Shadow Dance

**Shadow Dance** is a shapeless and insidious battle art tailor-made by Sunny for himself.

## Concept

The foundation of the shadow style was insidious, shapeless, and ever-changing. Its core concept was to steal that which made the enemy strong and use it to destroy them. One had to learn how to behave like a shadow to master this style.

## Application to Sunny's Aspect Abilities

Main article: Shadow Shell
Shadow Dance enables Sunny to observe a person or creature and learn the very essence of their style and physicality, then shadow them. This knowledge allows him to understand the structure of the body and force shadows into that form. By understanding the body's structure and instincts, Sunny can translate his power through the shadows, building it around himself like a shell using Shadow Manifestation. This allows him to assume the shape of a Nightmare Creature, similar to Soul Serpent's ability [Formless]. However, Sunny could not inherit the creature's attributes and abilities, but the physical form itself was enough. Like shadowing a memory of a creature instead of the creature itself.

### Shadowspawn Devil

Sunny felt comfortable shaping shadows into the Shadow Devil by summoning memories of the Second Nightmare into his mind and used Shadow Dance to bring them to life. The demands were high because he needed to know the shape of the shadow shell in startling detail. However, Sunny's instinctual knowledge of the Shadowspawn allowed him to transform himself into a creature instead of controlling the construct consciously.

## Origin

While the battle style entrusted to him by Nephis was versatile and deadly, and the technique of the Stone Saint was indomitable and oppressive, they were not his own. No matter how much he practiced them, he felt that there was something missing. Individuality. Only by creating a style of his own would he be able to become equal to the best fighters out there. Until then, he would always be just an imitator.

After countless spars against Stone Saint, he finally noticed his shadow's movements. While exactly like his own, there was a very slight, almost imperceptible difference. The divergence between him and his shadow was consistent and harmonious, hinting at a deeper meaning of which his shadow had a battle style of its own.

In their expedition to reach the edges of Forgotten Shore, Sunny was finally able to understand the foundation of the elusive shadow style. That was when he was observing the motions of two shadows that followed Nephis during her mock fight with Caster. The foundation of the shadow style was indeed insidious, shapeless, and ever-changing. Its core concept was to steal that which made the enemy strong and use it to destroy them. To master that style, he had to learn how to behave like a shadow.

When he finally figured it out, for the first time inside the Dream Realm he dreamt. The dream he found himself in did not belong to him. Instead, it belonged to the nameless temple slave whose role he had assumed during the First Nightmare. The original child of shadows. The vision was his memory.

In his dream, he saw a young woman dancing. The young woman weaved a beautiful pattern with her movements, their cadence and nature were simultaneously firm and flowing, sharp and gentle, clear and unpredictable. She danced alone but also with seven partners, effortlessly controlling both her own body and the seven shadows cast by it. Her dance was insidious, shapeless, and ever-changing. He recognized these movements. They were the same as how his shadow moved. This was the source and origin of the battle style he wanted to create. This was Shadow Dance.

## Runes & Progress

**View Runes**

*Click here to view the Aspect Legacy Runes & Progress*

## Mastery

**Shadow Dance** is a battle art invented by Sunny, which aims to steal the strength of the enemy and use it to destroy them. Its **first step** was mastered during a battle with Nephis, allowing Sunny to understand and mimic the enemy's battle style. The **second step** was continued by absorbing the styles of countless Awakened, allowing Sunny to shadow unfamiliar battle styles faster and more easily. The **third step** expanded on the first two by redefining battle styles, including Nightmare Creatures in the enemy ranks he shadowed. But this step was more about Sunny's own self-discovery, as he had to let go of his sense of self to shadow things innately different from him. The third mastery greatly improved Sunny's ability to shadow enemies and perceive the flow of essence within them. However, Shadow Dance was a double-edged sword, as Sunny could easily get lost in the form of an adversary, forgetting himself forever. The best defense against this risk was his True Name, which served as the anchor of his soul.

* First Mastery
* Second Mastery
* Third Mastery
* Fourth Mastery

### First Mastery

#### Learning Process

Trying to learn the secrets of his own shadow, though unable to peer into the depths of its battle art, he was slowly beginning to get a feel for it. His shadow was more treacherous, fluid, and malleable than he was. There was a hint of a graceful cadence to its movements that lacked in his as though it was performing a dance.

Sunny slowly forms a set of moves to train. These exercises helped condition his body and mind, making them adaptable and malleable like shadows.

#### Mastery

The point of Shadow Dance was not to mirror every movement to become a literal copy. It was to understand the very essence of the enemy's style and turn it against them.

### Second Mastery

#### Learning Process

Sunny's goal was to absorb as many styles as possible, reinforce the foundation of Shadow Dance and make it more efficient.

