Sunny appeared lazily at the door of his house, then opened it to be greeted by the sight of a pale girl with black hair and eyes full of excitement.
"Hello, Teacher Sunless!"
Sunny lowered his head slightly, examined Rain, then spoke.
"What brings you here?"
"Did I come at the wrong time?!"
"No, just… come in."
Rain entered excitedly, then looked around the large house with amazement and envy.
"Do you live here alone?"
"Ah, no. I have one invited guest and one uninvited guest living with me."
Sunny led Rain to the kitchen and began preparing pancakes for breakfast while Rain sat at the dining table, looking around.
"So, Rain, did your parents agree to let me train you?"
"They agreed, but they can't afford to pay a high price for someone like you."
"Tell them I'm not very materialistic. I can even accept a symbolic amount. Honestly, I don't even need the money, but I'll take it — what's the harm in getting a little extra cash?"
"Really? Does that mean we'll start our lessons soon?"
"No, we're starting today."
"What?!"
Sunny flipped the pancakes while Rain looked at him in horror. After finishing cooking, he placed two plates of sweet pancakes on the table and began cutting his own stack, putting the first bite in his mouth. As expected — delicious! When he turned to Rain, she looked like a ravenous beast devouring the pancakes, abandoning all the manners she knew.
He allowed himself a moment of pride upon seeing his sister enjoying the food he had made.
After breakfast, he took Rain to the spacious basement in the combat section. The room was fully reinforced to withstand the strength of normal Awakened. But unfortunately, Sunny wasn't normal, so he had to try to weaken himself as much as possible.
"Are we really going to train like this? I didn't even wear suitable clothes!"
"Ah, girls and their problems. Your opponent won't let you change clothes, so keep that in mind and pick up your sword."
Rain grumbled and picked up a training sword that fit her small size and began swinging it to get used to the weight. Seeing her precision, Sunny showed a satisfied expression, then spoke.
"What do you think fighting is about? What's the essence of combat?"
"To defeat your opponent without dying?"
"That's part of the answer, Rain. Combat revolves around many things. Adapting to any opponent is part of it, and winning without dying is a condition for survival… Someone once told me that the essence of combat is killing. Honestly, I believed that for a while, but I realized it's a mistaken concept."
"And how's that? Isn't killing your opponent the point of wielding a weapon and raising it against your enemy?"
"Yes, that's true. But everyone has their own answer and opinion. That person grew up in a dangerous environment that constantly threatened his life, so the essence of his combat style became killing… But if we follow anyone blindly without first understanding ourselves, we'll walk a mistaken path into the abyss. So the closest and most accurate answer, in my opinion, is that the essence of combat is adaptation… Maybe later you'll find your own answer, but for now, you'll follow my instructions."
Rain got excited by the explanation and raised her sword, straightening her back. But her teacher didn't speak — he just kept examining her posture.
"Teacher?"
"Very good stance… But you won't be fighting anyone. You'll just swing your sword a thousand times. Start!"
"But why?!"
"Why?! You're asking why? How do you expect to endure a long fight with those thin arms and weak shoulders? You need to eat well to build strong muscles!"
Rain cursed with every breath while swinging the sword, and Sunny sat on the ground eating and spinning a blue crystal ring in his hand. Rain didn't know what he was doing staring at that strange Memory. She couldn't even ask in her miserable condition.
Sunny looked deep into the highly complex weave of the Memory and sat inspecting it with intense focus.
Memory: [Deceived Cold]
Memory Rank: Supreme
Memory Tier: I
Memory Description: [A man wandered through cold and dark halls where the bones of beasts and kings froze, but as was his deceiving and honest nature, he was unaffected by the deceived cold of his nature…]
"I feel like I know this man… no, I do know him!"
Sunny sighed, then continued reading the Memory's enchantments.
Memory Enchantments: [Warm Field]
Description: [This Memory can create a field untouched by cold within a radius of one hundred meters.]
Sunny tried to infuse the Shadow essence into the Memory and activate it, but it didn't activate — meaning the Pulse of Absence had been accurate about the required condition for activating the Memory's magic. That was a very good thing and would help strengthen Memory's magic by limiting its use to rare conditions, thus making the effect it produces exceed its rank.
He lifted his head and looked at Rain, who was sweating profusely while wearing a skirt. This wasn't the strangest thing Sunny had ever seen — but it was still weird. He could hear her muttering curses like, "Who does he think he is?!" or "I'll kill him! I will kill him!" Well, aside from that, the training was going great. She had done more than two hundred swings, but she still had a long way to go.
After Rain completed more than half the required swings, Sunny stopped her upon noticing the spasms in her arms and shoulders. Honestly, he hadn't expected her to last this long. Despite her small figure, she had exceeded his expectations. Rain collapsed on the floor, panting, then spoke to him between breaths.
"You know something, Teacher? I've always found your name strange."
"Look who's talking."
Rain laughed tiredly, then continued.
"I mean, your name is Sunless, and my name is Rain. That sounds hilarious… Did your mother have a weird naming hobby?"
"Something like that."
"You seem mysterious and reserved, Teacher… You know, I was adopted? I never knew my real parents. I heard I had a brother, but I think he died somewhere on the outskirts."
"Call me Sunny. Now get up and wash — I'll get you something to eat."
Rain lifted her aching body and followed Sunny upstairs.
After Rain left, Sunny told her he would continue training her for a week, then go on a Dream Realm expedition that would last several months. She had asked nervously whether he would charge her during his absence, and he told her he wouldn't take any money without giving her lessons — that seemed to ease her.
"I guess more and more people are obsessed with material things… even my poor little sister."
Sunny summoned the mimic and entered it, where there was a table, a bed, and a wider space. In a separate room were hundreds of Awakened and Ascended soul shards… and even six Transcendent ones.
Sunny took a large quantity of Ascended soul shards, as well as materials like metals, wood, strong silk threads, bones, claws, and even monster hides, then exited the Mimic.
He began weaving Memories, having set a clear goal in mind: to weave as many Memories as possible. And that was because of one thing — upon reading his runes:
Shadow: [Marble Saint]
Shadow fragments: [154/200]
He will invest all of his memories in Saint.