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.

so Sunny wasn't very keen on becoming an

'Shall we test it?'

gave it a command. With an exaggerated sigh, the shadow bent down and nimbly

see both the room and the hallway outside. Sunny closed his eyes

down the hallway. With a bit of timing and consideration, his scout was practically invisible. Sunny passed by a couple of Sleepers and listened in on their conversation. Not finding it very interesting,

left were the elevators, to its right — the way

sorts of provocative images immediately entered

he thought,

to fall into utter depravity! But no,

of a pervert, the chances of being asked if he had done something unbecoming were

I probably

Right?

Don't even

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

***

corner of a large dojo. He was observing his fellow Sleepers who, under

based on their level, such as novice, advanced or expert, as well as their weapon of choice.

strongest punches to a wide plate attached to a special measuring

many of Sleepers had combat-oriented Aspects that

training also affected

athletic people could reach. However, a lot of Sleepers, obviously those with enhancing Aspects, were

would probably get ten or eleven,' Sunny thought, feeling

that it was turn for Nephis, the highest-rated Sleeper of

sudden, crushing blow. Sunny wasn't very well-versed in martial

had a

becoming more and more intriguing.

the machine displayed the result: sixteen. Sunny felt

I was expecting

proud bearer of a

see the flying fist — it was just too fast. The machine trembled and took more time calculating. Finally,

Twenty-one.

were thrown at

bad. Now, we will move to sparring and evaluate your general level of training. I need two

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