"…Mom's definitely gonna kill me."
His voice echoed through the stone corridor, small and useless against the silence pressing in around him.
Then came the chime.
Soft. Clear. Perfectly digital.
Aiden flinched. His breath hitched.
Something lit up in front of his face—floating, glowing, blue.
Not a light. A screen.
He stared, frozen. His brain raced.
This isn't real. This is a game. No—this is a system. A real system. I'm in a literal system-based world.
Lines of glowing gold text bloomed across the translucent panel.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZED.]
User Identified: Aiden Cross
Class Assigned: Necromancer
Unique Skill Acquired:
Skill: Soul Bind (SSS-Rank)
Allows user to bind the soul of a deceased target.
Bound souls retain all combat knowledge, memories, and skills.
Loyal to caster.
❖ Mana Cost: Varies by target.
❖ Limit: Based on Mana and Control attributes.
❖ Warning: Skill level currently insufficient to bind ancient or degraded souls.
Status Screen:
Name: Aiden Cross
Level: 1
Class: Necromancer
Attributes:
• Strength: 6
• Agility: 9
• Stamina: 8
• Intelligence: 17
• Mana: 14
Skills:
• Soul Bind (SSS-Rank)
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod," Aiden whispered, clutching his head. "This is not happening."
He took a stumbling step back. His heel hit something—he spun, nearly tripped over a stone slab, caught himself on a mossy wall, and exhaled through clenched teeth.
"Okay," he muttered, voice sharp and high-pitched. "Okay, okay. I'm hallucinating. This is a dungeon. I'm hallucinating in a dungeon. That's normal. That's fine. That's what totally sane people do."
The blue screen hadn't vanished.
It just hovered, patient and glowing.
Aiden stared at it again. Then up at the cracked stone ceiling. Then back at the screen.
Necromancer.
Soul Bind.
"Okay," he breathed, forcing his voice down. "Okay. Think like Kal'zorin would. You're a level one caster in a new dungeon. You just unlocked a class—Necromancer. You have a soul-based summoning skill. You're not freaking out. You're… starting a build."
A slow, pulsing glow moved through the floor's runes again, guiding toward the deeper hallway.
Then another screen appeared.
[TUTORIAL TIP – CLASS FUNCTIONALITY UNLOCKED]
You have gained access to a unique skill: Soul Bind (SSS-Rank).
Explore the dungeon to locate a usable soul.
QUEST RECEIVED:
🜂 First Bond
— Use Soul Bind successfully.
— Status: Incomplete
Aiden's eyes narrowed. "So it's a tutorial quest. First bond, right. That's easy."
He turned back toward the skeleton he'd seen earlier—the one half-buried in collapsed rock.
He raised his hand, heart pounding.
"Bind soul," he said aloud.
A sharp ping echoed in the air.
[Soul Binding Failed.]
Target soul has expired beyond recovery.
Skill level insufficient for degraded soul types.
No mana consumed.
"Right," Aiden muttered. "That would've been too easy."
He looked around again. The tomb was long—stone hallways disappearing into darkness on either side. Doors, too. Two heavy ones near the back, both marked with that same swirling rune pattern.
He swallowed, heart still thumping against his ribs like a trapped animal.
No enemies yet. No allies. No light source. Just me. And bones.
And the system.
He took one last glance at the failed skeleton. Then back to the faintly glowing runes underfoot, which now seemed to be pointing further in.
"You want me to keep going, huh?" he said under his breath. "Fine. But if something jumps out at me, I'm blaming the system."
He took a step forward into the hall.
Then another.
Stone groaned under his foot.
The temperature dropped.
And somewhere ahead, behind a cracked doorway, something moved.
Aiden froze.
His heart skipped, then pounded faster. His eyes locked on the source—a split in the far wall where the stone had crumbled just enough to leave a jagged, half-open archway.
The movement came again. Slow. Dragging.
Not fast enough to be a monster.
Not heavy enough to be some armored undead.
It sounded… human.
Aiden inched forward, one foot carefully placed in front of the other. The floor tiles were cracked but solid. The glow beneath them flickered with each step like it was reacting to him—or warning him.
He reached the doorway, pressed himself to the side, and peeked in.
The chamber was wider than the one he'd woken in—part tomb, part ruin. One wall had completely collapsed inward, revealing dirt and shattered brick. Another held a rusted, iron-barred gate.
And lying there, near the center of the room, was a man.
Or what was left of one.
