As a scout, Sunny constantly had to traverse great distances across the abomination-infested wilderness of East Antarctica. He would usually ride atop Nightmare or glide through the shadows with incredible speed, but right now, neither of these methods were an option.
His steed was with Saint, and he obviously couldn't leave the stranded MWP pilot behind by turning into a shadow. Theoretically, Sunny could carry the young woman on his back and run, which would be faster than limiting his speed to that of a mundane human. But he was not too desperate to save time. There was an army outpost relatively close to the ruined city, and although normal patrols would be slaughtered if they tried to take the convenient shortcut, nothing that dwelled there could threaten Sunny.
As they followed a small river that snaked between barren hills, Sunny summoned the runes and glanced at the list of his shadows. It read:
Shadows: [Onyx Saint], [Soul Serpent], [Nightmare], [Ravenous Fiend].
Sunny concentrated on the last string of runes, summoning a detailed description of the little bastard.
Shadow: [Ravenous Fiend]
Shadow Rank: Transcendent.
Shadow Class: Devil.New n0vel chapters are published on
Shadow Description: [A pitiful little creature traveled through a nightmarish land, harboring a bitter grudge in its tiny heart. Driven by resentment and spite, it suffered many trials and conquered untold dangers to become a marvelous devil. But fate was unkind. The ravenous devil met a much more Terrible fiend, and turned into his shadow]
Sunny stared at the runes with a bleak expression The Spell had always liked to tease him... at least he thought that it did... but this one was just unfair.
'How come I'm the fiend? The bastard literally has the word "fiend" in his name!"
Shaking his head, he moved past the description and continued to read:
Shadow Attributes: [Lucky], [Marvel], [Ravenous], [Shadow Sworn], [Lesser Iron Body].
[Lucky] Attribute Description: "This Shadow is favored by fortune."
[Lesser iron Body] Attribute Description: "This Shadow's flesh possesses qualities of metal."
He grinned in satisfaction.
'Finally, progress!
The [Lesser Iron Body] had been [Nascent Iron Body] before. It seemed that munching on that MWP had finally pushed the imp over a threshold. He would be much sturdier now... and in the future, would even have a chance to become truly indestructible.
There had to be a Greater Iron Body as well, after all.
Happy to see the ankle-biter achieving something, Sunny finally glanced at the imp's Abilities. The runes read:
Shadow Abilities: [Scavenger], [Devourer], [Shadow Step].
[Scavenger] Ability Description: "This Shadow can attain the traits, Attributes, and Abilities of the creatures it consumes."
[Devourer] Ability Description: "This Shadow's teeth possess unnatural sharpness and strength. It can rend and maul even the most resilient things."
[Shadow Step] Ability Description: "This fiend can move freely between shadows, traveling front one to another in an instant or diving into them to move with great speed."
And that was it. Sunny's fourth Shadow... the critter was a sorry excuse of a Transcendent Devil, for now, but it would grow to be a real menace one day. in fact, Sunny had a feeling that the imp might just become one of the most terrifying weapons in his arsenal.
The Ravenous Fiend had been an exceedingly dire enemy, but now that he was serving Sunny, and thus enjoying the support of a benevolent, selfless, and supremely generous master... just how much more terrible would the wretched waif become?
Walking along the small river, Sunny used Shadow Manifestation to slaughter a Nightmare Creature that was waiting to ambush him and the MWP pilot, then sighed.
'I need to find a couple more of those iron golems I killed last week... or better yet, a whole swarm of them. A horde would be even better... my imp is a growing little wretch, after all. He needs to eat!'