Magic wasn't supposed to feel alive.
But as I stood in that sewer tunnel, fresh off another kill, I swore I could feel it breathing through me—tugging at my nerves like thread. It was subtle at first. A flicker. A whisper. Then it grew stronger.
A pressure behind my eyes.
Like something inside me was waiting to wake up.
I sat against the damp wall, breath shallow. My mana was half-drained. I'd fought too long, cast too much. I needed rest. But then the world tilted.
My vision blurred—then pixelated. I blinked.
> [ERROR. DATA INTEGRITY FAILURE.]
The screen flashed in front of me, not the usual crisp blue of the system. It was red. Glitched. Letters jittered like static on a broken monitor.
> [UNAUTHORIZED CLASS ACCESS DETECTED.]
[Compensating... Searching... Calibrating...]
[New Pathway Created.]
[Shadowroot System Engaged.]
Then it was gone.
I stared at the space where it had hovered, heart thudding.
That wasn't normal.
I wasn't supposed to see that.
---
I summoned my status screen.
---
[Name: Elias Black]
[Class: Commoner (?)]
[Level: 3]
[HP: 60/60 | MP: 235/235]
[Strength: 7 | Agility: 8 | Intelligence: 13 | Vitality: 6 | Charisma: 5 | Luck: 9]
[New System: SHADOWROOT]
[Shadow Affinity: Awakening… 3%]
[Skills:]
– Mana Bolt (Lv. 3)
– Arcane Pulse (Lv. 1)
– ??? [LOCKED]
---
What the hell was Shadowroot?
There was no help icon. No description. Just that red-glitched header and a locked skill I couldn't touch. I tapped it.
Nothing.
But I felt it. Something had changed. Something big. My mana felt darker now—not evil, but deeper. Like it came from a different place.
I didn't know whether to be terrified or thrilled.
---
Back on the surface, the city had shifted.
It was still Arinvale. Still filthy, noisy, full of life. But something was different. Maybe it was me. People moved differently around me. They didn't make eye contact. A few crossed the street.
And the girls... they started to notice.
It started with a redhead in the market, who gave me her apple when she saw me wince from a cut on my hand.
Then a healer apprentice smiled and offered to "check your wounds, handsome," with a giggle and a blush.
I wasn't doing anything.
But they still stared.
Was it the way I walked now? The way I didn't flinch when street thugs shoved each other beside me?
I wasn't sure. But I didn't care.
I wasn't here for admiration.
I was here to survive. And this glitch—whatever it was—was my best shot.
---
Later that night, I returned to Mira.
She was stirring a pot of soup, smoky and thick.
"I see the rats didn't get you," she said without looking.
"Something else did."
She squinted up at me. "You're glowing, Elias."
I blinked. "What?"
"Not with light," she said. "With weight. Pressure. People'll feel it soon. The smart ones already do."
I hesitated. Then, I told her about the glitch.
About Shadowroot.
Mira's spoon froze mid-stir.
"You sure that's what it said?"
I nodded.
She leaned back slowly, eyes narrowing. "There's old talk. About a system underneath the system. Something that existed before the world was polished and 'balanced.' They say it was raw. Primal. Forgotten."
"And it just… woke up in me?"
She looked at me for a long time. "Or it chose you."
I didn't like that answer.
"I don't want a system that drags me into something I didn't ask for."
"Tough," she said, smirking. "Neither did the gods."
---
The next few days were chaos.
I couldn't walk ten steps without someone whispering behind me.
Kael found me again—this time in an abandoned smithy.
He watched me train from a beam above, crouched like a predator.
"You're changing," he said.
I didn't stop swinging the blade I'd borrowed.
"You're watching."
"Shadowroot," he said.
I froze.
"You know about it?"
"I've read fragments," Kael said. "Legends. Systems that weren't meant for mortals. They say if you unlock the full root… you don't just use the system. You become it."
"What does that mean?"
Kael grinned. "Means you'd better hope your mind doesn't shatter before you get there."
He leapt down, drawing his twin blades.
"Wanna spar?"
I didn't answer.
I just cast Arcane Pulse and charged.
---
We fought for minutes.
Sweat. Sparks. Blood.
And though he beat me—barely—I saw it.
A flicker of respect in his eyes.
"You're growing fast," he said, helping me up. "Too fast."
He looked almost amused. "We might not stay rivals for long."
"Then what?"
He walked away.
"Then we become enemies."
---
That night, I leveled again.
But this time, something else happened.
---
[Level 4 Reached!]
[New Skill Unlocked: Veilstep (Lv. 1)]
> [Veilstep – Lv. 1]
Phase partially into shadow, becoming untargetable for 1.5 seconds. Leaves behind a ghost image. Costs 35 MP.
Warning: Prolonged use increases Shadow Affinity.
---
I stared at the new ability.
Shadow magic.
I hadn't asked for it. I hadn't trained for it.
But it was mine now.
The system was no longer just tracking my actions.
It was evolving me.
Changing me.
And if I wasn't careful, it wouldn't stop.