Sunny had left the cafeteria and made his way to the wilderness survival classroom; the people in the back were left with varying emotions and different thoughts.
'He has a true name?'
'He was strong enough to tie for first place?'
'Why did he act weak?'
'Is he a legacy undercover?'
He wanted no part in their conspiracies about him. He would see only about 3 of the people in that hall again, and one was set to die.
'Should I even go to this class?' - He contemplated.
There was almost no reason too. Sunny possessed more than enough knowledge, and at the stage he was at now, he knew more than Julius did about the dream realm, runes, and even nightmare creatures.
He could go to the Academy pool and practice swimming on his own.
But Sunny wanted to go to this class irrespective.
How many people had actually treated Sunny like a normal person, both before and after becoming a carrier of the nightmare spell? They could be counted on one hand, and Julius was one of them.
Sunny opened the door.
The old man looked up from behind the wooden desk; his hair was as gray as he had seen, and his bushy eyebrows moved as it landed on Sunny.
"Hello sir, I'm here for class." - Sunny gave a warm smile.
The old man seemed to have been hit with an adrenaline rush as he stood up from his seat—"Come in! Come in, young man. Sit down."
Sunny walked over towards the front of the classroom and took a seat.
"I'm awakened, Julius; you can call me Teacher Julius. What's your name?"
"It's sunless."
"Ah, what an odd name! Tell me, Sunless, why did you choose Wilderness Survival?"
Sunny thought for a few moments—"I enjoy the idea of being an explorer."
The old man's eyes shimmered as if he had found a gem—"Are there any other classes you plan on taking?"
"Ah yes, I'm also taking a combat class."
The old man's shoulders sagged slightly before he heard Sunny keep talking.
"I feel if one wants to uncover the secrets of the world, you need the strength to take it."
"I suppose you're right, aren't you... come on, the combat classes begin in a few hours. Let us make the most of the time!"
And they did.
For a few hours Sunny was 'taught' by Julius. The teacher was beyond impressed with the young man's knowledge and intellect; the knowledge that he possessed was so vast due to his memories that it turned from a lecture to something more like a conversation.
"Hah, you say you're from the outskirts, and yet you possess such a deep mind."
"I had someone teach me from their memories."
"They must have been quite a knowledgeable individual... ah, wait, there are awakened in the outskirts?"
"No... It's rather... complicated on how I learned this."
"Hmm, well, it's a shame we can't keep going. I would like to learn the perspective of your teacher a bit more, but the combat classes are set to start in a few minutes..."
"We can continue tomorrow." - Sunny chuckled.
"I suppose you're right," he sighed.
Sunny got up and walked to the door, and before leaving, Sunny turned and waved goodbye at the old man before leaving.
He walked out into the hallway again and walked towards the combat class.
'I wonder how much strength to show...'
...
Sunny opened the door to the large dojo and stepped in. Many eyes moved to him, all of them, in fact.
"Welcome to the combat class, Lost from Light," Rock greeted him with a ghost of a smile on his face. He wanted to test the boys' combat capabilities, and now he had the chance to see them.
"Hello, sir. Sorry for being late; I was at Teacher Julius's class," Sunny replied politely, ignoring all the eyes on him.
"No, it's fine; you're just in time before we start sparring. Test your strength first, and then we will start." Rock pointed at the machine.
Sunny walked over to the machine—"So... I just punch it?"
"Yes, you may use your ability if you wish."
Sunny nodded and turned back to the machine. He was not going to use the augmentation of his shadow for now. He wanted to see where he was in terms of his base physical strength after the alterations to his body.
He raised his fist and pulled it back—his form garnering the attention of Nephis, Caster, and Rock.
He sent his fist forward and waited.
"19, that's excellent. Has your aspect had physical strengthening?"
"Thank you, sir, but I, uh... I haven't used my Aspect."
There was a silence that passed in the room.
"Well... since you're the closest. Step into the ring and we can begin."
'How odd... Nephis had been up first the last time...'
Sunny moved into the ring and watched calmly as his opponent walked in too, facing him.
"You can begin when ready," Rock said as he observed.
The boy moved, and his muscles tensed, threatening to rip his clothing. Sunny hadn't even put any strain on his body.
He used his left hand to hit the fist aimed at him to the right, stepped to the side, and stuck his leg out. The young man who had already built up momentum tripped and fell to the ground.
Everyone after had met a similar end.
It was like he was reading their moves and making the most simple movement to defeat them, and of course, he was. Shadow Dance was making reading the movements of these sleepers as simple as breathing air. With the added strength to his body, dealing with them was just as easy.
