The morning was gray, the sun just a pale smear behind clouds that threatened rain. I moved quietly, slipping through the narrow alleys with my hands stuffed into my coat pockets, the violet shard of the Storm-Hollow Cavern key burning faintly in my palm.
No one noticed me. Not the merchants setting up stalls, not the children darting between carts, not even the patrolling guards whose armor clinked like hollow bells.
That was the point.
The key vibrated slightly, an almost imperceptible hum against my skin. I closed my eyes and let the memory of the system interface flow into my mind — jagged lines of purple lightning, numbers that didn't make sense, a name that wasn't mine.
Only you can enter the dungeons I give you.
I muttered it like a prayer. It wasn't just a rule. It was a covenant. Anyone else who tried would either die before the door or be spat out back onto the world, a warning whispered by the Nameless God itself.
I arrived at the edge of the forest where the Cavern was said to appear. To the untrained eye, it was nothing but a cliffside gnarled with roots and shadow. But I didn't need eyes — the system guided me.
The violet key floated from my hand, turning midair until its jagged edges pointed toward a fissure in the stone. A pulse of energy shot outward, and the ground trembled faintly.
The fissure widened, revealing a yawning black mouth that seemed to drink the light around it. Purple lightning arced lazily across the entrance, like the cavern was alive and aware.
Dungeon entry confirmed.
I stepped forward. The air inside smelled like ozone and iron, the walls slick with moisture and faintly glowing moss. My heart thumped, not with fear, but with anticipation.
The system interface flickered before me.
[Dungeon: Storm-Hollow Cavern]
Difficulty: Unknown
Monsters: Unknown
Evolution Potential: Locked
Warning: Only Ashura Bellet may enter.
I allowed myself a small grin. Unknown didn't scare me. Unknown meant opportunity.
The first creatures were easy — shadows with glowing eyes, fast but clumsy. My Storm Veins flared, and I moved through them like water cutting stone. One strike, two strikes… the purple sparks danced, arcing from fist to fist, severing limbs and bones in bursts of controlled lightning.
They weren't intelligent, but they were relentless. That was fine. The system's riddle wasn't about survival — it was about learning, testing, and measuring my limits.
[Experience Gained: 3%]
[New Ability Unlocked: Lightning Step – dash short distances at the speed of electricity]
I breathed in the damp air, muscles screaming with exertion, adrenaline like a drug in my veins.
This is the beginning.
Deeper into the cavern, the walls narrowed and the shadows grew larger. I felt the system pulse in my mind, as if warning me of the threshold ahead. I wasn't evolving yet. Not until I reached the next level. Not until the system deemed me ready.
And that was fine. Patience was part of the game.
With each pulse of lightning, each strike against monsters born from storm and shadow, I could feel myself inching closer to something greater.
This was more than hunting. More than survival.
This was power, raw and unfiltered, waiting for the one who dared to grasp it.
I didn't glance back. I couldn't.
Because once you step into the key's path, there is no half-measure. Only the storm, only the fight, and only the climb.
And I intended to climb every jagged step.
Outside, the wind shifted, carrying the faintest whisper. A merchant paused mid-step, a guard frowned at the forest, and a shadow in the city's tallest tower leaned closer to a map.
Ashura Bellet had moved. And the world, in ways it didn't yet understand, had taken notice.