> [System Notification]
Race: Shadowborn - "Shadren"
Class: Lesser Shadow Monster
Level: 1
**Status: Bodyless. Vitality decreasing.]
Skill Unlocked: Shadow Possession
— Allows the user to bind with and control the shadow of a recently deceased or weakened target.
Warning: Without a host body, Shadren will dissipate within 72 hours.
---
Darkness.
Pure, endless darkness stretched all around him, comforting yet suffocating. He could feel the dungeon's heavy breath, its walls pulsing like veins in a slumbering beast.
He was alive — sort of.
"I'm… a monster?"
His voice didn't echo. He didn't even have a mouth. Only thoughts. Only instinct. He glanced around, but nothing moved—except shadows.
He was one.
> A Shadowborn. A Shadren. Level 1. Bodyless.
The words repeated in his mind like a curse. The dungeon's cold welcomed most monsters with bodies. Fangs. Claws. Muscles. He had none.
Instead, he was one of the rarest, weakest, and most cursed types of monsters: the Shadowborn. Their kind only spawned once in a thousand births on the lower floors — and most didn't even last an hour.
They needed a body.
And fast.
---
As dusk settled over the 3rd floor of the Blackfang Dungeon, Shadren slithered across stone walls like living ink. His body was just a patch of flickering shadow, invisible in the dim corridors — but that didn't mean he was safe.
He passed by several monsters. A bulky Ironhide Boar, a hungry-eyed Cave Leaper, and even a sleeping Mossback Wolf. Each one had stats leagues above his.
> [Shadow Possession: Chance of Success - 3%]
[Failure may result in destruction.]
Too risky.
The moonlight didn't exist down here, but artificial torches flickered faintly in areas recently explored by raiders. He kept to the unlit paths, hiding in the shadows where no blade or light could touch him.
He needed something weak. Freshly wounded. Dying, even.
But hours passed. The dungeon grew colder, the silence heavier. He hadn't realized how quickly fear could creep in when you were literally a shadow.
And then—footsteps.
---
A shriek. The sound of bone against stone.
Shadren instinctively clung to a nearby wall, watching from the cracks.
A Rockback Lizard, easily double his size, let out a hiss and dragged its wounded leg across the passage. Blood trickled onto the stone floor. It was hurt—but not enough. He began to move, calculating.
> [Shadow Possession: Chance of Success – 14%]
[Warning: Target is still combat-capable.]
Close… but not enough.
He waited, heartless yet somehow still anxious.
Suddenly—
"Take this, stupid lizard!"
A shrill voice rang out, followed by a loud explosion of mana. Three young women dashed into view — dungeon raiders in training, wearing tight lightweight armor, no doubt for mobility. And maybe… style?
Fanservice alert, if anyone had been watching.
One of them, a redhead with a short sword, did a spin mid-air and cleaved down the lizard's spine. Her top shifted just enough for certain "elements" to bounce. Another girl let out a soft "kya~" as she dodged a tail swipe with exaggerated elegance, flipping over the fallen beast.
Shadren blinked — well, mentally blinked.
They weren't very strong. Probably new. But they were fast and coordinated. The Rockback Lizard let out a final groan and collapsed in a heap.
> [Monster Defeated.]
"Nice job!" said the tall blonde, wiping sweat from her brow. "Let's take the core and head back before more come."
"Aw, already?" said the brunette. "But I barely got to fight!"
"Maybe next time don't spend so much time fixing your top." The redhead smirked.
With a little teasing and bouncy movement, the trio vanished down the corridor.
And Shadren was left alone… with a fresh corpse.
---
> [Shadow Possession: Initiating…]
He didn't wait. The moment they were gone, he slithered forward, his body dissolving into the shadow of the fallen beast. The shadow twitched. Then pulsed.
And then—
He moved.
The Rockback Lizard's form jolted, but something was different. Instead of reanimating like a zombie, the body merged with the shadow. Its skin darkened, scales hardening into obsidian black. Its eyes, once dull and reptilian, now glowed with violet light.
> [Possession Successful.]
[New Body: Corrupted Rockback Lizard (Shadow Variant)]
[Trait Gained: Night Stalker – Increased mobility in darkness.]
---
> [Level Up: +1 for Survival]
[Level Up: +1 for Body Acquisition]
[Current Level: 3]
Power.
He could feel it.
His legs, his claws, the strength of muscles he hadn't possessed in ages. The Rockback's body wasn't ideal — but it was better than dying as a puddle of darkness on the floor.
His claws scraped the ground as he flexed them. A strange hiss escaped his now-real throat.
Then… he heard something.
Footsteps. Again.
But this time, not human.
The corridor ahead began to rumble.
Dozens of red eyes glowed in the darkness.
A swarm?
No, worse.
A hunter-class monster pack.
And they were heading straight for him.
> [Warning: Detected — Pack of Fang Spitters (Lvl 4-6). Escape or engage?]
His newly formed body was strong—but not that strong.
He took a step back, then turned to flee.
But froze.
Behind him, more footsteps.
Slow. Steady. Deliberate.
From the darkness emerged a tall humanoid silhouette. Black cloak. Mask covering its face. But its eyes… its eyes were glowing the same violet as his own.
> ["Found you,"] the figure whispered.
---
To be continued...
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