In the underground dojo beneath Sunny's home, steel was ringing against steel.
Rain was moving with a speed and precision unusual for a mundane girl of her age. Her nascent battle style was grounded, calculated, and sharp, merging steady defense with unexpected and explosive attacks. The heavy training blade sang in her hands, cutting the air as if it possessed an actual edge.
The awkwardness of youth was almost gone from her body, ceding to the promise of maturity. She was much more fit and in charge of her physicality, as well, fighting with confidence and poise that would have left most of her privileged cla.s.smates consumed by envy.
As much as Sunny wanted to, he could not boast that her progress was all thanks to him.
Currently, he was facing his little sister, deflecting her blows with one hand while keeping another in his pocket. No matter what Rain did, the soft alloy stick he was holding seemed to be impenetrable, inevitable, and unbreakable. All her attacks crashed and shattered against it, and all her defenses seemed useless against her tutor's lazy movements.
Time after time, the stick suddenly shot forward and hit her on the shoulder, bounced off of her forehead, or stung her hands. Nevertheless, the girl did not allow herself to get frustrated and continued to exert herself without losing concentration.
It was that will, cool mind, and meticulous discipline that had allowed Rain to advance so fast.
'Not bad…'
Sunny deflected another swift attack, stepped forward, and poked the girl in the chest with the tip of his stick.
"Here. You're dead. Again. Ah… I'm tired of fighting a corpse. Let's stop!"
Rain jumped back and grew still, breathing heavily as drops of sweat rolled down her pale face. She did not, however, lower her blade. Sunny had taught her the peril of lowering one's guard a long time ago.
...Those bruises took a long time to heal.
He grinned, then scratched his back with the stick and offered her the Endless Spring. After the girl was done quenching her first, Sunny sat down on the floor and asked in a commanding tone:
"Where did I hit you?"
Rain sat down, too, and answered steadily:
"Head, right shoulder, right hand, left forearm, chest, right thigh, left shoulder, head, neck, left shoulder, left hand, chest, head, chest."
He smiled with satisfaction:
"When did I put my hand in the pocket?"
She frowned.
"...After hitting me on the thigh for the first time."
Sunny nodded.
"In which direction was I looking two hits before that?"
Rain gritted her teeth.
"Up! You were rolling your eyes!"
He chuckled.
"Good. Your awareness is… sufficient, for that stage."
The young girl threw a menacing look at him, then turned away. After a few moments, she sighed and suddenly asked:
"Sunny... am I any good?"
Sunny hesitated, then shrugged.
"You're doing alright."
Rain remained silent for a while.
"But not as good as you were, right?"
That caused Sunny to laugh.
"What? No… you are way better than I was! I had not even seen a sword before my First Nightmare, let alone held one. In fact, when I got a chance to arm myself with a sword there, I chose to drop it. Because it was too heavy."
Rain turned to him with surprise.
"What? Then how did you survive?"
Sunny thought for a bit, then shrugged.
"Well… I strangled one enemy with a chain. Poisoned two more. Fed the last one to a Nightmare Creature, and then simply got lucky. I guess you can say that I just survived out of spite."
He hesitated, and then added:
"Actually, that is a very important lesson. I've told you before… sure, knowing how to wield a weapon is important. But having a mind that is more dangerous than a weapon is paramount. The world is a vicious place, Rain. You have to be vicious too. To survive."
Rain was going to turn sixteen in a few months. In fact, she would probably celebrate her birthday not long after the first Gates start opening in Antarctica… after that, his little sister would be vulnerable to the Nightmare Spell, as well.
That was another factor he had to consider.
Leaving with Master Jet meant leaving Rain, too...
Granted, he had already taught her most of what he could without resorting to more drastic measures. Rain was more prepared to face the First Nightmare than he had ever been. Or most people, even. Very few kids ever received the chance to be trained by an Ascended, let alone one with as much battle experience as Sunny, or possessed as much talent as Rain.
He glanced at her, lingered for a moment, and then asked:
"Do you want to be an Awakened?"
The girl hesitated for a long time, then slowly shook her head, surprising him.
"No… I don't know. I really want to be able to protect my family. But I don't want to be away from them. Or die. I had an older brother, you know…"
Sunny almost flinched, but forced himself to remain still. An expression of mild curiosity appeared on his face.
"Oh?"
Rain remained silent for a bit, then sighed.
"My mom and dad had a son, before adopting me. He got infected by the Spell, and died. I don't think they'll be able to bear it if I die, too."
Sunny looked away. A few moments later, he said:
"Sorry to hear that."
The girl shrugged, then looked at him with a frown:
"What is up with you today, anyway? You're all… serious."
Sunny smiled.
"Really? Well… I got an important day tomorrow. Besides, I gave my first lecture today. Shaping young minds is a very serious matter!"
Rain giggled with vindication.
"Ah. So more people are going to suffer just like me. That makes me feel better!"
She smiled, then patted him on the shoulder.
"That's good. I thought you were still moping around because Effie is not around that much, anymore."
Sunny looked at her with outrage:
"Moping around? I never moped around!"
…To be honest, he did feel a bit sad that his friends were out and about living their lives. The house seemed awfully quiet now that the boisterous huntress was gone most days.
After the four of them had returned from the Second Nightmare, Effie got a bit drunk on having a healthy body. She greedily dove into all the things she never had a chance to do growing up as a disabled person. Since Ca.s.sie was indisposed and Sunny did not want to show his face in public, the government was very clingy in making her attend all kinds of events, as well.
Now, the huntress only returned home once every week or two, and then disappeared the next day again.
Kai got it even worse. Due to the nature of his new Ability, he could not perform music anymore — it would have been strange to sing to crowds of people, knowing that his voice could literally mesmerize them. The famous idol group Night&Gale announced their retirement, with Gale launching a very successful solo career and Kai transitioning to acting for the betterment of humanity as an Ascended. At least that was how his agency spun his sudden decision.
Now, the government paraded Kai around like a paragon of the human race. Ca.s.sie, Effie, and he had already been venerated as heroes after the Forgotten Sh.o.r.e, but after becoming Masters at such a young age, their celebrity rose a whole another level. So, he did not have a lot of free time, either.
Both Effie and Kai were in a strange position. They had nothing to do with the events of the Night Temple, but also could not — and would not — move on with their lives until Sunny and Ca.s.sie resolved their issues with Clan Valor.
In truth, Sunny himself had told them to stay away from him, for now.
Still… he missed their company.
'That is alright. This whole mess will end tomorrow, one way or another.'
He sighed, and then turned to Rain:
"You did well today. Keep it up. Now, go home before your parents call me again! The last time they very politely tried to explain to me that you have homework to do and I was keeping you too long was very awkward for all of us, you know?"
Rain laughed, then stood up and headed for the elevator.
"Alright. But... next time we spar, I am going to get you at least once! You'll see!"
Soon, she was gone, leaving him alone in the dimly lit dojo.
Sunny sighed and looked at his shadows.
After a while, he said quietly:
"Until Rain is on Earth, those d.a.m.ned Sovereigns better not leave Earth behind… otherwise, the great clans and I are going to have a problem…"