The silence after the countdown was absolute. A vacuum that swallowed the rain, the distant cars, the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen. The world held its breath, and in the darkness of his room, Luan was the only source of light. The blue luminescence emanating from his eyes was not a reflection; it was a source. He blinked, and for a fraction of a second, the darkness returned, denser and more terrifying than before.
Then, the static in his soul found a focus. Before his eyes, translucent like a digital ghost, a familiar yet profane interface materialized.
[Welcome, Heir of the Ancient Lightning Dragon.]
Name: Luan Alves
Class: Heir of the Ancient Lightning Dragon (Unique)
Level: 1
Title: None
HP: 100/100
MP: 150/150
Strength: 8
Agility: 12
Vitality: 10
Intelligence: 15
Luck: ??
[Soul Synchronization is complete. The path to transcendence begins now.]
[Please select your Starter Weapon.]
A new window opened, displaying an array of basic weapons, each a gray and lifeless icon: short sword, simple bow, novice staff, iron dagger. In Elysium, the choice of a starter weapon was trivial, replaced within minutes. Here, it felt like the most important decision of his life. He was no longer Raiden, the storm god who obliterated armies from a distance. He was Luan, level 1, in a body that barely remembered what it was to run.
His instinct, forged in thousands of hours of virtual combat, screamed at him. Ranged magic was useless without the skills to cast it. He needed something fast, something that could be hidden, something for desperate situations. His eyes fixed on the dagger icon. Fast, intimate, lethal. A weapon for survivors, not for gods. With an act of will, he selected it.
The next moment, a cold weight materialized in his right hand. The iron dagger was real. The worn leather of the hilt brushed against his palm, the dull steel absorbing the faint light from his eyes. It was heavy. Heavy in a way no game item had ever been.
[Starter Weapon 'Iron Dagger' selected.]
[You have received your first Passive Skill Roll. The gacha of fate awaits your luck.]
[Spinning...]
A roulette wheel of skills appeared in his vision, a blur of icons and names flashing by at a dizzying speed. He saw common passives like "Increased Vigor" and rare ones like "Thunder Affinity," but before he could register any of them, the wheel stopped abruptly on a golden icon that radiated power. A slit reptilian eye with an electric pupil.
[Congratulations! You have acquired a Legendary Passive Skill!]
[Eyes of the Lightning Dragon]
(Passive - Legendary Rank):
[Your eyes no longer see the world, but the energy that composes it. You can perceive the flow of movement, anticipate enemy actions by reading the contraction of their muscles and the intent in their auras. Precision increases exponentially with your Agility and Intelligence levels.]
Pain was the first sensation. A needle of ice and electricity in each of his eyeballs. He recoiled, the dagger falling to the floor with a dull thud, his hands covering his face. The blue light in his eyes intensified, leaking through his fingers. When the pain subsided and he opened his eyes again, the world had transformed.
He no longer saw a messy room. He saw... lines. Faint blue lines tracing the most likely paths of objects. The dust suspended in the air didn't move randomly but followed air currents that he could now see. He looked at the dagger on the floor and saw a pale arc of light showing the exact trajectory it had taken as it fell. It was as if the universe's rendering layer had been revealed only to him. Overwhelming. Intoxicating.
A muffled scream pierced the silence. Júlia.
The sound pulled him from his trance. He picked up the dagger, its weight now comforting, and ran out of the room. The living room was dark, but he and his sister were two beacons in the gloom. Júlia was standing near the sofa, her eyes wide, a hardcover book with blank pages floating inches from her outstretched hand. A soft, almost imperceptible aura of warmth and compassion emanated from her.
His parents, Roberto and Marta, were huddled near the kitchen, their faces a portrait of pure terror and incomprehension, looking at their children as if they were strangers.
"Luan... your eyes..." Júlia's voice trembled.
"Yours too," he replied, his own voice hoarse from disuse. He could see her interface floating beside her, visible only to him because of his dragon eyes.
He saw the name of her passive:
[Strength of the Faithfull]
(Passive - Rare Rank)
And he felt it. The moment their eyes met, a subtle warmth spread through his body. He glanced at his own interface. His stats had changed. Strength: 13. Agility: 17. Vitality: 15. Her skill was already working.
"What is happening?" his father asked, his voice a thread. "What is that light? Is this some kind of attack?"
Before they could answer, the air in the center of the room began to... distort. Like heat rising from asphalt on a summer day, but with an oily, sickly color. A sound like nails scraping on glass echoed from the point of distortion.
Luan's Dragon Eyes snapped into full focus. He saw the energy at that point accumulating, tearing. He saw the lines of murderous intent forming before the creature even appeared.
"Get back!" he shouted, a command that came out with an authority he didn't know he possessed. He moved, placing himself between the anomaly and his family, the dagger held firmly in his hand. His body trembled, not from power, but from a mix of fear and adrenaline that made his stomach churn.
Reality ripped open with a wet sound. A small creature, the size of a child, fell onto the living room floor. It had moss-green skin, long, thin limbs, and large, black eyes that reflected no light. A Goblin. A "Crawling Goblin," the weakest monster in Elysium. But this wasn't Elysium. The creature's smell a mix of damp earth and rotten meat was nauseatingly real.
The goblin saw him and hissed, baring teeth as sharp as needles. It crouched, its thigh muscles contracting. Luan's Dragon Eyes saw it all: the exact trajectory line of its leap, the point of impact on his chest, the arc of its claws' swipe.
Time seemed to slow down.
The goblin leaped.
Luan didn't think. He reacted. Fear screamed at him to freeze, but instinct, sharpened by his new eyes, forced him to move. He didn't dodge with the grace of Raiden but stumbled to the side, his body clumsy and weak. The goblin's claws passed inches from his face, tearing through the air where he had been.
He was off-balance, vulnerable. The goblin landed and spun, ready for a second attack. But Luan, even as he fell, saw the opening. A bright blue line pointed to the creature's exposed neck.
With a cry that was more panic than rage, he thrust out the hand holding the dagger. It wasn't a skillful strike. It was an act of pure desperation. The tip of the blade met the stretched skin of the goblin's neck.
There was resistance. Not like in a game. The skin was tough, the muscle gave way with a sickening sound. The blood that spurted out was hot and dark, staining his hand. The goblin let out a sharp gurgle, its black eyes fixed on Luan, full of surprise and hatred. It struggled for a second, then went limp.
The body hit the floor with a final thud. And then, to everyone's horror, it began to dissolve into particles of black light, leaving behind only a small, dark-green crystal that clinked on the floor.
[You have killed a Crawling Goblin (Level 1)]
[You have gained 50 EXP.]
[You have leveled up!]
[Current Level: 2]
Silence returned, heavier than ever, broken only by Luan's ragged breaths. He looked at the dagger in his hand, covered in blood that was already fading. He looked at his sister, whose face was pale with shock, but whose eyes held a frightening determination. He looked at his parents, cowering, the terror on their faces now mixed with a new fear a fear of him.
Outside, the world's silence was finally broken. Not by the sound of rain, but by a symphony of chaos. Human screams. The roar of something much larger than a goblin. The sound of shattering glass.
The interface blinked again in Luan's vision, ignoring the pandemonium.
[Congratulations on reaching Level 2!]
[Please select your first Active Skill.]