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..."

strike and punished it by aiming a thrust at his heart. A smile appeared

"...In the Nightmare?"

then again, no one else had gotten a proper measure of their battle skill, and he

of

Morgan's smile widened.

fast

seemed to have gotten a good grasp on the essence of the primal battle style he was using, which translated into her attacks becoming more purposeful. She was probing and testing, forcing him to reveal more

he could not have her growing bored yet. He needed to impress her some more before losing, so

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

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

"Ah! Devious!"

her vibrant eyes

cheated - they had agreed to leave their Ascended

fine. Cheating was exactly what an exalted Legacy would expect an outskirt rat to

it was also what a person from the

what a fighter in a real battle would not shy away from, which was why Sunny thought that Morgan was bound to

answering, he attacked, turning his

were a few weapon forms that he had trained creating well enough to summon them on the fly... the only one he

Her smile grew wider.

more strain. At some point, one of them even started to

of her spear aside, Morgan pivoted, shifting her weight to

delivering a lightning-fast, picture-perfect roundhouse kick to his

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

shin connected with the matte black surface of the shadow

as strong as an Ascended weapon would be.

'Crap...'

to start using

nothing really for him to do but accept the blow and hope that she was