"Remember my words, the essence of combat is gain, people who initiate fights do so solely because they have something to gain from it, wether they know it or not. You fight to kill, to plunder, to learn. There's always a reason behind a fight."
Including madmen in some twisted way too, their reasons utterly alien to everyone else but themselves. Something that made Baldr ponder on himself.
"Great okay! So are you going to help!?"
Sunny screamed, while fending off the Fallen Demon strikes, the young shadow movements ressembled his but it seemed that the Sleeper had made some adjustments, slowly making the style his own. It was funny to see people learn the swordsmanship he had taken years to create at such a quick rate.
After all copying Baldr was in itself impossible, the radiant man's movement were entirely unnatural to most as they seamlessly blended in with his Aspect Ability.
So instead he taught the trio his unadjusted one. The Love Swordsmanship, at first Sunny could barely hold his laughter in at the name, a level of amusement that didn't last long as the training the young shadow underwent gruelingly taught him how deadly it was.
Baldr on the other hand waited with bated breath, to see Sunny completly unravel his potential with the Shadow Dance and hence, put a particular emphasis on his training.
Among the things he taught them, the radiant Sleeper made sure that they would accumulate experience, something that— against their better wishes— involved hunting the few Fallen Masters left in the City.
Today particularly Baldr had guided Sunny and Nephis— Cassie being still too worryingly weak to participate— into fighting a vicious shadowy monster, an entity he never expected to find in the ruin but wich had to reveal itself as the number of preys it had dwindled.
"Nephis I know it's hard but make sure Sunny gets the killing blow!"
He didn't forget to remind her. Somehow he had the intuition that this would provide an extraordinary boon to the young shadow. Even if he sometimes had to step in to fend off fatal strikes from the Fallen Demon, Baldr didn't worry about the two.
Nephis clearly used his meddling to her advantage, when a particular attack looked too hard or stamina costly to parry she'd simply continue her advance letting him block the strike. That wasn't something she would usually do but something told Baldr it had to do with him barring her from killing the creature when she could do so with her flames at a moment's notice.
She did mutter a few things about favoritism when he'd accidentally help Sunny more than her.
But what could he do about this? While Sunny and Nephis had talent, it was easy to say wich had more. Sunny being able— with no foundation in any kind of proper fighting style— to learn hers. It was evident who was learning more from their lessons.
Not that the cold girl didn't learn anything on the contrary. What's with her doing infinitely better than he ever thought possible. It simply that both were talented, but Sunny was a little more than her.
"Spell be damned!"
Sunny moved with power like none before in a practiced motion. The young shadow had put emphasis on perfectly replicating one or two moves among the ones he was teaching them to have a few so called 'Killer Moves' wich were supposed to end the battle when an opportunity presented itself, rather than just do lasting damage.
For that purpose he had refined to perfection a move from Eros a deadly thrust rising up from the ground that couldn't be parried— something that Baldr in his humble opinion didn't quite agree with.
The shadow creature writhed before stopping, dead on it's feet. As powerful as it was it couldn't survive a strike that pierced at both it's heart and brain, courtesy of this specific move. It didn't work with creatures that were too far removed from human appearance but any entity that had it's heart lower than it's brain was in danger of getting done in.
"Curses!"
A panicked scream came from Sunny this one filled with agony as he buckled over the corpse of the Fallen Demon, his hair being drenched with it's shadowy blood.
Both Baldr and Nephis winced in recognition at what he was enduring, phantom pain flashing across their body, before their eyes met as they looked up.
"Divine Aspects am I right?" Baldr mused while Nephis eyes slowly widened in shock. Today would be an interesting day it seemed.
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Sunny woke up in fright, adrenaline kicking up in his body as he jumped out of the nursery's bed. Looking around the room only two other beds were occupied by gravely wounded individuals, while no one seemed at risk of death the Forgotten Shore didn't mind reminding arrogant Sleepers why they often died first in this world.
