I stood still, staring into the shifting shadows around me.
A memory.
That word felt like a knife slipped between my ribs.
Most people feared losing their past.
I had already lost mine.
Everything before I turned seven was gone. Blurred out. Nothing but faint feelings and phantom warmth. I knew my parents were dead—at least, that's what I'd always been told.
But I didn't know how.
I didn't know why.
And I hated that.
I clenched my fists. A burn flared in my chest. Not anger. Not grief.
Something worse.
Emptiness.
I sat in silence, staring at the dark horizon. The stillness pressed against my chest like a weight.
I didn't know why, but something inside me whispered:
"Call it."
So I did.
"Shadow Key," I said quietly.
It appeared, just like that—floating before me. Cold. Dim. Made of something darker than shadow.
The Hex echoed:
[Shadow Key is responding to the owner's wish.]
The key pulsed.
[Temporal Release: Unseal one trait.]
I understood what it was—the first enchantment of the Key.
Its description had been hidden before. But now it was clear.
Why now?
The Hex echoed again:
[Will you use it?]
I hesitated, i didn't know if it was a trick, but . Then, i nodded.
"…Yes."
Wisps of black light drifted from the Key and sank into me, deep—like something returning home.
Pain bloomed through my chest, sharp and sudden, like something locked away had just been torn open. It hurt, i gritted my teeth.
Then gasped.
Then it stopped.
The runes flared:
[Trait Unlocked: Shadow Devour.]
I exhaled slowly. My chest still burned.
One step closer.
Maybe… just one memory could change everything.
Please let it be a combat trait.
I summoned the runes
Traits:
[Lost], [Sealed], [Night Pierce], [Shadow's Blessings], [Shadow Devour]
[Shadow Devour] – You bear the blessings of the shadows. You may devour the shadows of non-living beings. Shadows devoured may later be released at will. Upon release, they regain their origin.
I finished reading the description. With not even an hint surprise.
It wasn't a combat trait.
My luck really was cursed, there was no point in Denying it .
Then—
A twisted howl shattered the stillness in the air.
A sound too broken to belong to anything alive.
The trees bent backward, as if recoiling from what came next.
It burst from the shadows like a nightmare that had been waiting for me.
Charred skin.
Twisted limbs.
Eyes like hollow pits leaking something that resembles smoke.
It didn't crawl like i expected it to, but....
It sprinted, straight at me.
I froze.
The shadows around me scattered.
My body moved before I could think.
I ran—feet pounding the sand, every step a gamble.
Branches clawed at my face, my arms.
The sand cracked underfoot.
I stumbled—hit the ground hard against my ribs—then sprang back up, lungs burning, legs screaming.
It was behind me. I could hear it. Closer—closer— than before.
I tripped again.. the anxiety filled me entirely.
I regained balanced and ran.
Then i saw it.
A lake.
Still as obsidian. Black, perfect, unnatural.
And at its center—half-submerged in the inky water—lay a rusted blade, hilt wrapped in tattered leather. Symbols faint, forgotten.
I ran forward.
No warning.
No sound.
It came crashing through the trees—skin like burnt coal, eyes glowing with soul-hunger.
It didn't think.
It just wanted.
It slammed into me.
I hit the lake hard.
Cold.
Heavy.
Everything ached.
I gasped for breath and ran—toward the blade. Toward anything.
My legs were moving before I could feel them. The blade was all I saw. All I had.
I reached it.
Grabbed the hilt.
It crumbled in my hands.
A burst of light surged up. The darkness recoiled. The creature shrieked and retreated into the void.
Then, the Hex:
[You have received a Chronicle.]
I focused—and a weapon formed in my hand.
A slick, black katana.
It was heavier than it looked.
It pulsed—not with justice or purity.
But truth.
The creature charged again—
This time, its eyes held fear.
I didn't need to think why.
I didn't run.
I met it.
Blade first.
It screamed as the steel sank through flesh like ink.
One of its arms hit the sand—severed.
It didn't stop. It came again.
This time, I was ready.
I stepped in, low and fast. In my center of gravity, blade drawn wide.
We collided.
But I had already won. Blood surged meeting me .
[You have slain: Twilight Spawn – Blackened Soul.]