Shadow Slave

Sunny knew what he needed, more or less.

A couple of frontline fighters, a couple of ranged specialists, someone to provide utility. A healer, ideally, although even among these elites, there were too few.

Fortunately, Sunny himself possessed a wide range of versatile abilities that could cover many needs of the cohort. He was able to fight up close or at range. He could scout or flank the enemies by using Shadow Step. He could use Shadow Manipulation to accomplish a multitude of tasks.

Still, covering all the basics was not enough. The Antarctica campaign was promising to be long and grueling, maybe even unbearable. He had no doubt that they would face all kinds of Nightmare Creatures, from landbound to aerial to aquatic. Some of them were going to try and kill them with brutal force, some would employ more insidious means.

To ensure the best chances of survival, the cohort had to be strong, balanced, and capable of accomplishing more than the sum of its parts would suggest. They had to be able to work together and respond to all kinds of threats.

Even with several hundred candidates, he was not sure how possible it was to build something as formidable as his own cohort had been, both on the Forgotten Shore and the Chained Isles.

'First things thirst…'

Although some would have been tempted to go for offensive powerhouses thirst, Sunny made a different opinion. He filtered the dossiers, allowing only those of Awakened with Utility Aspects to remain.

Master Jet had been right… although pure combat strength was immensely important, a war was often lost or won off the battlefield. As far as Sunny was concerned, utility was just as vital.

His own experience confirmed it. Back on the Forgotten Shore, fighters like Nephis and Caster had shone so bright that everyone paid them all the attention. People like Sunny and Cassie remained more or less unnoticed.

However, they had contributed as much, if not more, to the cohort's survival. Yes, those with pure combat Aspects played a larger role in direct confrontations with the Nightmare Creatures. But it was only because Sunny had scouted ahead that they had been able to avoid battling swarms of abominations that would have overwhelmed them in an instant.

had saved them too many times to count. It had helped the cohort avoid lethal

would have been a grave mistake. More than that, this choice would allow Sunny to hand-pick other members of the cohort to suit the ensuing situation. The first decision would widen and define the cohort's foundation, making the rest easier

all kinds of talented Awakened that possessed

and shape earth as if it was a liquid, and then swiftly turn it back to solid state. With his help, the cohort would be able to literally shape the battlefield to stack the

and weak to deal direct damage, Sunny could imagine building all types of funnels, defensive walls, and trenches with the man's help. Hell, in certain situations, they would even be able to turn the ground

mobility was also an issue. No matter how versatile the Rhino was, there would be situations, without a doubt, where its incredible all-terrain maneuverability would fail. The Ability to create a road was going to

man was capable of creating stable short-distance spatial rifts. Basically, he could allow

have to think long to understand how incredible this Ability was. He had used Shadow Step to vanquish his foes numerous times, and granting the same advantage to the

rift… throwing a spelltech grenade or a manifestation of a sorcerous Aspect Ability would wreak havoc

seemed less potent than that

affinity to revelations, be it a much lesser one. While she couldn't compete with Song of the Fallen in the broadness of application, the narrow focus of her Aspect

as well as share visual perception among several people. She, too, could comprehensively enhance the cohort's battle effectiveness, although

'Hmm…'

a long time staring at the

should he choose? Each held incredible value in his eyes. He

the importance of utility, he needed powerful fighters to make use of it. Without offensive strength, the cohort would be

left only the image of the meek young woman with

'Awakened Kim…'

the more he was sure

But Sunny was able to achieve a