The Giant Rat's lunge was fast—far faster than a normal animal had any right to be.
But Kain's eyes had tracked SSS-rank hunters moving at supersonic speeds. To him, the rat might as well have been moving in slow motion.
He sidestepped the attack with minimal movement, his body remembering combat instincts that his current muscles had never trained. The rat's claws scraped against stone where he'd been standing a moment before, gouging deep furrows in the cave floor.
Before the creature could recover, Kain swung.
The baseball bat, coated in writhing shadows from Umbral Strike, connected with the rat's skull with a sickening crunch. The enhanced weapon hit far harder than its simple stats suggested, the shadow energy amplifying the impact and burrowing into the wound like acid.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
Damage Dealt: 87
Giant Rat HP: 63/150
The rat squealed in pain and fury, whirling around with surprising agility despite its injury. Its tail lashed out like a whip, catching Kain across the ribs.
[You have taken 12 damage]
HP: 88/100
Pain flared along his side, but Kain barely flinched. He'd felt far worse. Compared to being impaled by Adrian's mana spear or having his arm torn off by a Frost Wyvern, this was nothing.
The rat lunged again, jaws snapping at his throat.
This time, Kain didn't dodge. Instead, he thrust the bat forward, jamming it into the creature's open mouth. The rat bit down hard, its teeth scraping against the aluminum with an ear-splitting screech, but Kain held firm.
With his free hand, he grabbed the rat by its filthy fur and activated his newest skill.
Shadow Step.
The world lurched. Darkness swallowed both him and the rat for a fraction of a second, then they materialized ten feet away in the shadow cast by a large boulder. The sudden spatial displacement disoriented the creature, and its bite loosened.
Kain ripped the bat free and brought it down in an overhead smash enhanced by another Umbral Strike.
The shadows around his weapon seemed to solidify, becoming almost blade-like as they tore through fur, flesh, and bone.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
Damage Dealt: 94
Giant Rat HP: 0/150
[ENEMY DEFEATED]
The rat collapsed, twitching once before going still.
Kain stood over the corpse, breathing steadily despite his racing heart. His first kill in this timeline. The first of what would be thousands—no, millions—before this was over.
But unlike every other hunter who would kill for experience points and loot, Kain had a different prize waiting.
A new notification appeared:
[SHADOW EXTRACTION AVAILABLE]
Target: Giant Rat (Level 3, F-Rank)
Extraction Success Rate: 100%
This shadow will be weak, but all armies must start somewhere.
Extract Shadow? [YES] / [NO]
"Yes."
The moment Kain confirmed, shadows erupted from his body like living tentacles. They plunged into the rat's corpse, and the body began to dissolve—not into gore, but into pure darkness that flowed like liquid toward Kain.
He felt it then. A connection forming. A presence joining his consciousness—small, primitive, driven purely by instinct and hunger, but loyal. Absolutely, unquestionably loyal.
The darkness coalesced, taking shape once more. Where the dead rat had lain, a creature of living shadow now stood. It looked similar to the original, but its form was slightly translucent, made entirely of writhing darkness. Its eyes glowed with a faint purple light.
[SHADOW EXTRACTION SUCCESSFUL]
[Shadow Rat] has been added to your Shadow Army.
Shadow Rank: Common
Level: 3
Loyalty: Absolute
Shadow Army: 1/10
[QUEST UPDATE: FIRST STEPS]
Objective Complete: Perform your first Shadow Extraction (1/1)
Objective Remaining: Clear the First Gate
Continue to prove your worth, Shadow Sovereign.
Kain stared at his first shadow soldier. It sat on its haunches, watching him with those eerie purple eyes, waiting for commands.
He knelt down and reached out tentatively. His hand passed through the shadowy form—it had no true physical substance unless he willed it to. But he could feel it in his mind, a tiny spark of consciousness connected to his own.
"Interesting," he murmured.
A thought was all it took. The Shadow Rat dissolved into darkness and flowed back into Kain's own shadow, disappearing from sight but not from his awareness. He could still feel it there, waiting in the pocket dimension of his Shadow Storage.
Another thought, and it reappeared, materializing from his shadow in an instant.
The control was instinctive, as natural as breathing. And according to his status window, he could command up to ten shadows at his current level. That limit would increase as he grew stronger.
"Good," Kain said, standing. "Let's find you some friends."
The cave tunnels of the First Gate twisted and branched in a maze-like pattern that would have been confusing to a normal explorer. But Kain had run this dungeon dozens of times in the first timeline, helping newer hunters learn the ropes.
He knew every turn, every hidden alcove, every monster spawn point.
He moved through the tunnels methodically, his Shadow Rat scouting ahead. The creature could see in complete darkness and would alert him mentally to any threats. It was a crude use of his abilities compared to what he'd eventually be capable of, but for now, it was enough.
The next group of rats appeared as he rounded a corner—three of them clustered around what looked like a nest made of stolen clothes and trash.
[GIANT RAT] x3
Level: 2, 3, 4
Kain didn't hesitate. He sent his Shadow Rat forward as a distraction while he moved to flank.
The shadow creature lunged at the nearest rat with surprising ferocity. As a being made of pure shadow, it couldn't truly be hurt by physical attacks—the worst they could do was disrupt its form, forcing it to reconstitute. And each time it struck, it drained a tiny amount of the enemy's life force.
While the three rats were focused on his summoned soldier, Kain attacked from behind. His Umbral Strike-enhanced bat crushed the skull of the level 2 rat before it even knew he was there. The level 3 rat turned to face him, only to take a shadow-empowered strike to its spine.
