Sunny was pretty sure that his shadow was capable of much more than just being a silent follower.
After all, the Spell had described it as an invaluable helper.
It was now up to him to find out exactly how Shadow Control could be of help.
As with many other matters involving Aspects, there was a certain level of instinctual understanding buried deep inside his subconscious.
That understanding was either given to him by the Spell or was sothing innate to every Awakened.
Sunny just had to sense that subconscious knowledge and learn how to put it into practice.
Once again, he concentrated on sensing his body and spirit, then commanded the shadow to perform a series of simple motions.
With each one, he grew more and more familiar with the feeling of controlling the shadow.
Pretty soon, it felt as natural to him as breathing and walking.
The shadow felt like a part of his body.
Satisfied with this initial result, Sunny carefully gave it a new command.
Without pause, the shadow separated itself from the soles of his shoes, walked to the other end of the room, and turned around, staring at him in slightly mocking silence.
Sunny was left without a shadow.
'This is not scientific at all,' he thought with an amused smile.
Science never really applied to anything having to do with the Spell, after all.
As the shadow walked away, he felt a very weird split happening in his mind.
It was like his perception had separated into two distinct sources.
One was his body, the other, his shadow.
With a bit of effort, he managed to focus on the second source.
Instantly, his vision blurred.
"Whoa!" Sunny blurted, surprised.
"Whoa!" the shadow heard from the other end of the room.
Sunny blinked.
In his mind, there now existed two pictures.
One was of his room's door, with an indifferent shadow standing in front of it.
The other was of a pale young man sitting on a chair, wide-eyed and bewildered.
'That's .'
He raised an arm and waved it in the air.
Simultaneously, the pale young man raised and waved his.
'I can perceive the world through my shadow?'
He sat for a while, thinking.
An ability like that opened up a lot of possibilities.
With his [Child of Shadows] attribute allowing him to see and move stealthily in the darkness, and [Shadow Control] allowing him to send out a sneaky shadow as a scout, he was pretty much a perfect spy.
A spy was soone who gathered information without exposing themselves to a lot of risk.
A role like that suited Sunny's tastes very much.
Of course, spies were also able to strike from the shadows with deadly precision.
Ard with information, they were masterful ambushers.
With prior knowledge of an opponent's weaknesses, their attacks were surgical and lethal.
But any direct confrontation would an putting himself in danger, so Sunny wasn't very keen on becoming an assassin.
After all, his Aspect still lacked the ans to directly enhance his combat performance.
'Shall we test it?'
He looked at the shadow and gave it a command.
With an exaggerated sigh, the shadow bent down and nimbly slid under the door.
Instantly, he could see both the room and the hallway outside.
Sunny closed his eyes to focus on the picture projected from the shadow.
Moving stealthily from one shadow to another, it glided down the hallway.
With a bit of timing and consideration, his scout was practically invisible.
Sunny passed by a couple of Sleepers and listened in on their conversation.
Not finding it very interesting, he continued forward.
Finally, the shadow stopped at a corner.
To its left were the elevators, to its right, the way to the girls' dormitory.
All sorts of provocative images imdiately entered Sunny's head.
'Oh my!' he thought, blushing.
Yes, with this ability, it was also very easy to fall into utter depravity!
But no, no.
He couldn't do it.
Not because of so high moral principles…
It was just that, with his reputation as a pervert, the chances of being asked if he had done sothing unbecoming were pretty high.
So he needed the ability to honestly answer "no".
'So… I probably shouldn't.'
'Right?'
'Of course you're right!'
'Don't even think about it!'
Back in his room, Sunny sighed with a lot of regret.
Then he directed his scout to hide in the shadow of a passing Sleeper and followed him to the elevators.
So ti later, Sunny's shadow was hiding in a corner of a large dojo.
He was observing his fellow Sleepers who, under the guidance of Instructor Rock, were going through the motions of the introductory combat class.
Today was mainly dedicated to testing their general competency and abilities.
After that, the Sleepers were going to be separated into groups based on their level, novice, advanced, or expert, as well as their weapon of choice.
So would be assigned a personal tutor or paired together.
Currently, Sleepers were taking turns delivering their strongest punches to a wide plate attached to a special asuring machine.
After each strike, the machine would display a number corresponding to the Sleeper's physical strength.
In theory, a machine like that was not hard to build.
However, considering that many Sleepers had combat-oriented Aspects that enhanced their might in a variety of ways, it was actually a marvel of engineering and durability.
Their technique and training also affected the final result.
Most people were getting numbers ranging from ten to fourteen.
It was considered a good result, sothing that only the most athletic people could reach.
However, a lot of Sleepers, obviously those with enhancing Aspects, were able to achieve a score of fifteen or even sixteen.
'I would probably get ten or eleven,' Sunny thought, feeling a little bored.
Then he suddenly perked up, noticing that it was Nephis's turn to strike the plate.
She was the second highest-rated Sleeper of their batch.
The slender girl approached the machine and, without much preparation, delivered a sudden, crushing blow.
Sunny wasn't very well-versed in martial arts, but even he was impressed by the flawless economy and speed of her execution.
'She's had a lot of training.'
Nephis was becoming more and more intriguing.
What was her actual background?
After a short pause, the machine displayed the result: sixteen.
Sunny felt a bit disappointed.
'Not that impressive.'
'I was expecting more.'
She was the proud bearer of a True Na, after all!
After that, Caster is next.
This ti, Sunny couldn't even see the flying fist, it was just too fast.
The machine trembled and took more ti calculating.
Finally, two numbers appeared.
Twenty-two.
Everyone gaped at the display, stunned.
More than a few admiring looks were thrown at Caster, who simply bowed and took a step back.
Then, Senrix, the highest-rated Sleeper of their batch, the Avatar of Apocalypse, the most feared and the most hated man besides Sunny, approached the machine and got into a normal punching stance.
'He'll probably get around 18 or 19 if his Aspect isn't enhancent-based,' Sunny thought, watching the guy who had nearly crushed him to death by hugging him a bit too hard.
Then he punched.
Sunny couldn't even fathom how or why the machine seed to freeze for a few seconds, taking even more ti than it had for Caster's score.
Then the number appeared.
Twenty-seven.
The Sleepers who had been talking about how Caster was the strongest Sleeper in this batch and how the ranking was unfair imdiately quieted down.
The sheer difference between the two numbers couldn't have been more insane.
For context, twenty-five was the normal score for an Awakened that focused on defense, an Awakened, not a Sleeper like Senrix and the others.
Sunny was left in shock.
The sheer score difference was obvious to him too, especially given how loud the other Sleepers had been whispering.
Instructor Rock smiled.
"Not bad."
"Now, we will move to sparring and evaluate your general level of training."
"I need two volunteers to begin."
Nephis was the first to step forward and walk to the center of the ring.
A couple of seconds later, a tall and extrely muscular Sleeper followed and faced her.
"The rules are simple."
"Make your opponent's back touch the floor or throw them out of the ring."
"Use whatever abilities and techniques you find appropriate."
'Oh, the show is starting!'
Watching Sleepers fight each other was not only entertaining, but could also provide Sunny with knowledge of their powers.
Back in the room, he leaned forward and rested his chin on his palms.
'Go Nephis!'
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A/N: For context, in my head cannon that I will use here, Awakened Rock can normally score thirty-five, he seems like an awakened that is a physical body enchantnt afterall.
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