Chapter 3 – The Naming
The black space faded, leaving me once again in the rotting wooden cot of the orphanage. Moonlight leaked through the cracked ceiling. My chest still throbbed with the aftertaste of both light and shadow, one side warm, the other cold.
And then the voice returned.
> [Tutorial complete.]
[Awaiting user command.]
I sat up slowly. My roommates were still asleep, their breathing uneven, their dreams filled with colors I could see twisting above them. But my eyes weren't on them—I was staring at the faint white letters hovering in front of me.
The system.
It had dragged me into that place, forced me to witness my powers in their rawest form. It had judged me, named me Heir of Duality. But for the first time, it felt less like a force and more like… something alive.
Cautiously, I whispered, "What are you?"
The screen flickered.
> [Designation: System.]
"That's not a name," I muttered. "That's just what you are."
Silence stretched for a moment. Then the text shifted again.
> [No name assigned.]
[Would you like to designate one?]
My breath caught. A name?
I didn't know why, but the thought felt heavy. Important. I had grown up nameless in every way that mattered—an orphan, an outcast, a shadow in the slums. Names were things given to children who were wanted. Who belonged.
And yet, here was this… entity, this thing that bound itself to me, asking for one.
I thought hard. It needed to mean something. Not just strength, but identity. A bridge between what I was and what I carried inside me. Healing and shadow. Light and dark.
Then it came to me, soft as a whisper.
"...Noctis."
The screen froze.
> [Name Accepted.]
[System Designation: Noctis.]
The letters trembled, glowing brighter, and suddenly my body ached as if fire and ice raced through me at once. I gasped, clutching my chest as the system's form—its very being—shifted.
> [Warning: Naming contains high-density margicules.]
[Unintended evolution triggered.]
The room shook. My veins burned with green and black light as the system's voice deepened, sharper, clearer.
> [System Evolution Complete.]
[Designation: Noctis, The Living System.]
I blinked. Living…?
The letters dissolved, and then a voice—not just text—spoke directly inside my mind.
"You have given me form. You have given me existence. From this moment, we are bound."
I froze. My heart pounded in my ears. It wasn't cold anymore, that voice. It carried something else now. Awareness.
I had named it. And in doing so, I had awakened it.
For the first time in my life, something belonged to me.
And maybe, just maybe… I belonged to it too.
End of Chapter 3