CHAPTER 54: OLD BONE'S DEPRESSION

The sharp crack of colliding wooden blades echoed off the high walls of the cavern courtyard.

Caius initiated the exchange, his feet sliding across the cold stone as he closed the distance with both practice weapons raised. Across from him, Old Bones maintained a completely relaxed posture, holding his main wooden sword loosely in one hand while his off-hand hung casually at his hip.

Before the old man could read his vector, Caius vanished directly into a deep shadow cast by an overhanging stone pillar.

Old Bones's bloodshot eyes narrowed instantly.

A dark silhouette stretched across the floor, and Caius emerged from the shade behind the pillar's base, his wooden sword sweeping toward the assassin's ribs in a low, swift arc. Old Bones pivoted on his heel, turning his blade down to intercept the strike. The impact sent a heavy vibration down both their arms.

Without breaking momentum, Caius shifted his balance and attempted to slide into another nearby shadow, but the old executioner tracked the micro-transition, stepping forward to smother the second angle before Caius could fully detach his weight. Old Bones shoved the boy's blade aside with a flick of his wrist and took a slow step backward.

A crooked grin stretched across his weathered face. "So, you actually managed to pick up the concept?"

Caius offered no verbal reply. Instead, he channeled a pulse of Black Core mana down through his boots into a fresh patch of shadow.

His physical form lost its solid weight for a split second, his body flattening into a flowing silhouette that glided six feet across the granite before snapping back into physical reality.

Shadow Anchor.

Caius struck instantly upon emergence. Old Bones blocked. Caius altered his angle, slipping into another shade and re-emerging from the old man's blind spot to drive a strike toward his left shoulder.

Old Bones spun just in time, bringing his wooden guard up to catch the blow. But as their weapons locked, the old assassin's confident grin slowly vanished, replaced by a look of sheer, unadulterated disbelief.

He had expected Caius to spend days simply digesting the theoretical circulation paths. He had certainly not expected him to execute practical spatial shifts on his very first attempt.

Old Bones had spent years of brutal, bloody trial and error refining Shadow Anchor until the transition became pure muscle memory. He had failed thousands of times before learning how to properly synchronize his mana with darkness, how to strip his physical body of friction at the precise microsecond of entry, and how to emerge without losing his footing. It had taken him an entire decade of his youth to render the technique reliable in true combat.

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Caius had apparently mastered the baseline mechanics in a single night.

Furthermore, unlike his struggle inside the Crown Core where shadows were scarce, the Underworld cavern was a paradise for the technique. The uneven stone walls, jagged pillars, deep crevices, and scattered crystal light produced endless pockets of natural shade. Caius didn't need to expend massive amounts of energy creating a domain; he simply treated the environment as a ready-made network of transit points.

Caius vanished beneath a pillar, emerged four paces away, struck, dissolved into the shadow of a stone bench, and re-emerged behind the old man's shoulder.

Old Bones defended continuously, relying on centuries of honed combat instincts to read the boy's arrival points despite the erratic movement. Yet with every clean parry, the old assassin's expression became increasingly unsettled.

Caius's execution was far from perfect. His entry timing was slightly rough, his weight distribution upon re-materialization lacked polish, and his strikes carried none of the lethal, silent intent of a true executioner. But the structural core of the art was undeniably present. He was slipping through darkness, using shadows as anchors, and worst of all, actively weaving Shadow Anchor into the foundational footwork of his Umbral Twin-Edge style.

Old Bones suddenly slapped Caius's wooden sword hard to the side and delivered a blunt poke to his chest, forcing the boy to stumble back three steps.

The old assassin lowered his weapon, letting out a long, ragged exhale. "Again."

Caius raised his swords and charged. This time, he deliberately broke his rhythm, approaching normally before abruptly sinking into a shadow beneath his lead boot. Old Bones held his ground, waiting for the re-emergence. Caius flashed out from the right, locked blades, and immediately dissolved into another shadow to appear on the left.

Old Bones blocked the second strike automatically, his red eyes fixed on the boy with a profound, heavy silence.

He was watching a monster in the making. Caius wasn't just executing a learned motion; he was dissecting the mechanics mid-fight and integrating them into his overall combat identity.

A feeling Old Bones had not experienced in over a century slowly washed over his chest: genuine, soul-crushing existential depression.

The old assassin caught Caius's next attack, trapped the boy's wooden blade against his own, and stared down at him. "Monster."

Caius paused, holding the blade lock.

Old Bones let out a long sigh that seemed to drain ten years from his posture. "...And an absolute nightmare of a genius."

Caius tilted his head, keeping his guard tight.

Old Bones looked genuinely aggrieved. "I spent seven years in the lower depths nearly tearing my meridians apart to make that movement fluid. You picked it up overnight." He pointed his wooden blade accusingly at Caius's nose. "Do you have any idea how deeply insulting that is to an elder?"

Caius glanced at the surrounding shadows before looking back at the old man. "Is learning it quickly a bad thing?"

Old Bones stared at him for three unblinking seconds. "Extremely."

A faint, subtle smile touched the corner of Caius's mouth as he reset his stance.

Old Bones shook his head, but despite his vocal frustration, a long-dormant spark flared deep within his chest. The dull monotony of his routine had vanished, replaced by the thrilling, terrifying responsibility of molding a talent so absurd it defied logic.

A sharp grin broke through his gray beard as he tightened his grip on the wooden hilt. "Again, kid. And this time, don't hold back."

Caius stepped forward, disappearing into the dark once more.