The whisper of wind brushed Arel's hair as he stepped outside the Awakening Hall, the sting of whispers still echoing in his ears.
"Necromancer? That's cursed, isn't it?"
"He's the son of that man. No wonder."
"He'll be dead before his first dungeon."
Their voices didn't matter — not now. Not after what he had seen.
The System. Real. Alive. Silent, yet present like a ghost behind his eyes.
[SYSTEM ACTIVE] [Necromancer Class — Tier F] [Skill Tree: Locked] [Minion Capacity: 1 — Mental Load: 3%] [Soulbind Trait: ON]
Arel wandered the cracked stone path back toward the forge. He needed time. Space. Answers.
But instead, he found Elia waiting by the door, her legs tucked under her thin frame, a woolen shawl around her shoulders. Her big silver eyes met his.
"You awakened," she said simply.
He sat beside her. "Yeah."
"Something bad?"
Arel chuckled dryly. "F-Rank Necromancer."
Elia blinked. "Cool."
He looked at her. Really looked. Despite her frailty, her eyes held strange light — like stars caught in moonlight. He remembered the way shadows listened to her. She wasn't normal. None of them were.
"You're strange, you know," he muttered.
She grinned. "Takes one to know one."
Inside the forge, his father was hammering again. Not for clients — there were none — but out of habit, out of rhythm, out of need.
Arel slipped inside and dropped his satchel.
"I awakened."
His father didn't stop. "Class?"
"…Necromancer."
The hammer paused mid-air. A breath passed.
"…Fitting."
Arel blinked. "What?"
His father placed the hammer down. His back was still turned.
"I've only known one other Necromancer in my life. She… she wasn't human."
Arel stepped closer. "You mean—?"
"I meant what I said. Your class won't define you. But your choices will."
And that was all.
—
That night, the System stirred.
[Dungeon Signature Detected — Distance: 4.3 km] [Classification: Unstable Sub-Classified Gate] [Recommended Rank: E+ and above] [Initiate Trial? — Y/N]
Arel's eyes widened. A dungeon? This early?
He hesitated. Then, trembling, whispered, "Y."
[Trial Initiated: Soul Reclamation - Phase I] [Spawn Zone: Forgotten Graveyard] [Objective: Create your first Minion]
The world around him vanished — swallowed in light.
He stood alone in a field of cracked gravestones. Fog clung to the earth like dying breath. Trees twisted in agony above, their roots clawing at open graves.
Then — a whisper.
"Help… me…"
From one of the graves, a hand emerged — skeletal, trembling. A wisp of light hovered over it.
[Soul Fragment Detected — Compatibility: C-Rank Soldier]
Arel fell to his knees.
"Do I… summon it? Bind it?"
The System answered:
[Initiate Soulbind — Y/N?]
"…Yes."
A glow shot through his palm, forming a sigil. The hand jerked, bone and spirit fusing. A form began to take shape. Not monstrous. Not horrific.
Human. Armored. Eyes glowing faintly blue.
He stood. A man — dead, yet not.
[Minion Created — Name: Kael] [Class: Fallen Knight — Rank: C] [Memory Retention: 42% — Combat Skills Preserved]
Kael knelt before Arel. "I serve."
Arel trembled.
This… was only the beginning.
But even then, deep in the shadows beyond the gate — something else watched. A presence. Ancient.
And it had begun to stir.