The wind screamed against the cliffs as I approached the next key: the Tower of the Howling Sky. The jagged violet shard pulsed in my hand, resonating with the storm that hung over the city.
The system, usually omnipotent, spoke with an unfamiliar edge.
System of the Nameless God
[Dungeon Key: Tower of the Howling Sky]
[Threat Level: Calamity]
[Time Limit: 48 Hours – completion required for full evolution reward]
[System Assistance: Limited – 25% functionality]
I frowned. Normally, the system offered guidance, stats, predictions, even energy absorption. Now, it would only give partial support. A test, by design.
"Good," I muttered, letting the purple sparks along my veins flare. "I was getting bored."
The dungeon began with nothing but stone corridors twisted by wind and storm. Each step carried the echo of past adventurers — screams long silenced, crushed by the air itself.
The first enemies appeared: massive winged predators, claws like curved scythes, eyes that shimmered with violet electricity. Their attacks were swift, precise, and ruthless. The system offered only minimal readouts: weak points, movement patterns, and elemental susceptibilities.
[Enemy: Storm Talon – Level Unknown]
[Threat: Extreme]
I activated Storm Veins, letting lightning crawl along my arms and legs. My first strike cut through one talon, but the second spun in a blur, claws scraping stone, leaving deep grooves across the wall.
Limited system support… I gritted my teeth. Then I'll rely on instinct.
The next chamber opened into a vast hall, air thick with charged wind. At its center hovered a colossal creature, black-scaled, with six wings rippling with electricity. A roar shook the floor, and I realized immediately: this was no ordinary foe.
[Enemy: Sky Devourer – Level Unknown]
[Threat: Calamity]
It lunged before the system could even register its attack. Lightning crackled as I twisted through the air, afterimages striking simultaneously. One claw grazed my shoulder, a pain unlike anything before. Adrenaline surged, fueling my body.
I had faced powerful monsters before, but this was designed to kill the unprepared. System support limited, environment hostile, time ticking.
Hours passed in a blur of strikes and dodges. I absorbed elemental strikes with Aether Conduction, redirected them, and struck back with Judgment Spark, but the creature adapted fast. The tower itself seemed alive — wind bending my attacks, stone shifting to block my movement.
I realized something: to survive, I had to evolve.
"Enough of holding back," I muttered. Lightning coiled along my body in thicker strands, darker and more intense than ever before. My veins glowed with purple energy as the storm wraiths surrounding me phased into reality, striking autonomously, synchronized with my thought.
[System Update: Evolution Threshold Detected]
[Class Revealed: Storm Conduit – Nameless Avatar]
Storm Conduit. A class designed for mastery over lightning, storm energy, and battlefield manipulation. Nameless Avatar indicated the anomaly of my system — undefined before, now fully awakened.
I let the surge hit my body. Pain, pressure, energy — all intertwined in a violent rush. My attacks became faster, my strikes deadlier, and my senses stretched beyond normal limits. The Sky Devourer roared, but I was no longer simply fighting — I was storm incarnate.
With a final, focused burst of Judgment Spark, amplified by the evolving lightning wraiths, I pierced its chest. The creature fell, convulsing, and then the tower grew silent.
Panting, bruised, and charged with raw energy, I collapsed to one knee. The system interface pulsed again:
[Experience Gained: 50%]
[System Reward: Evolution Achieved – Class Mastery]
[Ability Unlocked: Wraith Fusion – temporary full integration of lightning wraiths into attacks]
[Next Threshold: Dungeon Keys now scale in difficulty – Calamity → Catastrophic]
I rose, letting the storm fade but leaving a faint electric hum in the air. I had survived. I had evolved. I had become something more than before.
But the system reminded me, softly:
This was only the beginning. Every dungeon will demand more. Every foe will push you further. The storm has only just begun.
I pocketed the key and looked toward the horizon.
Then I'll meet it head-on. Every trial, every threat, every calamity… I will endure. I will rise.