Chapter 32

Grunts of effort emanated throughout Nephis's dojo as she continued to swing her blade. She had politely requested that Sunny help oversee her training, and he currently wasn't making it easy for her, not that she'd have it any other way, of course.

Suddenly, Sunny raised a hand, indicating for her to stop her empty swings into the air. Slowly, he made his way towards her before getting behind her. Sunny still hadn't fully recovered from his insomnia, still needing extended periods of sleep, but with five days left till the attack on Valor he had all the time he needed.

Sunny's hands snaked their way around Nephis waist, causing her to shiver as her face turned bright red. Raising an eyebrow, Sunny moved to release his hands from her waist before Nephis grasped them in her own, pressing them against her waist. "I'm fine; don't let go." Sunny could only nod before he moved to correct her form.

"Did you know that before you attain transcendence, there are two limits awakened all hit?" Nephis raised an eyebrow, beckoning him to continue speaking. Sunny, despite having corrected her form, maintained his hold on Nephis's back as he rested himself on her body.

"The limit to your effort and the limit to your talent. Typically, people hit the latter later on in their life as they get much stronger, but that limit only exists for those who are talented. Once you hit it, unless you use things like augmentations like my shadows and your flames, you won't get stronger."

Nephis spun her body to face Sunny, still allowing him to maintain his hold on her before looking him straight in the eyes. "And I assume we've both hit the limit of our talent." Sunny only nodded before sighing. "But there's a way. There always is."

"Once you hit the wall, whether it be an enemy you can't defeat or hitting your limit through training, you can break past the wall and unlock greater heights. For brief periods, masters can even compete with Saints."

The prospect of matching a transcendent in power was deeply alluring. Nephis wanted Sunny to say more, but the look in his eyes continued to indicate to her he wanted nothing more than to lie in bed in her arms as he drifted off to sleep. He deserved the rest after all. "Sunny, let's get you to bed."

A yawn was her only answer as she threw his arm over her shoulder before exiting the dojo. Taking care of Sunny was a very pleasant occasion; sometimes she wondered why he wouldn't get sick and rely on her more often, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Gently laying him onto the bed, she moved to leave and continue her training, intrigued to break past this wall that Sunny spoke of.

Sunny's hand gently squeezed her own, barring her exit, eliciting a small smile to cross Nephis features as she looked down at him. "Despite how you are in combat, you're a big baby." She teased before slinking into bed with him. Being Sunny's girlfriend, despite him never calling her his, was a very pleasant thing to be; times like these helped her ground her humanity.

As Sunny's sleep deepened, Nephis planted a kiss across his forehead before escaping his grasp. She felt slightly guilty at leaving Sunny alone, but there were things she needed to do. More importantly, reconvene with Mordret. Feeling the pull of her anchor, she found herself in the onyx tower that Sunny had led her to all that time ago. 

With a sigh, Nephis exited the front gates, hastily making her way back to where she had once met Mordret. She knew exactly why he called her there, and it wasn't pleasant. Finally, she had arrived. Despite the fact Mordret was constantly surrounded by corpses of nightmare creatures, she had never actually seen him wearing armour. It was a strange sight to say the least.

Mordret held a sword in hand before jumping down from a pile of corpses to meet her. Staring her up and down with a disgusted expression, Mordret sighed. "You already know why I called you here. If we're going to be partners, Nephilim, we'll have to establish the power dynamic. I won't do this for Sunless, but you're a Nephilim, so this also acts as a way for me to…relieve stress."

Fighting Mordret for something as pointless as this wasn't on Nephis's list of things she had to do that day, but despite that, she had decided to do it anyway. After all, she didn't trust Mordret in the slightest; fighting him allowed her to know his strengths and maybe his weaknesses. The pendant Sunny had given her, which allowed her to resist his possession, glimmered on her neck loosely as she donned her armour.

"Are we using our aspects?" She asked indifferently, eyes fixed on Mordret's form as he summoned a sword himself. "If I did, you'd die." He said with a shrug before sliding into his battle stance. Despite being a master for far less time than Nephis had, the experience honed by thousands of battles radiated through Mordret's form. He truly had no openings.

