Shadow Slave

It went well.

Sunny was not doing much better against the murderous hurricane of steel wearing the beautiful human face of Morgan of Valor... but he did manage to slow her down a little.

Morgan slowed down not because she felt pressured by his sudden change of techniques, but because she was fascinated by it.

Her raven-black hair swept back and her simple tunic rippling from the wind risen by their clash, she pierced him with a burning vermilion gaze. Her red lips moved:

"Interesting. Very interesting..."

Morgan was not addressing Sunny, but more so speaking to herself.

After that, she changed her strategy, as well. Before, Morgan was all offense, all sharp edges, and a relentless barrage of calculated, but devastating strikes. Now, she was moving more deliberately - not really holding back, but also not pursuing an overwhelming defeat of the enemy at all costs.

It was as if Morgan was afraid to break him too soon.

...Sunny did not really know how to feel about that.

'Huh... well, that's a new feeling...'

They clashed, their swords weaving a cacophonous, but strangely beautiful melody of hissing and clangor. At the side of the dojo, Cassie turned her head slightly, listening.

Sunny had long beaten his record of holding out against Morgan for thirty-six seconds. A minute passed, then another. He was still solidly standing on his two feet, and even though his breathing was growing a little labored from the terrible strain of the intense fight, his stamina was far from running out.

In the middle of a particularly furious exchange, when they were close to each other, Morgan suddenly asked:

"That style... who taught you?"

Sunny struck at the hilt of her sword, aiming to sever her fingers, and answered hoarsely:

"No one taught me. I just learned it... from a Nightmare Creature..."

punished it by aiming a

"...In the Nightmare?"

fought the Barrow Wraiths as Mongrel, after all... but then again, no one else had gotten a proper measure of their battle skill, and he had faced countless Nightmare Gates later in

of

Morgan's smile widened.

fast

good grasp on the essence of the primal battle style he was using, which translated into her attacks becoming more purposeful.

was too soon - he could not have her growing bored yet. He needed to impress her some more before losing, so that the impression he

a great jian. It was still a two-handed sword, but this one was straight and double-edged, much

thrust, catching Morgan by surprise. She moved with the grace of a dancer, pulling her head out of the way.

"Ah! Devious!"

tone, her vibrant eyes

- they had agreed

Cheating was exactly what an exalted Legacy would expect an outskirt rat

also what a person from

would not shy away from,

turning his

had trained creating well enough to summon them on the fly... the only one he had reasons to avoid was the odachi, since that was what he had used the

Her smile grew wider.

under more and more strain. At some point, one of them even started to crack. Sunny used it to his advantage, launching a deliberate strike while his opponent

Morgan

other suddenly whipped into the air, delivering a lightning-fast, picture-perfect

time to react, pulling the spear slightly back and raising its butt to solidly block the

the matte black surface of the shadow

it was not as strong as an Ascended weapon would be. Sunny's eyes widened

'Crap...'

had decided to start using more of

him to do but accept the