Darkness...
Endless, suffocating, burning darkness.
Kilometers below the surface, in a huge distribution cavern where magma veins accumulated, humanity was preparing to perform its last breath.
This place, Aetherion.
The last deposit of a forgotten civilization.
The shelters where people had hidden for thousands of years, sealed by the ancient rulers.
The sun... It was now a legend.
Children were only aware of the word "light" in stories. The artificial crystals hanging from the ceilings could only offer them a yellowish imitation. Plants grew tall, skins faded, hearts grew tired.
But time was up.
Food was gone.
There was no strength left to endure.
And mankind had to flee.
Kurai was different from the others.
He was not a warrior.
He was weak, weak... In fact, he was considered the most useless of people.
But that day, something changed for him.
Surface - Ash Valley
There was no sky.
Where he was, there was an endless gray place.
The black earth had dried up. The wind carried the whisper of death as it howled through the petrified features.
And there… screams rose up piercing the sky.
"HUMANS! NO… NO, THIS CAN'T BE!"
The demon armies on the surface were fleeing in flight. The people in the regions were a dead species. It was… impossible for them to reappear after so many years.
But the fear was not of the people.
Behind them… the emergence of another being.
A being dressed in dark armor, dominating the surroundings with his eyes like eternity from within his eye helmet.
Time seems to rewind itself as he takes his steps.
The Time Monarch.
A legend.
A catastrophe.
Fragments of the past that the future has seen.
A god who has won the war, who has broken the prophecy, was seen.
There was another disaster ahead of the demon armies, a gigantic being with horns piercing the sky stepped forward.
Demon King: Vhar-Zakul.
A part of the regions' eyes was smiling with certainty.
"Do you mean you dead still don't know? What a pitiful species you are. Even time doesn't know you, you walk."
The Time Ruler was silent.
His eyes were piercing through him.
Ah, he knew everything. And the outcome of this war.
"You are in a time that does not belong to you, Vhar-Zakul. Your existence is a mistake for this reality."
"MISTAKE?!" the Demon King shouted, his eyes flashing with anger.
"Your power that ruled that time… will not work this time!"
He raised his sword.
With the hellish heat magic at the tip of the sword, his sword burst into flames.
"I will burn you with the flames of hell! TIME RULER!"
CRASH!
The flames came tearing through the sky, but the Time Monarch did not move.
Only his hand was flexible.
Time crackled in the air.
And the flames...
Frozen.
The movements stopped instantly.
As if in the same situation on a stage.
The Time Monarch spoke in a cold voice:
"I saw this attack five seconds ago. You will repeat it five seconds later... And you will fail again."
Until he changed it in the blink of an eye.
A time clone appeared behind him.
His clone began to cut through the entire demon army.
He carried the sharpness of a blow... in time.
"This... is... impossible..." Vhar-Zakul whispered.
"Is that... a copy from the future?!
The Time Monarch rushed forward.
The ground cracked with his steps.
The sword descended like light that split the heavens.
BOOM!
The Demon King was thrown.
He fell backwards, piercing the ground.
However, he quickly recovered. There was fear in his eyes.
"I am... Vhar-Zakul, whom even the gods fear! I will not bow to a shadow like you!"
And then...
A sword that emitted a dark light drew from behind him.
The runic patterns on it trembled.
The Time Monarch's eyes widened.
"That weapon... should never have existed!"
Vhar-Zakul Laughs.
"Exactly. This sword... came from beyond your time, its energy works against time. It prevents you from seeing the past, and the future from playing out."
Time stopped for a moment.
BAM!
The black sword stabbed into the Time Monarch's chest.
His armor shattered.
Blood also dispersed.
Time energy began to leak out uncontrollably.
"Still..." the Time Monarch said, coughing up blood,
"...you're too late."
His eyes flashed.
He swung his sword one last time.
A time slice was created.
Vhar-Zakul's body was instantly shattered into thousands of pieces.
The Demon King... was gone.
Not his body, only dust remained.
Even his soul was gone.
The Time Monarch fell to his knees.
The Sol children split open space, pulling out an ancient sword.
He used the last of his strength to cut space with time energy.
A passage to a different time opened, the end of the passage was in sight.
He whispered one last word before escaping the cracking events:
"It's too early... yet."
And he disappeared.
Just before the passage closed...
He dropped a crystal.
Kurai was still conscious behind a fallen pillar.
The crystal was rolling on the ground before his eyes.
But a monster was also advancing towards him.
For a moment... their eyes met.
"No... No, I must not die now..."
"More... new I..."
The monster swung the spear in his hand, stabbing Kurai in the chest.
"A-Ah...!"
But the diamond was now in his palm.
And at that moment... everything changed.
[Initializing the system…]
[Activating the program…]
[My seyyişim Successful.]
[Welcome, Gravity ???]
The crystal light enveloped Kurai.
