Shifting his body slightly, Sunny allowed his shadow to stir, it then moved wrapping around his body. Enhancing his physical ability, Sunny could instantly tell the difference, His body felt lighter, almost weightless, and his movements sharpened as though someone had drawn invisible lines guiding each motion. His eyes narrowed onto the target, moving his weight to his feet, his arms coiled in suppressed strength.
Using his full body momentum, he sent a straight cross, his right fist shooting forward. His punch cut through the air like a blade aiming straight for the machine.
A loud BANG! Reverberated throughout the room. Eyes widened in shock, the number on the machine increased.
Nephis' eyes showed a hint of emotion on her indifferent face, a sharp glimmer of something like intrigue appeared as well, her hands clenching into fists.
Professor Rock had a smile on his face that seemed to grow the higher the number reached.
Caster, on the other hand, bit down on his lower lip, his face twisting in an expression that resembled disbelief mixed with anger. He had hoped Sunny would fail miserably. Watching the number surge beyond his own score made the resentment brewing in his chest burn even hotter.
Sunny moved away from the machine a little looking at the number, and soon it showed.
Forty-four
An involuntary smile crept up onto Sunny's face, looked at the number shown.
He took one last glance at the glowing digits and then turned away, pacing calmly back toward his previous place.
Stunned silence engulfed the room as everyone looked at the numbers displayed.
Then murmurs erupted in the room, "What Forty-four?! Are we sure it isn't broken!" "How is that possible from a sleeper?!" "His name is Sunless right? The legacies were trying to get him to their table he must be someone important!" "he is second, with a true name right? Lost from Light right?"
If Sunny gazed across the room he would see gazes of admiration, and jealousy directed at him, but the arrogant Legacy became deathly pale.
You could read their expressions like a book: 'he is the same age as us right? and yet we are so far behind.'
Nephis standing in a corner narrowed her eyes gazing at the youth. "Sunless..." she mumbles barely audible, only an awakened would be able to hear it, and that was if they were passively trying.
Professor Rock's voice could be heard shutting the mouths of the teens. "Ok, now that it is done let's move on to the next part of today's class. We will move to sparring and evaluate your general level of training. I need two volunteers to begin."
Nephis was the first to step forward and walk to the centre of the ring. A couple of seconds later, a tall and extremely muscular Sleeper followed and faced her. Sunny decided to watch and see how this plays out.
"The rules are simple. Make your opponent's back touch the floor or throw them out of the ring. Use whatever abilities and techniques you find appropriate." Professor Rock then clapped signalling the start.
Watching Sleepers fight each other was not only entertaining but could also provide Sunny with knowledge of their powers. None of them had extravagant powers or combat abilities mainly using their aspects to do everything for them.
The tall guy attacked without wasting any time. His muscles bulged, threatening to tear the soft fabric of his clothes. He advanced like an unstoppable mountain, sending a vicious kick flying.
... A second later, he was lying on the floor with a dumbstruck look on his face. Nephis didn't even change her stance.
An evident smile found its way to Sunny's face he was standing next to Cassie explaining to her what happened.
"Nephis is really cool isn't she!" Cassie seemed excited after Sunny explained to her what happened.
Sunny nodded in agreement, "She is from the Immortal Flame clan. I would not expect anything less." Sunny praised her which made Cassie raise an eyebrow but Cassie quickly turned back in the direction the fights were taking place.
What followed could only be described as a massacre. One after another, Nephis managed to defeat almost every single Sleeper present in the dojo. She didn't seem to be faster or stronger than them, but each time someone entered the ring to fight her, they would inevitably end up beaten and thrown to the ground.
Sunny watched the process with a growing sense of amusement.
Nephis moved with the calm precision of a battle machine. Her technique was clean, graceful and ruthless. No matter what type of attack was thrown at her, she was able to either predict or instantly react to it, then deflect and turn it against the attacker with the minimum amount of effort.
It didn't matter whether her opponent was poor, rich or a Legacy. Everyone would end up dealt with in a matter of seconds.
What's more, through the whole process, the composed expression on her face didn't even change once. It was like she had no emotion in the first place.
