Nephis's days in the Academy went much like before. She took combat classes and trained in her free time. She wasn't having fun time. Her young body, though strong and agile for a mundane human, felt now so weak - she couldn't believe most humans lived their lives like this. She was unable to express her skills with the sword properly and that, more than anything else, took a toll on her. Swordplay had always been a way of escape for her, but now she found no joy in it. Every time she raised her sword she was reminded of everything she'd lost.
She was unable to execute even basic motions of her transcended battle art with any kind of accuracy, so she had to scale her technique back years. At first she was even worse than originally at this point of time, because she had to relearn fighting without essence control. Thankfully, the adjustment period was relatively short, and by the end of the first week she had already surpassed her past self in skill.
Nephis had to also think about her friends. She tried to converse with Cassie whenever their paths crossed, and her attempts to brighten her mood seemed to work somewhat. Nephis patted herself on the back: she had really come a long way in the art of being a human. It would have been strange for her to be too social, though, especially because she didn't talk with pretty much anyone else.
One person, however, was in Nephis's mind the most: Sunny. He wasn't anywhere to be found. Only time Nephis saw him was in the cafeteria, sitting next to Cassie. Sometimes she would spot his shadow exploring the Academy, but he himself had disappeared.
One time, couple of days after the first combat class Nephis decided to act. If she wanted to change the course of history, she might as well start now. And also, she desperately wanted to talk to him, even if it would be painful.
Cassie and Sunny sat next to each other in an empty corner of the cafeteria. Nobody looked at them, at least with any other emotion than pity. They were like ghosts — or shadows, destined to die lest they appeared directly in front of a citadel. That was why many heads turned with confusion when Changing Star, the strongest sleeper in the academy, went and marched straight to their table. Nephis saw Caster frown in the middle of his legacy group, looking at her with suspicion. She could guess what he was thinking...
Not only had Nephis finally decided to sit with someone other than herself, she had for some reason chosen to sit with the two weakest people in the room.
Nephis was amused by the situation, and also a little uncomfortable, feeling questioning stares burning holes in her back. She remained calm as though nothing strange had happened and sat next to Sunny with her tray.
Sunny looked at her like he was seeing a ghost or some sort of mythical monster. Cassie turned her head slightly and frowned.
"Hey, who are you?"
"Nephis."
Cassie's eyes flew open.
"Nephis? You're the — "
"I know", Nephis said. "I'm Changing Star. But please call me Nephis. Actually, if you want, you can call me Neph."
"Okay... Neph... " Cassie seemed a little startled. Then she seemed to realize something. "Oh, right. I'm Cassie." She turned to look at Sunny's direction with surprising accuracy.
"I'm Sunless. But you can call me Sunny", Sunny said. He didn't look Nephis in the eyes, instead seeming terribly interested in his food.
Nephis nodded and turned to her food as well. She wanted to talk, but what should she say? It was odd for her to even be there. Sunny and Cassie were both quiet as well: Cassie because of her shyness, Sunny because of his general unfriendliness. Nephis sighed.
"So... how has it been, here in Academy?" she finally asked.
Sunny's face flashed with peculiar expression. Cassie giggled, causing Nephis to frown. This was small talk, was it not?
"You would think that life in Awakened Academy was really interesting", Cassie said after some thought. "But, you know... it has been surprisingly boring. All I have done is learned how to not walk into walls."
Nephis looked at Cassie with compassion.
"I see. It must be hard, to have a Flaw like that."
Cassie looked at her food, eyes unseeing. "You're right, it is." She fiddled with her spoon and tried a little smile. "But at least someone talks to me from time to time. It's nice."
Nephis conjured a thoughtful expression on her face. "One would think such a Flaw to bring with it an immensely powerful Aspect. But you were the last on rankings. Actually, both of you were. That's strange." She smiled at Sunny. "Especially after all that talk about Divine Aspect you received."
Sunny coughed. "Right. That. Would you believe, nobody thinks that I actually have it! Those fools! If they knew me better, they knew that I wouldn't just lie like that."
Cassie giggled. "Divine Aspect? I thought that — " Suddenly, her expression changed. "Wait. Are you that perv — that guy that people have been speaking of? Who told those legacies that you killed an Awakened Tyrant in your Nightmare?"
She suddenly blushed as Sunny opened his mouth to explain.
"Yes, yes. I am, and I told them. It was all for the show, really. As for any other things you have heard of me, they are all completely wrong. I am not pervert in any way!"
Nephis looked at Sunny's panicked face. It was funny and cute but also so un-Sunny-like. Usually he was so composed.
Then again, Sunny had this side to him as well. It reminded Nephis of times she had caught him staring, and his adorable attempts at explaining himself.
So bittersweet... And, actually, you're not being completely truthful...
Cassie still looked startled. Sunny sighed. He looked at Nephis from the corner of his eye.
"You don't think that I'm a pervert, right?"
Nephis almost smiled but instead nodded, serious. "No, I don't. I mean, you did send your shadow to spectate the combat class, but I believe that was for purely academic reasons."
Sunny gulped. Nephis was not done, however.
