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.

these were bound to make better use of Awakened Kim's Ability to

some stood out among all others. Most of them were

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

it meant settling for someone with less power or talent, he was determined to pick the most

dossiers remained projected on

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

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. His Aspect made him especially

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

speed, Awakened Belle was incredibly proficient 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

one of the two pillars of Sunny's melee

a man named Dorn. Looking at his

this is just

giant of a man. He was easily taller than Effie, and possessed robust musculature to boot. Just one look at him would

a traditional war hammer, which — despite its usual portrayal in popular media — was actually a relatively light and elegant