Just want to make it clear up front. I am by no means good in scaling things, and therefore can partly only go with my opinion, and with what we've seen in the webnovel.
What i want to say is, with the way i see it, Effie's physical might can be said to be on the level of a same ranked demon(before reaching Transcendence - because of her transformation, which allows her to battle even titans).
But, i can't put her above demon in terms of physical prowess, simply because of the ridiculous increases in power higher classed nightmare creatures have - which are not only brought forth through the increase in intelligence - but more often than not - an increase in physical might, as well.
That was just something i wanted to say. If you think otherwise, and can more or less give valid arguements for it, i will happily accept and change it.
-x-
"Are you... guys even... pulling?!" Ray shouted with a clearly strained voice, in his hand the familiar golden rope.
"Just… continue… pulling…!" Sunny grumbled, between labored breaths. Never in a million years, would he have guessed it to be more taxing to play a game of tug of war against their olive-skinned pathfinder, than it had been to kill nightmare creatures in the dark city.
"What… do… you think… I'm doing?!"
The others were too occupied with pulling on the rope, to even engage in the clearly strained conversation.
On the other side stood Effie. She held the rope firmly in both of her hands and was pulling as well. When the game was firstly proposed, she expected it to be an easy win, since the physical boost her dormant ability gave her was immense. But, here she was. Actually needing to try against the others – all besides Cassie of course, who sat to the side.
And, indeed. Normally, Effie would've been able to easily win against the others in a contest of strength, the one who was – just barely – keeping them in the game was Ray.
After about a minute of true physical strain on one side, and a bit of it on the other, was the match decided.
Effie had emerged as the winner.
The others were busy catching their breaths, while Effie was taunting and teasing them.
"Hmm? You were beat by such a cute and elegant lady? Aren't you guys supposed to be protecting us…?" Effie continued her celebration while leaning over the exhausted Ray, while still somehow striking a victory pose.
Her taunting tone was enough to cause a tick mark to appear on Ray's forehead, "Huh? Cute, and elegant lady? The only one this description fits would be Cass."
"Seriously, what are you even made of? Aren't you just a nightmare creature in disguise," Sunny cursed from a spot close by. "...what a damn muscle monster…"
As soon as both had spoken their minds, without thinking it through apparently, they were already greeted with a spear head, which was dangerously close to their heads.
"Would you mind repeating that?" Effie asked, with a polite, but creepy grin on her face.
"Yes, I would. So, no thanks, I choose life." Sunny quickly answered.
The other person, still with the spear head directed at his face, merely groaned in a subdued annoyance, "Yes yes, our most elegant lady. But, seriously, what are you made off?"
Effie just laughed, a loud, booming sound that was full of genuine amusement. "Hard work, muscle, and a winning personality! Something you boys could learn a thing or two about."
Kai, another member of the loser team, chuckled as he stretched his arms. "I did not expect much, but even then, I'd have to admit, that was humbling. A truly splendid performance Lady Athena."
Meanwhile, Sunny was already regretting his suggestion. If Effie was able to win against all of them together, then it would make little sense to continue with the physical games, especially because Cassie could not really participate.
He thought for a while, before coming to the conclusion that the best choice would be a battle of wits. After making this decision, Sunny immediately went and began preparing.
All the others noticed his actions, and simply chose to wait and rest for a moment.
A short while later, Sunny was finished, and came back, from where he disappeared to, causing most of them to once more gather around.
"Alright, lets have another competition. This time, a challenge of your minds." he paused for a moment, smiled and continued, "To spice things up, this time, there will be a prize. The winner will get this!"
When he said those words, he revealed a soul shard from behind his back. An ascended soul shard. Most were instantly interested in the game now, even if just for the prize. The exception being Nephis, who was still resting with her eyes closed.
Ray was also slightly less interested. The shard would bring his counter up by merely 4, meaning he would've needed about 200 of those, to fill up his current counter. But, oh well, beggars can't be choosers.
A moment later, Effie was the first one to ask, "What are the terms for this competition?"
Sunny answered while putting the shard away for the time being, "Its really simple. I'll give you a riddle, and the first person to answer correctly, wins the prize. How does that sound?"
