The ridge sloped into a cracked basin — a shallow valley with jagged rocks, dried thornbrush, and a dead, bone-dry tree jutting like a broken spear from the earth. Dylan crouched behind a fallen log, its bark peeling and brittle. He didn't breathe loudly. Didn't twitch. His eyes were fixed on the creature ahead.
It looked like a dog — if dogs were nightmares.
Hairless. Gray-black skin, charred and stretched over ribs. Claws like sickles. Its eyes were glowing embers. Its breathing came in hard, wheezing rasps that puffed steam into the cold air.
Dylan didn't flinch. He watched. Studied. Logged every movement.
The creature circled something — a carcass, maybe. Sniffed. Twitched.
He took a slow inhale and focused.
"Scan."
The familiar sterile window blinked open above the creature:
[NAME: Ravager Hound]
[TYPE: Beast]
[LEVEL: 3]
[Know Skills: Thermal Sense, Enhanced Bite]
[HP: 160 / 160]
[MP: 40 / 40]
[STATUS: Unaware]
[ESTIMATED THREAT: Moderate]
"Great," Dylan muttered. "Three levels above me and built like a junkyard curse."
He flicked his eyes toward his own [Status]:
[LEVEL: 1]
[HP: 100]
[MP: 100]
[Fatigue: 5]
[Stat Points: 0]
His breath fogged slightly in the air.
Options: Fight. Hide. Wait. Run.
Fighting seemed dumb.
So, naturally, that's what he did.
Dylan slipped sideways, low to the ground. He found a jagged chunk of stone the size of a small melon. Lifted it. Judged the weight. Not perfect — but dense.
He circled behind the creature. A slow arc through the brush, until he was thirty feet back and had the drop.
One throw.
He didn't aim for a clean kill.
He aimed to piss it off.
The rock hit the Ravager square in the side of its skull with a sickening thud.
It yelped. Snapped its head around.
Glowed.
Snarled.
Dylan sprinted forward.
Not away — forward.
The Ravager charged.
Dylan slid under its leap, grabbed another rock mid-roll, and came up swinging.
First hit: the throat. Soft spot. It gagged.
Second: side of the head.
Third: temple. Crack.
It reeled. Clawed wildly.
Dylan ducked low. Jammed the rock into its jaw and pushed.
The Ravager's limbs thrashed — then slowed — then stopped.
The world went quiet.
For a second, Dylan only heard his own heartbeat.
Then — a chime. Soft. Mechanical.
[XP GAINED: 80]
[LEVEL UP: 2]
[STAT POINTS +3]
He stood over the beast, bloody and panting. His knees hurt. His arms were shaking.
But he was alive.
He opened the system again.
[LEVEL: 2]
[HP: 110]
[MP: 105]
[Stat Points: 3]
Dylan thought for a second.
Vitality. Control. Strength.
One point each.
He faint just a pulse in his limbs.
Then he said it — almost cautiously:
"Shadow Extraction."
The Ravager's corpse twitched.
A slow black mist rose from the wound. Like ink. Like breath held too long.
[EXTRACTION SUCCESSFUL]
[NEW SHADOW ADDED: Ravager Hound]
[Control Required: 2]
[Shadow List: 1 / ∞]
The mist congealed. Formed limbs. A muzzle. Pale violet eyes. It was the same Ravager — but... not. Paler. Quieter. Waiting.
Dylan stared. Speechless for once.
He walked around it, slowly.
It followed.
No sound. No breath.
"Okay," he said finally. "So that's a thing now."
He opened his [Shadow List]. It now showed:
– [Ravager Hound – No Name – Active]
He reached out slowly — then stopped.
He stood tall again, glanced toward the ridge. Far in the distance, dust rose — just a ripple — but enough to signal motion.
He wasn't alone out here.
Dylan looked down at the Ravager shadow.
Then back toward the slope.
His voice was calm, cold:
"Let's go see who else wants to die."
The Ravager Hound's shadow followed silently beside him, a dark silhouette made of something denser than smoke but lighter than bone. Its glowing eyes scanned ahead with eerie calm.
Dylan's boots crunched dry gravel as he moved. The dead valley floor stretched endlessly — cracked stone, low shrubs, and ridges sharp like broken teeth. A different kind of quiet hung in the air now.
He'd killed. Extracted. Leveled up. But there was no sense of power. Only potential. A small upgrade in his bones. A companion that wasn't truly alive. A title that meant nothing — yet.
[LEVEL: 2]
[STAT POINTS: 0]
[SHADOWS: 1 / ∞]
The sun never moved. Or maybe there wasn't one. Just a constant reddish sky that pulsed slightly — too dim to give direction, too strange to feel natural.
"Still no map," Dylan muttered. "Still no clue."
He stopped at a ledge overlooking a narrow canyon. The wind changed, carrying the scent of something burned. Ash and sulfur.
The hound growled low.
Dylan crouched, using a rust-colored boulder for cover. He reached for the [Scan] skill again.
[TARGET: Lesser Flame Imp]
[LEVEL: 4]
[Know Skills: Ember Shot, Quick Step]
[HP: 120 / 120]
[MP: 80 / 80]
[THREAT: Moderate - Avoid direct range]
Two of them. Darting around a cracked spire. Hunting?
He waited, thinking.
"Ravager," he whispered.
The shadow hound moved, crawling around the edge of the cliff like an oily blur.
Dylan moved the other way, boots silent.
He tossed a shard of stone far past the imps.
It clattered. They spun.
Ravager pounced.
One imp screamed, barely able to react. It fired a burst of flame — wide and rushed. Dylan ducked, rolled forward, and smashed the other with a rock.
Pain flashed — flame grazed his jacket. He gritted his teeth, ignored it, and pressed the attack.
Seconds later, it was over.
Burnt flesh. Blood. Smoke.
[XP GAINED: 200]
[LEVEL UP: 3]
[STAT POINTS +3]
He coughed, swatted away the heat haze, and dragged one imp's body clear.
"Shadow Extraction."
The black mist curled up from the corpse.
[EXTRACTION SUCCESSFUL: Lesser Flame Imp]
[Control Required: 4]
[SHADOW LIST: 2 / ∞]
A second figure appeared, smaller than the hound but glowing faint orange, sparks dancing inside its smoky body.
"Fire support," Dylan said quietly. "Nice."
The second corpse resisted.
[EXTRACTION FAILED: Willpower too strong]
He stared at it.
Then nodded. "Not strong enough yet."
He opened [Status]:
[STAT POINTS: 3]
[Strength: 11]
[Agility: 10]
[Perception: 10]
[Vitality: 11]
[Intelligence: 10]
[Control: 13]
He added two to Control, one to Agility. It made sense.
More control = more shadows. More agility = more survival.
The hound and imp shadow stood silently behind him.
He looked at them both.
"I don't care if this world makes sense. I'll learn it. I'll map it. And I'll own it."
The wind shifted again.
Then he heard it.
Footsteps.
Not beasts.
Boots.
Real ones.
Voices followed.
Human.
He stepped back from the ridge, shadows flanking him.