Shadow Slave | School Days

Effie, who had prided herself on being physically superior to most men despite the inherent strength disadvantage of being a woman, was currently faced with a dilemma.

Sunny's piercing gaze tore through her entire body like paper as he slowly rose to his feet, Nephis standing in the way of the two of them as Sunny glared up at her. His eyes were no longer those of a man, but of a murderer, a butcher awaiting to slaughter his next meal.

"Say it again, you fuck! Who doesn't know shit about suffering!? You don't fucking know me!"

Rage bubbled in Sunny's tone as Nephis grabbed him firmly by the arm, restraining him from doing something he'd regret as the full force of his rage pressed down against Nephis's shoulders like a boulder. A gentle knock on the door tore Sunny from his rage as he turned to see onyx-black hair peeking through.

A man of average height, standing at a modest 5'11" with eyes that vaguely resembled Sunny's, made his way into the room. His presence was far different from the murderous, insidious aura exuded from every pore in Sunny's body when he became enraged. Instead, it was filled with an entirely different, far more frustrating presence.

Pride.

Sunny turned his head as he made his way toward the man, the two staring at each other in silence before the man offered him a smile—one far too polite to be genuine. "You're threatening my property, aren't you?" Sunny's gaze intensified as his eyes remained fixed on the man in front of him, his silver hair contrasting the other man's tied-up onyx locks with a perfect conflicting balance.

"And so what if I am?" Nephis wanted to move, but she couldn't; the two oppressive presences clashed and combined with one another, making those present tremble. Cassie's face had morphed into a silent scream as Sunny glanced backward to acknowledge her condition. Calming himself down, Sunny grabbed the man by the shoulder calmly before offering him a smile.

"You know what, never mind. I should be focused on…" Sunny's voice trailed off as he realized two facts: he was standing before Orion, and he didn't have his mask on. Orion seemed to notice this fact simultaneously as a gigantic grin spread across his face, pulling Sunny into a deep hug as he weakly attempted to resist his hold.

"Sunless! When was the last time I saw you!? Rumor has it you've beaten Mordret in direct combat. Who let you get this strong without me!?"

Instead of offering a reply, Sunny glanced backward at the rest of the group, who stared at them awkwardly as Orion cleared his throat and separated from Sunny. Pacing toward Cassie, Orion gently lifted her by the arm, supporting her weight as her legs shook beneath her. Despite having such an oppressive presence, Orion was surprisingly gentle in his handling of the frail girl as he guided her toward Sunny's vacant chair.

"So, why exactly was kidnapping my… girlfriend's friends and not letting me know a good idea to you?" Sunny questioned, staring at Orion with a look that displayed no amusement as Orion simply cocked his head to the side curiously, a smile stretching across his face once more.

"You have a girlfriend!? Since when? I always knew women found you hot, but isn't this… too soon? Speaking of which, is Revel still single?" Sunny's glare intensified tenfold as he prepared to recite the words Revel had once told Orion many times, supposedly since the two first met each other. "She's too old for you. Even if you were older, she wouldn't. And you'd need to flip over the underworld for her to consider it."

In response, Orion merely shrugged as he turned to Nephis. Inhaling slightly, Orion stared at her blankly before placing a hand on his chin. "Sunless, is she your type?" Sunny coughed loudly, Nephis being taken slightly aback as Effie's face almost split in two with a grin. Even Kai, who was tending to Cassie, almost coughed at the sudden comment, the golden-haired girl laughing gently as she awaited his reply.

"Yes… we're dating. And yes, that explains why you can smell her lips on me." The last statement was finished quietly, yet in the silence of the room, its presence echoed like a speaker as Orion erupted into laughter, sitting down next to Cassie and Kai with a smile on his face as he held his sides. Effie too joined in on the laughter as she mimicked a romantic scene between Sunny and Nephis, leaving the two to their shared embarrassment as they awaited for it to pass.

Explanations were exchanged around the room, with Nephis bringing her friends up to speed on what had happened since she had met Sunny, leaving out what he had gone through to preserve his privacy as Sunny caught up with Orion. For the first time in a long while, Nephis saw Sunny smile at someone who wasn't her in a genuine fashion that reflected his joy.

Finally, the mood turned more serious. Silence settled over the room as Sunny stared at Kai, Effie, and Cassie with a blank expression. Orion stared at the three blankly as well, almost mimicking Sunny's gaze as Sunny finally conjured words to say.

"Orion, I want you to join me in taking down the three great families. And I want these three to join me as well. Think about it—there's nothing here for you under the watchful eye of Asterion, always limiting your options."

Orion stared at Sunny with a puzzled expression, pointing toward an invisible camera slightly before laughing once more. "You think I listen to him because I need to? No, he's just interesting, and I intend to see where he goes with it! Sure, you may give me a more interesting outcome, but I still have mouths to feed, people to take care of. The most I can give you is the colosseum as a safe haven and these three."

His statement was rational. Sunny was confused about what exactly he meant when he explained how he only listened to Asterion out of curiosity. But, being the prideful fellow Orion was, Sunny wouldn't put such an option past him. Finally, his gaze settled on the three with a mild mixture of disappointment and disdain as Sunny's eyes settled on Cassie.

"It's possible for you to fight while blind. If bats can use echolocation, what's stopping you from doing it? Kai and Effie… you three are all just… wow." Nephis was now fully coming to understand why Sunny had been described as a bad teacher. When he initially taught Nephis, he too hadn't been nearly as physically adept as he was now, and they were merely doing physical training then.

But now, Sunny had become so strong that he failed to relate to how weak they were in comparison. Only glaring issues and solutions caught his fancy, like Cassie's blindness, but much more nuanced scenarios would always be brushed off as minor oversights that did not deserve the mental energy needed to register their presence.

Instead of letting Effie and Sunny break out into another argument, Nephis glanced at Orion, who was scrolling through Sunny's fights with a wide grin on his face, and let out an exasperated sigh. "Aren't you going to teach them? You seem strong enough. Shouldn't you increase the intensity of their training? They would be more useful that way."

Orion turned from his phone with a raised eyebrow, his expression painted as if she had just asked him to kill the moon as his eyebrow twitched. "I didn't train them; I just threw them into their own little nightmare, and they survived! Although they're a bit rough around the edges… well, very rough around the edges."

Noticing that Orion wouldn't offer any help, Nephis took Sunny by the palm before pulling him to her side, her eyes burning with resolve as she made her declaration. "I'll train you three. And I'll train Sunny on how to train people too." Sunny raised an eyebrow at her declaration as Orion cocked his head to the side, a smile tugging at his lips as he stared at her.

"You're in my house, so that means any 'training' you do must be authorized by me. How do I even prove your opinion is worth listening to? 'Sunny,' as you call him, has earned that right, but what about you?"

Expecting her to back down, Nephis released Sunny's arm as she took a step toward Orion, her eyes blazing with determination as she began tying her hair up in preparation.

"I'll fight."