"Host awakens his bloodline… Type: Dual — Auxiliary and Mystic."
Raindirk froze. His breath caught in his throat as the words echoed faintly inside his mind, then faded into silence.
The faint serpent marks on his forearms pulsed once more — not crimson this time, but deep black.
Another chime followed, clear and mechanical, resounding in his head.
"Would the host like to bond with the system?"
He hesitated for less than a heartbeat. The hunger for strength that had burned in him for years flared brighter than ever.
"Yes."
The moment the word left his lips, pain exploded behind his eyes. His mind was torn apart by invisible force, thoughts splintering into chaos. It was as if molten fire coursed through his skull, reshaping him from within.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the pain vanished — replaced by a cool, soothing current that washed through his body.
A dark, translucent panel materialized before his eyes, its words glowing faintly against the night.
Name: Raindirk De Selvera
Bloodline: Heaven Devourer
Ability Type: Dual – Auxiliary and Mystic
Realm: Neo Apprentice Awakener
Kill Points: 0
Status:
Strength – 5
Agility – 6
Vitality – 3
Mind – 4
Mana – 5
Average adult male: 5
Abilities:
Trainer (Tier 1 – Auxiliary) – Training self or others increases growth rate by 2× during the session.
Serpent Devour (Mystic) – Devour the body of a defeated enemy to inherit one of their characteristics.
Raindirk stared at the strange panel in silence. He had heard stories that awakeners could sense their own strength — a kind of spiritual awareness that allowed them to feel the extent of their power. But this was no mere intuition. This… was structured. Detailed. Alive.
His gaze lingered on a few unfamiliar parts. Kill Points? Heaven Devourer? Even the word system felt alien. But one thing mattered above all else: he had finally awakened.
After years of failure, humiliation, and desperation, he could finally stand on the first step.
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly to steady his racing thoughts. So this is what awakening feels like…
His current realm — Neo Apprentice Awakener. The first and lowest stage. Every awakener started here. From what he remembered, there were nine great realms in total: Apprentice, Mortal, Adept, Elite, Master, Grandmaster, Lord, King, and Empyreal.
Each realm was divided into Early, Middle, High, and Peak stages — except for the Apprentice Realm, which stood alone. The Neo Apprentice stage represented the very threshold of transcendence, the moment a mortal first broke the limits of the human body. Beyond that came the Mortal Realm, where one began to wield true power.
Raindirk opened his eyes, determination burning within them. The lowest step… but it's still a beginning.
He clenched his fists, feeling the faint pulse of power coursing through his veins. His body was still weak — but he could sense it now, a tiny ember of energy sleeping beneath his skin.
He needed to feed it. Nurture it. Make it grow.
His thoughts drifted to what he'd learned over the years from eavesdropping on awakeners and merchants in the slums — the ways people grew stronger after awakening.
There were three known methods.
The first was hunting monsters and absorbing their essence. It strengthened both the body and soul, unlocking the genetic locks that limited the growth of an awakener's bloodline. It was the oldest and most reliable path — but also the most dangerous.
The second method was consuming potions or refined monster materials, processed by alchemists or crafted from beast cores. It was safer and faster, but only the rich could afford such luxuries. For someone like Raindirk, it was nothing but a distant dream.
The third was Bloodline Eruption — a terrifying and costly ritual. It required a Grandmaster-level awakener to oversee it, along with vast amounts of monster blood and rare resources. If successful, it unlocked a person's hidden potential. But the failure rate was eighty percent… and failure meant death.
Raindirk smirked bitterly. "As if I'd ever afford that."
For him, there was only one path. The same path that had always been open to the desperate and the fearless.
Hunt.
Outside the city walls lay the wilderness — an endless world teeming with monsters. Humanity clung to survival inside fortified cities, occupying barely ten percent of the land. The rest was the monsters' domain, a savage kingdom that had crushed countless expeditions. For centuries, mankind had fought to reclaim lost ground, but every step forward was met with blood.
To most, the wilderness was death. To Raindirk, it was opportunity.
He lifted his hand, studying the serpent marks on his forearms as they glimmered faintly in the moonlight. The lines seemed to writhe under his skin, as if alive.
One of his abilities — Trainer. A growth enhancer. Useful, maybe, if he survived long enough to train.
But it was the other one that sent a chill down his spine. Serpent Devour. Devour the body of a defeated enemy to inherit one of their characteristics.
It was a power both fascinating and terrifying. If it worked the way it implied, then he might possess the ability to grow stronger endlessly — adapting, evolving, becoming something beyond human.
A faint smile curved his lips. "Then I'll use it. Whatever it takes."
He glanced up toward the moon, the soft glow reflecting in his eyes. There was no turning back now. The world outside was brutal, but so was he. The weak died, and the strong survived — that was the truth he'd learned in the slums.
He began to walk, his steps quiet against the cobblestone. The streets were empty, and the faint drizzle from earlier had stopped. The air smelled of rain and steel.
"I'll get stronger," he whispered. "Faster than anyone."
He thought through what he needed next — a weapon, supplies, maybe a basic map of the outer zone. He couldn't afford to charge into the wilderness blindly, not when monsters lurked even at its edge.
Still, just the thought of it — the freedom, the risk, the possibility — sent a thrill through him.
As his thoughts began to settle, something surfaced in his memory.
A line from the panel he had barely paid attention to in his excitement.
He stopped walking, brows furrowing.
"...De Selvera."
The words left his lips softly, uncertainly. He stood there for a moment, staring at nothing.
That name — it had appeared beside his own, yet he had no memory of it. His parents had abandoned him when he was five. He remembered their faces only in fragments, their voices blurred by time. He didn't even remember being called anything other than Raindirk.
So why did the system know a name he'd forgotten?
He exhaled slowly and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Not yet."
Answers could wait. Strength couldn't.
He turned his gaze once more toward the city walls, towering in the distance under the moonlight.
"Once I'm strong enough," he murmured, "I'll find out everything. About them. About her. About me."
The faintest glow returned to his serpent marks, a subtle shimmer like coiling smoke. The darkness around him seemed to stir, as though it too recognized his resolve.
And then the chime came again, soft and cold.
"System bonded successfully."
Raindirk didn't look back.
He walked forward through the silent streets, each step carrying him closer to the wilderness, to power, and to the destiny that awaited beyond the city walls.