Shadow Slave

Sunny remembered his first clash with Morgan very well.

Back then, he had been a mere Awakened. Nevertheless, as far as Awakened went, he had considered himself to be somewhat of an outlier in terms of personal power and combat skill... he had even entertained the idea of winning their duel.

Sunny had been blessed with the powers of a Divine Aspect, trained by Changing Star of the Immortal Flame clan and tempered in the ruthless crucible of the Forgotten Shore, and possessed of an Aspect Legacy.

So, there had been a reason for his confidence.

The streak of easy wins he had achieved in the Dreamscape also played a role. Even though some of the opponents he had faced were challenging foes, none managed to make him feel seriously threatened.

Sunny had involuntarily grown a little arrogant.

...Morgan had destroyed that arrogance.

She had been the first Master he crossed swords with, and not just any Master at that. The heiress of the great clan Valor was at the absolute pinnacle of what an Ascended could be. Being utterly crushed by her in less than forty seconds had hit him like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing whatever nascent hubris Sunny could have developed.

Her oppressively flawless skill, her overwhelming physical prowess, her crystal-clear killing intent... all of it made a lasting impression on him.

Sunny had returned with two valuable gifts from that battle. The first was a breakthrough in his mastery of Shadow Dance. The second was a stark reminder of how many crouching tigers there were among the Awakened. Yes, he was outstanding and powerful... but he was not the only outstanding, powerful person out there.

Ever since that battle, Sunny had been instinctively comparing every Master he fought with Morgan.

So far, no one had made the cut - not in the waking world, not in the Dream Realm, and not in the Second Nightmare.

Which was why he was very curious to see how he would compare to her now that they were both Ascended.

lived through too many tribulations since then - the Night Temple, the Red Colosseum, the gauntlet of nightmares, the Temple of the Chalice, the Ivory City... and the Antarctic Center, from the quiet

on his soul, but also made him

'That is true...'

have remained stagnant, either. Saint Tyris had once said the Anvil's daughter was too young and inexperienced to challenge the Third Nightmare... which had to mean that she had

of theirs was bound to

I was looking

then gestured for Cassie

to a case containing a multitude of training swords - all fashioned to withstand the intense

at all, perhaps? Oh... I forgot to ask. Are you going to be fighting as is, or assume

was of no concern whether she

for a moment,

if the underlying skill is not there, using it is pointless. Not to mention a drain on

on a shadow cast by a support pillar and formed it into a blunt, featureless

"That would be enough."

Morgan smiled.

"Neat trick."

the center of the dojo. Stopping there, she pierced Sunny with a sharp look of

destroy a large part of this level of the compound. So, sadly, we will have to limit ourselves to our Dormant

Sunny shrugged.

he had not learned what Morgan's Ascended Ability was already, but he had - in fact, he not only observed her for more than a month and came up with a solid theory, but had also asked Cassie for

all. She was a priceless source of information... an almost limitless well

help, Sunny had finally confirmed without a shadow of a doubt that those of the Valor bloodline - Anvil and his children, at least - carried the lineage of War

Morgan's