Shadow Slave: Immortal Ice

Clang Clang

Eirwen thrust his arm forward, the nearly four-and-a-half-foot-long sword in his grip slicing through the air toward Raijin.

The young Dreamer sidestepped, his lightning-fast reflexes allowing him to track Eirwen's every move. With insane precision, he whirled his spear, [Silverfang], deflecting each strike that came his way.

Behind Eirwen, Seraphiel stood at a measured distance, careful not to get too close to anyone just like Andromeda.

He and his brother had been sparring against Eirwen and Andromeda for the past five minutes. Above them, Gale observed from a levitating platform, watching the fight intently and occasionally throwing in pointers.

"Focus on the caster!" Gale shouted, and Eirwen immediately listened.

Raising his left foot just an inch, he slid it backward in an arc, shifting his stance. His golden eyes locked onto Seraphiel, who stood about ten meters away from him.

Trusting Andromeda to handle Raijin, Eirwen ignored him entirely. As expected, the boy instantly moved to intercept, intending to protect his brother and support.

Eirwen took a sharp breath, his eyes widening as he focused on his legs. With all his strength coiled into them, he burst forward like a bullet, his longsword ready to strike.

The only rule in this sparring match was to avoid attacking Andromeda too heavily. Even with the new armor she had received from Gale, she was still fairly easy to kill. Her flaw was rather cruel.

Cutting through the air, Eirwen heard the Aegis Mirror protecting his rear, constantly blocking Raijin's quick and relentless strikes and absorbing the energy from them.

The little gremlin -Eirwen's nickname for him over the past two months- was fast, his attacks like lightning itself. But unfortunately for him, Aegis Mirror was faster.

'Step aside and dodge the bubble,' Eirwen reminded himself as he closed in on Seraphiel.

Just as planned, he stepped to the side, his body moving even before his thoughts. In the same moment, he spun in a half-circle, narrowly dodging the warped space conjured by the long-haired Dreamer.

"Andromeda. Out. Let's see what Eirwen does when his teammate suddenly gets killed," Gale roared.

This was just another part of his training, throwing in unpredictable elements. Sometimes he'd unleash a few Nightmare Creatures from the cells, other times he'd rain spears down on the battlefield. And when he was feeling extra spiteful and bitchy, he'd summon that damn Archer Echo to bombard them with fire from above.

Andromeda obeyed without hesitation, willing her mirror to vanish.

'Think of the battle art,' Eirwen reminded himself, forcing his natural instinct for self-preservation to the back of his mind.

Then, not even a second later, he felt it, a little tingle, the kind that crawled up your spine when someone was watching you without your knowledge.

Swoosh

The spear shot past him, grazing his bare latissimus and tearing through the tissue, creating a grotesque wound as blood sprayed down onto the floor and his sweatpants.

Just as the spear was about to pass him completely, Raijin darted forward -tendrils of blue lightning dancing around his legs- appearing beside it in an instant and grabbing the shaft.

Eirwen cursed under his breath, his eyes widening as golden light flashed from within them. The wound on his side began to close instantly, his body painted with dried, rusty blood. Despite the pain and the countless wounds, he pressed forward. After getting constantly mutilated he got more or less used to this kind of pain.

The hardest part of getting injured was learning how to redirect the inertia of the blow. It was about understanding which direction to spin or where to press with his foot so the force behind the strike wouldn't hinder his progress. This was the core of his Battle Art that Gale was trying to teach him: Get hurt if necessary, use it to your advantage, but never lose speed or force.

Seraphiel raised his arms as his brother appeared beside the spear, focusing on locking Eirwen in place.

Fortunately, Eirwen knew exactly how to counter Seraphiel, and he did just that.

'How annoying,' he groaned, springing into action. He jumped, narrowly dodging the pommel of Raijin's spear as it shot backward, aimed to shatter his ribcage into pieces.

Kicking off Raijin's head -and getting zapped for a brief second in the process- he shot up further into the air. But Raijin didn't linger. As soon as Eirwen was airborne, he pivoted, preparing to throw his lightning-infused spear.

Eirwen felt it. His senses might not have been as fast as Raijin's, but they were much sharper.

'Now!' he barked to himself, shooting his left hand forward. Using [Pressure], Eirwen manipulated the air in front of him. Making it implode into itself and distorting it into a concentrated bubble of oxygen. Something tangible unlike a tiny, single particle of oxygen.

Seraphiel's eyes widened as his Aspect focused on the bubble instead of Eirwen.

Seizing the moment, Eirwen quickly moved his right hand. The thin, silver longsword, tightly gripped in his palm, shot backward, deflecting the spear that had been aimed at his back.

A wide grin spread across his face, his sharp canines gleaming in the light of the underground facility.

Using the inertia from the spear -which was now hurtling back toward Raijin- he shot downward at Seraphiel, the short, pretty boy fully focused.

His sword arm was coiled to his side, ready to unleash a devastating strike. The longsword, [Hydra's Choice], was perfect for both slashing and thrusting. But it was more than just a longsword.

Eirwen spent a considerable amount of time observing Saints and other masters in combat, studying their weaponry and techniques. Every movement, every strike, was absorbed into his mind through his Aspect. Now he could wield nearly any weapon at a fairly decent level.

But Eirwen had the best teacher for longswords, Leviathan himself. The mysterious figure had been a tremendous help over the past two months, helping him through the information in the two books. Not only did Leviathan explain the important details, but he also erased irrelevant knowledge from Eirwen's mind, making sure he could focus only what was important (since the two books were filled with a fair amount of bullshit).

