Shadow Slave

Some time later, Sunny left the house and sat on the porch by himself.

His thoughts were in disarray.

So much had changed, so much had happened. So much was going to happen in the next few days, as well. His life was inevitably going to transform… hopefully, for the best.

However, there were many obstacles he was going to have to overcome and many decisions he was going to have to make in order to avoid being destroyed by the changes instead. Although Sunny had grown considerably stronger, and obliterating him was not as easy anymore, there were still threats out there that he did not dare to face.

He sighed, and looked down.

'I am a Master.'

The knowledge rested in his mind, but he was yet to truly comprehend it. Ascended had seemed so distant and glorious to him, once. Not quite demigods, but also not mere mortals anymore. But now, he was one of these venerated beings himself. He could feel inhuman power coursing through his veins.

That was something he couldn't process that fast.

And yet, time waited for no one. Sunny knew that there would be no opportunity to properly get used to his swiftly shifting circumstances. He had a lot to do, and he had to do it now.

'Just take it one step at a time.'

What did he have to do immediately?

Call Aiko, for one. He had to let his business partner know that he was back and get an update on how Rain was doing.

find out about the fallout of the destruction of the Night Temple… although Cassie could

If things turned from

Sunny grimaced.

yet… I need to collect my

and studied the familiar,

easy to deal with Sunny and the other members of the cohort anymore. All four of them were Masters now, and exceptional ones at that… not only had they conquered the Second Nightmare, but they had also done it at an abnormally young

and this latest accomplishment was bound to stir up a real storm, both in the media and behind closed doors. Sunny would not be

to mention that each of them

how useful it was. Sunny had expected the huntress to receive another combat Ability, but instead, her new power appeared to bolster her allies as long as they could see her. It was as though

admit that

sight with the huntress, without an additional cost in essence. That basically meant that any cohort, any force, and even any army could benefit tremendously from having Effie fight in their

course, Masters usually acted alone. There were simply not enough Masters and too much for them to do to form full cohorts of Ascended. However, that did not mean that one could not build supporting teams of Awakened or even mundane soldiers around them. Sunny had seen exactly that when Master Jet arrived to contain the Gate ahead of the

to get very, very popular among the

in a similar situation, although

strange, and a little bit frightening. None of them, not even Kai himself, had the chance to explore the full range of its

commands. The result and the consequence depended on how much essence he poured into the compulsion and the target's resistance, as well as some other factors that no one

force on people with strong willpower or high resistance to mind attacks. For example, if Kai commanded another Ascended to drop their weapon, they would be able to refuse

their grip might grow weaker, and their attacks might

to fight with more fervor or to hold their ground no matter what. He could invoke any feeling he wanted in large

well. The government propaganda machine especially was

the Ivory Dragon. Instances like that were known to happen, but were also incredibly rare. His Awakened Aspect was now Ascended, which made his previous Abilities more potent, and

no idea what the evolution entailed. They only knew that their

there was