Shadow was training inside Winter's training room. The floor was made out of durable bamboo and the walls were created with a special alloy. It was the ideal environment for training. Shadow sat in a lotus position, mana constantly entered and refined every being of his body.
[Great Human Method]
It was the training method created by Sirius. Despite how much he hated Sirius, he had no choice but to use the training method the man created. This was the only fast efficient way to grow stronger!
Winter slowly entered the training room and watched Shadow with interest. The mana surrounding Shadow was so thick that it could be seen with the naked eye. Once again, he came to recruit Shadow. He's given Shadow the greatest of treatments to fish him over. Under his help, all of Shadow's injuries had been healed.
Shadow sensed Winter's presence and his eyes flickered open. His eyes were filled with coldness and hatred. Those negative feelings subsided when he looked at Winter. He was very grateful that such a kind man like Winter saved him.
"You have a very interesting way to train," Winter said smilingly, his back leaning against one of the pillars in the room.
"I can teach it to you if you wish. I am a man who repays gratitude two-fold," Shadow said seriously.
"Why don't you show me how strong you are first?" Winter suggested. If he couldn't get Shadow to submit the normal way, he would use force to convince him!
Shadow was hesitant. He stood up and said slowly, "I don't want to injure you…"
"Hahaha!" Winter laughed loudly. No one has ever said such a thing to him before. "That's the confidence! It's fine if you injure me. It's a normal occurrence in sparring,"
"If you say so…" Shadow was still hesitant. "Where are we going to do it?"
"Here is fine, right?" Winter said, pointing at the floor to indicate this training room. The training room was built specifically for the purpose of training. Naturally, it would take sparring into account as well. The training room was probably the largest place in his estate.
Winter took out a wooden sword. "Ready?"
Shadow's gaze focused. "Here I go,"
[Werewolf Transformation]!
His body began to bulk up several times the original size, his head almost reaching the ceiling. Fur began to grow out of his body and his body parts began to elongate to resemble that of a wolf person.
Shadow's suffocating aura began to spread throughout the room. Winter kept his slight smile and praised, "Good pressure,"
Winter's wooden sword began to cloak with a clear aura. The pressure it emitted was not any less than Shadow's. However, rather than a suffocating aura, it was a gentle aura that soothed the hearts of those exposed to it.
Shadow crouched down in a split second, he appeared next to Winter! His wolf claws were high in the air, swinging down.
Clank!
Winter parried the blow. He could feel his forearms becoming numb from the impact. "How powerful!"
Without stopping the momentum of the sword, he seized the chance to attack Shadow.
Clank!
This time, Shadow was the one who parried with his claws. There was a brief pause before both of them went all in.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Dozens of blows were exchanged in a matter of seconds. Shadow was shocked at Winter's strength. Even though he was holding back, it was shocking that Winter was able to fight him, a modified human with abilities on equal ground.
"You are strong!" Shadow exclaimed before activating another ability.
[Hyper Instinct]!
Shadow's attacks became faster. When Winter attacked, he found that his attacks were no longer being parried. Instead, they were being dodged at the last moment!
"Interesting," Winter smirked before activating an ability of his own.
[Extreme Senses]!
Shoo!
His wooden sword moved at an unparalleled speed and a strand of Shadow's hair was chopped off.
Shadow somersaulted in the air and landed several steps back.
"You are still holding back," Winter said. He had to get Shadow to surrender. His plans would become so much stronger with such a strong subordinate.
"You'd really get injured for real," Shadow said carefully.
"Come!" Winter pointed his wooden sword forward.
Shadow could only comply. Winter was his savior after all. The room began to darken before becoming pitch black.
[Shadow Transformation]
Winter was shocked. What weird ability was this? He could not see anything around him. This was not the darkness that came when lights went out. This was complete darkness. He could not make out anything around him.
Bam!
Winter was smacked over to a nearby wall, leaving a dent of his figure in it. The darkness began to disappear and the room returned. Shadow was no longer in his werewolf form. He rushed to Winter hurriedly,
"Are you okay?"
Shadow was feeling quite flustered. He never thought Winter would get knocked so far back.
"I-I'm okay," Winter was shocked at Shadow's strength. He was supposed to be the one that would win! He lifted himself out of the dent in the wall.
To be fair, he still didn't use all his strength. If he wasn't using a wooden sword… Or if he used his last ability…
"Why don't I teach you my training method now?" Shadow offered.
"Teach me," Winter nodded. He was truly curious about Shadow's training method now.
Shadow began to explain.
"This is called the [Great Human Method]. I can't tell you where I got it from but here is how it works,"
He began to demonstrate to Winter,
"Circulate your mana in this circuit. If you do it right, you should start absorbing mana,"
A cloud of mana began to surround Shadow's body.
"When you get the mana in your body, start infusing it into your body like this,"
Shadow's body glowed with a blue light. The true [Great Human Method] was much more complicated than this but Shadow decided to teach Winter the simplified method.
Winter was shocked once again. "What a wondrous method!"