Shadow Slave

Sunny was pretty sure that his shadow was capable of much more than just being a silent follower. After all, the Spell had described it as being an invaluable helper. It was now up to him to find out how exactly Shadow Control could be of help.

As in many other matters having to do with Aspects, there was a certain level of instinctual understanding buried deep inside his subconscious. This understanding was either given to him by the Spell or was something innate to every Awakened. Sunny just had to sense the subconscious knowledge and learn how to put it into practice.

Once again, he concentrated on sensing his body and spirit, then commanded the shadow to perform a series of simple motions. With each of them, he was growing more and more familiar with the feeling of controlling the shadow.

Pretty soon, it was as natural to him as breathing and walking. The shadow felt like a part of his body.

Satisfied with this initial result, Sunny carefully gave it a new command. Without pause, the shadow separated itself from the soles of his shoes, walked to the other end of the room and turned around, staring at him in slightly mocking silence.

Sunny was left without a shadow.

'This is not scientific at all,' he thought with an amused smile.

Science never really applied to anything having to do with the Spell, after all.

As the shadow walked away, he felt a very weird split happening in his mind. It was like his perception had separated into two distinct sources. One was his body, the other — his shadow.

With a bit of trying, he managed to focus on the second source. Instantly, his vision blurred.

"Whoa!" Sunny blurted, surprised.

"Whoa!" the shadow heard from the other end of the room.

Sunny blinked. In his mind, there now existed two pictures. One was of his room's door, with an indifferent shadow standing in front of it. The other was of a pale young man sitting on a chair, wide-eyed and bewildered.

'That's me.'

He raised an arm and waved it in the air. Simultaneously, the pale young man raised and waved his.

'I can perceive the world through my shadow?'

He sat for a while, thinking. An ability like that opened up a lot of possibilities. With his [Child of Shadows] attribute allowing him to see and move stealthily in the darkness and [Shadow Control] allowing him to send out a sneaky shadow as a scout, he was pretty much a perfect spy.

A spy was someone who gathered information without exposing themselves to a lot of risk. A role like that suited Sunny's taste very much.

Of course, spies were also able to strike from the shadows with deadly precision. Armed with information, they were masterful ambushers. With the prior knowledge of the opponent's weaknesses, their attacks were surgical and lethal.

direct confrontation would mean putting himself in danger, so Sunny wasn't very keen on becoming an assassin. After all, his Aspect still lacked the means of

'Shall we test it?'

it a command. With an exaggerated

hallway outside. Sunny closed his eyes to focus on the picture projected from the

another, it glided down the hallway. With a bit of timing and consideration, his scout was practically invisible.

corner. To its left were the elevators, to

sorts of provocative images immediately entered Sunny's

he

was also very easy to fall into utter depravity! But no, no. He couldn't do it. Not because of some high moral

that, with his reputation of a pervert, the chances of being asked if he had done something unbecoming were pretty high. So he needed

I probably shouldn't.

Right?

right! Don't

room, Sunny sighed with a lot of regret. Then he directed his scout to hide

***

in a corner of a large dojo. He was observing his fellow Sleepers

competency and abilities. After that, the Sleepers were going to be separated into groups based on their level, such as novice, advanced or expert, as well as their weapon of choice. Some would be assigned

to a wide plate attached to a special measuring machine. After each strike, the machine would display a number corresponding to

combat-oriented Aspects that enhanced their might in a variety of ways, it was actually a marvel of

also affected the

athletic people could reach. However, a lot of Sleepers, obviously those with enhancing Aspects, were able to achieve a score of fifteen or even

probably get ten or eleven,' Sunny thought,

that it was turn for Nephis, the highest-rated

crushing blow. Sunny wasn't very well-versed in martial arts, but even he was impressed by the flawless economy and

had a

and more intriguing.

a short pause, the machine displayed the result: sixteen.

I was expecting

of

time, Sunny couldn't even see the flying fist — it was just too fast. The machine trembled and took more

Twenty-one.

gaped at the display, stunned. More than a few admiring looks were thrown at Caster,

and evaluate your general level

to the center of the ring. A couple of seconds later, a tall and extremely muscular Sleeper followed