The level 4 rat—the strongest of the group—proved slightly more challenging. It was larger, faster, and its hide was tougher. Kain's first strike glanced off its shoulder, doing minimal damage.
The creature retaliated with a vicious swipe of its claws, forcing Kain to roll backward. He came up in a crouch, bat at the ready.
The rat charged, and Kain used Shadow Step again, teleporting behind it. Before the creature could turn, he brought his bat down on the back of its neck with all his strength.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
Damage Dealt: 112
Giant Rat HP: 0/180
[ENEMY DEFEATED]
Within minutes, Kain had three new corpses to extract from. He went through the process quickly, shadows flowing from his body to claim the dead. Each extraction felt smoother than the last, as if his soul was learning to channel the power more efficiently.
[SHADOW EXTRACTION SUCCESSFUL] x3
Shadow Army: 4/10
You are beginning to understand your purpose, Shadow Sovereign.
Four shadow soldiers now. Not much compared to the armies he'd command one day, but it was a start.
Kain checked his stats and noticed something interesting:
[STATUS UPDATE]
STR: 10 → 11
AGI: 10 → 11
VIT: 10 → 11
Note: As your shadow army grows, you passively absorb a fraction of their combined strength. This effect increases with army size and shadow quality.
So he did get stronger from his shadows, just not through conventional experience points. The more shadows he commanded, the more powerful he became. And if he extracted strong shadows...
The growth potential is terrifying, Kain thought with grim satisfaction.
He continued deeper into the cave system, systematically clearing every rat he encountered. His shadow army grew steadily—seven soldiers, then eight, then nine. Each battle became easier as he learned to coordinate his shadows, using them to surround and overwhelm enemies while he struck from optimal angles.
By the time he'd cleared the main cave network, his stats had increased across the board:
[STATUS UPDATE]
Level: 1 → 3
STR: 11 → 15
AGI: 11 → 14
VIT: 11 → 13
INT: 10 → 12
SEN: 10 → 12
LUK: 10
Shadow Army: 9/10
You are adapting quickly. The path of the Shadow Sovereign suits you.
Kain stood in the central chamber of the dungeon, surrounded by his nine shadow rats. They sat in formation around him, glowing purple eyes fixed on their master, awaiting commands.
He'd cleared the entire visible dungeon. But he wasn't done yet.
Because he knew something the System notification hadn't mentioned.
Behind the large boulder in the northeastern corner of this chamber was a hidden passage. And at the end of that passage was the true prize of the First Gate.
The Rat King.
Kain approached the boulder and placed his hand against it. To anyone else, it would seem like solid stone. But there was a trick to it—a specific point you had to push while channeling mana.
He focused, willing his energy into his palm, and pushed.
The boulder shuddered, then slowly rolled aside with a grinding sound, revealing a narrow tunnel barely wide enough for a person to squeeze through.
From within came a sound that made his shadow rats hiss and recoil—a deep, guttural chittering that resonated with malevolent intelligence.
[HIDDEN BOSS DETECTED]
WARNING: You have discovered a secret chamber.
Enemy: Rat King (Level 8, E-Rank)
Recommended Party: 5 Awakened (E-Rank) or 10 Awakened (F-Rank)
Current Party Size: 1
Probability of Success: 12%
Retreat is advised.
Kain read the warning and smiled coldly.
12% chance of success.
The System was calculating based on his level and visible stats. It didn't account for his ten years of combat experience. It didn't know that he'd fought this exact boss before and knew every attack pattern, every tell, every weakness.
And it definitely didn't account for the fact that he was a regressor with future knowledge.
"Retreat is for people who have something to lose," Kain muttered. "I already lost everything once."
He commanded his shadow army forward into the tunnel, gripping his bat tightly.
The narrow passage opened into a larger chamber filled with bones—rat bones, mostly, but also some that looked disturbingly human. At the far end of the chamber, atop a throne made of skulls and scrap metal, sat the Rat King.
It was massive. Easily five feet tall at the shoulder, with matted black fur and intelligent red eyes that tracked Kain's entrance. Unlike its lesser kin, this creature wore crude armor made from scavenged metal, and around its neck hung a rusted iron crown.
In its clawed hands, it held a femur bone that had been sharpened into a crude spear.
[RAT KING]
Level: 8
Rank: E
HP: 800/800
Skills: Pack Leader's Aura, Bone Spear Thrust, Rallying Screech
Warning: This enemy can summon reinforcements.
The Rat King rose from its throne, and when it spoke, its voice was a horrifying parody of human speech.
"Man-thing... enters... my domain..." It tapped its bone spear against the ground. "Man-thing... will feed... my children..."
Kain met the creature's gaze without fear.
"Your children are already mine," he said quietly. "And soon, you will be too."
The Rat King's eyes widened in fury. It raised its spear and let out a ear-splitting screech that echoed through the chamber.
[RAT KING has used RALLYING SCREECH]
Effect: All rats within 100 meters gain +20% attack and defense
Additional rats are being summoned to the chamber!
From the shadows around the room, more Giant Rats began to emerge—a dozen of them, their eyes gleaming with bloodlust as they responded to their king's call.
Most hunters would have panicked at this point.
Kain just smiled.
"Perfect," he whispered. "More shadows for my collection."
He raised his bat, darkness swirling around it like a living thing, and his nine shadow rats materialized around him, ready for battle.
"Let's show them what a real monarch looks like."
The Rat King charged.
And the battle for Kain's first real shadow soldier began.