A young man with pale skin and messy hair laid on his back, jts icy-blue eyes staring at the ceiling of the abandoned house he had found on the periphery . He needed all the rest he could get — after all, the time when anyone's life could end had come.
Outside, the midnight moon began to darken until it turned completely black. The streets fell silent, filled with dread.
Ray stepped out of the building, a spear borrowed from a corpse rested over his shoulder, and began his search for Lurkers. If one wanted to awaken, they had to kill countless Shades.
Lurkers were the easiest to deal with — mindless beasts, yet deadly to most unprepared humans. When a Shade's soul perished, its essence flowed into the killer. For ordinary people, that essence slowly strengthened the body until it was ready to form a Core, allowing them to circulate the essence stored through their muscles and summon the Fragments they had recived.
And for him, this night would be his last as a mundane human.
The streets gave Ray a dreadful feeling — after all, no one could know the horrors that lurked there.
At dusk, the Lurkers would perish back to their realm, the Beyondwake. While the Wraiths could remain for longer periods, they would grow weaker and weaker, their souls breaking apart if they didn't travel back.
The Murk would end soon, so Ray had to act carefully if he wanted to awaken.
The shift time varied each time, usually happening every two weeks — sometimes even one.
'All that matters now is me.'
Following the scent of blood, Ray turned left into a narrow street. Ahead of him, a lizard the size of a man stared with its crimson eyes at its prey — a tall man who was bleeding heavily, painting the broken light armor he was clad in. Two of his comrades already lay dead beside him.
The lizard wasn't in much better shape either. Its right leg was on the verge of collapsing, deeply cut, with countless scars running across its black, scaly skin.
Ray took advantage of the opportunity and lunged forward, throwing his spear. It missed the creature's neck by mere centimeters, the gray tip piercing its upper body and getting stuck deeply.
Picking up the curved sword of the corpse, Ray blocked the massive head of the lizard, grunting as he was thrown back.
'Ugh, this is too tough to kill… I need to do something.'
Glancing back at the injured man, Ray shouted: "I'll act as the decoy! Come from behind and do the final blow!"
The man quickly followed his lead. As he approached the lizard, Ray stepped back, letting the Lurker's attention shift from one target to another.
'Like I'd let my prey fall to someone like you.'
Focused on the tall man, Ray lunged forward, plunging the curved sword he had picked up into the Lurker's right side, dragging it along its body. The creature couldn't move properly, its injured leg collapsing under the weight.
Groaning in pain, Ray watched as the grotesque lizard dissolved into darkness. He felt an influx of power surge through his body - the moment his awakened core formed. He clutched his chest, gritting his teeth at the sharp pain.
'Ughh… I've heard people complain about this , but nobody said it was this painful.'
The sun rose over the world, ending the horrors of the Murk - for now.
As the pain subsided, Ray felt his mind open to a new clarity. When one awakened, the insight into their unique power would appear soon after. However, what emerged at that moment was only the beginning - the foundation of what they could achieve.
As Ray's body refined and his mind grew sharper, understanding fell upon him: his power was darkness.
'The same attribute these monsters possess? I guess mastering it will be interesting.'