Not all battle styles were made the same, some were simple and straightforward, while others were complex and unique. The more unique a style was, the harder it was for Sunny to gain insight into its principles. His ability to peer into the very essence of a style is based on his own talent, mastery, and sensitivity to shadows. So, he had been working diligently to create a sizable library of simpler styles, which would in turn improve his capacity to discern the patterns of more complicated ones with sufficient speed. After all, all styles were constructed out of the same basic elements.

The more basic patterns he knew, the easier it was to understand various styles on the fly. He hoped to achieve the next level of mastery over his elusive battle art this way. Moreover, at the highest levels of Awakened battle skill, styles were not only about physical movements and mindset but they weaved unique patterns of essence control into the technique which Sunny couldn't perceive and was only able to infer from indirect clues.

#### Mastery

Sunny's comprehension of the fundamental, governing principles of battle techniques was vastly elevated, allowing him to understand them on a deeper level. This enlightenment helped Sunny grasp various styles much faster, as well as mirror more complex and sophisticated battle arts with ease. At this level, his understanding will also help him to recognize patterns of essence control from how the enemies moved, breathed, and attacked.

### Third Mastery

#### Learning Process

Sunny decided to expand the purview of his battle style to include not only shadowing humans but also Nightmare Creatures.

Being able to shadow the Nightmare Creatures not only enhanced his battle style, but also made them more predictable, and thus less dangerous. Understanding how the Corrupted fought and what impulses guided them was much harder than deciphering even the most sophisticated battle style. Their minds were perverted, bizarre, and alien to everything he had ever known.

#### Mastery

In the end, to attain mastery, using shadow dance on countless humans and creatures before, he peered even deeper during the fight with the stygian steed. For a moment, it was as though he became the stygian steed, clearly knowing how it was going to kill.

Mastering the third step of Shadow Dance was tied to the fact that Sunny had lived through countless nightmares and lost himself becoming truly shapeless and formless, forgetting himself and turning into other people completely. As a result of the breakthrough, Sunny's ability to recognize and gain insight into patterns of combat techniques increased, allowing him to understand and predict not only the movement and behavior of enemies but also intricately sense the flow of essence through their bodies as well as being able to predict their thoughts. Shadow Dance now allowed Sunny to sense the movement of the mystical energy through the bodies of his opponents.

#### Flaw

Starting from the third step of Shadow Dance, the elusive battle art was starting to be dangerous not only to his enemies but to Sunny himself. There was a risk of losing himself and becoming someone else forever.

The risk of losing himself to the formlessness of Shadow Dance could be simply resolved by a simple thought exercise. He only needed to keep in mind his True Name. It always brought him back, no matter how lost he was.

### Fourth Mastery

#### Learning Process

Sunny had previously used Shadow Dance to read abominations, but never tried to manifest himself into one of them due to it being easily to get lost in that state, maybe forever. He needed to maintain his sense of self while denying it, is possibly the fourth step of Shadow Dance. This involved becoming formless in mind, body, and soul, becoming infinitely malleable like all shadows.

#### Mastery

The fourth step was about becoming the enemy, both in thought and in flesh.

The fourth step involves breaking Sunny's mind of rigid constraints to make it shapeless and adaptable, allowing his physical form to follow suit. Sunny invented Shadow Shell and Shadow Incarnation in Antarctica, providing the tools for mastering the fourth mastery. However, it wasn't until the battle with Daeron of the Twilight Sea that he combined these elements into a cohesive whole, allowing Sunny to grasp the essence of any form and shape, making the prospect of becoming any creature limitless.

Some forms take less time, while others take longer. The more forms he learns, the easier it becomes to create the next one. However, the fourth step is dangerous, as changing his form too drastically and too often could lead to losing the connection to his own.
## Theme Song

**View Theme Song**

*Click here to view the theme song for Shadow Dance*

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 528 Personal Style
2. ↑ Chapter 215 Shapeless
3. ↑ Chapter 1036 The Fall of Falcon Scott (54)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 1037 The Fall of Falcon Scott (55)
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 186 Eureka
6. ↑ Chapter 216 Tacit Understanding
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 217 Origin
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 1291 Perilous Gift
9. ↑ Chapter 187 Trial of Strength
10. ↑ Chapter 311 The Last
11. ↑ Chapter 349 Fate
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Chapter 531 Dream Tournament
13. ↑ Chapter 548 The Road so Far
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Chapter 610 Mind of a Beast
15. ↑ Chapter 644 My Enemy
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Chapter 692 Free Time
17. ↑ Chapter 780 Friendly Spar
18. ↑ Chapter 752 Solid Foundation
19. ↑ Chapter 1277 Fourth Step
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Chapter 1301 Fourth Mastery