THE FIRST SIN
The System's voice slithered into my skull as Lira slept against me, her small fists clutching my shirt like I was still someone worth trusting.
*[SOUL-WEIGHING SYSTEM INITIALIZED]*
*[USER: KAEL VEYNE]*
*[PRIME DIRECTIVE: ASCEND]*
I tried to scream but my jaw locked shut. Blue fire crawled across our shack's walls, painting instructions in jagged script:
*[FIRST BLOOD REQUIRED]*
*[TARGET: OLD MAN DARRIN - BLACKSMITH]*
*[REWARD: SHADOWMAGER CLASS]*
Lira's breathing stayed deep and even. The System had frozen her mid-dream, leaving me alone with its impossible demand.
Darrin taught me how to mend plough blades and sharpen knives. He gave Lira sweets when the harvest was good.
My legs moved without permission.
---
The forge glowed like a demon's heart in the predawn dark. Darrin stood at his anvil, hammer raised to strike a glowing rod—then froze when he saw my eyes.
"Ah." His calloused fingers tightened around the hammer. "You got the call too."
A jagged gash wept red down his side. Someone else had tried their luck first.
The System overrode my vocal cords: *"Designation confirmed. Commence harvest."*
Darrin sighed. "Make it clean, lad." He set down his tools and bared his neck.
My hands took the hammer from his workbench.
The first swing shattered his collarbone.
*[CRITICAL STRIKE!]*
*[BONUS: TARGET OFFERED NO RESISTANCE]*
The second crushed his windpipe.
Darrin's blood hit the forge with a hiss. The smell of burning copper filled the air as my System sang:
*[QUEST COMPLETE!]*
*[SHADOWMAGER CLASS UNLOCKED!]*
*[NEXT TARGET UNLOCKS IN: 6:59:59]*
Black tendrils erupted from my shadow, wrapping around Darrin's corpse. They dissolved him into swirling darkness that slithered up my arms.
When the last tendril vanished, my reflection in a cooling sword blade showed new scars circling my throat like a noose.
---
Lira found me retching in the pigsty.
Her eyes glowed gold.
*[SYSTEM DETECTED: WHITE LADY PROTOCOL]*
*[WARNING: OPPOSITIONAL PARADIGM]*
She reached for me. "Kael, your neck—"
I recoiled as her fingers brushed my scars. Her touch burned like salt in a wound.
The System whispered a new message just for me:
*[OBSERVATION: THIS ONE WILL HURT MOST]*
*[ESTIMATED REWARD FOR SISTER'S SACRIFICE: 10,000 EXP]*
Behind Lira's shoulder, the rising sun painted the eastern hills bloodred. Somewhere in the village, another scream pierced the dawn.
The System was just getting started.
