The trio returns!

The moment Rain opened the door, she froze.

Nephis was standing outside, accompanied by her guardian, Rengoku.

Since she was still a teenager, Rengoku had taken on the role of her legal guardian, and Abel had invited them both. Sunny was almost convinced that she wouldn't come, but here she was.

Before he could react, Abel stepped forward with a warm smile.

"Good evening, Ren! And June! It's so nice to see you!"

The cover names had been decided beforehand, as a precaution. Nephis was still under threat of assassination afterall.

She hesitated for a fraction of a second before awkwardly waving at Sunny. As she tried to choose between "hi" and "hello," her tongue fumbled.

"Hei, Sunny."

A slight flush crept up her face, but she quickly composed herself.

"Hi, June. Glad you made it," Sunny replied, barely holding back a grin. Spell could not describe how much sunny was enjoying her fumbling.

After the formal introductions, the party continued. The cake was cut, conversations carried on, and the adults, completely unaware of the passage of time, delved into mundane discussions.

Jet and kurt were left somewhere in the middle, so they just awkwardly talked to each other.

Rain, meanwhile, was being relentlessly pestered by her former adopted siblings.

And so, that left just three of them.

Sunny. Cassie. Nephis.

"Come to think of it, you two haven't met before, huh?" Sunny said. "Cassie, this is June. We train together at the coaching I go to. June, this is Cassie. She's my friend from school."

"Nice to meet you," Nephis said.

"Nice to mee—"

Sunny cut neph off before she could finish. "Alright, that's enough formalities. We get it. You are both very well-mannered."

Nephis sighed in irritation. "You don't have to be snarky about it."

"Yeah," Cassie smirked. "And isn't it also weird that all your sparring partners are girls? Do you have some ulterior motives, Sunny?"

Cassie was resonating with her already.

"Alright, timeout. This is my party, and I'm the one getting roasted?"

"Then tell us about your Nightmare, if you are bringing up the topic."

"It was… hard? What do you think Nightmares are supposed to be?"

Nephis sighed "She means, how did you perform, dumbass... If you don't want to answer, just say so. Don't play dumb."

"Oh, I performed pretty well." Sunny leaned back with a smirk. "Killed ten Dormant beasts, two Awakened ones, an Awakened Tyrant, and an Ascended Demon." He paused. "Oh, and I got the 'Unbelievable' remark from the Spell."

Silence.

The hum of the adults' conversation drifted from the other room—something about a donut shop? Sunny vaguely registered that Noble, Rain's former adopted mother, was the one talking. But before he could dwell on it, Cassie erupted.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

"Relax, Cas. The Tyrant and Demon had almost killed each other."

"Still, Sunny, to accomplish that… It's a bit… too—"

"Crazy, the word you are looking for is crazy, june.

"Yeah, a little crazy," Nephis agreed. "Did you really do all that?"

"Of course. I'm Sunless, after all." Sunny let the words settle before adding, "Actually, I have a new name now."

Neph's stoic face was barely holding up now. "You got a True Name?"

"Oh yeah. Prince of Death."

Cassie's mouth fell open. "Damnation."

"That's...a quite unique true name... Congratulations." Nephis didn't even bother maintaining a mask anymore, she just stared at sunny in amazement.

For someone who hadn't gone through her own nightmare, it hit harder to listen to Sunny's stories.

"Thank you neph." Sunny pretended to bow slightly with a smile.

"Anyway, both of you wouldn't be able to keep up with me anymore," Sunny said smugly. "But what do you say to a little sparring? I'll even wear a training restrictor."

"What's a training restrictor?"

"It's something the awakened use to train dormant sleepers at the academy... Or in a clan." Neph informed Cassie,

it made sense for her to know, as she had appeared as the daughter of a master.

"So you are comparing yourself to an awakened huh?"

"Well no, but you both are not Dormant either, you are mundane. Which is technically the same rank but you know, there's a vast difference."

Sunny let out a chuckle and continued

"It's fine if you are both scared though."

---

The training room had been installed after Abel adopted Jet—a spacious chamber of pristine white marble, reinforced to withstand an Awakened duel.

Though… Effie would probably still manage to break it.

Shaking off the thought, Sunny fastened the suit with interlocking chains and adjusted the restrictor to mimic a mundane human's strength. Then, he grabbed a training spear and took his position.

On the other side, Nephis stood poised with a training longsword, her stance subtly concealing her true style. Cassie, positioned slightly to her right, held a rapier.

"Go all out," Sunny said. His gaze locked onto Nephis. "Especially you, June. No holding back."

She hesitated… then, after a brief moment, nodded.

Sunny noted the shift in her stance. She wasn't hiding anymore—she trusted him enough to reveal her true form in front of others.

'Good. The last two years weren't for nothing.'

He dismissed his two shadows.

The duel began.

Nephis moved first, striking with a swift sideways slash. Sunny blocked, retaliating with a punch aimed at her face. She barely evaded, stepping back at the last second.

"That was foul," she muttered.

"Thanks for the compliment."

Sunny grinned as he launched a downward slash. This time nephis replied with her own strike.

Sparks flew, and the world was silent...

But only for a moment.

Then, another clash.

And another, and another.

They were so engrossed in their battle that neither noticed Cassie closing in.

A rapier thrust shot toward Sunny's skull.

