The air stank of iron and smoke.
Aiden Rael coughed into the crook of his arm, his lungs searing as he stumbled over broken stone. The torchlight flickered against the cavern walls, throwing jagged shadows across the battlefield. All around him, hunters fought—or died.
The guild had said this was just a C-Rank dungeon, the kind that guild elites ran like training exercises. Porters like him were supposed to haul potions, carry loot, and stay far behind the frontlines.
But this… this was a massacre.
A massive, obsidian beast lumbered through the cavern, its body a shifting mass of spikes and molten cracks. Its roar shook the walls. Hunters were crushed beneath its claws, their screams cut short.
"Stay back, porter!" a warrior barked as he was flung across the chamber like a rag doll.
Aiden froze, gripping the strap of the potion bag so tightly his knuckles whitened. He wasn't supposed to fight. He wasn't supposed to be here. Yet the truth was undeniable—this wasn't a C-rank. This was at least A-rank… maybe worse.
The guild had lied. Again.
And now, people were dying for it.
Selene Arclight's voice rose above the chaos, clear and unwavering.
"Barrier—Lunar Grace!"
A sphere of pale silver light burst outward, enveloping the surviving hunters in a soft glow. Their wounds knit partially closed, breaths steadied. The oppressive aura of the beast dimmed under her healing magic.
She stood at the center of it all, her white healer's robe shimmering faintly under the moonlit aura she conjured. Strands of silver hair clung to her forehead with sweat, her violet eyes narrowed in focus.
For a moment, the battlefield stabilized.
But Aiden's gaze lingered on her too long, distracted by the strange calm she radiated amidst despair. A moment later, the beast's claw ripped through the barrier.
Crack.
The shield shattered like glass. Hunters screamed as they were flung aside.
Selene staggered, coughing blood.
Aiden's body moved before his mind could. He dropped the bag of potions, sprinted across the rubble, and dragged her out of the path of the next strike.
The ground shook as the claw slammed down where she had stood.
"Rael—?!" Selene's eyes widened in shock, her breath catching.
"Can you stand?" His voice was hoarse, panic lacing every word.
"I—yes, but my mana is almost—"
The monster roared again, cutting her words short. Hunters scattered. The commander barked orders no one obeyed.
They were finished.
Aiden knew it with bone-deep certainty: This raid is already lost.
And yet… when he looked down at Selene—her pale hand trembling in his grip, her lips pressed thin in pain—something inside him twisted.
Not her. I won't let it take her.
The beast reared back. Heat surged from its core, molten light spilling between its plated hide. Aiden recognized the telltale glow—breath attack. The kind that wiped out entire parties in a single blast.
He wasn't a fighter. He had no weapon, no power. He was nothing more than a pack mule.
But he couldn't just watch.
"Move, damn it!" someone screamed.
The beast's chest lit with infernal light. Aiden tightened his grip on Selene and braced himself—uselessly—for the inevitable.
The world erupted.
But instead of burning alive, Aiden felt a void. A strange pull, like gravity tearing sideways. His vision warped.
[System Awakening Detected.]
Words burned across his mind, alien and absolute.
[Eclipse Authority Synchronizing…]
The world flickered—
and the monster's attack erased itself midair.
The breath of molten flame dissolved into particles of shadow, vanishing like chalk washed off a board. The cavern trembled in stunned silence.
The beast's maw snapped shut in confusion. Even it didn't understand what had just happened.
Aiden's body convulsed. His veins burned as the shadow-particles swirled around him, drawn into his chest. He screamed, clutching his head.
[Fragment of Eclipse Obtained: Infernal Breath]
A dark icon pulsed in the back of his mind. He understood—no, he knew instinctively. That erased breath was now his. Stored within him like a shard of reality stolen.
He could use it.
But his hands trembled. His pulse thundered. His body screamed wrong.
Selene stared at him, her violet eyes wide. "Aiden… what did you just—"
Before she could finish, the System whispered again. Cold, tempting.
"Do you wish to manifest it? Show them your power. Burn them all, and no one will ever look down on you again…"
He staggered, vision swimming. He saw the hunters—half-dead, broken, staring at him. He saw Selene, hand still gripping his sleeve.
And he felt the lure of it. The promise of strength.
"Rael!" Selene's voice cut through the haze. "Stay with me!"
Her moonlit aura pulsed faintly, brushing against his shadow-charged veins. For a heartbeat, the whisper quieted. The pain dulled.
Aiden blinked hard, forcing the System's voice aside. He looked at her, really looked—sweat dripping from her brow, blood at the corner of her mouth, but still standing, still refusing to break.
He exhaled a shuddering breath.
"…I won't lose myself," he muttered, voice ragged.
But the monster was already lunging again.