Shadow Bolt stared in confusion at the bright screen in front of her asking if she would like to be inducted into some type of system. She stared for a good five minutes before speaking to A.K.

“Well, now I know what you were always staring at.”

Welcome User, you have been invited to the system by Aegeus Kan.

Would you like to accept?

Yes No

Taking another look at the flashing, YES/NO option Shadow Bolt opened her mouth to speak.

“The gods barely look to our tiny island, what higher entity has blessed you? Now I know the foundation of your strength. A rank 3 being at such a young age.”

A.K. looked up at her in surprise. He was still contemplating whether this was a good idea or not when Shadow Bolt spoke.

“How could you tell my strength?”

“It's not too difficult especially since you aren’t using any techniques to hide it.”

“So what did you choose?”

“Nothing yet, I… I don’t know what to do now that the choice is actually in front of my face.”

“So all that was just bravado before? Not twenty minutes ago…” A.K. trailed off he was excited to see what would happen when someone other than him gained access to System and Shadow Bolt would prove to be the perfect test subject. No had no major attachment to her and if she came out fine after the initiation A.K. would have the confidence to invite the rest of his family.

Shadow Bolt took a long look at A.K. to the point of making him uncomfortable. She then looked at the flashing screen and no longer hesitated.

At first, nothing happened and she looked at A.K. in confusion. Then came pain as if something was alerting her very soul. She screamed. She had no choice but to it started from her feet she could feel something breaking her apart bit by bit before rebuilding her. Shadow Bolt looked within her mind space and saw the figure that represented her soul. An elf child looking no older than 16 screaming and becoming reformed. That's when she fainted.

><>

A.K. rushed over to the fainted elf worry painted all over his face.

‘Will she be ok?’

Yes and no

Confused A.K. decided to be more direct with his thoughts as he would get better answers through precise questions.

‘In what ways will Shadow Bolt not be ok?’

Emotionally is the likely outcome System has deduced. User: Shadow Bolt is having her very soul reformatted to include a system.

‘A system? Isn’t she going to be outfitted with a version of you?’

Only the Harbingers were outfitted with the artificial intelligent version of System. The other earthlings received a deduction in their system capabilities.

‘What exactly did you do?’

You, A.K., you initiated the induction and Shadow Bolt accepted. If you had alerted me prior I could have told you there were soul-altering effects for instant initiations. This is why the earthlings grew sick for a long period of time. The induction process was gradual instead of instant.

“Oops.” An ‘oh shit’ expression appeared on A.K.'s face. He brought out a blanket and covered up the knocked-out elf. Then proceeded to wet a towel and wipe the sweat coming from her forehead. For the next 7 hours, A.K. nursed the sleeping elf.

><>

Shadow Bolt woke up, she has been awake for a few minutes but part of her training was to keep her breathing, her heart rate, and other bodily functions the same. This saved her life in the early stages of her adventure when a group of bandits stumbled across her camp. They never managed to stumble out after she overheard their plans for her. The reason she didn’t announce that she was awake was that she went about experiencing the changes to her body. No anomalies at least ones she could detect. Next, she turned her attention to her soul and the 16-year-old look-alike was exactly the same.

Shadow Bolt open her eyes. Her mind was in a mess after seeing no changes to her soul but clearly remember its disintegration. Those eyes landed on A.K. who was still standing guard. He appeared to be arguing with something if his body language was correct. She slowly got up from the blanket making a rustling sound alerting A.K. of her awakeness.

“I’M SO SORRY!” The boy said as he rushed to her. Instinctively Shadow Bolt grabbed at the dagger always strapped to her thigh but then settled down as she saw the worry in A.K.'s face.

“What happened to me? What did you do” Shadow Bolt saw the boy flinch as her questioning came out more harshly than intended. That's when she noticed the thirst her body was experiencing and drove for her satchel. The boy watches her in interest and hesitation. She removed the covering that was always over her mouth and nose exposing her face.