And now Sunny was facing Nephis.
She was watching him too as he was watching the opponents, and she knew they were going to fight.
Sunny felt an odd flux of emotions in his mind. This was Nephis, his companion, his fated 'master,' his lover...
And yet she was none of those things too. She was not his companion yet, she was not his lover, and she would never be his master in this life either.
Sunny had seen and felt the way 'he' had felt about her, and yet he did not know how to feel about her at all. Right now, Nephis was nothing to him.
'I don't know how to feel...'
Sunny looked at her as she put her hands up in a fighting stance, her face still impassive.
"Changing star"—he nodded at her.
She looked at him impassively—"Lost from Light."
Sunny heard those words come from her mouth, and his body felt cold, colder than it was since the trial—there were so many things that flooded his life because of her saying that name and so many things that happened because of her saying it.
But nothing had happened when she said it.
Sunny let out a breath and moved forward, and so did she.
Sunny threw a punch at her face, and she shifted to the left, dodging it, and sent a punch at his face.
She was too close for him to block, so Sunny jumped a step back, making space as her hand missed his face by less than an inch.
Nephis shifted and swept her leg at Sunny, which brought him to the ground, but before his body hit it, Sunny stretched his hand and kept his light weight up; he spun and sent his leg into her ribs with enough force that it must have cracked a few.
Sunny stood quickly as he turned to Nephis, who launched out of the ring.
"Are you okay?"
'What the hell am I doing?'
She stood up and looked at him—Sunny looked at her as the white flames danced in her eyes.
"I'm fine."
Nephis was hiding her strength, sure, but Sunny had not planned to react as he did.
He was planning to lose this match.
But when she had swept his feet and he was falling, his mind had calculated the ideal reaction, and his body moved in accordance; before he realized, he had already booted her in her ribs.
'Shit...'
"It was a good match; now it's just you two."
Sunny had been paying attention to Nephis, who was walking and stood where she had been previously; her face was impassive again.
That's probably why he did not notice Caster move into the ring.
"Lost from "Light"—the boy greeted him.
Sunny felt like someone had stepped on his toe.
'So it doesn't piss me off hearing it from Nephis, but hearing it from him does. Noted'
"Just call me Sunless."
Sunny moved Gloomy and wrapped him around his body. The boost to his body was insanely powerful; having his already powerful physical attributes doubled was devastating.
Sunny watched as Caster moved; Sunny's perception was unique compared to others, and now it was made more powerful. So unlike the last time when his past had only been a blur, Sunny was able to make out a figure.
He put his hand up in a cross guard to soften the punch aimed at his chest. Caster's hand crashed into it a second later.
Sunny flew back a meter or two and planted his heel into the ground to avoid moving back anymore.
Caster had already moved again, attacking from behind. Sunny gritted his teeth.
'Annoying bastard...'
He turned with an impossible speed, launching his elbow at Caster's head. The speedster had reacted just as fast, moving his head back a centimeter away from getting hit in the head. Sunny, however, had expected this.
When his elbow missed, he kept the momentum of his turn and brought up his right leg aimed at Caster's side as well, just as he did to Nephis.
Unlike Nephis, though, Caster had brought his left hand in a guard position, but just like Nephis, the force was enough to send him flying—in fact, it was more powerful due to the enhancement of his Shadow.
As Caster was pushed back, Sunny had already begun moving; his fist crashed into Caster's face, who had just planted his feet on the ground.
Caster's head flew back, and blood spurted from his nose, bent in an odd direction.
He too had been defeated.
"It was a good match."
Sunny held out his hand to the boy lying on his back.
Caster took it, and Sunny heaved him up. Everyone watched the interaction and watched as, when Sunny touched his hand, Casters bleeding nose stopped and it snapped back into place.
'Huh. "That's better than I expected," Sunny thought, watching as he sent Gloomy over to Caster.
It was also curious to note that Caster had shown no signs of physical enhancements.
'Well, he isn't a light or shadow, so it makes sense...'
"Well Done, Sunless"
Rock spoke with a smile.
"I hadn't looked over your profile, but it seems you're a healer?"
"Yeah..." - Sunny brought his hand to his neck with a chuckle.
"Well, class is over for today." - Rock turned to the students who were standing there looking at Sunny with reverent looks.
Sunny's eyes washed over them, and his landed on Nephis for a second longer than the rest.
All the sleepers had started to walk away, and Sunny had followed too.
'I wonder if she picked up on my intention?'