Sunny and Thene passed through the door, the room behind it was much larger than he expected.
Immense stained-glass windows, flooded with black light, covered the entire ceiling. Two rows of doric columns ran along the sides of the room. The floor was tiled with obsidian stones, and the walls were made of fine black marble.
The entire room was lit only by a pair of torches placed between every two pairs of columns.
At the far end of the room, in the center, stood an altar, the figure of an elderly man caught Sunless's attention.
The elder was bald, with a short gray beard that covered his entire chin; just like Thene, his eyes were as black as two pieces of obsidian, his face was full of wrinkles and despite his serious demeanor, his smile conveyed the feeling of a wise grandpa. He wasn't exactly fat, but he was large and had a bit of a belly.
His tunic was black like the others, but it had gold ornaments, a sign of his superior rank.
Thene, holding his hand at her right, approached the altar, making a sign to him to imitate her actions.
A few steps from the elder, she stopped, placing their left hand on her right chest and bowing her head slightly, greeted the elder.
"May your shadow find solace."
Sunny looked at her and did the same.
"May your shadow find solace."
The elder turn first at Thene then at Sunny.
"May your shadow find solace."
The elder asked to Thene:"Is he the boy?"
'I'm the main character! If not me who?' Sunny replied mentally.
"Without any doubt." Answered Thene happily.
"What's your name young shadow?" Asked the elder this time to Sunny.
"Sunless."
"Very good! Sunless, from today you will learn our ancient ritual.
A tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation only to those like you who have been deemed worthy by the shadows.
A dance and a battle art, shapeless, adaptable and deadly.
The Shadow Dance."
'LET'S GOOOO!!!'
Sunny was really excited. Shadow dance wasn't just any battle art.
Shadow dance was THE BATTLE ART.
And the best part. Only he can perform this battle art at its peak due to his aspect. Not to mention the legacy memories.
His unique, inimitable and personal battle art.
Actually, thanks to the Novel, he had the knowledge of the first four step and had a vague feeling about what the fifty and sixth steps should be.
Although, he don't even know where to start, but right now all the answers were potentially laid before his eyes.
The elder, seeing his face light up, with satisfaction continued.
"I see i've caught your attention. Good! Thene, show our young shadow the ritual."
As soon as he finished saying this, Sunny and the elder moved to the sides of the room, while Thene took up a position in its center.
All the torches in the room went out as if devoured by the shadows.
It seemed the shadows of the temple didn't like the lights desecrating their ritual.
Looking up at the altar, Thene made a respectful bow.
Suddenly seven shadows rose from under her foot, each symmetrically spaced from the other, forming a circle around the priestess.
The scene, enhanced by the black light coming from the stained-glass ceiling and the snake tattoo along her body, only made Thene's already exquisite beauty even more heart-stopping.
Thene danced in the circle surrounded by her shadows, her every move full of indescribable grace and clear, but elusive purpose.
She weaved a beautiful pattern with her movements, their cadence and nature simultaneously firm and flowing, sharp and gentle, clear and unpredictable. She danced alone but also with seven partners, effortlessly controlling both her own body and the seven shadows cast by it.
At times, it was hard to tell which one of them was real.
Sunny watched all this in silence as Thene perform the dance. He remembered the description of the battle art from the book perfectly, but seeing it was something else entirely.
The shadow dance was everything and even more. Graceful and aggressive. Shapeless and treacherous. Unpredictable and precise.
It was truly... glorious!
An hour later, Thene stopped dancing, not a drop of sweat appearing on her smooth skin, but Sunny hadn't noticed this detail.
His eyes were wide open on the enchanting priestess who had just danced.
Thene smiled meeting his eyes. She hadn't missed his childish gaze for even a second.
"What did you think of this dance, Sunless?" Thene finally asked.
"That was... really cool!" He replied, his eyes still wide.
Thene let out a short, melodious laugh and said: "I'm glad you did. Your mother would have loved to teach you the shadow dance herself. She was like a sister to me, so i'm happy to grant her wish. Because..."
"THENE!" the elder interrupted, placing a hand on his shoulder and adding: "He's still a child; this isn't the time for this conversation yet."
