The sky over the Kingdom of Astrum was a deep, bleeding crimson. For most, it was a sign of the upcoming Harvest Festival, but for Kaelen, it was just another day of survival in the dirt.
Kaelen wiped the sweat from his brow, his hands trembling as he gripped the rusted pickaxe. At eighteen, while others of his age were awakening their "Soul Cores" and joining prestigious magic academies, Kaelen was stuck in the Mana Mines. He was what they called a "Dull"—someone born with zero affinity for mana. In a world where your breath was literally powered by magic, being a Dull was a death sentence delivered in slow motion.
"Hey, trash! Move faster!" a voice boomed.
Kaelen didn't look up. He knew that voice. It was Borin, the mine overseer. A man whose only talent was bullying those who couldn't fight back. Before Kaelen could react, a heavy leather boot slammed into his ribs, sending him sprawling into the sharp, jagged rocks of the mine floor.
"I asked you a question, Dull," Borin sneered, his hands glowing with a faint blue light—a basic Tier 1 strength spell. "The Royal Academy needs these mana stones by dusk. If we're short, I'll deduct it from your rations. Though, looking at you, maybe skipping a few meals will help you die faster and save us the space."
The other miners, mostly desperate commoners, looked away. Pity was a luxury no one in the mines could afford.
Kaelen clutched his side, the sharp tang of blood filling his mouth. He looked at the glowing blue stones embedded in the dark cave walls. They were beautiful. They were powerful. And they were the very reason he was a slave.
If only I had just a spark, Kaelen thought, his fingers digging into the dirt. Just one spark to burn this whole world down.
As Borin walked away, laughing with his guards, Kaelen dragged himself toward a deeper, unexplored tunnel. The air there was thick and cold, smelling of ancient dust and something metallic. The miners avoided the "Deep Sector" because the mana there was unstable, but Kaelen didn't care. If he found a high-grade stone, he might earn enough to buy his sister's medicine.
He swung his pickaxe against a dark, vein-like rock.
Clang.
The sound echoed differently this time. It wasn't the sharp ring of stone. It was a hollow, haunting vibration. Kaelen frowned and swung again, harder. The rock cracked, and instead of the blue glow of mana, a terrifying, absolute darkness bled out of the fissure.
It wasn't just shadows. It was a void that seemed to swallow the light of the torches.
Kaelen's heart hammered against his ribs. He should run. Every instinct told him to flee. But his hand, as if possessed, reached out toward the darkness.
"What... is this?"
As his fingertips touched the black void, a coldness unlike anything he had ever felt surged through his veins. It wasn't the warmth of mana; it was the bite of the arctic, the silence of the grave.
Suddenly, a searing pain exploded behind his eyes. He screamed, but no sound came out. The darkness rushed into his body, entering through his pores, his eyes, and his mouth. He felt his veins stretching, his bones cracking and reforming.
In the center of his mind, a cold, mechanical voice resonated, shattering the silence of his soul.
[Initialization Complete.]
[Scanning Host...]
[Name: Kaelen]
[Status: Near Death / Mana Deficient]
[Compatibility Found: 100%]
[The Forbidden Sovereign System is Awakening.]
Kaelen's vision blurred. A floating translucent screen appeared in front of him—something only the legendary Heroes of old were said to possess.
[Mission: Survive the Awakening.]
[Reward: Path of the Zenith unlocked.]
[Penalty for Failure: Soul Eradication.]
"A... System?" Kaelen gasped, his lungs burning.
But there was no time for wonder. The unstable mana in the cave began to react to his awakening. The walls started to crumble. Above him, he could hear the frantic shouts of the guards and the sound of the mine collapsing.
[Emergency Protocol: Absorbing Local Energy Sources.]
Suddenly, the mana stones in the walls—hundreds of them—began to dim. The blue light was forcibly ripped out of the rocks and sucked into Kaelen's chest.
"Who's there?!" Borin's voice shouted from the entrance of the tunnel. He ran in, torch held high, only to stop dead in his tracks.
He saw Kaelen standing in the center of a swirling vortex of black and blue energy. The "Dull" boy's eyes were no longer brown; they were glowing with a piercing, ethereal silver light.
"Kaelen? What did you do, you thief?!" Borin roared, drawing a rusted iron sword. "Did you steal a relic? Give it here!"
Borin lunged, his sword enhanced by his Tier 1 mana. In the past, this move would have ended Kaelen's life. But now, in Kaelen's eyes, Borin's movements were slow—agonizingly slow. He could see the flow of mana in Borin's arm, the flickering instability of his weak spell.
[Host is under attack. Activating Passive Skill: Void Perception.]
Kaelen didn't think. He simply stepped to the left. The sword whistled past his ear, missing him by an inch.
"What?!" Borin gasped, overextending.
Kaelen reached out and grabbed Borin's wrist.
[Skill Triggered: Mana Devour.]
"AAAGH!" Borin screamed. The blue light in his arm was violently sucked into Kaelen's palm. Borin's skin shriveled, his muscles spasming as his very life force and mana were drained away in seconds.
Kaelen felt a surge of power. It was intoxicating. It was terrifying.
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Current Level: 3]
Borin fell to the floor, unconscious and drained, his sword clattering beside him. Kaelen looked at his hands. They were no longer trembling. The pain in his ribs was gone, replaced by a cold, sharp energy that felt like a coiled snake in his gut.
The mine continued to groan and shake. Rocks fell from the ceiling, blocking the exit. Kaelen looked up, his silver eyes piercing through the thick dust and darkness. For the first time in his life, he didn't feel like a prey. He felt like the hunter.
[New Quest: Escape the Astrum Mines.]
[Difficulty: E-Rank]
[Reward: Basic Combat Technique 'Shadow Step'.]
Kaelen picked up the iron sword. It felt light. He looked at the path leading out—the path where dozens of guards waited, the path that led back to a kingdom that hated him.
"You called me a Dull," Kaelen whispered, his voice echoing in the collapsing chamber. "Now, let's see how you handle the dark."
He vanished into the shadows just as the ceiling came crashing down.