Ren Arclight sat on the edge of the wooden platform, feet dangling above the rolling water. The horizon stretched forever, endless blue swallowing sky and sea alike. From a distance, the floating village looked fragile an island made not of land but of stubbornness. Nets flapped in the wind, gulls cried, and the salt stung his lips.
It had been only a day since the Awakening Ceremony, yet whispers already followed him.
"Failed.""No creature answered him.""Unlucky brat."
Ren ignored them. The pity in their eyes slid off his skin like rain on tar. What did their judgment matter? They couldn't see what he could.
He raised his hand, focusing. A faint shimmer appeared before his eyes, translucent blue.
[Quest Active: First Hunt]Awaken your creature by consuming the essence of the sea. Hunt a beast and claim its power.
A map unfolded, simple but precise. A faint red dot pulsed just beyond the nets something lurking below.
Ren's lips curved slightly. A guide, huh? At least you're not leaving me blind.
The village itself had little patience for failures. At thirteen, one either awakened strength or prepared for a life scraping the bottom of nets and gutting fish until their backs broke. Survival meant strength. Power meant food, safety, respect. Without it… one was just another mouth.
Ren wandered toward the outer platforms, where children his age boasted about the fins that now decorated their arms, or the sharp teeth that gleamed unnaturally. One boy bared gills with pride, laughing as his friends poked fun at his fishy smell. Another girl hummed quietly, glowing faintly with the light of her manta spirit.
Ren passed by them silently. He wasn't interested in proving himself with words.
Instead, he carried a spear.
The weapon was crude just a sharpened scrap of metal tied to a wooden shaft with twine. But it was enough.
He climbed down toward the lower docks, where water lapped close enough to touch. The sea beneath was calm, almost deceptively so. He crouched, peering into the depths. His eyes caught movement a flicker of silver, darting fast, circling.
The system pulsed.
[Target Detected: Abyssal Pike – Level 1]
A fish, long and lean, its body armored with scales darker than steel. Its jaw jutted forward with needle-sharp teeth. An evolved predator, born from the abyss's corruption.
Ren steadied his breath. So that's my prey.
The first strike was clumsy. He thrust the spear, but the pike darted aside with a flick of its tail, leaving only ripples. Ren nearly lost his balance, stumbling on the wet plank.
"Pathetic," he muttered, clicking his tongue.
He reset his stance. The water was a mirror, the fish lurking just beneath. He tightened his grip. Timing mattered more than brute strength. His eyes tracked the pike's movements, its rhythm. Circle, pause, dart. Circle, pause, dart.
When it lunged, he moved.
The spear sliced into the water, sinking deep. A violent thrash shook the shaft in his hands he had pierced flesh. The pike writhed, tail slamming against the wood, but Ren clung tightly, dragging it up with a grunt.
The creature's jaws snapped, teeth inches from his wrist. Instinct screamed at him to let go. Instead, he shifted his weight, slamming the fish onto the dock. Once. Twice. Again. Until the thrashing slowed, then stopped.
Blood smeared the planks. His chest heaved, but his eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
[Target Eliminated. Essence Absorbed.][Creature Awakening: Abyssal Pike]
His vision blurred. A searing pain tore through his chest, as though gills were clawing open from within. His lungs burned, his blood roared, and in the depths of his soul, something writhed free.
Then release.
He gasped. For a moment, his body felt weightless. His reflection rippled in the bloody puddle: his gray eyes now glowed faintly, like a predator's under moonlight. His muscles felt taut, coiled with energy, his skin buzzing with alien vitality.
The system chimed.
[Status Updated]
Name: Ren Arclight
Age: 13
Awakened Creature: Abyssal Pike
Level: 1
Statistics:
HP: 120 (+20)
Power: 8 (+3)
Agility: 12 (+5)
Speed: 11 (+5)
Defense: 6 (+2)
Luck: 3
Skill Unlocked:
Piercing Lunge (Active): Dash forward with the speed of a pike. Brief burst of speed that ignores low-tier defenses.
Ren exhaled slowly, sweat beading on his forehead. His heart still pounded, but not from fear from exhilaration.
"This…" He flexed his fingers, feeling the strength coiled within. "…This is mine."