Even then, casualties had been happening less and less around the Dark City, Baldr couldn't keep the loners from dying away from his watch, but the others received throughout training and ressources to grow themselves. Sunny wondered if it was because his radiant friend had already filled his Core that he kept on giving his Soul Shards to others. But reminiscing the pain he had just felt a while ago, it might just have been because of fear...
"You're finally up huh?"
A voice made him look at the side of his own bed, something that he had missed in his fright or rather— someone. Cassie had been watching over him since he got here, the look of worry she held finally being washed off her face.
"Nephis and Baldr are waiting for you at his training room, apparently I'm not allowed to participate in this conversation." She exclaimed while doing an exaggerated gesture with her arm.
Sunny frowned and after muttering a quiet thank you directed himself towards where the other two were waiting for him.
While moving his mind idly noted his own movements before his eyes widened in surprise. His body was lighter than it had ever been! And other than that, deeper— inside of himself. He could feel something had changed too...
Something to check later, for now as he finished descending the stairs leading to the repurposed dungeon his body tensed a little.
'I feel like I'm about to learn some crazy things inside...'
Relaxing his body, Sunny pushed the door open, inside, Nephis and Baldr seemed to have been in quite a heated discussion, but his arrival killed any momentum both individuals had, as they observed him with varying emotions.
Nephis eyes were... cold. Something he hadn't seen since a long time, at least toward himself. Sunny did discern a spark of growing curiosity behind the stony exterior, for what reason, that he couldn't tell.
Baldr on the other hand was looking at him with clear amusement on his face, that same warm, annoying smile on his stupidly handsome face. Before Sunny could ask what was going on, the radiant man spoke up.
"You do know you have three shadows right?"
"Huh?"
Sunny looked down toward the ground, towards his shadows and as Baldr said...along with his usual gloomy shadow, two new shadows were looking back at him! He knew that this wasn't a trick of the light as— since he gained his Aspect— he only ever had one shadow, compared to normal people, his didn't change depending on the angle of the light.
'Curses! How am I even supposed to hide this...'
Quickly an idea came to mind as Sunny willed two of his shadows, the gloomy and creepy one to wrap around him, effectively hiding them under his clothes. At the same time, a level of enhancement he never felt before was suddenly put on his body.
If it followed the trend of his first shadow helper... He had just become three time stronger than he had been a moment before. Sunny almost failed to keep a steady face, the corners of his mouth rising in trepidation at the knowledge of his new strength.
Looking at him with a smile, Baldr simply shook his head before gesturing for Sunny to seat with him and Nephis. While doing so, Sunny checked internally for any changes that might have happened to him.
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Baldr couldn't help but laugh as Sunny eyes once again widened in shock, he had probably just checked his Soul Core to find multiples of them. That was something that had surprised even Baldr after all. A quick glare from the young shadow made him calm down, albeit only a little.
"Okay okay, I guess you understand why I summoned you right? Let's be real Sunny, all three of us here will probably be the main forces during the Spire's Siege, if everything goes right"
"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to get here?" Sunny played dumb while Nephis herself stayed silent, probably reluctant from admitting the truth before the both of them. It was obvious she had considered them assassins before, even Baldr could tell that.
Just before Sunny arrived, they had been discussing who could have been the assassin, or rather from what side. He didn't know how but Nephis had understood way before she originally did that Caster was the one. Possibly with her ruling out Sunny earlier than before, she had the time to think about it in their voyage toward the Dark City.
Not having to constantly watch a possible enemy when it was his turn to keep guard helped for one's thinking abilities. Now though? They had a bigger thing to discuss.
"I know both of you have a Divine Aspect."
Sunny immediately straightened his back before his eyes took on a cold calculating glint. He was probably jusging the chances of him and Nephis overpowering him, but after glancing at her and seeing how she shook her head, the young shadow abandoned the idea.
'Almost sabotaged yourself' Baldr mused, he never tried before but it couldn't be that hard to grab a shadow, and since they represented his Soul Cores breaking one would surely have lasting damage on the young shadow.
Baldr wouldn't test it except of course, if they tried to kill him. That would surely teach the man a lesson.
"If you want us to be honest with you, be honest with us. How many Cores did you accumulate."
