.....

Now that Shin had experienced Faker's real speed firsthand, he needed to do some adjustments in battle. And since everyone present inside this training room were people that could be trusted, Shin didn't plan to hide much from them. So, he was planning to go all-out and use most of the skills and Combat Technique from arsenal.

This time, he was planning to use the newly improved 'Eclipse Wielding' Combat Technique instead of using his sword-drawing style. But he was also planning to find a chance to throw some of them in the mix.

Using the 'Eclipse Wielding' Combat Technique might be too hard to maintain in a longtime, but this was the best thing that Shin could only think of to deal with Faker's insane speed.

The power of the Moon was meant to slow Faker down. Even if he didn't land a direct hit on his opponent, he could still slow Faker's speed as long as he managed to force Faker to block his attack.

And this was also the reason why he was using the rapier form of the 'Mondi's Style' instead of the longsword form; he could attack faster with the rapier especially in stabbing. Moreover, since this power of the Moon was enhanced by Shin, it was more effective than the previous version.

On the other hand, the power of the Sun was to enhance his strength and the power behind each of his strike. Even if he couldn't trigger the burning effect of each strike, he could still make his opponents wary of them, as long as the power behind these attacks were concerned.

Considering all of these thoughts in mind, Shin immediately took his battle stance meant for this his twin sword style, which was spreading his legs a little widely while his left foot was being placed forward.

At the same time, he was holding the rapier on his left hand in a slightly diagonal manner while pointing its tip at his opponents. Meanwhile, the katana that he held on his right hand, was lowered with its tip almost touching the ground.

Together with this, both of his swords suddenly released the two opposing auras of the Power of the Moon and the Sun. One was emitting a black light with a bone-chilling cold aura while also having specks of light dancing on its surface. At the same time, the other sword was blazing with a white flame with some black flames flashing from time to time.

And the moment Shin took this battle stance, the atmosphere around him suddenly changed and became even more dangerous. It was as if he became a deadly beast that you didn't want to provoke no matter what.

The moment Faker saw this, he suddenly felt that he needed to be careful this time; especially when he saw that each of Shin's weapons were releasing the power of the Sun and the Moon. 'Looks like I also need to be extra careful too.'

Having that in mind, Faker released a bunch of dark auras on each of the weapons that he was holding. And right after the appearance of those powers, the deadly atmosphere around him became even more dangerous, which was also much more dangerous than Shin.

Then Faker planned to take the opening move once again, but to his surprise, Shin suddenly changed at him before he could even make his move.

Shin was planning to take the initiative this time, because he knew that it was going to be too troublesome if Faker kept dictating the rhythm of the battle; especially now he already had a first-hand experience of Faker's insane speed. Given that, he immediately rushed forward while enfolding his body with the power of the Sun.

'Slayer Skill: Sunshine Movement'

Seeing that, Faker steeled himself and waited for Shin to arrive instead of dodging or hiding with stealth skill. And when Shin was finally right in front of him, he suddenly disappeared from his current spot and reappeared right in front of his opponent.

'Extra Skill: Counter Ambush'

The moment he appeared behind Shin, he quickly swung the shortsword on his right hand at Shin's spine.

'Extra Skill: Backbreaker'

That counterattack was executed in a powerful manner, giving an impression that Shin would surely get paralyzed the moment it landed on his back. Fortunately, Shin was kind of expecting that something like this was going to happen.

So, before the shortsword could even land on his back, Shin immediately cancelled the 'Sunshine Movement' before using another movement skill that made him disappear from his current spot and reappeared behind Faker.

'Phantom Swordsman Skill: Phantom Steps'

And right after appearing behind Faker, he immediately swung the blazing [Yamato] downwards in a very powerful manner.

'Extra Skill: (Modified) Destructive Slash'

Swoosh!

The air at the path of Shin's sword seemed to be cut into two due to how powerful Shin had swung the [Yamato] downwards. At the same time, the white flame covering the blade of the sword was burning the air while it was being cut in half.

And due to the powerful heat of that flame, Faker was able to clearly feel where the attack was coming from. With that, he immediately used the momentum of his previous attack to turn his body around while also changing the trajectory of his swing.

Clang!

A high-pitched metallic sword was created the moment the two swords collided against each other. And just like what Shin was expecting, Faker was sent sliding backwards due to the power behind that sword swing.