He ducked, spun, and maneuvered behind Cassie, driving a sharp kick into her stomach. She gasped, falling to one knee.

Seizing the opportunity, Sunny thrust his spear at Nephis—using Cassie as a barrier between them.

From that distance, he could strike nephis but she couldn't strike back.

A method befitting the treacherous shadow that was once lost from light.

Nephis barely blocked the strike and took a couple steps back.

Even with his stats restricted, Sunny held the advantage. His perception was sharper due to [child of shadows], his instincts honed by real combat. And while his new abilities remained unused, his mastery of battle had reached a level few could rival...

...and those few did not include a single mundane person ever born.

Nephis had trained her entire life.

But she hadn't killed.

Cassie stood up, sidestepping to give Nephis space.

"Let's jump him together, June."

Nephis nodded.

Sunny tried to swing at Cassie, but as Nephis attacked, he retracted his spear and parried. Taking advantage of this, cassie circled around him.

Now caught between both of them, he was immediately bombarded with a flurry of strikes.

While Nephis kept the most of his attention, Cassie's attacks were few but precise—each one targeting his balance.

It was growing increasingly difficult to counter both of them.

Then, after parrying Nephis, Sunny felt a sudden sting—Cassie's rapier had struck his knee.

He dropped onto one leg.

Nephis didn't hesitate. A fierce kick connected with his face, sending him stumbling backward.

"That was foul!"

"Thanks for the compliment." Nephis chuckled.

Sunny scowled as both girls smirked at him.

"Not so strong now, are you?" Cassie teased.

For once, he wasn't amused.

Springing back to his feet, he adjusted his grip. He had been studying them the entire fight—analyzing every movement, breaking down their styles.

He already knew how both of them fought exactly, but to feel it and replicating it as a sleeper and then countering it back at them,

This was the key to mastering Shadow Dance.

And he was close.

He dashed at the two with confidence, once again their weapons clashed with fury.

The intensity of their blows increasing with every clash until the mayhem became one continuous chain of destruction.

All three of them were great fighters, but Cassie wasn't capable of keeping up with the two future titans. So she eventually fell back, too tired to move.

A beast like her had to restrain her stamina, to strike at the right moment.

Now it was between the two best dormant fighters of humanity.

The clash escalated even more, the training weapons would have broken by now if not for the fact that they were made to handle awakened blows.

Eventually sunny thrust his spear at an angle at nephis which she couldn't block properly, ending in a bind unfavorable for her.

Then sunny twisted his body, launching the sword up in the air, he struck nephis with the blunt edge of the spear on her side.

Nephis swayed, losing her balance.

She fell down.

And felt a cold Steel tip touching her neck.

Sunny was pointing his spear at her neck, his eyes gleaming with mad bloodlust...as if hungry to consume her...as if hungry to destroy her.

A chill ran down her spine.

'Could he be...afterall all that time? He was sent by the ghouls?"

But her worries were for naught, as in the next moment, sunny lowered his spear a little and exhaled with exhaustion.

Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he could only think one thought.

Victory.

"Huff...huff.... I won...Oh man that was tough." Sunny was panting heavily, practically bathing in sweat.

His eyes had turned back to their usual pretty form. And his demeanor returned to a mix of goofy and aloof.

Sighing with relief and gratitude in her mind,

She spoke.

"Did you really?"

Nephis had a slight grin on her face. Prompting sunny to remember a vital detail.

"Wha? ohh sh-" he felt a cold blade touch his neck from the side.

Cassie had sneaked up on him.

"Okay, now that was foul!"

"Thanks for the compl—"

"It's not a compliment, dammit!" I only lost because I thought you were out of commission."

"Rookie mistake for someone who thought he could take on both of us. Shouldn't have been so confident." Cassie smiled at sunny, she was enjoying every bit of it.

Nephis just laughed quietly.

Prompting even sunny to enjoy the moment a little.

---

After showing the girls the training room's shower, sunny made his way towards his room to change too. His thoughts were busy contemplating the fight he had.

"I technically won that fight. But I lost too, cassie's right, I was too confident.

I shouldn't underestimate anyone just because I got a second chance."

With that, sunny opened his runes.

Aspect Legacy: [Shadow Dance].

Shadow Dance Mastery Level: [1/7].

First Relic: [Claim].

Second Relic: Unearned.

Third Relic: Unearned…

Holding his breath, he concentrated on the runes describing the first relic and whispered:

"Claim."

As Sunny watched, the runes glowed brightly for a few seconds, and then changed.

First Relic: Claimed.

And a moment later, the Spell spoke softly into his ear:

[You have received an Aspect Legacy Relic.]

[You have received a Shadow: Soul Serpent.]

"Les goooooo!" Sunny looked at his arm, which now had the serpent in its tattoo form.

His vocabulary had absorbed alot of pop culture recently, due to access to the internet as a child.

Sunny concentrated on the runes once again.

Shadow: [Soul Serpent].

Shadow Rank: Dormant.

Shadow Class: Monster.

"Hmm, I can't check it's attributes without blood weave... But it should be as before, serpent can turn into a weapon and help me channel some essence. Though as a sleeper the essence ability would be minuscule.

But if I used it for the mantle of the underworld..."

a sinister grin found its way to sunny's face, unaware of it, he went to take a shower and change.