'Straight to the point huh.' Nephis as usual when it came to serious matters such as this one didn't beat around the bush. In response Baldr put up three fingers.
"Three, but I'm in the process of getting my fourth one, it might take another month though, the numbers needed are starting to strain the amount of Soul Shards I can accumulate for myself, what's with supplying others with it."
Making the whole of the Dark City's Sleepers stronger didn't come without a price, Baldr, rather than accumulating Soul Shards even quicker than before had to slow down and keep the majority for his troops. As of now he only claimed the Soul Shards of the Fallen Monsters he fought.
"I have two." Nephis sounded almost bitter at saying that, understandably so as Sunny's progress was evident, three shadows was a proof of the presence of three cores.
"Next is... what's your god?"
Evidently that was directed at him, Nephis and Sunny gods were obvious but with the information they had, they obviously failed to know his. Baldr mused what kind of response he should give them, before deciding on the best one.
"I'm self made. Obviously no god is associated with my abilities right?"
Both Nephis and Sunny quietly digested his answer. It was hard to accept but it seemed their local Lord was simply built different.
"So... what's the plan? Obviously you didn't gather here just so we can share our experiences. What's your goal." Sunny waited for a response, Baldr seemed to br gathering his thoughts possibly to make a convincing speech before he shook his head with a deprecating smile.
"Truthfully we all need this. Nephis you literally have the great clans after you, Sunny I doubt your Attribute would let you rest longer than a second and I... I promised a thousand people that I would bring them home."
An irresponsible decision he knew. Baldr hand tightened in remembrance of his promise, even if it was he would bring them home. Because that was one of the only way to defy the Nightmare. He couldn't help but remember how only a hundred survived in the novel, something he wouldn't allow, ever.
"My plan is to make us Terrors or at least Tyrants before departing this place. I am already enough as a spear, you guys will serve as the shield of the Sleepers when the time comes."
"Do you have a way to deal with the sea?"
Without such a way, any siege would be under a time limit so Nephis question warranted some attention.
"It's a Great Titan. If I could just 'deal' with it I wouldn't wait to Siege the Citadel, I'd just cut right through the hollow mountains and lead the Sleepers to Bastion."
This statement entered the head of the two divine Sleepers in front of Baldr, but didn't seem to register at all. After a few seconds Sunny with a trembling voice asked.
"Then how the hell can we win that so called Siege?"
"I never said we didn't have more options I simply can't kill it but sealing on the other hand..."
Baldr proceeded to tell the two of them a story.
■■■
"So this guy has one of the—"
"Yeah."
"And we have to touch the—"
"Yeah."
Sunny looked to his right, momentarily taking his eyes off the unmoving pile of bones that rested not far from them. Looking at Baldr who's equipment drastically contrasted with the one of everyone else present at the moment, like he was about to blow up on him. Taking a deep breath Sunny calmed himself.
"So can you stop cutting my—"
"No."
"OKAY THAT'S IT!"
His screaming seemed to have some effect as Baldr stopped cutting his sentences, but as the deep rumble of the bones clacking against each other in an unending requiem continued, Sunny wondered if it was really because of him.
"Get in position."
Baldr current cohort, composed of Sunny, Nephis, Kai and Effie got ready. Cassie abilities were unfortunately unneeded in a situation like this one, where they already knew the enemy weakness and his location. For that reason she hadn't been brought but her contribution to this mission could still be felt through everyone's actions the young oracle had made sure to help each of them reach their best form for this battle, choosing among plethora of specific Armor Type Memories to help them.
Something that Baldr himself appreciated but didn't find any use for, nor did Effie for that matter. Cassie ability would be drastically more useful to find where exactly the shards memories where since blindly searching for them would take them years, along with guiding them to their destination.
"Focus on the battle sugar, you might just get crushed if you don't hm?"
Effie mused, the liquid gold that wrapped around her body quickly covering her head as she pushed in front of him, encasing her in a complete gold armor streamlined for violence. Baldr didn't respond and instead focused on his senses.
The evolution of his Aspect as he got his third Soul Core showed him that it wasn't just a happy coincidence. His whole body was now affected by his Aspect Ability effectively making him much deadlier than before.
