Sunny was happily munching on his breakfast, enjoying the blissful solitude of the early morning, when he felt a shadow loom over him. He glanced up to see Asher approaching, a grin stretched across his face like a kid who just discovered the ice cream truck was parked outside.
"Do you eat nothing but ice cream?" Sunny snorted, eyeing Asher's cheerful demeanor with suspicion.
Asher simply shrugged, taking another spoonful of his breakfast. "I already had my breakfast," he replied casually as if it were the most normal thing in the world to eat ice cream at the crack of dawn.
Sunny raised a skeptical eyebrow but didn't say anything as Asher plopped down beside him with that same goofy grin still plastered on his face.
"Why the hell are you beaming like that?" Sunny grumbled, taking a large bite of his meat.
Asher turned to Sunny with an amused expression, causing Sunny to regret ever asking. "Do you really not know? I saw your perverted shadow staring at me when I literally kicked Caster's balls."
Sunny nearly choked on his food, coughing and spluttering like a malfunctioning lawnmower. "How did you see it?" he managed to croak out, a cold sweat dripping down his temple.
"Hello," a stoic voice chimed in, causing Sunny to freeze mid-cough.
Sunny turned his gaze to see the Changing Star herself. He gulped, remembering what he heard from spying on Caster the other day. "Ah, N-Nephis! Are you sitting here again?" Asher asked with a warm smile, to which Nephis casually nodded before taking a seat next to Asher.
Sunny simply stared at Nephis with trembling lips. Now that he knew that Nephis was from the Immortal Flame Clan, he was extremely uncomfortable sitting at the same table as her.
But it was Asher who seemed to be feeling the pressure the most, his face turning a shade of pink that matched the cherry blossoms in spring. 'Too close...' he thought, trying to discreetly inch away without drawing attention.
Just as he thought he might escape unscathed, Asher felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Nephis's piercing silver eyes staring back at him, and his heart skipped a beat.
"U-Uh, y-you want s-something?" he stammered, his voice cracking like a cheap imitation of a squeaky toy.
Asher was kind of scared of Nephis. Not because she was someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill or anything, it was something far more irrational and inexplicable.
Caligynephobia.
The fear of beautiful women.
Nephis nodded, her expression serious, "Where did you learn that stance you used against that Caster guy?" Asher calmed down a bit as he answered, "I saw you use it, and since I don't have a specific stance, I simply copied yours."
Nephis raised a brow with obvious doubtfulness but didn't pry further as she deduced that it would be fruitless. So she continued to sip her coffee. Asher stared at her with a blank face before smiling warmly. Nephis side-glanced at him and asked, "Is there something you want to say?"
Asher shook his head and continued smiling, 'She really is trying to talk to me. Is it because I'm a Dreamspawn like her?'
Asher didn't know. What he did know however was that he was way more comfortable with Nephis than he was with any other girl. 'Probably because I know her so well even if she doesn't know me.' he mused.
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It was combat class.
In the heart of the dojo, with its polished wooden floors and echoing walls, Asher and Nephis squared off, their wooden swords poised for battle. Everyone held their breath in anticipation.
"Begin."
With a nimble sidestep, Asher narrowly avoided Nephis's lightning-fast strike, but her follow-up was relentless. In a blur of motion, she unleashed a swift kick followed by a deadly sword strike, aiming for Asher's shoulder.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Asher assessed his options. With a grin spreading across his face, he realized he might win this.
A wobbly aura enveloped his wooden sword, seemingly bending the air around it.
"Offense is the best defense," Asher muttered to himself, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
Asher parried Nephis' blow with his sword before the kick could reach his shoulder and just like that, Nephis' sword broke! It was only natural. Since the swords were made of synthetic wood, it was extremely weak, and when Asher augmented his sword with gravity, his sword carried more weight to it than Nephis as she held back thinking she was going to hit a person.
Nephis maintained a calm face though as Asher wasn't fast enough to evade Nephis's lightning-quick kick, which sent him stumbling backwards, clutching his shoulder in pain.
Asher had a devilish grin as he hurled his sword towards Nephis's exposed leg, hoping to catch her off guard.
