Shadow Ascetic — a stage where the path finally gives the bearer strength, and all of it is about shadows.
Call of shadows — he summons shadow creatures to influence the target, constrain it, or attack it; this is a risky business, and the canon notes this directly;
Shadow curse — through the target's flesh and blood, through a rite, or through part of its shadow the bearer casts a curse;
Shadow control — hiding in the shadow, he acts upon the target's shadow in the Shadow world and even tries to capture it;
Hiding in the shadow — the Ascetic hides in larger shadows and watches the target, using their power;
Giving form to shadows — the shadow becomes a weapon or a beast in his hands.
Worth special mention is also the first real relief on this path: it is precisely at the seventh stage, Listening, that it can finally be switched off. The whisper that previously sounded continuously now falls silent at the bearer's will, and this has probably saved more than one Ascetic's sanity.
The method of action explains what kind of figure ultimately emerges: unity, preaching, and service to one's "god." The very name combines "seclusion," "cultivating oneself in the shadow," and "acting from the shadow in the name of the teaching."
