Shadow Slave

Sliding across the marble floor as he was being pushed back by a merciless onslaught of unhurried, but lethal attacks, Sunny was carefully observing Neph's movements.

'Why can‘t I make sense of it?‘

He shifted his weight, deflected the silver blade to the side, and used the long hilt of the odachi as a lever to spin its blade at an inconceivable speed. Nephis easily partied it with the crossguard of her sword, but Sunny was already transitioning from a downward slash into a rising stab.

Every movement flowed into anotherI forming a torrent of deadly steel.

'How strange.'

Nephis was the first person Sunny had ever shadowed. After years of training together and fighting side by side, he knew her better than anyone else. Therefore, it should have been easy to glimpse the true essence of her transcendent battle art, or at least start to unravel it.

And indeed, Sunny sensed the heart of her intent. Just like how Nephis could read his intentions through her sublime mastery of combat, he could predict her actions through Shadow Dance. But his perception was oddly shallow... he could guess what would happen, but not why it would happen.

Almost like those initiates who had only mastered the body, but not the mind.

Nephis evaded his stab by turning and leaning sideways, took a graceful step to shift her balance, and pulled her blade out of the bind. A split second later, it lashed out, almost striking his thigh. If Sunny was a beat too late, he would have had to receive her blow.

The Onyx Mantle was akin to a Transcendent armor, while the mirror sword was a strange hybrid between a Transcendent and a Supreme weapon that he himself had created. Considering that offense usually trampled defense in the ruthless world of the Nightmare Spell, a single strike was all it would take for him to lose the duel.

his armor immediately, but

at

to do the same, technically, but was still following suit. Whether it was out of respect for the Lord of Shadows or simply because Neph was just as starved for a good opponent as he was, Sunny did not

a part

any of her Aspect Abilities, what Sunny was witnessing was not the true extent of her

had hoped to extrapolate the missing pieces by experiencing the foundational

to

own battle art, so it was not impossible for him to guess what Nephis would have

'Let's see...‘

least it was supposed to be. Sunny had not

was crude and rudimentary, mostly consisting of flooding the entirety of their bodies with essence. Masters were much more skilled in that regard. Their control of essence was rather intricate, as was their understanding of the human body. By selectively infusing various areas, muscle groups, and organs with essence at just the right time, they were able to not only increase its efficacy, but also drastically reduce its

Saints could control soul essence as naturally as they were breathing, and with truly incredible finesse. They could more or less selectively enhance each muscle fiber, nerve cluster, or tendon in their body — not only that, but due to better control, the range and

if they were smart about using their essence, and had trained themselves to do it instinctively... like Sunny had in the past

the complex machine of his body performed numerous actions. His heart pumped blood through his veins, electrical impulses traveled along his nerves, various muscles relaxed or contracted, and so

course, no one consciously willed all these minute processes to happen. If trained properly, the body itself would remember how to act to the

way, as well as tailored to the unique personal battle style of the individual.

demanded an inconceivable amount of concentration, at that. But by now, it was like an instinct to Sunny — luckily, he had possessed a rich foundation

the Soul Serpent and Soul Weave to assist him, as