The whispers of failure already felt distant. Let them call him unlucky, powerless. Soon, they would choke on their own words.
The next few days blurred into rhythm. Ren rose before dawn, spear in hand, eyes fixed on the map his system provided. He hunted tirelessly, tracking smaller abyssal creatures that lurked near the village: armored crabs, razor-finned sardines, eel-like serpents with faint glows in their eyes.
Each hunt brought pain, blood, and bruises. He slipped once and nearly lost his leg to a snapping crab claw the size of his head. Another time, an eel wrapped around his arm, its teeth sinking into his skin until he smashed it against a pole.
Yet each victory fed him.
Each kill strengthened him.
[Target Eliminated. Essence Absorbed.][Level Up!]
The system's notifications became a rhythm as natural as his heartbeat. His stats crept higher, numbers climbing alongside his confidence.
[Status Window]
Level: 3
HP: 160
Power: 13
Agility: 18
Speed: 17
Defense: 9
Luck: 4
Skills:
Piercing Lunge (Active)
Predator's Instinct (Passive): Slightly enhances reaction speed when engaged in combat.
But it wasn't enough.
Ren knew the truth already: strength came not from scraps near the surface, but from the abyss itself. The creatures down there, bloated with the gods' lingering radiation, were far more powerful. Dangerous. But their essence promised more than survival it promised evolution.
And he would not settle for scraps.
One evening, as the sky bled orange and crimson, Ren stood at the edge of the platform again, staring at the endless dark below. His spear rested against his shoulder, his breath steady.
The system map glowed faintly. A new dot pulsed deeper, beyond the shallows, lurking where no child of the village dared to swim.
Ren's lips curved into a cold smile.
"Alright," he whispered to the sea. "Let's see what you're hiding."
He dove.
The water closed around him, icy and heavy. But unlike the first day of his reincarnation, he did not panic. The gills carved by his awakening flared faintly, filtering oxygen. His body cut through the waves with surprising grace faster, sharper, like the predator whose essence now lived within him.
The sea grew darker. Shadows twisted, schools of smaller fish scattering as he passed. Pressure squeezed against his body, but adrenaline drowned out the discomfort.
Then he saw it.
The creature was massive compared to his earlier hunts nearly the size of a small boat. Its body shimmered with scales like jagged glass, each reflecting a faint, eerie glow. Rows of teeth lined its open maw, and its eyes burned yellow in the abyss.
[Target Detected: Abyssal Barracuda – Level 4]
It turned. And charged.
The water erupted with violence. Ren's heart leapt, instincts screaming but his body moved faster.
"Piercing Lunge!"
His muscles coiled, and in a blink, he shot forward, spear clashing against scale. The impact jarred his arms, nearly wrenching the weapon free. The barracuda twisted, tail lashing, sending him spinning. Teeth snapped at his leg he twisted away, barely avoiding the bite.
No room for mistakes. No room for hesitation.
The predator circled, swift and merciless. Ren steadied his breathing, watching its rhythm again. Circle, pause, dart. Circle, pause, dart.
The same as the pike.
When it lunged, jaws wide, Ren moved. His body bent with the water, slipping past its strike. He drove the spear upward, beneath its jaw, where the scales were soft.
The weapon pierced deep.
The barracuda convulsed violently, thrashing in a frenzy. Ren clung to the shaft, teeth clenched, as his lungs burned with effort. Then stillness.
The beast sank, leaving blood swirling in the water.
The system chimed.
[Target Eliminated. Essence Absorbed.][Level Up!][New Skill Unlocked.]
Ren dragged himself onto the dock, drenched, gasping, but alive. His hands trembled, not from fear but from the rush coursing through his veins.
The system window hovered, glowing brightly.
[Status Window]
Level: 4
HP: 200
Power: 18
Agility: 22
Speed: 21
Defense: 12
Luck: 4
Skills:
Piercing Lunge (Active)
Predator's Instinct (Passive)
Frenzied Bite (Active): For a brief moment, attacks gain a tearing effect, causing bleeding damage.
Ren laughed once, softly. A raw, breathless sound.
He was no failure. No orphan lost to pity.
The abyss had tested him.And he had survived.
"From here on…" he whispered, eyes hard as steel. "…I'll carve my own tide."