Lady Althea found herself standing in the middle of a war-torn street. The moon hung low, casting an eerie glow over the shattered ruins of buildings. Her comrades—warriors, mages, and healers—lay scattered, lifeless, their bodies twisted and broken. The distant sounds of destruction echoed in her ears as something impossibly fast darted through the darkness, leaving behind only a trail of shadows and a blur.
Althea staggered, her breath ragged, blood dripping from the deep cuts that covered her body. Her vision blurred, but the instinct to survive and fight pulsed within her. She clutched a glowing pendant, the last vestige of hope she had, and tried to summon a powerful entity that could end the nightmare.
She raised her trembling hand and began the chant, the ancient words of a summoning spell that could tip the tide of any battle. But as she reached the final words, nothing happened. The glow of her pendant dimmed and then faded completely.
"Empty... I have nothing left," she muttered, realizing her mana reserves were depleted.
In the distance, the blur of darkness moved again, faster than her eyes could track, snuffing out the life of another comrade with brutal efficiency. She clenched her fists, fury and despair welling up inside her. With no mana, no power left, she had only one option—a desperate, forbidden spell.
"I have no choice... If I fail, there is nothing left."
The wind stirred, the air thick with tension as she began the incantation. The forbidden words rolled off her tongue, heavy and laced with ancient power. Her voice cracked as she uttered the fateful phrase:
"I give ninety percent of my life... to summon the one who can stop this."
The darkness drew closer. The blur, the embodiment of death, came toward her as the final words left her lips.
Just as the spell's power surged within her, Althea's vision flickered and—
She woke up, gasping, drenched in sweat. Her hand instinctively flew to her chest, feeling her heartbeat thudding violently. She sat upright in her bed, her breath uneven, her body trembling as if she had just escaped from that same nightmare.
In the quiet of the night, the memory of that moment haunted her. The sacrifice, the destruction, and that unstoppable force. Her eyes stared at the ceiling, wondering if that dark power would one day find its way back to her.
---
Meanwhile, in another part of the house, Raven sat cross-legged in his room. His mind was racing with ideas. He closed his eyes, focusing on the swirling sensation of his mana, trying to find a way to harness it beyond its usual limitations.
"If I could create a space within my mind... a world where I could train," he thought, his focus sharpening.
He had read about such ideas in manga and novels from his previous life—protagonists who could enter a "mind world" or "training dimension" within themselves, allowing them to train without physical limitations. If they could do it, why couldn't he?
"If I could figure this out, it would change everything," he mused.
He imagined endless landscapes—vast empty spaces where he could practice his wind manipulation and train his newly acquired regeneration ability.
As he concentrated deeper, willing his thoughts to form the structure of a world within his mind, the hazy outline of a training space began to take shape. It wasn't perfect, but it was something—a step toward mastering a technique that could push him beyond the limits of his physical self.
Just as he was lost in thought, a notification appeared before him, bright and sudden:
System Notification: One chance to evolve any one of your skills randomly between 1 to 3 levels. Can only be used on current abilities.
Raven's eyes widened as he read the notification. The opportunity was rare, something he hadn't expected, and the possibilities raced through his mind.
''System use it on... ''