Finally, Caster was next. Sunny's eyes narrowed into slits, 'this should be good' he thought watching Caser approach Nephis in the middle.
Caster and Nephis faced each other. Their eyes locked for a few seconds, and then Caster slightly bowed.
"Lady Nephis. Please excuse me in advance."
It seemed like Caster suddenly ceased to exist.
However, it was only an illusion. The truth was that he was just moving so fast that the human eye couldn't keep up with his movements. If it wasn't for his intense training with his sisters, being used to their speed, and the special properties of Shadow Sight he would probably not be able to keep up with the speed at which Caster was going.
In a fraction of a second, Caster covered the distance between him and Nephis and delivered a devastating blow. However, despite his astonishing speed, she somehow managed to react in time, slightly turning her body to deflect the strike.
But it still wasn't enough. Although Nephis had managed to avoid being hit squarely in her centre of gravity, Caster's fist ended up connecting with her shoulder, sending the girl into a spin.
Not wasting any time, Caster disappeared again. His plan was very simple: while Nephis was still under the impression that the enemy was in front of her, he was going to use his unnatural swiftness to circle and attack from the back.
The young man appeared behind the oblivious girl, ready to finish the fight with one decisive strike. Just as he planned, she seemed to be preparing to attack in the direction he had seen just a split second ago. Gratified, Caster shifted his weight, putting it all into his fist.
However, at the last moment, Nephis suddenly changed her stance and threw her elbow back with frightening force.
Caster's eye widened. It was all a feint!
And now that he had committed to a strike, there was no simple way to stop. No matter how fast he was, he was still subject to the laws of inertia. The elbow was approaching his face with a profound feeling of inevitability.
And yet, Caster still managed to avoid it, even if it was just by a hair's breadth. His speed advantage was just too big.
He then proceeded to trip and push Nephis, sending her flying to the ground. However, just before she was about to hit the mats, the young man carefully grabbed the collar of her clothing and gently pulled, slowing down the fall and allowing Nephis to land on the floor without any impact.
Watching the scuffle with the two, Sunny quickly found out that Nephis had not used her aspect in the slightest, he watched as Nephis stood up and walked off the mats. 'Just what are you hiding... Changing Star.'
Soon after the fight ended Sunny started to walk into the mats in the middle where Caster was standing calmly. The fight before had only taken a few seconds to complete.
The teens who were watching were still reeling from the fight beforehand, "Caster is just too cool," "he beat first place in a matter of seconds!"
But before they could settle down a loud clap echoed in the room.
The fight had begun.
Caster made the first move blurring just as he did before with Nephis. Sunny's eyes darted around the room, searching. Then the attack struck, moving his hand into a defensive position, Sunny blocked the incoming fist.
Before Sunny could counterattack Caster blurred once again making Sunny lose track of him once more.
Sunny could see Caster's movements from the side when he was spectating the fight between Nephis and Caster but when in a real battle he didn't have the luxury to just stand and watch, he had to both defend and counterattack.
Sunny relied on his shadow sense ability to know where Caster would strike next, in no time he did using a right leg kick Caster aimed for Sunny's neck, Sunny quickly reacted side-stepped to lessen the blow on his body using his arm to take most of the damage, and without missing a beat grabbed Caster's ankle and pulled him in close.
Shifting his feet he grabbed Casters' shirt and flung him over his shoulder. Caster was not in a position to get a stable footing while Sunny still had a hold of him, Sunny could feel the shift in Caster's shadow as he swung his leg straight at Sunny's head, he had gathered himself for one last attempt, pivoting on his heel and whipping his leg toward Sunny in a final, desperate strike.
Sunny made a quick decision and let go of Caster, blocking the incoming leg with his arm.
Caster responded on instinct. He was plummeting headfirst toward the mats, he shot his hands down, absorbing the impact before driving off his arms and flipping himself back onto his feet.
Caster breathed in and out his breath ragged.
Sunny could have driven Caster into the mats and finished the match in a heartbeat. But Caster, refusing to go down without landing a single blow, he had unleashed one last desperate attempt to get a hit on him.
Sunny refused to be humiliated like that, not allowing Caster to get such an undeserved hit.
But beneath the seriousness...
He couldn't deny it.
He was having fun.