"Why is that? Why are you not participating in any classes? You seem to be from outskirts, so surely you would be better off with some sword practice."
Sunny shrugged. "I am focusing on wilderness survival. I imagine it's not something you legacies would think of, but for me, it's hundred times more important than swinging a sword."
So that's why...
"That makes sense, but you still need to learn how to fight. Do you have any spare hours in the evening? I'm in the dojo, so we could spar a bit. It would be beneficial for us both."
For some time, there was silence, and that gave Nephis time to think what she just said. She hadn't really planned it, but really, this was a nice solution. She didn't see anything wrong with it. Sunny, on the other hand...
"What?"
Nephis looked at him.
"What what?"
"No, I must have heard it wrong... But please, tell me you didn't just say that me sparring with you would benefit us both. Surely you're not that stupid."
Ah... when thought like that, it did seem somewhat weird. But considering that they were probably going to end together in the Dream Realm, it was just logical. Nephis couldn't say that, so she chose to abuse Sunny's Flaw a little.
"You heard me right", Nephis said. "Do you want to take the offer?"
Sunny looked a little pale. He slowly shook his head.
"To be honest... Nephis, it is a nice offer. But if I spar with you, there's not gonna be anything left of me when the Solstice comes."
Nephis frowned. "We don't need to fight. I can teach you some technique and we can both practice on our own. You should be a fast learner — you survived your First Nightmare despite being from outskirts. Not to mention slaying that Tyrant."
*******
In the end, Sunny agreed. They met at nine o'clock in the dojo of the Academy. Sunny was clad in a black leather armour. It looked surprisingly good on him. Actually, it looked much like the armour that his Shadow Clan would later wear. Nephis again felt puzzle pieces connecting in her head.
It might have been fun, if it wasn't so sad.
Sunny approached her carefully.
"How are we going to start?"
Nephis forced herself to concentrate on the moment and looked at Sunny.
"We start with words."
"Words?"
"Yes. Combat can be divided into to sections. Mastery of the body and mastery of the mind... "
Nephis went through the general principles of combat feeling like she was walking through a dream. Was she really lecturing the fiercesome Lord of Shadows on the most basic pillars of battle? Had she also taught him in her previous life? She must have. Nephis suddenly recalled how Sunny had used Broken Sword's style against her in their first duel in Godgrave. He had definitely learnt it from her. That thought made Nephis smile.
"What? What is that ominous smile?"
Nephis looked at Sunny, who had been digesting new information in silence and was now looking at her. She raised an eyebrow.
"Was it ominous?"
"Yes it was." Sunny shook his head. "You're weird, you know that?"
"Oh, at least I'm not the only one", Nephis said. "But we don't have time to waste. As I said, repetion and practice are key in the initial stages of learning to fight. So give that punching machine a try. I will just look and see how your technique is."
Sunny nodded solemnly and walked to the punching machine. He inhaled slowly, and then his shadow rose from the floor, wrapping itself around his arm. Sunny threw a punch at the machine, which trembled a bit before displaying a number: eighteen.
It would have surprised anyone else, but not Nephis. If anything, she was taken back a bit. Sunny's form was not terrible, but it was still that of a beginner's. His feet were wrongly positioned, not to mention his hips and his core, which he did not utilize fully.
Sunny himself was quite pleased with himself — that was, until he looked back at Changing Star, whose face was as unmoving as ever.
What's wrong with her? Sunny thought. Did she not just see the second weakest sleeper of this year striking with more force than almost anyone else? Actually, my score was higher than hers!
Sunny was not sure why he had even used his shadow now. It would have been better to keep his cards close to his chest. But the thought of Changing Star of the Immortal Flame seeing his initial, laughable nine had somehow made him act irrationally.
It didn't have anything to do with Nephis being one of the two most beautiful girls he had met in his life.
Little did Sunny know that Nephis already guessed what his original score was.
"Not bad", Nephis said. "You used your Aspect, right?"
Sunny nodded.
"I must say, it is really powerful. But you shouldn't rely on it. If you use Aspect to help you all the time, you will not develop the technique you need."
After that, they spent an hour or so with hand-to-hand combat. Nephis made Sunny throw punches or execute other moves, and she corrected his mistakes. They even sparred a bit in the end.
Nephis had thought about starting with a sword, but after seeing Sunny's technique with a punch, she decided it was best to focus on just the body at first, without additional complexity of a weapon. In the end, the ultimate weapon of the fighter was their body — what tool you actually used to kill was just a matter of convenience. And many principles of hand-to-hand combat were the same as in swordfighting, anyway.
So Nephis showed Sunny how to draw power from his legs, hips and core, how to position himself and move nimbly. Sunny proved to be a fast learner, just as Nephis had thought. The pace at which he absorbed new information was in fact not just fast, it was unnatural. After their training session was over, Sunny was still a beginner... but only in the realm of legacies and people trained to fight from their childhood. Compared to average people he was scarily good.
"This is enough for today", Nephis concluded. "Let's meet again tomorrow."
"Alright, princess... " Sunny muttered.