Simply since his brain and hence senses were now touched by it. The experience was... overwhelming at first. Waking up to the sound of space rippling as people moved, seeing magnetic fields interact with each other or smelling the shadows.
Getting these new senses was possibly the most precarious situation he had ever found himself in. With them he discovered how much of the world was hidden under his sight.
It also meant that a lot of the True Name he used simply felt wrong to the tongue after a while. It was like identifying an entity by it's skin color or screaming 'hey you!' at the Elements. Something that made him quite embarrassed now.
There was a not so little difference between asking the Winds to help him and asking the Sea Winds. Fortunately the cold sea breeze never held it against him.
At the same time his understanding of True Names deepened. Each and every entity, elements and others had their own name. But most were simply given when they started to exist, holding next to no influence on the mystical side of the world.
True Names on the other hand... they were siphons, a torrent that pulled everything towards itself, influencing and being influenced by the mystic of the world. Calling out the name of the Winds worked because in the end every types of winds where that, wind. Using True Names such as Sea Winds was a way to pull with an anchor closer to the elements he was addressing.
Possibly if he ever got his hands on the True Names of the Gods his ability to manipulate the elements would reach impossible level? Something to think about later.
Baldr opened his hand, the one scarred by flames. His body retained scars funnily enough possibly to show how the world affected him. With small whispers, the remnant of fire that had been imprinted on his skin sparked awake.
At the same time, winds converged on his palm, taking the form of a sphere that slowly drew the fire in it. As the flames were faned they exploded off the sphere before quickly retreating in it. The ball pulsed as if alive before with a motion—
He crushed it.
The weapon appeared in his hands, an instrument of wrath and destruction. His new senses gave a new degree of perception that allowed him to balance multiple elements in a fusion.
"—!"
The moutain of bones rushed at the cohort while waking up it's sbires for battle. Sunny basically disappeared in the shadows, with the three shadow covering him, his ability to move toward the Statue of the Hero unimpeded was second to none.
While he was doing that, the other Sleepers got to work. Baldr used his weapon to cut through the very bones of the skeletons, preventing them from simply reforming as they normally would as they fell into dozen of pieces. Effie wielded a crude hammer made of liquid gold smashing them to bits and Nephis took care of their backs.
Kai who couldn't be harmed simply served as distraction for the Fallen Tyrant.
On the rare occasions that the Lord of the Dead would strike at them Baldr would simply deflect it as if batting a fly away, his weapon singing its bones black on the way.
This was more of a test to see how well Sunny and Nephis could do in his cohort. Apart from having them and Cassie fight monsters Baldr hadn't done much for other areas of combat such as co-operation with larger groups of Awakened.
Something they would have to learn if something went wrong. While he had already appointed someone as his successor was he to pass away or become available for the next months or so. It never hurt to have more options after all.
That's why Baldr had such a passive role this time around. Same as when he trained them, he was only in the supporting role for now. But that all was starting to strain his mind, it had been quite a while since he let loose.
The fight with the Dream-Devouring Siltcurrent had been the only time he really let himself do so. That had provided him incredible boons but the look of worry on Effie face stopped him from opposing more Corrupted creatures of an higher rank than a Beast, even as he became stronger.
So as Baldr pierced the lair of bones of the Creature, a furtive shadow following along his strike inside it's body he couldn't help but frown and wonder. Unfortunately only the Dark Sea could currently put a challenge to them. Sunny and Nephis were significantly stronger than before with the young shadow literally being of the same classe as Baldr.
The Lord of the Dead shuddered before the whole battle came to a stop. But Baldr wasn't paying attention to it, his mind instead wondering of a certain attribute of the one who had just recuperated the Starlight shard.
'[Fated] has been awfully quiet in my opinion...'
That could only mean one thing. Their voyage to get the Dawn Shard probably had a big surprise waiting for them. At that, Baldr couldn't help but smile in anticipation, after all in such a voyage, holding back would be detrimental.
'This is getting promising.'
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Yeah uhmmm Eid Mubarak guys?