A young man lay in the snow in front of an academy. His nose was bleeding. In front of him stood three much stronger boys. They kicked Lux, who lay on the ground, laughing after every strike. After each kick they mocked him.
"So weak!""So lonely!"
One of the boys grabbed Lux by the head and pulled him up.
"Just die already. Your life is meaningless. You have no family, no friends, no dream, no talent! Hahaha!"
Mocking laughter spread through the group as the boys looked at each other with wide grins.
Suddenly Lux coughed.
"Huff... huff... hahaha!"
Lux let out a heavy, suffocating laugh. The boy holding his head stared at him with angry eyes.
"What is there to laugh about, talentless trash?"
Lux grinned as drops of blood fell from his nose onto the snow, turning the white surface into small red spots.
"I do have a dream. A goal. I want to kill all of you. Hahaha!"
The laughing boys fell silent after those words from the bleeding Lux on the ground. Their amusement stopped. They looked at each other, and then mocking laughter broke the silence again.
"You? You want to kill us all? You do not even have an ability. You are not even allowed inside the academy. Everyone knows you as the talentless one. You cannot even kill an ant. Now die!"
Suddenly Lux's head was slammed down into the ground with force. They punched and kicked him again and again until the snow in the corner turned completely red. After about two minutes they heard a weak groan.
Then a loud bell rang in the distance. One of the boys jerked his head toward the academy gates.
"Let's not be late!"
They stepped away from Lux and looked down at the miserable boy with faint smiles on their faces.
"So what do we do with him?" the smallest of the group asked.
"What else? Trash is left where it lies."
Then they walked away. Their laughter grew more distant while Lux's condition worsened.
With hellish pain, Lux slowly turned his body. Every part of him hurt.
"I... I will kill you... ALL OF YOU! I... promise..."
Lux dragged himself forward a few meters, but soon his strength failed. His head fell onto the cold snow. His vision turned dark as his eyes slowly closed.
Suddenly Lux felt warmth. And... strength?
He felt powerful.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing on a high roof. Lux startled and quickly stepped back to keep his balance.
"H... huh?"
From here he could see the entire city.
"H... how did I...?"
Lux looked around. Suddenly his heart began to beat faster. Something was flying in the sky. Something enormous.
A shadow binder?
Impossible. A shadow binder of that size would be one of the strongest beings in existence.
"I... is that real?" Lux asked himself.
He looked down at his arms and legs. His heart pounded violently. Lux startled again. His entire body seemed to be made of shadows. His arms were covered in a black substance. It looked distorted, almost as if one could see through it.
"W... what is this?"
Suddenly Lux heard a loud roar. It came from the black creature above the sky of the village. It looked like a massive lump of shadows. It had a giant mouth with disgusting purple pupils.
When the eyes turned, Lux froze in fear. The purple pupils began to glow, and a violet beam pointed directly at him. It did not hurt him, but a strange feeling spread through his body.
Then suddenly everything changed.
A loud scream echoed across the entire village. Lux flinched as a wave of pain crashed over him. He collapsed onto his knees and looked up.
Above him, black runes formed in the air. They began to write something.
"(Sharp Thorn offers you a contract.)"
"(Accept)""(Accept and learn more)""(Decline – death)"
Lux forced himself to focus. It was hard to read through the pain in his body. He wanted to complain about the choices. How was that even a choice? Either accept or die.
"Argh... this pain!"
Lux's mind suddenly went blank. All his questions disappeared. Only one piece of information remained in his thoughts.
"So it really is a shadow binder."
Shadow binders were mythical creatures that granted humans abilities. There were five ranks.
Common.Rare.Strong.Mythic.Divine.
Only fifteen people in the world possessed a mythic rank binder, while the divine rank had appeared only twice in history. The binders existed in their own world, but sometimes they came to the human world seeking destruction. That was the moment humans had a chance to form a contract with them.
"So I was offered a contract... but if I refuse, I die. That is not really a choice."
Lux groaned as his fingers slowly moved toward the runes. When his fingers touched them, they suddenly glowed.
"(Accept and learn more)"
Lux's eyes widened as a huge surge of energy rushed through his veins. The pain became even stronger.
"ARGHH!"
Lux screamed as the agony intensified. Then suddenly it stopped.
The runes rushed toward him.
"(Beginner Guidance)"
"(You have formed a contract with Sharp Thorn.)"
"What does this mean for you?"
"You can use its abilities. The stronger you become, the more power you will unlock."
"How will you ascend?"
"Sharp Thorn is choosing a method. Please wait."
"Results will be revealed shortly."
The runes floated above him as if waiting.
Then suddenly new purple runes appeared beside them in the air.
"[Shadow Pupils obtained!]"
Without warning the runes flew into Lux's body. He flinched as intense pain exploded inside his eyes.
When the pain finally faded, the answer appeared.
How would Lux grow stronger?
"Sharp Thorn has decided."
"You must kill in order to ascend."
The runes slowly faded.
Lux's mouth hung open.
"Kill?"
Then a wide grin slowly spread across his face.
"That's perfect."
"(Contract completed. Overview received.)"
Suddenly many runes appeared above Lux at once. It looked like some kind of summary.
[Name: Sharp ThornRank: DivineAscension Method: Killing
The Sharp Thorn endlessly seeks revenge and has chosen the young Lux as its bearer. Both share a heart filled with vengeance. Sharp Thorn looks forward to working together with you. You will soon have time to speak.]
"Divine? DIVINE? A divine rank??? Impossible. Wha—"
With a sudden jolt Lux shot upright. His cheek was cold and his entire body trembled. It seemed as if he had fallen asleep in the snow. He was back in front of the academy.
"So it was just a dream... hmm. Too good to be true. Killing and ascending, haha. Well, I guess life cannot change that easily."
Lux thought about it as he stood up. Pain shot through his entire body. Honestly he wanted nothing more than to lie back down, but he would freeze to death if he did. So he slowly walked past the academy gates. Being accepted there was impossible anyway.
The academy faded farther and farther behind him until Lux eventually arrived at an abandoned house. The roof had collapsed, the windows were broken, and the walls were cracked and damaged.
Lux stepped inside his home.
Straw was scattered across one room. That was his bed. Lux threw himself onto it and closed his eyes.
But something would not let him fall asleep. He did not know what it was.
"Oh... I am still covered in blood."
Lux stood up and touched his face. It was full of wounds, his skin smeared with dried blood. He walked into a broken bathroom. A shattered mirror hung half on the wall and half on the floor.
"Hmm."
Lux looked at himself and grabbed a dirty cloth. He wiped the blood from his face.
Then suddenly something seemed to change.
Lux blinked several times.
But it was real.
The color of his eyes had changed. His pupils were purple.
"W... what?"
Suddenly black runes formed in the air in front of him.
(Task 1: Start a fight with Leo, Theo, and Rio.)
"Huh?"