The school lot was a graveyard of broken dreams and discarded memories, even before the sun set. Now, under the pallid glow of the moon, it felt like something far more sinister. Kenji's breath hitched in his throat as the System's blue screen, still floating serenely before him, highlighted a distortion near the skeletal swing set.
[LOW-LEVEL SPECTER DETECTED. THREAT LEVEL: MINOR.]
He took a shaky step forward. The air grew heavy, thick with a nauseating sweetness that prickled his nose. Then he saw it. A swirling, viscous mass of shadowy tendrils, coalescing around the rusted metal of the swing set. It pulsed with an ugly, purplish light, occasionally shifting to reveal glints of what looked disturbingly like distorted eyes. It was larger than he expected, easily the size of a small car.
Low-level? Kenji swallowed hard. His hands, still trembling, felt different. A strange warmth radiated from his palms, and when he focused, he could feel a subtle hum beneath his skin. The System, ever helpful, projected a new message:
[HINT: FOCUS SPIRITUAL ENERGY INTO YOUR HANDS FOR A DIRECT ATTACK. ANALYZING TARGET'S WEAKNESSES… TARGET VULNERABLE TO PURE SPIRITUAL LIGHT.]
"Pure spiritual light?" Kenji whispered, his voice cracking. He tried to mimic the feeling he'd had when the light exploded from him. He squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating. The hum intensified, a vibrant energy gathering, swirling within him. When he opened his eyes, a faint, milky-white aura flickered around his outstretched hand. It was weak, wavering, but it was there.
The specter suddenly recoiled, hissing, its shadowy form shrinking slightly from the nascent light. It was a clear sign. This was real.
A wave of nausea washed over Kenji. He felt the specter's presence pressing in on him, a palpable weight of despair and hunger. The world, the one he thought he knew, was suddenly far more terrifying.
Flashback: The Day the Veil Broke
It had been five years ago. Kenji was thirteen, small even then, huddled in front of the flickering television screen. The news anchors, usually so composed, looked pale, their voices strained.
"...unprecedented outbreaks reported across the globe. What eyewitnesses describe as 'demonic entities' are emerging from previously unknown portals… targeting locations of high spiritual significance."
The images that flashed across the screen were seared into Kenji's memory: ancient temples crumbling under the assault of monstrous, multi-limbed creatures; cathedrals engulfed in unnatural green fire; once-sacred groves now choked with grotesque, alien flora. These were the Sacred Sites, revered places of worship and power, now transformed into what the news quickly dubbed Dungeons.
Panic had erupted. The world spun into chaos. Governments scrambled, militaries were deployed, but their conventional weapons were useless against these ethereal invaders. Then, whispers began. Whispers of individuals, suddenly manifesting incredible powers, fighting back. They called them Awakened. They formed teams, often clashing with each other as much as the demons, desperately trying to reclaim what was lost.
"Only the strong," Haruki had scoffed, watching the news with detached interest, "can even join a team. Kenji, you'd be eaten alive."
Kenji had simply nodded, accepting the truth. He was weak. He was powerless. He was safe only because he was insignificant. He just wanted to survive the chaos, to not become another statistic.
Kenji shuddered, the memory fading like a bad dream. The specter before him let out a guttural shriek, charging. Its shadowy tendrils lashed out, elongated claws tipped with sickly green energy.
Panic threatened to overwhelm him, but then the System chimed again.
[INCOMING ATTACK DETECTED. DEFENSIVE MANEUVER RECOMMENDED: SPIRITUAL SHIELD.]
Instinct, guided by the System's prompt, took over. Kenji threw his arms up, and a transparent, shimmering barrier of pure spiritual energy materialized before him, just in time. The specter's attack slammed into it with a sickening splat, the green energy dissolving against the shield. The impact jolted Kenji, sending a painful tremor up his arms, but the shield held.
This wasn't some minor specter. This thing felt… powerful. Too powerful for a low-level.
[ERROR! SPECTER IDENTIFICATION MISMATCH. THREAT LEVEL RE-EVALUATED: B-RANK DEMON. WARNING: EXTREME DANGER.]
A B-rank demon. Kenji's blood ran cold. He'd heard the stories. B-rank demons were capable of wiping out entire squads of C-rank Spiritual Fighters. They were intelligent, vicious, and notoriously difficult to kill.
Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream tore through the night, echoing from behind the school building. Kenji flinched, his shield wavering. The demon, sensing his distraction, lunged again. He narrowly dodged its next attack, the claws tearing through the air where his head had been moments before.
He saw them then. Two figures, slumped against the wall of the school, their uniforms shredded, blood staining the concrete. They were both young, probably only a few years older than him. One was a girl with fiery red hair, clutching her side, grimacing in pain. The other, a burly boy with a broken arm, was trying to push himself up, his face ashen. They wore insignia on their collars – the stylized golden gate of the Golden Gate Academy, one of the most prestigious Spiritual Fighter academies.
