Tharyx stepped over the ruins with calm precision, his cloak trailing behind him like a shadow of shadows. The city groaned, stones shifting, smoke curling in unnatural patterns. Even after the elite shadow he had just dispatched, the air felt… alive. Breathing. Watching. Waiting.
Zalivra staggered behind, clutching his satchel like a life raft. "I can't believe it, you just killed that thing, you're… insane!"
"I prefer 'efficient,'" Tharyx replied, scanning the skyline.
Then the air cracked.
Not a sound, not a rumble, but a rip in reality itself. The sky above the city fractured, a thin jagged line splitting clouds like a wound. A faint, pulsing light bled through it, not sunlight, not lightning, but something darker. Void-black, with veins of violet running through it, humming with energy that pressed against the edges of his mind.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[New Phenomenon Detected: Mini Rift. Recommended: Observe before engagement.]
Tharyx's eyes narrowed. The shadows had been one thing tangible, killable. This… this was different. This wasn't hunting him. It was inviting him.
"Zalivra," he said, voice calm, but his eyes glimmered with sharp intensity. "Stay behind me. Don't touch anything. Don't scream… too loudly."
Zalivra froze. "I'm not screaming!" he squeaked, though his knees were already knocking.
The rift pulsed. Objects nearby, stones, rubble, even a shattered cart, began to tremble. Then, slowly, unnaturally, they lifted. Floating, twisting, defying gravity as if the world itself had forgotten its rules.
A child's scream pierced the chaos. A small girl, no more than seven, had wandered too close to the rift. Her hair floated around her face like a dark halo, eyes wide in terror as invisible hands tugged at her.
Zalivra shrieked. "THE SHADOWS! THEY'RE TAKING HER! SOMEBODY HELP AHHHH!" He ran in circles, waving his arms at stones as though swatting invisible enemies. "LEAVE HER ALONE! SHE'S GOT SO MANY MEALS LEFT AHHHH!"
Tharyx pinched the bridge of his nose. Calm. Calculated. Observing.
The child was fine technically. The rift wasn't grasping her in the traditional sense. It was testing. Pulling at reality, at the very rules that bound life and matter, and she was caught in its experiment.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Warning: Rift energy detected. Interaction with shadow-adjacent entities may trigger passive power evolution.]
Tharyx stepped forward. The mist around the rift swirled unnaturally, tendrils stretching toward him. He didn't flinch. His shadow flickered, stretched along the ground unnaturally, then elongated skyward in response to the void above. It twined around itself, dark energy pulsing.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Void Resonance Detected: Shadow Synchronization Active. Shadow Power Amplified +15%. Passive skill unlocked: Void Manipulation.]
The rift pulsed again. Tharyx's shadow leapt from him toward the crack in the sky, writhing like a living creature, testing the edges. It hissed back at him, responding to his thoughts, bending unnaturally, stretching beyond human limits. His hand rose almost of its own accord.
He touched the rift.
A jolt of pure void energy shot through his veins. The ground trembled beneath him, stones lifting like dancers, dust swirling violently. The child screamed again, but now the sound wasn't just fear; it was awe, terror, and wonder combined.
Tharyx gritted his teeth. He felt the pulse of the rift inside his own body, resonating with the black energy crawling through his veins.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Void Infusion Detected: Shadow Core Reaction. Probability of permanent evolution: 72%.]
The floating debris around them began spinning, faster and faster, forming a vortex that sucked in air, dust, and even loose stones. Zalivra screeched as he clutched a flying cart. "AHHH! SOMEONE GET THIS THING OFF ME! STOP! IT'S TRYING TO KILL ME AHHHH!"
Tharyx exhaled. Calm. Focused. He raised a hand. Shadow tendrils shot from his body, wrapping around the spinning debris, controlling them mid-air like strings on a puppet. The vortex slowed, calmed, and the floating stones aligned neatly in a circle around the rift, contained but still ominous.
The child dropped safely to the ground, eyes wide. Tharyx crouched beside her. "It's okay. You're safe."
She blinked. "Your shadow is alive?"