'Child? ...Child!? Ah! Crap! I'm a child right now. I forgot it.'
Sunny only now realized that he was in the body of a child.
'How could i have not noticed this detail until now?'
Thene's smile faded, replaced by a sad look.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
Sunny looked at the elder who was still holding his shoulder.
Before he could formulate the question, the elder turned to him and said: "I see the curiosity in your eyes, young shadow. I know what you want to ask, but it's not the time yet. You must focus on your training so you can take on the role that awaits you when you are more mature.
Don't let ghosts distract you. When the time comes, you will know the truth. Until then, don't fear.
Whatever happened wasn't your fault, it's just not everyone is strong enough."
Sunny looked back at the still sad priestess. Even though he hadn't ask, the elder's words gave him a hint as to what happened.
Apparently, the mother of this child died giving birth to him.
'That's... sad, really sad.'
Trying to cheer-up the disheartened priestess, Sunny asked her in a joyful voice: "Will you really teach me the shadow dance?"
"Yes, sure!" Thene wiped away a tear and started smiling again.
"Can we start now?" He asked to both.
"Why not?" She replied.
Days passed like this.
Sunless spent all his time with Thene and the elder; the only time he saw the other children of the temple was when they gathered for eat, once in the morning and second in the evening.
Thene taught him the Shadow dance. The charming priestess was kind and treated him like a son, teaching him with enthusiasm and calmly correcting his every mistake.
The elder, though stern, proved to be a good person. He taught him the customs and history of their cult, the runes, behavior, and even a little self-defense.
Sunless, who had already received some lessons from Jet, played inexperience so as not to arouse suspicion.
Although he had never been a model student in his past life, strangely enough, he managed to memorize every lesson the elder gave him and never forgot even the slightest gesture.
Without realizing it, two weeks passed.
While Sunless was training with Thene.
"Miss Thene?"
"Call me just Thene, i thought i told you this already Sunless."
"What kind of person was my mother?"
The question echoed on his lips.
Thene paused, thinking for a moment before turning to him.
"She was... a truly kind person, not just... she wasn't kind because she wanted to be, she just was.
Her smile was tryly beautiful. Just like you, she was a temple slave chosen to learn the Shadow dance... she was the best dancer and fighter I'd ever seen."
Thene looked at him straight in the eyes before continuing
"I was a simple priestess back then, not a high priestess charged with teaching the youngs. But even so, the way she easily spoke with everyone, without they realize of her status as a slave, broke down all social barriers."
Silence fell between them.
To change the subject, he asked: "Thene, how strong are you?"
"I'm currently the strongest person here. I could defeat all the guards and staff of this temple ten times over. I'm an ascendant." The priestess replied with complete confidence.
'THAT'S NUTS SISTER! not gonna lie.' Sunny was really surprised by her answer.
'Wait! If she is the strongest here, why isn't she in charge? You know what? I don't care, i'm still trapped inside this damned nightmare.'
A memory kept resurfacing in his mind: the soldiers of the slave caravan destroying the temple and enslaving his people.
Even though it had only been a few weeks, Sunny really grew attached to Thene as if she was his mother.
She cared for him during this time, giving him more affection than he expected. This gave him some comfort in this nightmare.
He can't think of her as anything other than a maternal figure.
He hated seeing people die. That's why, when he watched his current mother slowly died for her ill beside him, he felt guilty.
Because he knew it would happen, he knew the story.
And even if he were just a child, he could have done better.
He can't bear the thought of losing someone else who was important to him.
Sunny know that all this is just an illusion, but still...
"Thene... you'll always be with me? Right?" He asked a little sadly.
Seeing him like this, Thene approached him and hugged him tightly.
"We'll always be together, forever. I'll promise!"
"I hope so." He said, returning the hug.
After that, Sunny never had any more conversations like that with Thene.
He chose to learn everything he could from her and the elder while he still had the chance, after all. He knew what the future potentially held for him.
Despite this unexpected situation, the things he was learning were too precious not to take advantage of.
Time passed quickly and soon the enemy arrived at their doorstep.