Shadow Slave

A transcendent battle art was meant to incorporate the user's Aspect into their combat technique. What did it mean for Sunny?

The first element he had to consciously and comprehensively integrate into his battle style was the easiest — it was his ability to perceive the movement through shadows, as well as see what was happening behind his back. That did not sound like much, compared to his other abilities, but was actually a drastic change.

Almost every battle style he had learned in the past was meant to be practiced by humans, after all, and humans only had two eyes. That naturally dictated how they fought, and how the masters who taught young warriors to wield weapons constructed their styles. However, Sunny was not beholden to these standards. Therefore, he had spent plenty of time relearning the very basics of combat, building his technique in a way that allowed him to fully utilize that subtle, but confounding advantage.

The second element was even more fundamental, since it concerned movement. Movement lay at the base of every battle style... footwork was just as indispensable as striking and defending, if not more so. Not only did it dictate the balance and strength available to a fighter, but it also controlled space.

Advancing and retreating, evading and pressing the opponent — both offense and defense relied on controlling space. Sunny was not beholden to space, either, because he was supremely mobile due to Shadow Step.

That was perhaps his greatest advantage in a battle, and therefore, he meticulously altered his way of thinking about space in accordance with this advantage, practically rebuilding his battle style around it.

The third element was... group battle. It was a strange matter, considering that Sunny was both an individual and possessed multiple bodies.

Back on the Forgotten Shore, he and Nephis had been able to slay Carapace Scavengers by acting together — one served as bait, another delivered a fatal blow from behind. That simple manner of teamwork illustrated perfectly why the boon of fighting in a group was not additive, but instead multiplicative. The sum was greater than its parts, and Sunny alone... had seven parts.

So, he had trained himself relentlessly to fight while controlling many bodies at the same time, learning how to efficiently use group tactics without anyone's help.

The fourth element had to do with Blood Weave and Bone Weave. Most living things were hard to kill unless you aimed at their vital points, and due to these two Attributes, Sunny lacked several vulnerabilities that most humans possessed. He wouldn't bleed to death even if his artery was sliced open, and his bones were immensely resilient, to the point that breaking them was almost impossible.

Therefore, he had to teach himself how to make use of these traits. It was the simplest, but also the hardest mindset alteration he had to absorb — because it went against his most powerful instinct, the instinct of self-preservation. Nevertheless, Sunny had succeeded in changing his behavior in a manner that allowed him to strategically sacrifice non-vital parts of himself.

The fifth element was about another Attribute of his, the Onyx Shell. Among other things, it allowed Sunny to freely change his weight... or was it mass? He could never tell the difference.

In any case, such an ability opened up a vast ocean of possibilities for a skilled warrior, from increasing the impact of his blows to greatly augmenting his speed, solidifying his balance, and even performing actions that would otherwise be impossible without toppling like a cut tree.

Sunny had incorporated the effects of the [Feather of Truth] trait of the Onyx Shell into his battle style a while ago, but since he had had nothing but time in the last four years, he took this opportunity to fully reconsider it, learning how to use it not only comprehensively, but also instinctually. Now, he did not even have to think about utilizing that adaptable trait to enhance his every move.

The sixth element was the most broad, and concerned Shadow Manifestation. Sunny had the ability to manifest endless variations of tangible shadows, roughly divided into two methods. The first was to summon external implements like shadow hands or chains... this method was destructive, but lost too much of its potency in battles against truly powerful opponents.

As such, it was best used against large groups of weaker foes, or for pure utility.

was to alter the shape of his body with manifested shadows, from summoning additional limbs to building towering Shadow Shells. The shape of the Shells Sunny could create was, theoretically, endless — so, it was hard to pinpoint exactly how he was supposed to incorporate this

of Shells was currently limited. Since Sunny did not possess a True Name anymore, there was nothing to anchor himself, and therefore, assuming the shapes of alien creatures was extremely dangerous — unless he wished to lose himself entirely. So, he only used a handful of Shells.

battle art to each of

seventh element... or rather, there

not know what the last element of his transcendent battle art would be, but suspected that once he mastered it, his technique

sword and the black odachi howling as they repeatedly attracted and repelled each other. A few

behind the

a wild shadow was infused with his Transcendent essence, which in turn was made more potent by Soul Weave.

along the length of its blade. Tile odachi was not going to last much longer... Sunny could easily repair it, of course, but doing so would

weapon was failing, after all. Instead, it was the result of Nephis consciously targeting the same spot on the

'How devious...‘

help but

remembered the lessons. This duel of theirs would have to come to

It was a shame.

time, waiting for her to come

what is wrong before the duel is

elevating his battle style to a transcendent

did her battle art consist of, apart from the

his. Sunny had a wide array of traits and abilities that made him a

Divine Aspects he knew of, Mordret's was pure utility with hardly any battle application. Neph's,

she have altered her battle

obvious change would, of course, have to do with her Transformation Ability. She must have developed a robust technique for aerial combat, where there was no ground to stand upon and therefore no footwork, with a completely different relationship between mass, force, counterforce, and impact. She would have also paid more attention to archery,

apart from the winged one, so he couldn't even start

to rethink his relationship with physical harm due to Blood Weave

wounds, and yet, that wasn‘t enough to stop her. Scarily enough, if one thought about it... Nephis was nearly undying. He did not know what it

Someone who would continue to fight despite being pierced by your weapon, could sacrifice a limb to wound you and then immediately restore it, could not be slowed down even by the most gruesome injuries, was too accustomed to harrowing pain to care about it, would not bleed to death... and simply would not die before

He shivered slightly.

but definitely

had to have rebuilt her battle style around that dreadful Ability of hers, disregarding

another element Sunny had