Effie just shrugged, "Sounds boring, but alright."
Next, the shadows seemed to move slightly, but no one really noticed, before Sunny spoke again, "Listen Carefully. Imagine if you will that the two of us, my shadow and I, are in the possession of a rare treasure. One of us is an honorable, extremely attractive awakened that can tell no lie, while the other is a vile, ugly, stupid devil that would never tell a word of truth. But you don't know which one is which."
The huntress grinned, and immediately after spoke again – beating Ray to the punch, "I mean… isn't it obvious?"
Sunny, momentarily caught off guard, blinked in surprise, before retorting, "Shut up! Its an imaginary situation, okay? Anyway, you need to find out which one of us has the treasure. If you do, you'll get it. If you don't, the devil will kill you. You have exactly one question, either to me or the shadow."
She chuckled darkly for a second, flexed her muscles, and asked intrigued, "Can I just beat the answer out of you?"
"Yes you can. Also, you're dead." Sunny replied not long after, matter-of-factly.
Effie immediately looked at him in bewilderment, "What? Why?!"
She simply received snickers from the side, before Sunny was even able to answer. The huntress instantly glared at Ray who was barely keeping his laughter in.
Not being able to stay silent for much longer, Sunny replied to the question, "Did I not tell you that you can only ask one question? Well, who told you to ask me if you beat me up or not? What a stupid way to waste a question."
In response to this, Effie simply continued glaring daggers at Sunny and Ray. The latter, still barely keeping his laughter contained.
"Next."
With that, Sunny averted his gaze from their amazonian huntress, and directed it instead towards their charming archer.
Kai seemed a bit apologetic towards Effie, but approached nonetheless.
"Alright, Night. What is your question? But beware, the roles may have changed."
Facing this question, Kai seemed optimistic, and simply pointed towards the stone at his feet, and asked the shadow, "What is the color of the stone that I'm pointing at?"
The shadow – or rather, the rock memory that was hidden inside – answered, in the deepest tone it could muster, "...white."
Hearing the answer, Kai looked at Sunny triumphantly, "That means I win, right? The shadow is obviously the honorable awakened."
Sunny nodded, "Indeed, the shadow was the honorable awakened, while I was the sly liar. However, that was not the task. You still don't know which of us has the treasure, do you?"
Kai sighed and looked at Sunny with reproach, causing Sunny to raise his eyebrows.
"What? Why are you looking at me like this? Be grateful that I let you play at all. With your flaw, you are basically a walking cheat, as far as I am concerned."
He scowled for a second, glancing once over towards Ray, before adding, "In fact, that you and Ray are even claiming to have flaws is already an affront to us, truly flawed people!"
"That's enough Sunny!" Ray interjected, after having noticed the look on Kai's face. "No matter what flaw one has, it is always something that has a twisted logic to it. So, regardless of the way others perceive ones flaw, only the one who has it, knows how it actually affects themselves."
"Right. Because your 'flaw' is so bad, is it?" Sunny asked with a mocking tone, highlighting the word flaw with his fingers.
"Have you ever considered how, and why flaws are getting distributed as they are? I have. It became even more of an irony after I received my own. Sure, there are those who consider some flaws as extra benefits, and mine can also be put into that category, at least somewhat, since it is completely random.
*sigh* I suppose I can explain it, just as well already. I was always someone who thought of either the past or the future, nearly unable to actually live in the present – how I would've wanted to. Now, I'm literally unable to. I will always see other people's past or future, but am unable to see my own…
Therefore, now I am more or less forced to think further ahead to prepare for the things that I see. Sure, for others it can be a blessing, with always appearing prepared for what lies ahead, but, Sunny, I always wanted a normal life. This changed slightly after my parents death, but never to this point.
What I want to say is, no matter how insignificant a flaw appears to be, it can still pain its wielder."
No one had expected such an explanation, so suddenly, but most of them actually thought for a second. Actually thinking about their flaws thoroughly, with most reaching a similar result.
-x-
Am still trying to find the best upload time, so i'm experimenting a bit. Mostly for myself though :)