When its light faded, the crystal entered Kurai's body.
His wounds were closing.
His muscles tensed, his bones cracked.
He clenched his sword…
And at that moment, a voice rose from within him:
"I CANNOT DIE HERE."
The monster wanted to retreat…
But it was too late.
Kurai instinctively swung the sword in his hand.
Fiiiiiııışhh—!
And the monster split in two.
Kurai fell unconscious.
A Few Hours Later
The surroundings were silent. The stench of corpses filled the air.
But he… was not alone.
Rattling chains.
Growling voices.
Lizard-like creatures.
They were plundering the dead bodies.
One approached Kurai.
When he bent down to pick up his sword, Kurai's eyes opened.
He was cold and determined.
In one move… he cut off his head.
"What… is happening to me?"
"Just yesterday… I was nothing…"
And at that moment, a screen appeared.
[System: Sovereign Level Lock: PASSIVE]
[Insufficient power. Access denied.]
[Suggestion: Kill enemies and become stronger.]
The screen closed.
Kurai raised his head silently.
The smell of death still hung in the air.
The blood had dried, but the rusty taste of metal was on the tip of his tongue.
The smell of half-rotted corpses among the ruins filled his lungs.
But his attention was elsewhere.
Living beings.
Covered in hideous, bony scales, crawling insidiously…
Reptiles.
There weren't many of them. Five or six of them.
But they were hunters.
They would sense the weak and slowly gnaw them off.
Kurai clenched his teeth.
The screen he had just seen echoed in his head.
[Suggestion: Kill enemies and become stronger.]
"I should become stronger, huh?" he muttered.
"Is it really that simple?"
He paused for a moment.
He looked at the dull sword in his hand.
Its body was bent, its tip broken.
He dropped it to the ground with a smile.
"You're no longer useful."
He reached for a sturdier sword held by the corpse next to him.
He took a deep breath.
And slowly, he began to crawl through the dead and towards the reptile camp.
There were no footsteps.
His breathing was under control.
His heart… it had never beat so calmly before.
But something… was stirring inside him.
The first reptile was standing by the fire.
It was gnawing at the flesh with its claws.
Kurai silently approached behind him.
For a moment...
A breath...
And raised the sword.
SLASH!
The severed sound did not even leave a scream.
The reptile's head was instantly separated from its body.
Its body trembled for a few seconds, then it collapsed to the ground.
And at that moment...
[Reptile killed.]
[5 XP gained.]
Kurai's eyes widened.
The mechanical sound echoing in his head was real.
And... a feeling.
A warm wave ran up his spine.
As if...
Power was flowing through his veins.
"What... was that? That sound... something moved inside me..."
He bent his knees.
He clenched his fingers.
His muscles... felt themselves getting stronger.
"So this is what it's like to get... XP."
He smiled.
His eyes glittered.
"Let's continue."
The second reptile was examining another corpse with its back turned.
Kurai approached like a shadow.
This time, he was faster.
He swung the sword to the side.
FIYUUU— SLASH!
The reptile's waist was split in half.
As the two pieces fell to the ground, he saw the text flashing on the screen again.
[Reptile killed.]
[5 XP gained.]
"This has the potential to be addictive."
The third target was more alert.
He noticed Kurai, but it was too late.
"Ksssshhhk—!"
Kurai swung his sword upward milliseconds before his attack.
The reptile's arm soared through the air.
Kurai stepped forward, drove his knee into the enemy's stomach, then split his head open with an upward sword slash.
[Reptile killed.]
[5 XP gained.]
He didn't even break a sweat.
His heart was beating faster now, but not from fear.
From excitement.
"I feel… power."
"I'm becoming myself… finally."
The two remaining reptiles noticed him.
They snarled, charging together.
Kurai jumped back, swinging his sword.
He dodged his first blows.
But one tried to bite him.
TCH!
It narrowly missed his wrist.
Kurai spun around behind him.
He crouched down and swung his sword upward.
CRACK!
The reptile screamed as it was hit in the leg.
Kurai pinned it down with the tip of the blade, then turned to the other.
The second creature jumped on it.
But Kurai ducked his head, stabbing it through the heart.
[Reptile killed.]
[5 XP gained.]
He gave the other one a final look as he fell to his knees.
"Your turn."
And he stabbed it.
[Creeper killed.]
[5 XP gained.]
Kurai stood up.
He was out of breath, but there was a smile on his face.
He stabbed his sword into the ground.
He clenched his fists.
His entire body... burned like fire.
[Total XP: 25]
[New Skill Awakening Threshold Reached.]
[Stat Interface Opened.]
New windows opened on the screen:
Strength: 4
Speed: 3
Stamina: 3
Mind: 2
Magic: 1
Level: 2
[System Update Completed]
"Stats... this is truly a system. This is my... system!"
He raised his sword.
He muttered with dark determination on his face:
"This is just the beginning."