The city outside my window roared with life — merchants barking prices, horses clattering over cobblestones, laughter and shouting weaving into a chaotic symphony.
But inside my cramped apartment, there was only silence.
No warmth. No welcome. Just the faint hum of the system interface floating in the air before me, visible only to my eyes.
Rank: F−.
The words might as well have been carved into my bones.
I clenched my fists, knuckles white, feeling the frailty of my own body — skin too thin, muscles too light, a frame unworthy of the name I once carried.
I had been a god once.
Now I was barely a man.
Still… the system had given me a second chance.
And I would wring every drop of worth from it.
I closed my eyes, drawing in a slow breath.
Somewhere deep inside, I felt the faintest trickle of mana — thin, fragile, like a dying ember in an endless night.
Then—
Ping.
The sound wasn't from the city. It was inside my head, sharp and electric.
sql
Αντιγραφή κώδικα
System Notification:
Hidden Power Detected.
Activation Possible.
My eyes snapped open. My pulse thundered in my ears.
Hidden power?
After everything — after clawing my way out of the grave itself — the system was offering me a lifeline.
The interface shimmered, revealing new text:
vbnet
Αντιγραφή κώδικα
Regression Protocol:
Unlock latent abilities to accelerate growth.
Doubt whispered… but I crushed it.
I hit Accept without a second thought.
The world exploded.
A surge of energy tore through me, cold and electric, threading lightning along every nerve. My heart stuttered, then roared back to life, beating in sync with something vast and ancient.
My vision warped, then cleared — every detail sharp enough to cut: the hairline cracks in the ceiling, the drifting scent of rain, the slow shadow of a bird's wings crossing the window.
Numbers raced across the interface, stats changing faster than I could read.
Then one line burned itself into my vision:
Soul Resonance — Activated.
I didn't need the system's explanation. I felt it.
This wasn't just a skill — it was a bond between my soul and the world itself, letting me drink in the energy around me, flood my veins with mana, and move with inhuman speed.
A warning blinked beneath the text:
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Αντιγραφή κώδικα
Uncontrolled use may cause severe mana backlash.
I ignored it.
I lifted my hand, and an orb of crackling blue-silver light flickered to life in my palm. It pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat, warm and alive.
For the first time since my rebirth… I felt powerful again.
The orb lengthened into a blade of pure energy. I slashed it through the air — the hum was sharp, deadly, intoxicating.
Then the backlash hit.
Pain lanced through my skull, the world tilting, blood roaring in my ears. I staggered, breath ragged.
This power would kill me if I didn't master it.
So I trained.
Days blurred into nights.
Sweat-soaked floors, blistered hands, aching muscles.
Summoning, shaping, refining the Soul Resonance until my mana control was sharp enough to split a falling raindrop.
I wove it into my swordplay, feeling each strike hum with lethal promise. The range extended, the edge sharpened — my blade was no longer steel alone, but steel bound to my soul.
Outside, Valenport bustled, unaware.
I still took Loran's quests, moving fast, finishing jobs before anyone could notice the strange edge in my movements or the way my wounds vanished in seconds.
No one suspected.
And that was exactly how I wanted it.
Because this power… this awakening… was my weapon in the making.
I wasn't ready to reveal it yet.
But when I did—
The city. The dungeons. The guilds. Aric.
They would all remember the name Kael Draven.
And they would kneel.