Shadow Slave

Now that Sunny knew what kind of logistical and combat support his cohort would be able to enjoy — thanks to him, Awakened Kim, and the heavily armored Rhino — he had a tentative understanding of what direction he had to follow.

In the next several hours, he carefully studied hundreds of dossiers, slowly narrowing the list of potential candidates. By the time the night was drawing to a close, he was more or less ready to make the final selection.

Of course, ideally, Sunny would have preferred to meet the recruits face to face and put them through a gauntlet to get to know their characters, styles, and limits better. But in the current situation, being able to study their personnel files was already good enough.

He had chosen several important traits that most, or better yet each, of the candidates had to possess. First of all, Sunny decided to favor sustainability and lasting battlefield presence over pure might and burst damage potential.

Sure, many of the elite government soldiers possessed awesome Aspect Abilities that could deliver truly fearsome results in a short span of time. However, these Awakened also burned through essence with a frightening speed. The Antarctica campaign promised to be a marathon… or rather, a marathon stacked on top of a marathon, stacked on top of a marathon, stacked on top of a marathon. Longevity was king.

He vastly preferred fighting side by side with people who could maintain their peak battle state for long stretches of time, even if their immediate combat performance was not as impressive.

Secondly, he deliberately paid more attention to fighters who implemented higher than usual amounts of finesse, calculation, and cunning in their approach to combat. Not only were such people better at conserving their energy, but they also suited his own inclinations very well.

fighters like these were bound to make better use

terms of determination and resilience, but some stood out among all others. Most of them were those Awakened who had gone through crushing defeats, but were nevertheless able to pick themselves up and grow

that he had endured more torment and hopelessness than even the other Ascended captains of the First Irregular Company. As such, he had a better idea of how ruthless and punishing the long campaign

with less power or talent, he was determined to pick the most dogged and tenacious

six dossiers remained projected on the wall of

choice. This young woman was the cornerstone of the cohort due to her valuable Aspect, which allowed her to reveal the weaknesses of the enemy and share visual perception among herself and her allies. Additionally, she was a certified technician who could look after the cohort's armored personnel carrier and

choice was a charismatic man in his late twenties. Awakened Belle had a lean figure, athletic build, and blond hair. His expression on the portrait attached to the dossier was laid-back and slightly carefree. Belle was a talented swordsman who excelled in offense and agility.

maintain this state for long, even a second was enough to avoid an enemy attack if used at the right moment. His second Ability allowed him to infuse his weapon with unnatural

in using them in precise, short bursts. He only needed a fraction of a second to dodge a strike or deliver a killing blow, so there was need to maintain them for more than that. As the result, he was able to last much longer on

going to be one of the two pillars

man named Dorn. Looking at

this is just

one look at him would have

was a hammer. And not a traditional war hammer, which — despite