A scar ran from the left cheek to the top lip and ending at the right jawline. Shadow Bolt expects the boy to flinch or shy away but he only stares a bit before returning his attention fully to her. Was she not ugly? Shadow Bolt pondered. Thirst finally quenched she sat down next to the fire and pulled out an assortment of foodstuffs cheeses, meats, and bread. Handing a portion to A.K. before ravenously tearing into her own. Once satisfied that she was no longer starving Shadow Bolt opened her mouth again to question A.K.

“What happened to me. What pact did I accept?”

Shadow Bolt watched as A.K. studied her as if he was looking for any physical changes. Finding none he began to tell her what happened as she knocked out.

“You did not accept a pact, you were more or less inducted into System. How do I explain this? If you were a gamer this would be so much easier. Basically, after you say status everything will be explained easier. “

Shadow Bolt looked at him hoping to the gods her gut feelings were right about the boy then she looked straight.

“Status”

Ara Sunkissed/Shadow Bolt

Level: 48

Race: Sun Elf

Bloodline: Sun Blazer

Classes: Shadow Ranger Tier 2(MAIN) Shadow Grappler Tier 1(SECONDARY)

Health 890/890 Mana 1,530/1,530 Stamina 1,020/1,020 Vitality: 89 Intelligence: 153 Endurance: 102 Strength: 105 Dexterity: 125 Wisdom: 64 Will: 40 Attribute Points: 0 Titles:

First to be Chosen - As the first user of the system in the world of Gaia, you are entitled to any updates of the system first. Grants bonus affect +5 all stats. Grants additional effect +10% damage dealt to all enemies. Grants additional effect +10% damaged negated when attacked. Grants additional effect +10% chance for the attack to strike a critical blow.

Abilities:

Sun Touched Lvl 4 - Underneath the sunlight gain buff in all physical related stats by 10%

Sun Blaze Lvl 2(Lethal) - By burning blood gain an additional boost in all stats by 30%

General Skills:

Sun Kissed Lvl 5(Max), Imperial Lvl 5(Max), Common Tongue Lvl 5(Max), Dwarven Stone Lvl 5(MAX), Sun Dancing Lvl 25, Calligraphy Lvl 10, Climbing Lvl 36, Swimming Lvl 23, Charm Lvl 10, Running Lvl 34, Pain Resistance Lvl 16, Skinning Lvl 16, Hunting Lvl 25, Stealth Lvl 40(LOCKED), Flash Steps Lvl 30, Danger Sense Lvl 36, Trap Maker Lvl 29, Night Vision Lvl 32, Detect Traps 21, Bargaining Lvl 13, Quick Casting Lvl 12, Cooking Lvl 14, Forest Walking Lvl 28

Class Skills

Ranged Combat LVL 40(LOCKED):

Power Strike Lvl 25, Shadow Bolt Lvl 40(LOCKED), Poison Bolt Lvl 35, Rapid Fire Lvl 27, Wind Reading Lvl 32, Seeking Bolt Lvl 35, Triple Bolt Lvl 20, Flying Din Lvl 22, Dead Bolt Lvl 21, Crippling Bolt Lvl 39

Hand Combat LVL 25: Power Hold Lvl 15, Straggle Lvl 10, Escape Lvl 20(LOCKED), Kaiser Blow Lvl 23, Shadow Hold Lvl 25

Magic Spells

Tier 0: Magic Bullet/Variants Lvl 33, Magic Shield/Variants Lvl 23, Meditation Lvl 40(LOCKED), Cleanse Lvl 21, Mana Sense Lvl 36, Spark Lvl 22, Collect Water Lvl 27, Call Animals Lvl 16 Tier 1: Shadow Vise Lvl 21, Shadow Shield Lvl 24, Shadow Spear Lvl 34 Tier 2: Shadow Slash Lvl 18, Shadow Ball Lvl 25, Shadow Wall Lvl 13, Shadow Spike, Shadow Veil Tier 3: Shadow Bomb Lvl 13, Shadow Movement Lvl 15 Tier 4: Shadow Gate Lvl 5, Dark Lance Lvl 8, Descent of Sharrak Lvl 6

This, this was insane. Shadow Bolt could see everything that she learned now categorized as a skill. Even her entire repertoire of spells was available for her to view. She looked too A.K.