They were C-rank, as confirmed by the System's quick scan. And they were barely alive. This demon had almost killed them.
The red-haired girl coughed, spitting blood. "It's… it's too strong! We barely… just barely got away. The others…" Her voice trailed off, filled with despair.
The demon turned its attention to them, its shadowy form elongating, ready to finish them off. Kenji felt a surge of something unfamiliar: not fear, but a desperate, furious surge of protection.
"Hey!" he yelled, the sound surprising even himself. His voice, usually so timid, resonated with a new, strange authority.
The demon paused, its multiple eyes swiveling to him. It looked at him, not with recognition, but with contempt, as if he were an annoying fly.
This was his chance. The System flashed: [TACTIC: EXPLOIT DISORIENTATION. STRIKE WITH SPIRITUAL LIGHT.]
Kenji took a deep breath. The raw, tingling energy within him obeyed, flowing into his hands. This time, the light that flared around his palms was stronger, more intense, a beacon in the oppressive darkness. He focused, recalling every moment of humiliation, every sneer, every dismissal. This power… it was his.
He unleashed a torrent of pure spiritual energy. It wasn't a neat blast, but a wild, untamed surge of light that slammed into the B-rank demon. The creature shrieked, a sound like grinding stone, as the light seared into its shadowy form. It writhed, smoking, part of its mass dissolving.
The demon roared, enraged, and lunged at Kenji with terrifying speed. Its claws tore into his arm, the pain a fiery agony that made him cry out. Blood welled up, hot and sticky. But he didn't flinch. He used the demon's proximity, its single-minded focus on him, to his advantage.
[SUGGESTION: UTILIZE SPIRITUAL RESTRAINTS.]
Kenji imagined invisible bonds, threads of light. With a surge of mental effort, luminous chains erupted from his hands, wrapping around the demon's flailing limbs. The demon struggled, but the spiritual chains held, burning its shadowy flesh.
He was toying with it. A B-rank demon. He was learning, adapting, pushing the boundaries of his raw power. The demon was strong, but Kenji was stronger. And this was his chance to truly understand what he could do.
He channeled more power, the light from his hands intensifying until it pulsed like a miniature sun. The demon thrashed, its desperate screeches filling the night. The two C-rank Academy students watched, their eyes wide with disbelief and awe, despite their wounds.
"He… he's just a kid," the boy stammered, gripping his broken arm. "And he's fighting it."
The red-haired girl, her face pale, whispered, "No… he's dominating it. I've never seen such pure spiritual energy. Not even from the top A-ranks."
Kenji took a step back, the chains still holding the demon immobile. He extended both hands, the spiritual light gathering into a single, focused point between his palms. It hummed with incredible power, vibrating the very air around them.
[FINISHING BLOW RECOMMENDED.]
"Get out of my school lot," Kenji snarled, his voice a low growl that was utterly alien to him. He unleashed the accumulated energy. A blinding beam of pure spiritual light tore through the night, slamming into the demon's core.
The creature's shriek was deafening, a sound of absolute agony and dissolution. Its shadowy form exploded into a shower of black, shimmering dust that quickly vanished, leaving nothing but a lingering smell of ozone and decay.
Kenji stood panting, his arm bleeding, but alive. More than alive, he felt exhilarated, a potent mix of exhaustion and triumph. The silence that followed was profound.
He looked over at the two Academy students. They stared back, their faces a mixture of shock, awe, and a healthy dose of fear.
"You… you just… you just vaporized a B-rank," the boy finally managed, his voice hoarse. "Solo."
The girl slowly pushed herself up, wincing. She approached Kenji, her movements stiff. "Who are you? I've never seen power like that. Are you… are you an S-rank?" Her gaze lingered on him, searching. "You don't have an Identification Badge."
Kenji looked down at his blood-stained uniform. An ID badge? He had no idea what she was talking about. He was just Kenji Tanaka, the kid who got bullied.
The girl's eyes narrowed, a flash of determination overriding her pain. "Look, I don't know who you are, or where you got that power, but you just saved our lives. And you obviously don't have formal training. We're from the Golden Gate Academy. We're having tryouts next week. You need to be there."
Her voice was firm, an order disguised as an invitation. Kenji stared, his mind reeling. Tryouts? Him? The kid who couldn't even stand up for himself?
He looked back at the empty space where the demon had been, then at his own trembling, bloodied hands. The System, silent for a moment, suddenly chimed with a new notification.
[QUEST COMPLETE! REWARD: SKILL POINT +1. EXPERIENCE GAINED. RANK UP AVAILABLE.]
Kenji swallowed. His journey had truly begun.