On the other hand, Faker was quite shocked at how strong that swing was. He was kind of expecting that that sword swing was quite strong but he didn't expect that it was this strong.

'That was quite strong!' thought Faker as he took a quick look at his right arm, which was still trembling violently.

Faker was still having those thoughts, when a void gate appeared right in front of him. And at the same moment on its appearance, a sword suddenly came out from that void gate and went straight towards Faker's chest.

'Elemental Skill (Void): Void Steps'

'Basic Combat Technique: Second Drive'

'Extra Skill: Heart Seeker'

That was a very sudden attack that came out of nowhere that could catch anyone off-guard. Fortunately, Faker was not an average player and was able to respond to it despite being caught in surprise.

Puff!

Faker's figure suddenly exploded with a bunch of black smoke the moment Shin's rapier came in contact with him.

'Twilight Skill: Shadow Fleeting Shadow'

On the next instant, the back smoke released by the explosion suddenly spread around Shin before moving towards him bit by bit.

The moment Shin saw that, he wanted to move away from his current spot but he suddenly noticed that he couldn't move his body as it was being restricted by something. At the same time, he also noticed that all of his movement skills were greyed out, signifying that he couldn't use any of them.

'Twilight Skill: Shadow Lockdown'

Fortunately, his other skills were still available. And seeing that, Shin immediately released the power of Eclipse from his body without further ado. Then a dome-shaped barrier was suddenly formed with a black and white alternating color.

'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Pulse'

Boom!!!

And right after the appearance of the black and white barrier, the black smoke surrounding Shin was suddenly ignited and created a powerful explosion.

'Extra Skill: Devouring Explosion'

Shin survived the explosion since he was being protected by his battier, but his rhythm was already messed up by that attack. And before he could even put himself back in it, Faker immediately started his assault once again.

He appeared right in front of Shin, destroying the barrier created by the 'Eclipse Pulse' before swinging both of his weapons at Shin with a great speed. Both of his arms seemed to disappear so suddenly before transforming into multiple sword silhouettes that were whipping towards Shin.

'Epic Combat Technique: Sonic Blow'

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Shin was able to regain himself at the time Faker shattered his barrier, and when he saw Faker was throwing a storm-like attack at him, he immediately swung both of his swords to counter the latter's assault.

'Epic Combat Technique: Infinity Edge'

Cling! Clang! Clang! Cling!

These two continued to exchange a few more blows, creating multiple metallic sounds for every collision of their weapons. And as they fought for a couple more minutes, Shin started to become even more confused.

One of the reasons was Faker seemed to be unaffected despite exchanging blows with him. His attack and movement speed didn't suffer much even if they were already battling for quite some time already. In fact, his attack speed was even becoming faster and faster as time went by.

The same for the powerful attacks that he was throwing with his other sword. The strong force behind each of his strikes with the blazing [Yamato] was being nullified every time their swords clashed against each other.

But despite these two things making him quite shocked at how Faker was doing them, there was something that was confusing Shin even more. This 'training' didn't seem to be a sparring match at all.

After exchanging blows with Faker for quite some time, Shin already understood that gap between their skills. He could also see that Faker was holding back a lot of his strength; a strength that could beat him even if he gone all-out together with his Elemental Spirit Possession.

And despite that being the case, Faker still didn't want to end this battle, making Shin feel like he was being instructed by Faker instead of having a sparring match together; not verbally but by forcing him to change his attacks from time to time.

There was a lot of time in their exchanges where Shin felt like that he messed up, but every time Faker threw his counterattack meant for those exposed mistakes, he was throwing his attack with a speed that Shin could respond into instead of using his usual fast speed

It was not that bad for Shin; actually, it was very beneficial for him to get rid of his habits during battles. But what confused Shin in this matter was what Faker needed to do it for him. In fact, they were not that close with each other. What's more, the time that they had known each other was also not long enough for him to treat Shin this kindly.

But despite him being too confused, Shin still welcomed the 'incrustations' given by Faker since it could make him even stronger. As for the confusion that he currently had, he was going to ask about it later.

On the other hand, Lawless was observing the battle with squinted eyes as if he was confirming something. A moment later, he suddenly shook his head and smiled bitterly before muttering to himself. "So, I was right all along. He really resembles him."

...…