Darkness.
But not the calm, starless void he'd left behind.
This was suffocating. Raw. Viscous and heavy, like swimming through oil. Leo's senses stirred, piece by piece—painfully, unnaturally.
A heartbeat.
A breath that hissed instead of sighed.
[Welcome, User: Leo.][System Initialization: Complete.][Race: Lesser Shadow Wraith][Status: Newly Born][Survival Probability: 8%.]
A shriek rang out in the distance, echoing through the stone halls that now surrounded him. It wasn't human.
Neither was he.
Leo opened his eyes.
Nothing. Just grayscale haze. His vision pulsed in strange shadows, like sonar. The cave around him was dim, jagged—walls weeping black mist.
His body? Weightless. His hands—if he could call them that—were incorporeal wisps of dark smoke. His form clung to the ground like a creeping shadow, shifting unnaturally with every thought.
I'm… not solid.
He drifted forward instinctively. No footsteps. No sound.
[New Trait Unlocked: Ghoststep.][You are currently undetectable to beings below C-Rank Perception.]
Leo processed this calmly.
No pain. No heartbeat. Just movement. I'm a shade. A wraith.Weak. But mobile. Flexible. Unseen.
He liked that.
[Would you like to view your Status?]
"Yes," he said—no voice, just intent.
🔹 STATUS — Lesser Shadow Wraith 🔹
Name: LeoRace: Lesser Shadow WraithLevel: 1HP: 20/20MP: 60/60STR: 3AGI: 12INT: 15WIS: 10SKILLS: Ghoststep (Passive), Shadow Meld (Active)EVOLUTION PATHS AVAILABLE: [Locked]TITLES: [Fourth Born of Elara], [Child of the Void]
[System Note: As a Chosen of Elara, evolution paths will unlock with major milestones. Current objective: Survive for 72 hours.]
Three days just to live…? Sounds like she's not going easy on me.
Another howl screamed across the cavern. Louder. Closer.
Leo didn't flinch.
Instead, he drifted to the wall and melted into the stone like a shadow fading at dusk.
[Shadow Meld Activated. Duration: 5 minutes.]
A quadrupedal creature thundered past moments later. Six eyes. Exposed ribs. Dripping red fluid from jagged tusks.
Leo watched from within the wall.
Too fast to outrun. Too strong to face. But dumb.That's good.
The moment it passed, Leo whispered to the System:
"Log creature data. Mark danger level. Build a bestiary."
[Command Accepted. Database Created: 'Predators.']
He smiled—or would've, if he had lips.
Let's get to work then.
Hours passed.
Leo stalked the dungeon like a wisp in the wind. He watched, listened, and learned.
He didn't fight. Not yet.
But he thought. Constantly.
He mapped his surroundings. Not on paper, but in memory. Terrain, monster patterns, places to feed on ambient mana. He located a crystal cluster radiating soft energy and hovered near it.
The System spoke again.
[You have absorbed ambient shadow mana.][+3 MP. Progress to Level Up: 9%.]
So I level through mana absorption and predation... classic game logic.
A rumble behind him. Something sniffed.
Leo vanished behind a rock, blending into shadow just in time.
[Shadow Meld Cooldown: 4 minutes.]
His mind raced. His body didn't. There was no panic. Just calculation.
I'll need to find something weaker to consume. Something like me.
And as if fate answered, he found it.
A flicker. A flickering, quivering ball of darkness—barely a wraithling—crawling on the cave floor, leaking unstable mana like a cracked egg.
Perfect.
Leo didn't hesitate. He lunged, his shadow wrapping around the creature like a vice.
[Engaging combat.]
The wraithling shrieked and struck with tendrils of dark energy, but Leo danced around it, faster, smarter, more controlled.
He tore into it, absorbing its essence.
[Enemy Defeated.][You have consumed its Remnant.][+45 XP. Level Up!]
🔹 LEVEL UP! 🔹
New Level: 2+2 INT, +1 AGI, +1 WISNew Skill Unlocked: Shadow Cling (Passive)
The effect was instant.
Leo's form stabilized. His shadows moved more cleanly, less like smoke, more like silk. He could now cling to surfaces—even ceilings.
This world is brutal. But fair. I like that.
He spent the next few hours experimenting. Testing Shadow Cling by crawling upside down like a spider. Using Shadow Meld to spy on a sleeping stone serpent. Setting traps using echo noise.
Not once did he feel fear.
Just hunger. Not for flesh—but knowledge.
The System isn't a cheat. It's a sandbox.And I plan to break it.
Later, as he rested beneath a ledge, the System buzzed again.
[Incoming transmission from: Elara.]
Leo tensed. Then accepted.
The shadows parted, and Elara's face appeared—not divine and majestic like before. Just a woman. Simple, soft eyes. Smiling.
"Hello, Leo."
He said nothing at first.
"You're the first one to kill," she said softly. "Even the First Born is still hiding."
He blinked.
"They're weak."
Elara laughed. Not mocking—genuinely amused.
"You remind me of someone. A boy I once watched live a whole life in silence."
Leo floated closer to the projection.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing," she said. "Just to say… I'm proud of you. You chose to live. To adapt. Even as a wraith."
Something twisted in Leo's chest.
Foreign. Familiar.
Guilt? No. Nostalgia? Maybe.
"You said no manipulation. Don't play emotional games."
Elara shook her head.
"I don't need to manipulate you. You're already mine, Leo. Not because I own you—but because you let me in."
Leo stared at her.
Then looked away.
"...I don't hate this."
Elara's smile turned warm, motherly.
"Goodnight, my little shadow."
The transmission ended.
And for the first time since waking, Leo didn't feel cold.