Chapter 1: The Weight of a Secret
The air in the Awakening Hall was thick with the scent of ozone and anxiety. Polished marble reflected the harsh, overhead lights, and the low hum of the central System crystal was a vibration felt in the bones. I, Aiden Vance, sat in my wheelchair at the back of the crowd, my fists clenched so tight my knuckles were white. But my anxiety wasn't for myself. It was all for him.
My older brother, Kaelen, stood on the glowing dais. At eighteen, he seemed to embody the hope of our entire family—shoulders squared, jaw set, his gaze fixed on the pulsating crystal. After the monster invasion that took our mother and left me bound to this chair, all his determination had funneled into this single moment. The moment he would Awaken and gain the power to change our fate.
"Kaelen Vance," the Guild Moderator's voice boomed, echoing in the vast hall. "Place your hand upon the core."
Kaelen took a steadying breath and complied. The crystal flared, a brilliant, blinding white.
BRRRM!
The sound was both a physical force and a mental chime. A holographic screen, visible to everyone in the hall, materialized in the air before him. I leaned forward, my heart a frantic drum against my ribs.
[ Individual: Kaelen Vance ]
[ Awakening Complete. Skills Detected: 3 ]
[ Tier Assessment: Talent ]
A wave of murmurs swept through the room. Three skills! My father, standing beside me, let out a choked sob of relief. My own breath hitched.
The Moderator's voice rose with excitement. "The Vance family has produced a Talent! Skills: Lightning Rush [S+]! Stone Skin [B]! Flame Whip [A-]!"
The crowd erupted. An S+-tier skill was a once-in-a-generation find for our city. Kaelen's face, etched with the strain of the process, broke into a radiant smile of pure, unadulterated relief. He turned, his eyes scanning the crowd until they found mine. In them, I saw a promise, fierce and unwavering. I will find a cure, Aiden. I will make you walk again. I will protect you.
Tears welled in my eyes. Everyone saw them—my father, Kaelen, the strangers around us. They all thought they were tears of joy. They were tears of a guilt so profound it threatened to swallow me whole.
Because three weeks ago, in the dead of night, my own System had descended.
It hadn't been a ceremony. There was no audience, no proud family, no glowing crystal. It was a silent, internal apocalypse that bloomed in the core of my soul as I slept, a response to a desperate, subconscious plea for the strength to never see my family suffer again.
A power so vast and terrifying it had left me trembling in the dark, choking back a scream.
[ Individual: Aiden Vance ]
[ Awakening Complete. Skills Detected: 5 ]
[ Tier Assessment: EX ]
[ Warning. Anomaly Detected. Profile Restricted. ]
Five skills. Not three. Five, all rated at the mythical EX-tier, a classification I'd only read about in theoretical texts. The power to walk through any dungeon, a bottomless well of Mana, to hide from gods themselves. And the power to become death in the shadows, a dancer with blades of pure darkness.
As the crowd swarmed Kaelen, clapping him on the back and shouting congratulations, I looked down at my own lifeless legs. A constant, warm energy thrummed within my spine, a secret mending I dared not speak of—the work of World Tree's Blessing. My fingers twitched instinctively, feeling the ghostly weight of the twin daggers I could summon in an instant. The Umbral Blade Dance was a restless tide of shadow in my veins, waiting for its release.
My brother's path was clear. He would be the heroic spearhead the world saw, the Talent who would climb the ranks, inspire others, and find his cure in the light.
My path was the opposite.
He sought a potion to heal me. I sought the strength to ensure he never had to risk his life to find it.
He would fight the monsters everyone could see.
I would exterminate the horrors they never could, from the shadows where I belonged.
Later that evening, the house was filled with a celebratory energy we hadn't felt in years. My father was cooking Kaelen's favorite meal, his laughter echoing from the kitchen. Kaelen was in his room, no doubt obsessively reading over his status screen, planning his first foray into a dungeon.
I was in my room, the door closed. The world thought I was resting, overwhelmed by the day's events.
In the quiet darkness, I held out my hand. A wisp of shadow, darker than the night around it, coiled around my fingers like a loyal serpent. With a thought, a pair of daggers materialized in my grip. They were beautiful and deadly, forged from solidified void, their edges seeming to drink the light from the room. They had no weight, yet I could feel their potential for absolute sharpness.
[ Umbral Blade Dance: Active ]
[ Mana Cost: 10 MP/Sec ]
[ Shadow Power: 100% ]
With my World Tree's Blessing granting me a mana pool that was already over a thousand points and regenerating at an insane rate, I could maintain this for a very, very long time.
I looked at my reflection in the window—a pale, fragile-looking boy in a wheelchair, holding weapons that could gut a dungeon boss. The dichotomy was almost laughable.
This was my secret. This was my burden.
Kaelen hoped to one day save me.
But my purpose, my silent creed, was forged in that moment. I would save him. I would save everyone. And no one would ever know my name.
The Ghost was born.