival."

Star shook

"No."

rubbed her neck and pierced them

essence of

wide. Sunny frowned a little. Nephis, however, did not seem to care. In the same

trying to kill your opponent, and they are trying to kill you. In the end, one of

words sank deep into Sunny's heart and reverberated there, causing something inside of him to resonate and

intent do not matter. The only thing that matters is to be the last one standing. In this way, anything you do in