Elara's euphoria was a measurable, inefficient spike in her [EMOTIONAL STATE]. She cooed,
she cried, and she kissed Kaelen's forehead—a gesture he registered as [CONTACT:
(BENIGN), (INEFFICIENT TRANSFER OF SALIVA)].
With a new, desperate energy, she re-hid the small bundle of coins, minus one silver piece, back
under the stone. She carefully placed the "pretty black rock" (the Shard of Night) in Kaelen's
small, grey hand.
"You keep it, my little luck- charm," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "You found it.
It's yours. Mama will be right back. I'm going to get... I'm going to get bread."
She practically ran from the shack, her [LOYALTY (DEVOTED)] score a solid 82.
Kaelen was alone.
He did not waste a single second. The moment the sound of her footsteps faded, his entire
demeanor shifted. The placid, angelic infant's expression was replaced by a cold, appraising
focus. He looked like a miniature predator, his yellow eyes fixed on the item in his palm.
[ITEM: SHARD OF NIGHT (RARE)] [...DESCRIPTION: A fragment of crystallized, inert
shadow-mana...] [RECOMMENDATION: ABSORB IMMEDIATELY.] [WARNING: ABSORPTION
BY BIOLOGICALLY IMMATURE HOST MAY CAUSE EXTREME PAIN, MANA-SHOCK, OR
DEATH (3.4% PROBABILITY).]
A 3.4% chance of death.
Kaelen weighed the variables.
● Liability: His current body was weak, defenseless, and utterly dependent. Its [SURVIVAL
PROBABILITY (1 YEAR)] without intervention was less than 20%.
● Asset: The Shard of Night offered a direct path to power, a way to move from "Weak" to
"Strong."
● Conclusion: A 3.4% risk was an acceptable cost for the guaranteed return. To not absorb
it was the far riskier, long-term proposition.
He clutched the shard tightly. "System," he focused his intent, "Begin."
[ACKNOWLEDGED. BEGINNING MANA ABSORPTION.]
It was not a pleasant sensation.
It was not warmth. It was a cold, pure, and absolute nothingness that began in his palm. The
Shard of Night did not dissolve; it seemed to unravel, turning into liquid shadow that flowed not
over his skin, but through it.
Kaelen's infant body locked into a silent, rigid spasm.
[SYSTEM WARNING: CRITICAL MANA OVERLOAD.] [HOST PHYSIQUE (1) IS
INSUFFICIENT FOR OPTIMAL ABSORPTION.] [FORCING MANA POOL EXPANSION... PAIN
RECEPTORS FIRING (98%).]
Even Arin's adult, sociopathic mind was unprepared for the sheer scale of the agony. It was a
cold fire, a feeling of being simultaneously frozen and torn apart from the inside out. His mana
pool, a tiny, fragile cup, was being force-filled from a high-pressure fire hose.
Any other one-year-old would have died from the shock. Any other child would have screamed
until their lungs ruptured.
Kaelen simply lay on the dirt floor, his tiny body trembling, his yellow eyes wide and unblinking.
He focused on the data scrolling past his vision, treating the pain as just another variable to be
analyzed and endured.
[MANA POOL: 18... 25... 32...] [MANA POOL INTEGRITY: 45% (CRITICAL)] [SHADOW AFFINITY STABILIZING... BINDING TO HOST SOUL...] [MANA POOL: 40... 48... 50.] [MANA
POOL EXPANSION COMPLETE. INTEGRITY: 100% (STABLE).] [ABSORPTION COMPLETE.]
The agonizing cold vanished, leaving only a deep, profound exhaustion. And... power. He could
feel it. The darkness in the corners of the shack no longer felt like a simple absence of light; it
felt like an extension of himself.
A series of new notifications scrolled into view.
[MANA POOL PERMANENTLY INCREASED: 18 -> 50] [AFFINITY: SHADOW (DORMANT) ->
AFFINITY: SHADOW (AWAKENED, LEVEL 1)] [ABILITY [SHADOW'S WHISPER] (LEVEL 1) ->
(LEVEL 3)] [NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: [SHADOW'S VEIL] (LEVEL 1)] [DESCRIPTION:
PULLS NEARBY SHADOWS TO COVER HOST. REDUCES VISUAL DETECTION BY 10%.
COST: 2 MANA/MINUTE.] [HOST PHYSIQUE RATING INCREASED: 1 -> 2]
It was a staggering return on investment. His mana pool had nearly tripled. His physique had
improved. And he had a new, practical ability. Concealment.
He was testing his new [SHADOW'S VEIL], watching with clinical interest as the shadows near
his body seemed to thicken and cling to him, when Elara returned.
She was carrying a small sack. Her [STATUS: FATIGUED (95%)] had been replaced by
[STATUS: HOPEFUL (60%)].
[RESOURCE DETECTED: 1x LOAF OF BLACK BREAD (LOW-GRADE)] [RESOURCE
DETECTED: 1x WEDGE OF HARD CHEESE (LOW-GRADE)] [RESOURCE DETECTED: 1x
DRIED SAUSAGE (POOR-GRADE)] [RESOURCE DETECTED: 1x WATERSKIN (CLEAN -
95%)]
To Kaelen, it was a vital infusion of capital. To Elara, it was a feast.
She saw him lying in the corner, his eyes closed, and mistook his mana-exhaustion for simple
infant sleep. "Oh, my sweet, clever boy," she whispered, stroking his thin, black hair. "Sleep.
When you wake up... we will finally eat."
Kaelen lay still, his new, larger mana pool slowly refilling. He was no longer just an infant. He
was an investor who had just seen his first, massive payout.
Three years later.
Kaelen was four years old. He could walk. He could talk. And to his mother, Elara, he was a
perfect, quiet, and unsettlingly intelligent child.
The money had long since run out, but that single infusion of high-quality resources had been
enough. It had broken the cycle of severe malnutrition, giving Elara the strength to scavenge
more effectively. Their lives were still brutal, but they had stabilized from "critical" to
"precarious."
But while Elara fought for survival day to day, Kaelen had been playing a different game.
For three years, he had been analyzing.
From the confines of his shack, and later in short, supervised ventures into the alley, he had
used his System. He had tagged and cataloged every person, every rat, every scrap heap, and
every hidden path in his small, rotten section of the slum. He had mapped the local power
structure of gangers, thieves, and beggars.
He was four years old, and the Abyssal Ledger already held a detailed, quantifiable map of his
entire world. And with that map, he was finally ready to make his next move.