The cavern at last fell silent, aside from Max's ragged breathing.
Bones and shredded fur littered the stone floor around him, dark puddles of beast blood reflecting the faint glow of the underground river. The acrid scent of iron and rot clung to the air.
Notifications still flickered across his vision like static:
[You have slain—]
[Dark Rat Beast—]
[Essence Absorbed—]
Max winced.
"Enough please. No more announcements. I get it. Everything tried to eat me and now it's all dead."
Silence answered him… mostly.
Raven still lingered somewhere in the back of his mind.
Max focused inward and felt her awareness stir her eyes opening for a moment with cold, mild curiosity before closing again as if bored.
He let out a long breath.
"…Good talk."
He wiped blood from his face some belonged to him, most to the poor beasts he came across. As he pulled up his status screen.
Name: Max
Cultivation: 1st Stage — Magic Spirit
Age: 19
Health: 100/100
Strength: 20
Speed: 25
Mana: 300/300
Resistances:
• Lightning: 9%
• Water: 30%
• Dark: 30%
Magic Points: 0
Abilities: ???, Spirit Walk, Golden Eyes
Items: Mana Gathering Ring, Essence Reaver
Essence Stored: Dark Essence (57)
Max exhaled slowly.
"…That's a massive jump."
His curiosity flared.
"Info display: Golden Eyes."
The words shifted.
Golden Eyes:
Eyes that have shed illusions and lies. They pierce darkness, deception, and concealment. A hereditary trait of an ancient dragon bloodline. With greater mastery, nothing false will escape your gaze.
Max blinked.
"That—explains… everything."
It was overwhelming—but thrilling.
He checked the next.
Spirit Walk: (New evolved ability.)
Previously a spell. Now an instinct. Your presence fades from ordinary senses. Not perfect as those stronger or sensitive ti mana may still detect you. But most will never notice you unless you want them to.
Flavor text: Walk between the living and the lost.
A stealth skill. Useful.
Then his gaze drifted to the final ability the one marked only with ???.
The moment he focused on it
the pain stabbed behind his eyes.
Max groaned and immediately dismissed everything
"…Okay. Not touching that unless I have a death wish. Noted."
Next was his weapon.
Essence Reaver:
A soul-bound weapon. Once a shadow-forged blade, now evolved. It hungers for essence to feed on the soul, not blood. With each kill, it grows stronger and deepens its bond to its wielder. A weapon feared in forgotten ages. Sometimes the whispers of the souls claimed can still be heard.
Max shivered not from fear, but from the potential growth he now possessed.
He could feel the weapon now not just in his hand, but in his spirit. It pulsed faintly almost as if syncing its energy with his own heartbeat.
There was more he could learn in time but this was not the place.
Beyond the corpses and cracked stone, the cavern narrowed into a long passage. In the distance thanks to his Golden Eyes Max spotted metal glinting.
A ladder? And above it was slivers of light. Campus lanterns.
Civilization.
Finally.
"Alright…" he murmured. "Time to get out."
He tightened his grip on the Essence Reaver and walked forward his boots splashing through shallow water, small waves distorted the broken reflections of his mismatched eyes and the new person he's become.
Something skittered behind him too small to be a dark rat, too fast to be harmless.
Max didn't turn.
He didn't need to.
Spirit Walk activated instinctively.
His body dimmed presence fading from the naked eye like a mixture of light and shadow dissolving into another plane.
Silence settled.
The sound stopped.
Max smirked. "…Better."
At the base of the rusted ladder, he paused and turned looking once more down the tunnel he'd survived.
"Thanks for the training, I guess."
Then he gripped the rungs and climbed.
Every motion carried strength he was still learning to trust. His new body felt efficient, and built for survival.
Halfway up, he whispered
"Raven… you awake?"
Silence.
Then, faintly—
[…Get stronger.]
Max smiled.
"Working on it."
He pushed open the heavy metal hatch
and stepped back onto the academy grounds.
Unaware that everything above ground had already begun to unravel.