But Nephis wasn't a slouch either; in a single burst of speed, she was upon Mordret. She surged forward, her sword honing in on his chest; however, Mordret sidestepped, his blade deflecting hers, letting loose a shower of sparks as he swatted her backwards. Nephis twisted her body to reduce the force of the blow, the heat from her blade causing the air to waver as she closed in on him once more.

Mordret's response was calculated, manipulating the friction beneath his feet to stay ahead of her at every moment. His sword flew forward, a pinpoint thrust aimed at her chest; however, Nephis twisted away. Her sword carved a glowering arc through the sky as she swung her blade, causing Mordret to raise the flat of his blade to block the blow. The force of impact sent his feet slightly into the ground as a cold smirk settled on his face.

"You dance well, for a Nephilim that is." He mocked; Nephis uttered no words, only responding with a flurry of slashes, each slash aiming to exploit the weaknesses in Mordret's defences. Sadly, there were none. Mordret parried each blow, despite being the one on the defensive; each time their blades connected, Nephis felt her arms shaking as they collided.

But Mordret wasn't merely on the defensive; with a shift in his weight, he spun and slammed his elbow into Nephis's skull. However, she reacted properly, raising an arm to block the blow as it sent her skidding across the floor. A surge of essence pulsed through her feet as she blitzed towards him, slashing low, forcing him to jump upwards to dodge the blow. 

In an unholy mixture of a cartwheel and a front flip, Nephis spun and slammed her foot into Mordret's skull. Raising a hand to block, he gritted his teeth and slammed his foot downwards on her still stationary sword. Twisting his hand, he grabbed her foot and moved to swing her off him; however, she wrapped her feet around his hand, inhibiting his movements. 

Mordret was no less acrobatic than Nephis, though, jumping into the air and positioning his arm below him so the still hanging on Nephis would be slammed into the ground first. Nephis quickly released her grip from him as they surged towards each other, clashing blades as a flurry of sparks emanated through the empty field they both fought in.

As the fight went on, both Nephis and Mordret were slowly copying each other's style of fighting, becoming more and more similar to the other opponent as the fight surged on. Neither could find a decisive advantage as they soon leapt backwards. Keeping true to her promise not to use her aspect, the cuts on her skin remained, pants of effort escaping her lungs. Mordret too was in similar form, mild injuries traced across his body as he smiled at Nephis.

Their forms quickly became a blur as they rushed in to meet one another; however, a black-bladed weapon slammed into the ground between them. Sunny's figure soon made itself known as he summoned Saint to watch Mordret before turning his attention to Nephis. "This is so…like you." He commented before signing.

"I'm all for friendly spars, but try not to look like you want to gut one another as you swing your blades. It's unbecoming of the two of you." Mordret sighed at the scolding before dismissing his weapon and summoning the mirror beast. "May I see how Beastie would match up with that onyx knight of yours?" 

Saint hit the rim of her blade twice, preparing herself to face off with the creature; however, Sunny merely shook his head. "Saint has better things to do; she's doing a very special job for me." Saint turned back to face Sunny before nodding slightly, disappearing into his shadow once more before Sunny continued speaking.

"There's a slight change of plans; Beastie will fight Nephis. Mordret, you'll be fighting Morgan." Sunny could almost sense Mordret restraining drool falling from his mouth as the prospect of a massacre of his sibling crossed his mind. "But you and I both know killing her is out of the question. I'm sure you can satisfy yourself with cutting off an arm, no?" 

The best part of Sunny's alliance with Mordret was that, despite all his insanity, Mordret was the most realistic person he knew. He had big dreams and chased them with machine-like efficiency, even if it meant having to rein in his desires. Mordret didn't offer a response, simply allowing the mirror beast to drag him into the shadows, leaving Sunny and Nephis alone.

Pacing towards Nephis, Sunny nearly tackled her with a kiss before finding himself on top of her. "I saw someone do that in a play; it's as good as it looks," he said between breaths as he continued to hug and kiss Nephis. "Shouldn't we do this at my house?" Nephis asked reluctantly, ruining this moment hurt her worse than fighting Mordret did.

Sunny merely nodded, grabbing her and shadow stepping to the citadel. In moments, they were on Nephis couch back in the real world. 

Although Sunny didn't have much energy, he used it very well.