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.

were bound to make better use of Awakened Kim's

stood out among all others. Most

other Ascended captains of the First Irregular Company. As such, he had a better idea of how ruthless and punishing the long

even if it meant settling for someone with less power or talent, he was determined

end, six dossiers remained projected on the wall of his small

of the cohort due to her valuable Aspect, which allowed her to reveal the weaknesses of the enemy and share

charismatic man in his late twenties. Awakened Belle had a lean figure, athletic build, and blond hair. His expression on the portrait

was able to turn his body intangible and phase through solid matter. Although he couldn't maintain this state for long, even a second was enough to avoid an enemy attack if used at the right

or deliver a killing blow, so there was need to maintain them for more than that.

to be one of the

Dorn. Looking at his portrait,

this is just

man. He was easily taller than Effie, and possessed robust musculature to boot. Just one look at him would have made most people feel small and feeble. The only consolation that Sunny could

hammer, which — despite its usual portrayal in