(For those who didn't understand, Nephis' other leg is currently midair, going toward Asher's shoulder)
Nephis narrowed her eyes and made eye contact with Asher, who in turn smiled. What Nephis did next was etched into Asher's memory for the rest of his life.
With a lightning-fast twist, Nephis intercepted the sword mid-air, but Asher wasn't done yet. As Nephis made eye contact with him, a smile playing at the corners of his lips, he knew he had her right where he wanted her.
In a move that would go down in history as one of the most daring maneuvers ever witnessed in the dojo, Nephis leapt into the air, her legs snapping out like a pair of deadly serpents. With incredible speed and precision, she wrapped both legs around Asher's neck, constricting him with surprising strength.
For a split second, time seemed to stand still as Asher found himself locked in Nephis's deadly embrace. Then, with a powerful twist of her body, Nephis sent Asher hurtling towards the ground, the impact reverberating through the dojo like thunder.
As Asher lay sprawled on the ground, his breath knocked out of him, he couldn't help but wonder how he ended up in this ridiculous situation. Nephis was lying on top of him, both of them facing opposite directions as if they were reenacting some bizarre yoga pose.
He felt like a pressure cooker ready to blow its lid, his palms sweaty and his breath coming in short, shallow gasps.
"It's not just the swords you've got to watch out for in a fight," Nephis remarked casually as if they were discussing the weather rather than the fact that she had just sent Asher crashing to the ground with the grace of a drunk flamingo while lying on top of him. In reality, however, she was extremely impressed by his reflexes. Asher's face was wrinkled with a malevolent smile as he heard murmurs.
"Lucky bastard!"
"I bet he didn't counterattack on purpose."
"I want to punch that smile off his stupid face!"
Ignoring the colorful commentary from the peanut gallery, Asher's attention shifted as a shadow loomed over him. "You should probably get up; the others are waiting," Nephis stated matter-of-factly, her expression stoic as ever. Asher's beet-red face nodded hurriedly as Asher scrambled to his feet, feeling like a wobbly newborn giraffe trying to navigate its first steps, while Nephis sauntered off as if she hadn't just orchestrated the most embarrassing moment of his life.
No, more than that, Asher spared a glance at his lower half as he shouted in his mind while trying to hide from the ground, 'Control yourself little Asher! Control!"
___________________________________________________________________________
"Finally!"
As Asher wandered through the quiet night, his mind was consumed with thoughts of mastering his gravity powers and improving his combat skills. He decided to wander around for a stroll.
Suddenly, his expression turned a bit pink as he remembered what happened in the combat class. "Ahh, I want to see Nephis!!" he groaned to himself.
"You… wanted to see me?"
The voice cut through Asher's thoughts like a knife, and he turned to see Nephis standing before him, staring blankly at the garden before her, her hair cascading around her like a waterfall of silver silk stirred by the gentle caress of the night breeze. Asher quickly thought of an excuse to say, but couldn't think of any but one, even with [Nimble intellect].
"Ahhh N-Nephis! W-What a coincidence! I-I wanted to see y-you to ask if you could teach me how to use the s-sword after reflecting on what happened in the co-co-combat class."
Nephis' stoic face immediately got a bit pink after she thought about the rumours she heard after combat class. "Yes, it is evident that your skills in swordplay are... lacking," she said coldly.
"Haha, well, I did come from the outskirts," Asher chuckled.
Nephis stared at Asher for a few seconds, unsure how to respond. Asher gave her the 'Did I say something wrong?' look, to which Nephis shook her head and cleared her throat before finally speaking, "Very well, I shall teach you the way of the swords, but I want something in exchange."
Asher tilted his head as Nephis continued, "Spar with me once a week."
"That's it?"
Nephis nodded curtly, her expression unchanged.
"That's it."
Asher immediately nodded. "Good, now follow me to my room. We'll get into trouble if we train here late at night," Nephis said as she began to walk to the girls' dormitories. A hint of blush touched his cheeks as he teased, "You know, you shouldn't trust any man that easily."
Nephis shot him a cold glance, her voice laced with disdain. "I don't trust anyone. I can easily subdue you if you try to play any tricks on me." The atmosphere chilled instantly, as Asher frowned, 'Pretty ironic that her powers have something to do with fire.'
[A/N: Next chapter is a banger in the Comedy aspect and the start of the dream realm so stay hyped!]