Shadow Slave

For a while, Sunny silently experimented with his new power.

Shadow Manifestation was an… interesting Ability, especially when combined with the evolved Shadow Control. It was deceptively straightforward, but held so much depth that Sunny wasn't sure that he would be able to figure out all of its potential uses in a short span of time.

The fundamental function of Shadow Manifestation was rather simple — it allowed him to turn shadows tangible.

But the devil hid in the details.

Now that Sunny enjoyed authority over all shadows, and not only his own, he could manipulate their shape and even make them move according to his will. However, that facet of his Aspect had its caveats.

Not all shadows were the same. Some were young, and some were ancient. Some were deep, and some were shallow. Most importantly, some belonged to inanimate objects, and some belonged to living beings.

Although Sunny enjoyed their respect and reverence, that did not mean that all shadows were going to submit to him implicitly. They simply chose to follow his commands due to his status as the Master of Shadows, as opposed to being forced to do it.

That was not new to Sunny. He had already noticed this pattern of behavior when inviting wild shadows to enter the Shadow Lantern. Most did it of their own free will, but some obstinate ones refused his invitation.

Now that the [Child of Shadows] Attribute had evolved, only the most ancient and deep of the wild shadows seemed reluctant to answer his call. However, not all shadows were "wild" — that was a term he decided to use when speaking about those of them that were cast by inanimate objects.

If a shadow was cast by a living being and connected to a living soul, no amount of authority Sunny had could compel it to abandon or betray their source.

So, Shadow Control only allowed him to manipulate wild shadows. The deeper and older a shadow was, the more concentration it took to command it. He also experienced more strain when commanding distant shadows — now that Sunny became an Ascended Devil, the reach of his control extended to almost ten kilometers. His shadow sense, however, did not usually extend quite that far.

mind would have been overloaded if it did. So while Sunny could potentially control shadows that were very far away, he simply had no way

own shadows, of course, or those he perceived

came the actual Shadow

The shadows would remain tangible as long as he continued to sustain them with essence, and return to their natural

and a curse. For obvious reasons, Sunny would have preferred to keep his essence… however, there was an unexpected

to the fact that the manifested shadows were suffused with his essence, they assumed its property. In other words… all of them were akin to Memories of the Ascended Rank in terms

it, the blade would be comparable to

offered him an incredible measure of utility. Since shadows were formless by nature, he could shape them into anything he wanted. He could create barriers, bridges, ropes, suits of armor… the only

he could even create a saddle for Nightmare, or

more essence it took to sustain it. Creating a simple shadow tentacle was not too hard, but imbuing it with enough solidity to cut through an enemy like a sword

shadows also took a toll, although they were more

the things he made tangible were able to move on their own, as long as their shape allowed it. A sword was not going to fly on its own, but a manifested shadow

own level of strength, which was usually not too high. Sunny was far away from being able

he really

the manifested shadows by pouring more essence into them. The more force he wanted to exert above their natural threshold, the more essence he had to burn. That would not have been too powerful in

If he really wanted to, he could exert truly monstrous strength through his manifested shadows. Even though that would be grossly inefficient in terms of

rip enemies apart without having to lift a finger? Even if there were many easier and smarter ways to kill

And as devious.

control, and demanded much less essence to be used. For a few moments,

sight