Shadow Slave

Morgan moved fast... much faster than she had moved in the Dreamscape. One moment she was standing calmly a dozen meters away from him, the next she was already there, delivering a downward cut aimed precisely at his temple.

Luckily, Sunny was prepared for her.

He sidestepped, raising his shadow tachi to intercept the training sword. The two blades met and bit into each other, connected in a bind. He felt the shock of the impact travel through his bones and pushed the sword away - at the same moment as Morgan raised her hands, changing the angle of her weapon and pushing it forward over the tachi.

The tip of the training sword barely missed his eye.

But now, momentum was on Sunny's side.

He took a step forward, past their two blades, and rammed her with his shoulder. Morgan was thrown back, and a split second later, it was her turn to deflect a cut... only the cut had never come.

Instead of trying to twirl his tachi into a downward cut that was not too different from the one his opponent had delivered a moment ago, Sunny simply kept its position - raised above his shoulder, the blade facing back - and struck her in the face with the pommel.

No matter how fast Morgan was, no matter how strong, the distance between them was too short, and that strike was too swift - better yet, the blade of the tachi remained between his neck and the enemy's sword.

Sunny saw no way for her to escape.

And... she didn't.

Instead of awkwardly trying to avoid the strike, Morgan simply lowered her head and received it with the ridge of her brow, where the bone was strongest. She didn't seem phased by the powerful blow, either. In fact, Sunny felt as if he had struck steel... he almost heard a metallic ring.

The two of them pushed away from each other, ending that first, probing exchange.

Sunny was pleased with himself.

...Morgan seemed pleased, too.

face. She briefly touched her forehead, then glanced at her fingers, where

I've been starved of good opponents for so long, and now there are three. And you are all so different,

like a starving glutton who suddenly found himself choosing between three exquisite

the blind girl, who sat quietly by the

battle maniac got Cassie involved in her training regime,

his gaze, Morgan

fighting her made me exercise skills and muscles that I had never had to exercise before. Which is a rare boon, for me. Why? Have the two of you never

a moment, then shook

with swords, at

gave him

"Ah... it's your loss."

and prepared to launch another strike. Her smile turned from

hold back,

Morgan attacked, turning into a

'Curses...'

pleased with his performance in their first exchange, but his satisfaction quickly evaporated. Now that Morgan was done testing him, the onslaught of attacks she unleashed was... simply

equal - granted, Sunny was only using three of his shadows to augment himself. He would have had

of technique, combat intelligence, and experience... to his deep dissatisfaction, Sunny realized that he

to be - a person born and raised for the sole purpose of being a fighter. The people who forged her into a deadly weapon were some of the best warriors humanity had

inescapable sword, he

the Dreamscape, he had been simply crushed. He had felt as if his enemy was not a person, but a hurricane. The thirty-six seconds he had lasted against her seemed like a

different. Sunny was at a disadvantage, but he could confidently defend himself. He was older, stronger, and more experienced...

said... the problem

the... the hell... she

in a short amount of time, he did manage to glean a few things about it - enough