Without a word, he opened the next requirement and sighed again.
"Now it wants me to abandon all allegiances. No more factions. No more kingdoms. I'll be considered unaffiliated, but barred from any protected area of the ten kingdoms. In exchange, I'll be allowed to travel through all territory freely. This might be interesting."
Seeing Triple-Seven nod, Shade went ahead, and advanced to the next stage.
[You have been excluded from XP Bank.]
He ignored the system notification and stayed quiet as his energy level increased once more.
The moment he let go of his final allegiances, of his guild, of his faction, something changed in the world.
It was as if shadows across the entire planet reacted.
From eternal shadows between mountains to the deepest corners of dark caves, a network of darkness reacted to his advancement.
He could now sense and understand shadows from all over the world.
[You have reached SSS-tier affinity with the [Darkness] element.]
[You have reached MAX-tier affinity with the [Shadow] element.]
This time, he didn't focus on the change inside of his body. He didn't even share this stage with his brother and simply opened his system interface to read the next advancement requirement.
'This is even worse than the previous stages…'
He glanced at Triple-Seven, who was scribbling notes in the distance and reached out with his elements.
Words formed from shadow, forming across the ground in front of Triple-Seven.
---
[Stage 7 Advancement – Still Heart]
Love. Fear. Anger. These are luxuries of the living.
Requirement: Abandon all emotional responses.
---
Triple-Seven's pen stopped moving. Surprised by the content of the message, he raised a hand to halt Shade, to stop him before he advanced. But when he saw a dark cloud was forming above their heads, he understood it was too late. The shadows moved again, rearranging their message:
---
Fall back. Leave the range of the rain.
---
Triple-Seven obeyed, retreating from the strange pressure in the air. Black droplets began to fall in the space where Shade stood. Watching from a distance, Triple-Seven felt something twist in his chest. His brother was standing beneath it. He didn't resist or react.
'Why does this hurt to watch…?' Triple-Seven thought, confused.
A few minutes later, a cold breath escaped Shade's lips. Every movement he made left a trace of shadow behind. He didn't speak. He hovered in silence, releasing waves of energy so refined and overwhelming they seemed to distort the air itself. He no longer blinked. He didn't need to. He didn't need to breathe. He didn't need anything anymore. As Triple-Seven approached, concern appeared across his face. Something stirred in Shade's mind but the thought was silenced before it could form.
'What is happening to me?' he thought, conflicted, and feeling his emotions dulling, suppressed by something.
"Let's see what the next stage is about." Shade spoke mentally, sending the message to his brother.
Triple-Seven answered instantly, alarm in his voice. "You don't have to continue. We've seen enough—"
Shade ignored the warning and opened the next class advancement panel.
[Stage 8 Advancement – Unknowing]
Understanding what was at stake, he sent another mental message.
"The next thing I have to abandon… are my memories. Everything not tied to shadow or battle will be sealed away. Locked in my soul. I won't be able to access them while I have this class active. In exchange, I'll gain shadow-based memories and skills. One of them being a ... Supreme Skill."
Triple-Seven's response came like a slap. "What the hell?! That would make you a lost cause! How are you supposed to return if you don't even remember there's something to return to? That people are waiting for you?!"
Shade didn't reply immediately.
"Triple-Seven, listen. We've always wondered just how far classes could go. You know how Sora gave up on classes after unlocking [Prestige]. Most of us only care about mythic or legendary classes for the skills. But what about the others? The players who aren't like us. The kingdoms that rely on classes?"
"We need to know what happens when someone sacrifices everything."
Triple-Seven didn't answer.
Shade continued, "I'm level 10. And I think I could already defeat a level 140 player with Omega 25–26 power. So imagine those with nothing to lose. How far can they go?"
Silence, again.
"If I forget all of you… it's okay. Just come find me. Kill me, if you have to. I'll probably remember everything after activating [Prestige]."
Triple-Seven finally let out a long sigh.
"…Fine. Count on us. We'll bring you back. I didn't think the system could be this ruthless… this cruel. It's too much."