Most importantly, of course, Leviathan had given him private lessons on mastering the longsword.

Apparently, the demon -or whatever the hell Leviathan was- was an expert swordsman. The only issue was that Leviathan's weapon of choice was a longsword nearly as tall as Eirwen, so it was a bit tough learning from him.

Either way his technique was flawless, and Eirwen learned a great deal from him. It was as though every graceful swing made by Leviathan could tear apart the world itself.

The sword his companion used was also something completely otherworldly. Six feet in length and navy blue in colour, devouring everything it touched. Eirwen couldn't help but shiver anytime he thought of it.

Returning back to the fight though,

'It's over,' Eirwen grinned as he thrust his sword forward.

Seraphiel couldn't react in time, and Raijin was too far to intervene effectively.

There was only one thing the long-haired boy could do, and Eirwen was more than ready for it. His senses sharpened and eyes widened; every movement already prepared in his mind and waiting to be unleashed.

When Eirwen's feet finally touched the smooth ground, he immediately felt the slight resistance emanating from the space around Seraphiel. The long-haired Dreamer was using his Aspect Ability, creating a bubble around himself that slowed and twisted anything attempting to penetrate it.

Too bad Eirwen didn't care.

His golden eyes flickered, shifting to a light shade of teal as he whipped his other hand forward. The sword remained suspended midair, frozen in place and not moving closer to Seraphiel. Meanwhile, black, metallic liquid began to form around the fingertips of his free hand, morphing into sharp, elongated claws.

With a maniacal grin, Eirwen sunk the claws into the invisible force-field, tearing into it like an animal attacking its prey. The liquid metal claws that were forged from his Unholy Core -at least according to Leviathan- possessed immense strength. But they worked in strange and rather mystical ways.

When Eirwen tried to cut something that actively resisted or sought to block his attack, the claws would be almost useless. But when he struck something without that active resistance, they sliced through with ease, as if cutting through butter. And the force-field Seraphiel had created didn't seem to be designed for blocking; its purpose was to twist and destroy the space, which meant Eirwen's claws ignored its intended effect entirely.

Raijin was already closing in, his spear aimed at Eirwen's nape.

In a swift motion, Eirwen yanked his clawed hand back, tearing through the bubble Seraphiel had created, causing it to collapse entirely. Without hesitation, his longsword moved, its blade ready to kill.

But Eirwen redirected the strike, making sure it wouldn't be fatal, the sword still sunk deep into Raijin's shoulder though, cutting through flesh and stopping with a sickening thud against the bone.

Seraphiel was out of the fight, leaving only Raijin standing between Eirwen and his team's victory.

"No self-preservation!" Gale reminded Eirwen with a shout as he descended on the platform to pick up Seraphiel and heal him with a Memory of his.

As Gale's words echoed in Eirwen's ears, he suddenly felt the wind rush to his nape, a warning. Raijin was only an inch away.

With barely a second to react, Eirwen snapped his head to the left, pushing his body as far as he could in such a short moment. Which of course wasn't much. Pulling his sword out of Seraphiel's body, his eyes widened in sharp focus.

Raijin's spear pierced the right side of his neck, tearing a chunk of flesh from the wound. The pain was manageable, but as his Flaw sensed the injury, it responded immediately. The healing process kicked in, rapidly knitting his skin back together.

Eirwen crouched low as Raijin's spear dripped with his own blood. Before he could fully react, Raijin's elbow slammed into the shaft with brutal force, driving it downward at an insane speed. The blade of the spear sliced through the air, heading straight for Eirwen's shoulder from above.

"Fuck," Eirwen spat under his breath as he quickly rotated his body, using the momentum to try and sweep Raijin off his feet with the heel of his own foot.

Raijin, sensing the danger, made a split-second decision. He abandoned his aggressive strike, leaping upward just in time to avoid being taken down. The force that could've slammed into Eirwen's shoulder was lost and Raijin traded one unadvantageous position for another one.

Eirwen didn't linger. As soon as he realized his foot wouldn't connect with Raijin, he prepared his next move.

Halting halfway through the sweep, he planted his feet into the ground, coiling like a spring before shooting up, his longsword aimed straight at Raijin's chest.

The young Dreamer, with nothing to push against, could do nothing but raise his spear, attempting to impale Eirwen with it. And normally, Eirwen would have tried to dodge the spearhead waiting for him, but after two months of practice, he'd learned how to control his natural fear of getting hurt -more or less. He didn't have much of that fear in the first place, but there still was something.

Grinning like a maniac once more, Eirwen widened his eyes and let the spear impale into him. He knew the force would push against him, so he poured even more power into his legs -far more than necessary.

Despite the resisting force, he didn't lose much speed as the spear drove through his collarbone, emerging on the other side, blood and flesh spraying in all directions. The fact that the spear was unreasonably sharp also helped.

Now, Eirwen just had to cut Raijin faster than he could activate his Aspect and channel electricity through the spear. He knew if the young Dreamer got the chance to do so, the surge of lightning would paralyze him, thus making him lose.

'It's over,' he laughed to himself as his longsword finally made contact with Raijin's left breast, sinking into the flesh just deep enough to draw blood but not pierce his body.

Yet Gale didn't announce the end like he usually would, and Raijin grinned, a trickle of blood flowing from the edges of his lips. Eirwen cursed under his breath as he felt the electricity surge through his body, his muscles spasming violently.

This was how his last day in the Waking World looked like.