The wind screamed through the trees like a wounded beast, rattling the brittle leaves of early autumn. Adam crouched low behind a moss-covered boulder, heart pounding like it was trying to punch its way out of his chest. The smell of rot and wet fur stung his nostrils.
The thing hunting in the clearing ahead wasn't natural.
He hadn't meant to be here. He was just supposed to gather crimsonroot. A quick errand for old Mari, the village healer. In and out. Five silver coins, plus a warm loaf of bread.
He didn't expect to stumble across a full-grown abyss-touched bear—a creature that shouldn't exist this close to any town. Not unless something had driven it out of the cursed lands beyond the Bonecrest Mountains.
And worse—it wasn't alone.
There was someone trapped in the thorns. Crying. Screaming.
Adam's breath caught as the system flared to life in the corner of his vision, bright red and flickering like a dying torch.
[LVL 12 – Abyss-Touched Dire Bear]
HP: 932/932
Danger Level: FATAL – RUN.
No kidding.
The bear stood almost ten feet tall at the shoulder, its hide a patchwork of matted fur and glistening black sores. Its eyes glowed red, not with rage, but with hunger—the kind of hunger that doesn't stop, not even after the body dies.
Its claws were buried in the thornbush. Something inside the vines screamed again.
A girl.
She sounded young. Desperate.
Trapped.
Adam's hand moved before his brain caught up. He felt the cold weight of a stone in his palm, smooth and flat. The only thing he had left in his satchel after dropping his dagger two falls ago.
"Gods save me," he muttered, and hurled the rock with everything he had.
It struck the side of the bear's massive skull with a dull crack.
The sound echoed. The bear paused.
And slowly, terrifyingly, it turned.
Adam froze. Their eyes locked. Red on green. Predator on prey.
You have gained the creature's attention.
[Fatal Threat] Engaged.
"Oh, that was really, really dumb," he whispered.
The bear lunged.
Adam bolted, legs pumping like pistons, lungs burning. He didn't make it ten steps before the thing was on him.
He saw the flash of claws.
The blur of motion.
And then—light.
Blinding, electric light, bursting from his chest.
System Override Detected...
UNAUTHORIZED AWAKENING INITIATED.
Trait Unlocked: [Awakened Codex]
New Skill Created: Blink(1)
You have evaded death.
Your soul burns with potential.
The world twisted. One moment, he was about to be mauled. The next, he was twenty feet away, flat on his back, staring at the canopy.
Pain exploded through his side where he'd landed, but he was alive.
Alive.
And the bear was confused.
It looked around, sniffed the air, growled, and turned back to the thornbush.
The girl was still there, barely moving. Blood matted her silver hair. One wing—a wing?—was bent at an impossible angle.
Adam's thoughts raced.
Wings. Silver hair. She wasn't human. Not quite.
A celestial?
Or worse—an outcast.
Skill Creation Menu – Active
Do you wish to create a skill? Y/N
Adam stared at the floating prompt in disbelief.
Was this a trick?
Nobody could create skills. Not unless you were a god, a system priest, or a level 99 legendary hero. Even then, only a few.
But the option blinked. Waiting.
He hesitated for a breath. Then chose.
Y.
The interface opened like a flower. He didn't know how, but it felt...natural. Like remembering a language he'd never spoken.
Name Skill: Shadow Chain
Effect: Bind target with dark energy
Type: Instant | Range: 10 meters | Cooldown: 10 seconds
Confirm Skill?
Confirmed.
Adam raised his hand, and black energy poured from the ground beneath the bear's feet.
Chains of living shadow lashed upward, wrapping the creature's legs, biting into its flesh. It roared, shaking the clearing, but the chains held—for now.
Adam didn't wait to see if it'd last. He dashed for the thornbush, cutting his arms and legs as he tore through the brambles. The girl was unconscious now, her face pale and blood streaked. Her wing twitched once.
He scooped her up.
She was light—too light.
And then he ran.
The bear broke free after ten steps.
It shrieked in fury, a sound that didn't belong in the waking world.
Adam didn't look back. He sprinted through the underbrush, dodging roots, leaping fallen logs. The weight in his arms slowed him, but he didn't stop. He couldn't.
Somewhere behind him, the bear crashed through a tree, shattering wood like glass. But it was fading.
And then—
Light.
The trees broke, and the edge of the forest gave way to the dirt road. The late afternoon sun spilled over the hills like gold.
He didn't know how far he'd run. Maybe a mile. Maybe more.
He dropped to his knees, gasping. The girl still breathed, faint and slow.
The system dinged softly.
New Class Unlocked: [Revenant Codemancer]
Title Gained: [Rulebreaker]
Unique Trait: [System Sight]
Level: 1 → 5 (Boosted via System Glitch)
Skills Unlocked: Blink, Shadow Chain, ???
His mind reeled.
A Codemancer? That wasn't a real class. He'd never heard of it. No records in the system guilds. No shrines offered it. It wasn't even listed in forbidden texts.
And yet...it was there.
"You have glimpsed the code beneath the world."
"You are no longer bound by the rules others must follow."
Adam looked down at the girl in his arms. Her wing was broken, feathers singed, but she was alive. She stirred slightly, murmuring in a language he didn't recognize.
And somewhere, deep inside himself, a thought flickered.
"I'm pretty sure," he thought, "that leveling up is not all I can do."
He didn't say it out loud. He wouldn't dare.
Because the world had just changed, and someone—or something—was already watching.
Elsewhere…High above the mortal world, beyond the reach of air and light, the gods sat in their Hall of Judgement.
The glyphs lining the marble pillars flickered. The threads of fate trembled.
One of the lesser gods, Vaelon the Binder, leaned forward, squinting at a pool of golden light that had begun to distort.
"A mortal just...created a skill?" he muttered.
Another god—tall, shrouded in fire—stepped beside him. "That's not possible."
"It wasn't."
They stared as the ripple spread across the tapestry of fate. One name, blinking red.
ADAM – Class: Revenant Codemancer
Status: System Anomaly
Code Integrity: Unknown
The flame god narrowed his eyes. "Seal him."
"We can't," Vaelon whispered. "The system has already accepted him."
The Hall trembled. The stars shifted.
And far below, Adam stood at the edge of the road, the girl stirring in his arms, and the weight of destiny tightening like a noose.