“Hand it over, runt,” snarled the taller one, voice low and gravelly. He gripped a jagged saber in one gauntleted hand; sweat and rain ran down his arm, collecting in the rivets of his leather bracer. His companion—broader and bulkier—cracked his knuckles, the sound like bones snapping in the gloom.
Kael’s fingers tightened around the only thing he owned: a battered leather notebook, pages swollen with water but still whole. Every sketch, every half?written log of the ‘system’ he’d glimpsed was recorded in trembling ink—his sole spark of hope in a hopeless city. Beside him, crates of ruined lanterns leaked oil into the gutter, hissing as raindrops sizzled on the slick surface.
He swallowed. “Please…just let me go.” His voice quavered, but he willed himself to imagine a stronger timbre.
The tall thug lunged. Kael ducked instinctively, teeth chattering, and the blade bit into the brick wall just inches from his ear. Splinters of stone and mortar sprayed around him. Without thinking, he rolled forward, chest skidding on cobbles coated in rainwater and oil. He coughed, tasted metal in his mouth.
A fierce growl behind him told him the chase was not over. He broke into a sprint down the narrow alley, notebook clutched to his chest. Heart pounding so hard it felt like breaking ribs, he wove through barrels, leapt over broken planks, and splashed through puddles that washed his soaked trousers up to his knees.
Then—just as his lungs burned—he felt it: a humming vibration pulsing in his veins. It started as a faint echo, like the bass note of a distant bell, and grew until it throbbed in time with his heartbeat. The notebook pulsed beneath his grasp. Silver light seeped from between its pages, casting writhing shadows onto the brick walls.
Kael skidded to a halt. The alley opened onto a broader street, lamplit and deserted. He scanned for an escape route, but the brutes were rounding the corner, voices echoing: “He can’t have gone far.” Panic flared. He had to act. With no conscious choice, he yanked the notebook open to the center. Runes in shimmering script danced across the damp page:
SYSTEM INITIALIZED: HOST IDENTIFIED.
WELCOME, KAELOS.
———————————————
| STAT WINDOW
| Level: 1
| EXP: 0/100
| Health: 75/75
| Mana: 10/10
| Strength: 5
| Agility: 7
| Intelligence: 9
| Skill Points: 0
———————————————
Log:
[00:00] System Initialized.
[00:02] Host awakened.
[00:05] New Objective: SURVIVE.
The notebook hovered an inch above his palm. Rainwater beaded on its leather cover, but nothing else felt wet—the pages shone as if protected by an unseen force. Beneath the stat window, a new directive pulsed in crimson:
Objective Updated: FLEE FROM THREATS.
Available Commands: [SKILLS] [INVENTORY] [LOG]
A whisper at the edge of his thoughts asked: “Which will you choose?”
A crack behind him. Kael snapped the book shut, and the humming died instantly. He bolted again.
The two thugs burst onto the street, blades raised. “There he is!” one roared. They charged.
His mind reeled: skills? inventory? He had been too terrified to choose. Instinct guided him. As they converged, Kael slid the notebook into his tattered coat. Then, in a single motion, he dove beneath an overturned cart filled with rotten produce. He felt a spray of fruit and rainwater drench his face as he landed in a sludge of apples and cucumbers.
Steel hissed inches above him. A booted foot shoved aside the cart. Kael held his breath until it passed—by what felt like millimeters. When the coast was clear, he scrambled to his feet and dashed away, turning into a side passage.
He didn’t stop until the city’s neon guild banners and glittering spires vanished behind cramped stone tenements. Panting, he found a narrow door half?hidden in shadow and pressed through it: the abandoned Westgate Library. Its heavy oak doors groaned shut, and silence enveloped him.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Inside, the air was thick with dust and decay. Shelves sagged with mildew?ruined tomes, and shattered glass from fallen lanterns littered the floor. A single lamp burned low on a desk near the back, casting a muted orange glow. Kael approached, boots clicking on warped floorboards, and laid the notebook on the table.
Hands shaking, he opened it again. The stat window reappeared, its runes drying before his eyes. He tapped “LOG.” Entry by entry, they scrolled upward: “System Initialized…Host awakened…New Objective”…
Below, a new line blinked:
New Message: Use [HELP] to display system tutorial.