He smirked faintly. "Something like that."
Zalivra, still trembling and sweat-drenched, backed into a wall. "I need a drink. Or ten."
The rift pulsed again. This time, the effect was worse. Buildings groaned, roof tiles floated, walls cracked. The void energy seemed to whisper. Not words. Concepts. Thoughts. Fear. Power. Hunger.
Tharyx's fingers twitched. "You're thinking," he muttered. "Not just existing… thinking. Interesting."
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Rift Interaction Successful. Shadow Resonance +Void Manipulation +5% cumulative bonus.]
He didn't move immediately. Instead, he observed. The rift wasn't just a tear; it was a bridge. A window. Somewhere, something beyond it was watching. Learning. And judging.
Tharyx's shadow began to coil, responding instinctively. It felt… alive. Sentient. Hungry. And when it pulsed in sync with the rift, he felt a surge of raw power, his senses sharpened, his body tingled with potential energy he hadn't realized existed.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Level Up Available: Threshold Reached. Stats +10 Strength, +10 Agility, +10 Void Control. New Skill Unlocked: Shadow Rift.]
He flexed. The air around him vibrated faintly, as a chord struck in a cathedral. Zalivra screamed again, this time at nothing in particular, spinning in panic. "THE SHADOWS! THE RIFT! I CAN'T AHHHH!"
Tharyx ignored him. The rift pulsed. And then something dark began emerging.
At first, it was a shape. Amorphous. Massive. Blacker than the shadows he'd fought before. Edges writhing, tendrils stretching out like fingers reaching for the city. The void seemed to distort around it, reality bending, walls stretching unnaturally.
The child's scream was cut short. Not from death but from awe.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Elite Void Entity Detected: Classification Unknown. Threat Level: Omega+. Recommendation: Extreme Caution.]
Tharyx stepped forward. Hands raised. Shadows stretched toward the rift, weaving and dancing, ready to strike, ready to consume.
Zalivra, meanwhile, tried to hide behind a floating cart. "I didn't sign up for this! SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!"
The void entity pulsed, a wave of energy shaking the city. Tharyx felt the power brush his skin like fire, ice, and shadow all at once. The pulse whispered: power. Hunger. Evolution.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Objective Updated: Interact with Rift Entity. Optional: Subjugate. Risk: Maximum.]
Tharyx's lips curved into a smile. "Optional subjugation, huh?" He glanced at the child. "Stay back."
He extended a hand. Shadow tendrils coiled and darted toward the void entity. Energy clashed light against darkness, void against shadow, reality against unreality. The pulse slammed into him, and yet he didn't falter.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Experience Gained: 15,000. Void Resonance Increased. Skill Cooldowns Reduced.]
The rift entity recoiled, but only slightly. It was testing him. Learning from him.
And Tharyx realized… The fun had just begun.
The sky pulsed again, more violently. The floating debris spun faster. Zalivra screamed again, this time pointing at a floating goat. "THE GOAT! IT'S TRYING TO KILL ME! THARYX! SAVE ME AHHHH!"
Tharyx exhaled slowly. "Relax. I've got it." He flicked his hand. The goat landed safely. Zalivra collapsed to the ground in relief.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[System Humor Activated: Player demonstrates extreme control over chaos. Meme potential detected: High.]
Tharyx turned his eyes back to the rift. The void entity had fully emerged now, enormous and writhing, its presence bending the world around it. But for the first time… it hesitated. His shadow had touched it. Tested it. Spoken is its silent language.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Void Entity Interaction Detected: Passive Subjugation Probability 42%.]
Tharyx smirked. "42%? Not bad for a first date."
The rift pulsed once more, violently this time. Debris began to levitate uncontrollably. Zalivra screamed, the child screamed, even the city seemed to scream. And then, in that terrifying, heart-stopping moment… Tharyx felt a tug not at him, but at something deeper. Something primal.
His shadow flared, and the world froze for an instant.
And the void entity's gaze, if it had eyes, locked on him.
A single tendril of darkness shot forward, stretching across the distance. The city held its breath.
The tendril touched Tharyx and reality bent.