Born in the slums, abandoned by parents he never knew, and despised even by the nuns who raised him, Ardyn has lived his entire life unwanted and unloved. Yet from a young age, he carried a secret—he could see what others could not: the colors of emotions, the flow of mana, the patterns of magic circles, and the dormant attributes hidden within every soul.

While the slums are filled only with the powerless, Ardyn secretly mastered a forbidden gift: healing magic so potent it surpasses priests, saints, and even the high healers of the church—touching the realm of the divine itself.

But fate had greater plans. Haunted by a dream of a dark, consuming void, Ardyn awakens to the powers of shadow—an impossible contrast to his healing light. With these gifts comes Noctis, a living system born the moment Ardyn named it, evolving into his closest ally and guide.

Sold by the orphanage to a powerful duke’s family because of his noble-like appearance, Ardyn is thrust into a world of wealth, bloodlines, and secrets that eerily reflect his own. His white hair, flickering grey eyes, and noble bearing mark him as something more than a slum rat—something the duke himself cannot ignore.

Between the light of healing and the darkness of shadow, between servitude and freedom, Ardyn must carve his own path. For the world will soon learn that the boy they sold like property carries within him a power capable of shaking kingdoms.

And this time, he will not walk alone.

The black space opened around me, endless and heavy, like the dream that had first dragged me here. Only this time, I didn't feel like I was suffocating. I could stand. I could breathe.


Before me, two circles floated in the air—one glowing green, the other pulsing with black mist. Light and shadow. My powers, laid bare.


The system's voice echoed inside my skull, calm, detached, impossible to ignore.


[Your first lesson: Understanding your gifts.]


The green circle shone brighter. Warmth surged through my chest, flowing into my hands until they blazed with emerald light. Suddenly, a phantom appeared before me—an emaciated man, his body torn open by wounds so deep even a high priest would declare him lost.


The green light poured into him like water into dry earth. His flesh sealed. His bones snapped back into place. Blood vanished. The man, who should have died a dozen times over, stood tall again. He bowed, then dissolved into dust.


The system did not hesitate in its judgment.


> [Evaluation: Healing output exceeds current world standards.]


[Comparison: High Priests – 23%. Arch Healers – 12%. Divine Entities – Comparable.]


I had always known my healing was powerful. I had hidden it, afraid the world would take it from me. But this… this was beyond anything I had ever imagined. My healing was not just strong. It was absolute.


The green circle dimmed, and the black one pulsed next. Coldness stabbed into me, filling my veins with something sharp and hungry. A beast appeared this time—huge, twisted, with burning eyes and a body of shadows.


The darkness inside me lunged before I could even think.


Black tendrils shot forward, coiling around the monster, piercing, crushing, until the thing exploded into smoke. The shadows slithered back into me, but I felt them cling, restless, greedy.


> [Warning: Shadow demands balance. Without control, it will consume the user.]


I staggered, clutching my chest, torn between warmth and cold, creation and destruction. One side of me healed without limit. The other devoured without mercy.


And yet, in that moment, I understood something.


I wasn't cursed. I wasn't just a slum orphan with a secret.


And this system—whatever it was—wanted me to use both.


Chapter 2 - The Tutorial World