He was in his twenties, maybe. Long dark hair stuck to his face with sweat. Leather armor torn open across the chest, soaked through with blood. One arm was bent the wrong way. A sword, broken at the hilt, lay just out of reach. His legs weren't moving.
But his eyes were open.
Alive. Barely.
Aiden stepped through the doorway, slowly raising his hands.
"H-Hey," he said, voice cracking. "Don't move—I'm not gonna hurt you, I swear."
The man's head turned just enough to see him.
His eyes narrowed, surprised… then alarmed. "Kid?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm—uh—kind of lost," Aiden said quickly. "Really lost. Are you… are you okay?"
The guy gave a breath that wasn't quite a laugh. More like a pained wheeze. "Do I… look okay?"
Aiden dropped to a crouch beside him, heart racing. "What happened?"
"Ambushed." The man coughed, his voice rough with blood. "Party left me. Thought I was done for." He sucked in air through his teeth. "Didn't expect… a damn child to show up. Thought I was hallucinating."
"I'm not," Aiden said quietly.
The guy turned his head again. Eyes glassy. "Then you're in the wrong place, kid. This tomb's cursed. You shouldn't be here."
Aiden stared at the wound. The blood was slowing, but not in a good way. His face was pale. Sweat soaked through what was left of his armor.
"You need help."
"No time," the guy muttered. "Doesn't matter. I've got minutes, maybe. Listen. There's a scroll in my pouch. Take it. Sell it in the city if you get out. Get food. Shelter. Avoid the red-masked ones. Don't trust—"
He coughed again, harsher this time. His whole body spasmed, and he slumped.
"No. No, no, no, don't die," Aiden said, scrambling closer. "You're not dead yet!"
His hands hovered over the man, useless.
"Come on, think," he muttered. "System—Skill—Soul Bind. That's what it's for, right?"
He looked at the screen still hovering faintly behind his eyes.
Soul Bind: SSS-Rank.
Mana: 14.
Aiden hesitated. Then, eyes burning, he placed a shaking hand against the man's chest.
"Bind soul."
[Soul Binding Attempt Initiated]
Target: Human (Level Unknown)
Status: Dying – Soul Recoverable
Mana Required: 13
Proceed? [Y/N]
"Yes!" Aiden barked. "Yes—Y!"
A shock ran up his arm like a jolt of static. The runes on the floor beneath him ignited in pale blue, spiraling outward from his hand. The man's body convulsed—his back arched—and a glowing shape began to rise from his chest.
It looked like smoke. Like starlight. A wispy, transparent figure of the man's outline lifted from the dying body, connected to Aiden's palm by threads of pure mana.
[Binding Soul…]
Progress: 14%… 27%… 51%…
Warning: Mana levels low.
89%… 97%… COMPLETE.
Soul Successfully Bound.
Reviving Host Body…
Aiden collapsed backward onto the floor, gasping.
His vision blurred. He felt empty, like someone had drained every ounce of warmth from his veins. His limbs were trembling, sweat slick on his back and forehead.
Mana: 1/14.
The man's body was glowing faintly now, runes crawling up his neck and across his face. His broken arm twitched. The blood that had soaked his chest stopped flowing.
And then, with a final, painful groan—
He opened his eyes.
Clear. Alive. Confused.
And very, very undead.
He sat up slowly, his motions stiff and slow like a puppet learning to move again.
His eyes locked onto Aiden.
"You… you did something."
Aiden swallowed hard. "I—I think I saved you."
The man looked down at his hands. Flexed his fingers. Touched the wound in his chest—it was still there, but dulled, sealed with a glowing thread of magic.
"I was dead."
"Almost," Aiden corrected. "Then I… bound your soul. I think. It's complicated."
The man stared at him. Then, slowly, a strange smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Name's Kael," he said. "And I think I owe you my unlife."
[QUEST COMPLETE – First Bond]
Reward:
+100 XP
+Skill Progression Unlocked
+Soulbind Familiar: Kael Added
[Skill Progression Unlocked]
Soul Bind (SSS-Rank): Level 1 → Level 2
New Feature Unlocked:
• Soul Link (Passive) – Gain minor stat bonuses based on active bonded souls.
Aiden blinked at the flood of screens. XP. A familiar. A level-up.
"Oh god," he muttered. "I'm actually leveling up."
Kael tilted his head. "You're new to this, huh?"
"You have no idea."
Aiden sat up straighter, still shaking, but alive. The first bond was done. He had someone. A guide. A companion.
And the system had just begun.