He hesitated, then traced the word HELP with a fingertip. The page rippled, then showed:
|———————[ HELP MENU ]———————|
| 1. SKILLS: View and allocate |
| your abilities. |
| 2. STATUS: Check HP, MP, stats. |
| 3. OBJECTIVES: View current |
| tasks and progress. |
| 4. SHOP: Purchase items when |
| available. |
| 5. EXIT: Close this menu. |
|———————————————————————————————|
Kael’s breath caught—shop? items? He was in rags, with no coins. But skills…he could learn powers?
A sudden crackling charge in the desk lamp’s bulb made him duck. Sparks flew outward as the lamp exploded, hurling shards across the table. He stumbled back just as the library door creaked open again.
Footsteps—deliberate, unhurried. Kael gripped the notebook in one hand, ready to dash, but he was too close to the lamp’s smoldering remains.
The newcomer stepped into the faint light: tall, lithe, with silver hair cascading past narrow shoulders. Their trench coat was embroidered with black-on-black sigils that seemed to writhe in the gloom. In one hand they held a staff topped by a crystal that pulsed with inner flame.
“Child,” they said, voice cold as obsidian, lips curved in a razor-thin smile. “You do not belong to that book.” They extended a pale hand, and the air around it crackled with magic.
Kael’s grip on the notebook tightened. “I—I won’t give it back.”
They chuckled, a sound like ice fracturing. “Then you leave me no choice.”
The mage tapped the crystal. Instantly, shards of library debris lifted into the air—dust motes turning fluorescent blue, splintered wood twisting as if alive. Kael felt a tug, as though reality itself sought to rip him apart. He fell to one knee, coughing.
In that moment—before fear could crush him—Kael’s instincts flared. He pressed thumb and forefinger to the torn corner of a page. Silver runes flared to life. A pulse of energy shot from the notebook into his palm, coursing up his arm in a searing wave.
He gasped, staggering to his feet as shield-like tendrils of pure light coalesced around him. They fused into an elliptical barrier just as a shard of timber whistled past his ear, slamming into the wall behind him.
The assailant’s smile vanished. They raised the staff higher; the crystal’s glow intensified to a blinding white. Kael’s shield quivered—then held.
He stared at his trembling hands. A line of text glowed across the barrier’s surface:
Barrier Skill Unlocked. Skill Points: 1
“Impossible,” the mage hissed. They struck the barrier with the staff’s tip. A shockwave rippled outward, books tumbling off shelves. Kael fought panic, tapped the barrier silently, and chose:
Allocate 1 Skill Point to Barrier: [Y/N]?
His heart thundered—did he dare power it up? He pressed Y.
Instantly, the glowing walls thickened, blotting out the shards of shattered lamp glass in a shimmering dome of silver energy. The mage’s attack skidded off harmlessly.
Fury bloomed in the mage’s eyes. With a flick of their wrist, the barrier shattered like splintering glass. Kael was thrown back, skidding across the floor. He tried to stand—coughing—but the mage was already upon him.
Then the notebook leapt from Kael’s coat pocket, flipping pages so fast they were a blur. Light burst forth, momentarily blinding both combatants. The entire library trembled.
When Kael opened his eyes, the mage was kneeling, hand to their temple as though in pain. The notebook hovered between them, pulsing once—twice—
Then it fell into Kael’s outstretched arms.
He scrambled backward, tears stinging his eyes. “No…” he whispered.
The mage smiled again, serene. “You cannot hide from the Obsidian Order, Kaelos. We will reclaim what is ours.”
With that, they vanished in a swirl of black mist.
Kael lay trembling, the notebook’s glow dimming to a soft pulse. He forced himself upright, clutching it like a lifeline. His chest heaved, mind racing. Ahead lay enemies who could tear him apart with a thought—and behind him, no home to return to.
Slowly he exhaled. He opened the notebook and tapped “OBJECTIVES”:
1. Survive Threats from Obsidian Order (5/∞)
2. Discover System Mechanics (0/100)
3. Locate First Safe Haven
A final line blinked:
Hint: Seek “The Hollowed Gate” on the city’s east edge.
Kael swallowed. Dawn would break in two hours. He had nowhere left to turn, only one battered notebook, and a system that might kill him—or make him unstoppable.
He tucked the book inside his coat. The library door stood ajar, spilling gray dawn light onto the ruined floor. With one last look, Kael stepped into the morning mist, each breath a promise: he would learn to master this power, or die trying.