Chapter Three – Awakening
Serena raised her head, eyes wide and searching. "What… was that?"
Sam didn't answer. The echo of the chime lingered in the air, vibrating in his chest like a living thing. A faint shimmer of light rippled through the room—dust motes catching in it like stars in fog.
Then, outside, the horizon began to bleed crimson.
He was about to speak when something flashed before his eyes—so sudden and vivid that he flinched back.
A translucent panel hovered in the air, letters forming in perfect symmetry:
AWAKENING TALENT…
A thin white bar appeared beneath the words, filling faster than his racing heartbeat.
AWAKENING COMPLETE.
Sam didn't need to read further to know something had changed. He felt it—like a pulse through the ground, through the air, through every cell of his body. The world itself had shifted, quietly rewriting its own rules.
When he focused again, new words waited on the glowing pane.
STATUS
Name: Sam Walker
Age: 19
Rank: F (0/100)
Talent: Devour (SSS / Unique)
Attributes: Strength: 6 | Agility: 5 | Endurance: 4 | Mana: 1 | Mental: 2
Skills: None
The single word Devour drew his eye like a magnet.
As he focused on it, the text expanded, revealing more lines.
Devour (SSS / Unique) — Absorb the essence of a defeated entity to gain a portion of their stats, skills, or talents. Efficiency scales with the target's strength.
Sam's mouth went dry. He didn't need to be told what this was. Although he works at a gym, he reads a lot of books in his free time and those includes novels too. So he recognized the trope at a glance.
'What the hell?'
He skimmed down to his attributes and frowned. "So low…" he muttered.
Before he could dive deeper, sudden heat flared beneath him.
"What the—"
He jumped back, nearly tripping over the sofa. Flames bloomed around Serena's body like a living aura. Her eyes were closed, her expression peaceful, as if she were basking in the fire rather than burning.
"Serena!" Sam called, stepping forward, knife still in hand.
The fire didn't spread. It didn't scorch the furniture or darken her clothes. It simply danced—beautiful and terrifying.
When she finally opened her eyes, twin embers burned in her pupils, bright and alive.
Sam froze. Those crimson irises locked on him with an intensity that stole his breath. Her previous brown eyes were gone replaced by this…..
"Ehh… why are you looking at me like that?" Serena asked, blinking at his expression. Then a mischievous thought flickered through her head—Don't tell me he's finally realized my supreme beauty?
Sam blinked rapidly, shaking off the daze her gaze put him in. "What was that just now?"
"What was what?" she replied, tilting her head, genuinely confused.
"Your eyes. You were… on fire," he said. The words felt clumsy—how to describe something like that? He'd felt the heat, yet it hadn't hurt him. Her clothes were untouched. It defied reason.
"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked, brow furrowed.
He opened his mouth to explain, but she cut in first. "Never mind that—did you also get a weird screen?"
Sam exhaled, relieved she was talking normally again, and nodded.
"Quick, tell me what it says!" she demanded, leaning forward.
"Okay, but you have to tell me yours too," Sam countered, half-serious.
"Fine, fine! Now spill."
He recited his status and talent in full detail.
Her jaw dropped. "You have an SSS-rank talent? That's higher than mine!" she said, pouting dramatically.
"Oh? What's yours?" Sam asked, curiosity replacing the tension for a moment.
"It's S-rank. [Flame Enchantress]," she said proudly.
He raised an eyebrow. "And what does that do?"
Serena's gaze flickered to her own glowing interface. She read aloud, her voice carrying a faint echo of awe:
[Flame Enchantress] (S) — Born in flame. Now, you command its heart.
Heat bends to your will, light follows your breath. What once burned uncontrolled now dances to your touch—elegant, fierce, and unending.
Sam couldn't help but whistle softly. "That's… poetic."
"Of course it is," she said, tossing her hair with mock pride. "Even this system knows I'm amazing."
"What about your attributes?" he asked, smiling faintly despite everything.
"Strength: 3, Agility: 2, Endurance—"
She stopped.
Sam's head swung toward her, following her gaze.
In the middle of the living room, the air had begun to crack.
A thin black line shimmered above the floor, jagged and unnatural—like a tear across invisible glass. The sound was faint at first, a soft crackle that grew sharper, louder, until it echoed like shattering crystal.
The rift widened. Beyond it pulsed a darkness that felt all kinds of oppressive and wrong.
It was different from the one showed on the television as it was barely seven feet tall but it still carried a pressure that was greatly disturbing. Like witnessing something that shouldn't be.
As if that was not enough, Sam could swear he saw a silhouette moving beneath the darkness.