The alarm rang at 6:00 a.m.
Seren Vale's eyes opened—no trace of sleepiness clung to them. His body felt light, precise. His heartbeat was slow, like a clock ticking with purpose counting out each second with deliberate patience.
Everything around him was silent. But in that silence, something inside him stirred. Not like a voice. More like... a presence. Watching. Listening.
You're stabilizing, Shadow finally murmured. The change has begun.
Seren sat up, stretching his arms. No pain. No stiffness. Just fluid movement—refined, sharpened.
He walked to the mirror. Something about his reflection felt different. Not just his eyes—calm, unreadable—but his entire posture. It was more grounded. Less like a student and more like someone... unfolding into something powerful.
School was the same. People weren't.
On the bus, he noticed it again. The way Rei laughed half a second longer than usual. How Yurei shifted his gaze when someone asked about yesterday's homework. How Alan's smile didn't reach his eyes.
Seren wasn't just seeing them—he was reading them.
Emotions leaked from people like poorly contained water. Their eyes, their words, even their silences betrayed them. What once felt like guesses now felt like analysis.
At school, time moved slower. He heard whispers in the hallway before they turned into noise. Saw movements in class before they happened. And he remained... calm.
Detached and Focused.
During lunch, when a fight nearly broke out over a stolen pen, Seren didn't flinch. He simply stared, quietly observing the rising tempo of anger. He could predict the arc of their tension, as if reading a script already written.
Later that evening, Shadow spoke again
"Your senses are sharpening. Calmness isn't natural. It's a skill and you're mastering fast."
Seren was sitting alone under an empty sky, on a rooftop overlooking the glowing city. "Why me?" he asked. "Why now?"
"Because you never blended in", Shadow replied, voice low but firm. You watched while others ran. You thought when others obeyed. And you listened—even when no one was speaking.
The wind rustled his hair. Seren closed his eyes, feeling everything: the hum of electricity below, the shifting steps on the roof's metal frame, even the faint heartbeat inside his chest.
"Your body is adapting", Shadow continued. "Peak human potential. Reflexes. Awareness. Endurance. You're evolving, Seren. Because your mind is finally ready".
And then, for the first time, Seren felt it. A dark warmth coiling under his skin. Not evil—just unfamiliar. It moved with him, almost like a second skin. Protective. Intelligent.
Suddenly, it shifted—crawling across his back, over his arms. His shadow stretched, peeled itself from the ground, and slowly molded itself around his body.
Not armor. Not clothing.
Something in between.
Elegant. Sharp. Stylish. Black as the void but almost alive.
Shadow Assimilation.
Seren didn't panic. He watched his hands, now sheathed in the moving veil. His senses didn't feel overloaded. They felt aligned. Balanced.
Shadow chuckled"Not bad for a first merge".
"What is this?"
"The beginning", it replied. "You're not like them. And you never were. Everyone walks their path blindly. But you, Seren Vale—you see. You question. You notice."
Seren looked over the city, his expression unreadable.
"I'll walk it. My way."
"Good", Shadow grinned, his voice echoing softly inside him. "Because the world won't wait. And neither will the storm that's coming."