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

his point of contact with the government. If things turned from bad to worse with the great clans,

Sunny grimaced.

to

studied the familiar, peaceful landscape of the

that the Great Clans possessed incredible powers, it was not too 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

of the Forgotten Shore were already famous, and this latest accomplishment was bound to stir up a real storm, both in

that each of

her new power appeared to bolster her allies as long as

Effie enthusiastically activated her new Ability, and had to admit that

be effortlessly shared with any number of people as long as they maintained the line of sight with the huntress, without an additional cost in essence. That basically meant that any cohort, any force, and

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

a similar

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

a supernatural quality that compelled people who heard it to follow his commands. The result and the consequence depended on how much essence he poured into the

to force on people with strong willpower or high resistance to mind attacks. For example, if

might grow weaker, and their attacks might grow

The compulsion did not have to be aimed at an enemy. Kai could call upon his allies to fight with more fervor or to hold their ground no matter what. He could invoke any feeling he wanted in large groups of

Ability made him incredibly valuable for those who held power, as well. The government propaganda machine especially was going to lose its collective mind over Nightingale

to happen, but were also incredibly rare.

changes yet, so his friends had no idea what the evolution entailed. They only knew that their friend had grown stronger, although

there was