SHADOW SLAVE: CROWN OF HOLLOW SCORN

Nephis regarded him with a measured stare. This time, she didn't answer right away. Instead, she remained silent for an unusually long moment, her silver eyes studying him with quiet intensity.

Sunny felt a bit nervous under her gaze, knowing that he was being evaluated. With Changing Star's skill and insight, it wasn't hard to imagine just how much she had gleaned from his battle performance. Both his current level and future potential must have been pretty much laid bare in front of her. Were they enough to make teaching him worth her while?

The silence stretched, his unease growing by the second. But then, at last, Nephis reached out, took the soul shards from his hand, and gave a small nod.

"Okay."

Relief flooded through Sunny, though he kept it from showing on his face. A successful deal. He had given up something relatively minor but gained something invaluable in return. Not only that—he had solidified a favorable impression of himself in Nephis' eyes, and perhaps Cassie's as well.

"So… when do we start?" he asked.

Nephis didn't hesitate "Now."

Sunny barely had a second to react before turning toward Valen. If Nephis was willing to train him, then maybe…

"Can you teach me too?"

The taller youth didn't answer immediately. He simply looked down at him, his dark eyes unreadable. Then, after a pause, he exhaled.

"I'll think about it."

Sunny resisted the urge to press further. He knew better. A direct refusal would have meant no, but "I'll think about it" meant that there was a chance. He could work with that.

After hesitating a little, she added:

"Cassie, you listen too."

Cassie nodded, her blind eyes directed toward Nephis as if she could still see her (haha). Sunny straightened his back slightly, his full attention locked onto her words. Even Valen remained quiet, though his posture was relaxed, his expression indifferent.

The four of them sat in silence for a moment.

Then, Nephis spoke.

"Mastery of combat can be divided into two aspects. One is body, and the other one is mind. Training the body is not easy, but it is rather simple. All you need is repetition and experience. In a fight, things happen too fast to consider every detail in the moment. That's why your technique must exist in your muscles and bones, so much so that it almost becomes an instinct."

She paused briefly before continuing.

"But repetition alone isn't enough. That instinct must be forged in real battle. Experience cements technique deeper than training ever could."

Valen nodded slightly. "A thousand hours of drills won't do as much for you as a single real fight. The battlefield teaches lessons into your body in ways that training never could. It either breaks you, or it makes you stronger. There is no in-between."

His words carried weight, as if he was speaking from experience.

Sunny felt a strange chill settle over him. He had always believed that raw talent, luck, and connections were what determined who rose and who fell. But hearing it put so plainly by Valen and Nephis made it feel inevitable.

It explained why Nephis had torn through the Legacies so easily. They had been trained, but they had never fought. Not like she had.

What kind of life had she lived to understand this so intimately?

Nephis continued. "Training the mind, however, is not simple at all. At a certain level, battles are won and lost before the first move is even made. The mind is where the real fight happens. To master it, you must first understand the essence of combat."

She looked at them and asked:

"What do you think that essence is?"

Sunny hesitated. The essence of combat?

It was a strange question. If some Legacy had asked him that, he would have expected answers like honor, valor, or duty—all the flowery words aristocrats loved to throw around. But Nephis wasn't like them. He had known that from the start.

After a moment, Cassie spoke first. "Victory."

At the same time, Sunny answered, "Survival."

Nephis turned her gaze to Valen.

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he met her stare, then finally said,

"You tell me first."

She exhaled softly, then spoke. "

"The essence of combat is murder."

Cassie flinched. Sunny frowned slightly.

Then, from beside them, Valen's voice cut through the silence. It was calm, but firm.

"Maybe for you…"

Nephis regarded him, waiting.

Valen's dark eyes flickered in the dim light. His tone was quiet, measured, but filled with something heavier than simple philosophy.

"Combat isn't just the murder of another person. It's the murder of ideas."

His words hung in the air like a blade.

"When two people fight, it's not just their bodies clashing—it's their beliefs. Their convictions. They fight because they believe they are strong enough, fast enough, skilled enough. That they will win. And when one of them falls… it's not just their body that fails."

He exhaled.

"It's their belief that dies."

Silence followed.

Sunny stared at him, taken aback. He had never thought of it that way before, but the words struck something inside him.

Nephis was quiet for a long moment before finally nodding. "Maybe."

Then, her voice hardened. "But at the end of the day, all that matters is murder."

Her silver eyes seemed colder than usual.

"Style doesn't matter. Weapons don't matter. Intent doesn't matter. In the end, only one thing is real: either you die, or they do. Everything else is just noise."

She let the words sink in.

"If you can understand that, you will have the clarity to master the mind."

***

After that, Sunny couldn't fall asleep for a long while. He lay on the cold stone, looking into the darkness and thinking about what had been taught them.

Repetition. Experience. Clarity. Belief.

Those were the keys to strength. These were the keys to becoming a fearsome warrior. All four were important, but the last one was the most vexing.

… belief…

Nephis' words had resonated with him. But so had Valen's.

When he picked up a weapon, it wasn't just to fight—it was with the belief that he would survive. That he would become stronger. But so did everyone else. And when two people fought, their beliefs clashed.

Whoever lost… lost more than just the battle.

They lost their belief.

They lost the part of themselves that thought they were good enough.

How many beliefs would he have to destroy to reach the top?

He wasn't sure.

But he knew one thing—

He couldn't afford to let his own belief be the one that died.

With that thought lingering in his mind, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

…Hours later, he was jolted awake by a piercing scream.

________

Guys Valen was just yapping cause he wanted to disagree with Nephis