But Shade, already half-consumed by the path he'd chosen, couldn't even feel the sadness in his brother's voice. Without hesitation, he opened his interface and selected the eighth advancement. He stood, still and silent, as the system confirmed his choice.
[Non-shadow-related memories are being sealed.]
[Progress: 1%...]
It began slowly. A sea of shadows surrounded him. On its surface, his earliest memories floated like fragile lanterns.
The first to appear was a childhood memory. He was small, curled up in a school hallway, tears streaming down his cheeks. From inside the nearby office came the shouts of a teacher, berating someone. Shade already knew who it was.
His brother.
When the door opened, he emerged with a swollen face—not from punishment, but from the fight he had picked to defend Shade from bullies. His clothes were torn, and his lip bleeding. But he had a grin on his lips.
"Stop crying, Soso."
That smile had carved itself deep into Shade's soul. Then—the image began to fade. Shadows crept in from the edges, sinking the scene into the pool.
"No!" he gasped, instinctively reaching down toward the memory, but failing.
A instant later, he forgot what he was trying to catch and looked around him. More memories surfaced, drawn toward the depth of dark sea that had formed from shadows.
Rachel's friendship, Lara's care, the laughs with Enzo… His parents. One by one, they sank into the depths.
Despite the lack of emotions, Shade felt a crushing sense of loss.
'I'm not ready.' He thought, regretting his choice.
Despite the lock on his emotions, Shade felt a rising panic. As memory after memory slipped away, he summoned everything he had to resist.
He called on his new powers, Shadows and Darkness, the very elements he had sacrificed so much to master but they didn't listen.
The shadows wrapped gently around him, soothing, friendly… yet powerless.
'They obey the class, not me... They don't want to rebel. Not even with my maxed affinity.'
And in that moment of helplessness, the truth hit him harder than the pain of losing his memories.
'This is what I deserve… For borrowing power I never worked hard for. '
Desperate, he looked for solutions, and eventually, he found one: Soul Power. Controlling his Soul Power, he tried saving everything that was left, but was hit with a realization. He couldn't.
'My Soul Level is too low.' He understood.
Clenching his teeth, he wrapped his Soul Power around a memory, forming a barrier between it and the shadows.
Feeling the pulling force, he resisted and watched powerless as all other memories sunk one by one. Still, he didn't let go of the memory he was protecting.
On the memory, a face appeared.
Eventually, he forgot why the memory he chose was important to him. Without context, the meaning behind its significance disappeared.
After a few minutes, he found himself reading the notifications on his panel, but didn't react.
[Memory Lock Complete.]
[Stage 8 Advancement Requirements Fulfilled.]
The [Shadows] surrounding him, sensing the loss, stirred gently. They moved closer, forming shapes around him. More shadows gathered. And from within the gathering shadows, something took shape… It was a familiar looking creature. However, he didn't remember having ever seeing something looking like it.
Shade looked down at the creature that appeared beside him and asked through telepathy, "Who are you?"
"I'm your companion and you are my master. You are no longer alone.'"
------------------------------
A short distance away, Triple-Seven watched his brother's transformation in silence.
'I freaked out when the ground got covered in shadows across a few hundred meters… but it doesn't seem hostile.'
Floating a little closer, he observed the aura surrounding Shade. The power radiating from him was denser, heavier. Powerful.
He resumed scribbling in his notebook.
'Brother One Hundred-Sixteen advanced to the 8th stage at 11:23 a.m. He's sacrificed his memories. Said they were locked, not erased. That's important. We might be able to help him recover them with enough Soul Level—or through [Memory Sculpt]. I don't know if he'll let us… but sealing isn't destruction. That's something.'
He glanced up, sensing another surge of power ripple out from Shade's core.
'Looks like he's finished.'
Something caught his eye. A dark shape condensing beside Shade.
He continued scribbling.
'A creature made of shadow appeared. Canine frame. Possibly a familiar? Looks like a dog—German Shepherd silhouette, but entirely black. More fluid than solid. Definitely alive and intelligent. It's looking at me now.'
He raised his hand and started to sketch the beast's silhouette into his notebook.
Satisfied, he floated down to greet his brother—only to stop, as he caught sight of the dog's stance.