Troy froze mid-step, eyes locked on the strange figure standing in the distance.
It wasn't human.
That much was clear.
The creature was tall and thin, with limbs too long, skin pale and ashen like something that had never felt sunlight. It moved awkwardly—more like a beast trying to imitate a man than the other way around. Its head jerked sharply, sniffing the air, twitching toward Troy's hiding spot as if it could taste fear.
Troy pressed himself low behind a jagged stone jutting from the black sand, holding his breath. The salty air stung his lungs, but panic didn't rise in his chest. He'd been chased harder, hunted longer, and survived worse.
He reminders himself 'don't show weakness.'
The creature dropped to all fours and scuttled away into the twisted jungle, folding its limbs like they were barely attached.
Only when it vanished from sight did Troy finally exhale.
"This place's fucked," he muttered.
He glanced around. The beach stretched endlessly, the black sand glowing faintly beneath the sickly violet light leaking from the dense forest ahead. Trees writhed with blue veins, like they pulsed with their own lifeblood. 'The air was thick and still….too still.' No birds, no insects, just a low hum beneath the surface.
Troy scanned his shadow and noticed something odd. It flickered, not with the light, but as if it had its own pulse. A subtle movement, a strange weight pressing against him, like something had latched on deep inside.
He crouched lower, brows furrowed.
A flicker of text blinked in his vision—half-seen, half-understood
[Initialization Complete]
[User: Troy Severus]
[Core Trait: Streetborn]
[Passive Ability: Peripheral Awareness]
[Genetic Sync: 2.6%]
[Status: Unclassified]
The words faded, but the feeling remained. Like a second skin, something foreign and alive tangled in his nerves.
Troy gritted his teeth.
"Whatever you are, you're riding with me now. Don't screw this up." Troy said to himself after quickly analyzing his situation.
He moved deeper into the forest, every step calculated, silent. The jungle closed in fast, trees twisting like iron spikes, branches low enough to snag skin. The ground shimmered oddly beneath his boots, as if the earth itself was breathing.
Ahead, a black monolith floated inches above the ground, covered in shifting runes that throbbed with silver light. It pulsed softly—like a heartbeat.
His shadow tugged again.
Instinct took over. He reached out and touched the cold stone.
Instantly, a new message seared itself into his mind.
[Trial: Silent Hunt]
[Objective: Retrieve the core from a Tier-1 mutation before dawn]
[Restrictions: No detection, no death, no cries]
[Failure: Termination of initial bond]
Troy smirked.
Trial?
That was the Void's way of saying, "Welcome to hell."
He backed away, blending into the shadows, and climbed a rocky ledge overlooking the jungle floor.
There. Below the twisted canopy, something moved, a grotesque beast dragging a wounded leg. Its back was armored with jagged plates glowing faint blue beneath cracked skin. No eyes, just a head that twisted unnaturally to scan the air and ground like sonar.
Troy studied it.
Slow. Vulnerable. Exposed.
His hand closed around a shard of coral—black, jagged, heavy enough to cut bone.
He waited. Patient.
As the beast passed under an arch of gnarled roots, Troy dropped down.
Silent. Swift. Deadly.
He stabbed the coral into the soft flesh beneath the creature's neck, then vaulted onto its back, hand reaching for a glowing crystalline core embedded in its chest.
The beast screamed, high-pitched and piercing, but Troy didn't flinch or scream back.
He ripped the core free and rolled away just as the monster collapsed, thrashing in agony.
Breathing hard, Troy stared at the core pulsing in his palm.
Then his vision shimmered again.
[Core Integration Detected]
[Optional Sync: Confirm? Y/N]
[Warning: Genetic flux may cause neural instability]
He didn't hesitate.
"Yes!"
A wave of fire crawled beneath his skin. Pain. Heat. Something shifting deep inside.
He dropped to one knee, muscles trembling.
The core dissolved into him, fusing with his very being.
Troy didn't scream. He didn't break.
He survived.
His vision cleared.
A new status blinked in his mind.
[Trait Gained: Shadow Retainer Lv.1]
[Passive: Sensory Mapping. Builds real-time spatial awareness]
[Vital Sync: 3.1%]
[Evolution Path: Incomplete]
[Core Designation: Fragmented Weapon]
Troy spat blood into the dirt and grinned.
"Not bad for a sewer rat."
He stood, wiped the blood from his hands, and looked out over the haunted shore.
This Void wasn't here to break him.
It was here to make him something stronger. Something ruthless.
And he was ready!