“This… this is what you see. This is amazing. I can see my attributes clearly. My spells are outlined. This… this could change everything on the path to power.” Shadow Bolt looked at A.K. a crazed light in her eyes her voice rising higher.

“My people. My family. I could avenge them! We could avenge them. The Sun Elves must be inducted. This would be an opportunity to arise again.”

Shadow Bolt continued on her craze-filled rant not noticing the wariness within A.K.'s eyes.

“No such thing will happen.”

That's when she finally looked at the boy who was armed and ready to fight. She could take him, disable him easily with a [Shadow Spike] spell to the knee. She could it would be easy. After, she would hit him with [Shadow Vise] and disappear towards elf lands. She could if he was almost anyone else than Duke Vasu's son. She calmed down not only would this put the Sun Elf clan in a much more precarious situation she would become a Bond Breaker. Breakers were not tolerated. She could already feel the magic doing its workings if she was to break the bond scarring her even more-so.

“I’m sorry. It's just that I had a Revelation. When too much magic is at hand strange things can happen. In this case, the system leads to my Revelation and triggered something nasty in me.”

Shadow Bolt gave a deep bow and held the position waiting for A.K. to speak before rising.

><>

Holy shit, this was not what A.K. expect when he gave her access to System. A.K. didn’t know what he expects but the crazed light that was in her eyes and the power she started to radiate did not give A.K. a good sign for his safety. She was much stronger than she initially let on. Almost rank 5 even if the mana waves radiating off of her were correct. At rank 5 you get a quality change within your power. It's no longer just building up as much mana as possible you now start a refining process throughout your body.

A.K. decided to weigh his options. One he could run away or try, he wouldn’t get far from what he could see. Two, he could hold out until they reached the city of Comb and use that as an opportunity to escape, however, A.K. knew nothing about the city and could end up in a worse situation. Thre- A.K. suddenly dodged to the side avoiding the claw of a ghoul.

“GHOULS,” he screamed at Shadow Bolt who was still bowing.

“Keh Keh Keh. I’ve fouuuNNnd youuu KAN.”

A.K. who just finished dispatching his attacker shuddered. The voice was grating it felt like something was grinding at his very bones. He looked in the direction of Shadow Bolt only to discovered she had disappeared. Ghouls and undead were flooding the tunnel that led from the direction of Comb. That was the direction the voice came from as well. Something was searching for him and it would have probably ambushed him if not for Shadow Bolt's untimely release in power. Letting everyone in the area know of their position.

A.K. Bolted in the opposite direction. He needed to get to the smaller tunnels and hopefully lose the pack of undead quickly gaining on his heels.

A.K. jumped to the right a ghoul sailing over his previous position. Dashing towards the stumbling monster he lopped its head off in a swift movement and kept moving

New Skill: Danger Sense

Finally, A.K. had been trying to train and activate that as a skill for the longest. However, he was never in a dangerous enough position to gain it. Maybe when he was fighting the goblin but it never came. He could feel a ping on his right and quickly jumped out the way. Beheading another ghoul afterward. A.K. could see a narrow crevice up ahead. Another tunnel branching off into this one. Accelerating even faster he dove into the crevice dodging a few claw swipes at the end.

A.K. turned around he would kill a few of the creatures before moving on. He needs his trail to be clean least he is followed. The first ghoul appeared ugly thing eyes red and mouth-frothing for flesh. A.K. bashed it with his buckler as its maw snapped at him. Off-balance the creature didn’t see the swing of A.K.'s ax beheaded instantly. Another ghoul circled around more cautious than its predecessor. A.K. rushed towards the ghoul activating [Fierce Chop] muscle expanding the ax split the skull of the ghoul and continued its momentum downwards. A.K. felt his stamina drain. Checking his stamina gauge he saw the chop took around 50 points of stamina from him. A.K. turned around and continued his sprint down the tunnel disappearing into the darkness.