[Ding!]
[System Notification]
[Congratulations, Player. You have acquired the Apocalypse Soul System.]
[Acquisition in progress. Please wait.]
[Progress: 3%...15%...22%...47%...69%...84%...99%...]
[ Acquisition Complete!]
[You have obtained the strongest system.]
[Your wishes are my command.]
[Your daily quests and tasks will soon begin. Get ready.]
[ Good luck player!]
'Why's that all I can remember about that day...'
Sigh
Kai sighed soft as he turned his gaze to his prior objective- the fridge, which contained his dinner.
The sound of the fridge door creaked open.
Kai's tired gaze slid over the contents inside. His stomach rumbled as it grumbled in protest against the emptiness of the fridge.
He reached inside, pulling out a plate of cold, half-eaten food. A soggy slice of bread with some leftover meat, barely warm—barely edible. It wasn't much, but it was all he had.
'Well...I guess this is dinner...'
He sighed, the weight of the day settling on his shoulders. This was his life: a routine of barely scraping by, always on the brink.
He picked up the plate and walked toward the small dining table in the corner of his apartment.
His surroundings were as modest as they came: peeling walls, a flickering light bulb overhead, the quiet hum of a city outside that never seemed to sleep.
He sat, stared at the food, and with an almost defeated shrug, began to eat.
It was tasteless, cold, and lacking any real satisfaction, but he didn't mind. This was his reality, and he'd long since stopped complaining about it.
Kai Draven.
He was a lean, 18 year old boy, whose of years of constant physical struggle.
His white hair was unkempt, as though he hadn't bothered to tame it in days. But it wasn't his hair that drew attention. It was his eyes—one red, the other blue. An anomaly. Intriguing. He wasn't just another face in the crowd. Not to the ones who noticed.
But Kai, in his worn-out state, didn't care about what others thought.
You see, he didn't want this life.
The world, as it seemed, was filled with peace but for the past thousands of years, humanity had been driven to a point of extinction due to the presence of the malevolent entities known as the Nightmare devils.
Beings believed to have arised as a result of man's wicked nature.
However, as evil evolved into the Nightmare Devils, so did humans and this lead to the evolution of Socerers- Humans who had unbelievable abilities capable of harming the Nightmare Devils. They were man's kind last hope and for the past few decades, they had managed to reduce the risk casualties caused by Nightmare Devils.
Kai- on the other hand- didn't want to be the one to face Nightmare Devils day after day.
Not that he was a coward, but he simply hated putting his life on the line on the daily with nothing to show for it.
The legacy of the Draven family—one of the most powerful names in the world of sorcery—had died out with his parents.
Kai was the last of his name, left alone in this chaotic, broken world lost to the apocalypse.
The mission tonight felt different, though. His gut twisted with a cold sense of inevitability as he chewed on the last bite of his meal.
'Dang it. I would have loved to have a pizza as my last meal. But now I have to settle for some stale bread.'
He glanced at the clock.
' a few minutes past 10 p.m.' His heart sank.
'Damn it.'
He was going to be late again. He couldn't afford to be late, not with the kind of work he did.
He looked down at his leg—a reminder of the last mission. His leg had been shredded by the claws of a Nightmare Devil, and if not for the healers who worked quickly to stabilize him, he would've been crippled.
'The last time I was late to a raid I almost lost my leg. It might have just been a coincidence or karma. But I really don't wanna take a chance of it being karma.'
Kai stood, pushing the empty plate aside. He didn't even bother to clean up.
With a reluctant sigh, he made his way to the small couch where his clothes were waiting.
Worn-out trousers, old sneakers, a faded black long-sleeve shirt—nothing special, nothing that screamed 'sorcerer.' But it was all he had.
He pulled it on quickly, grabbed the ragged bag by the door, and slung it over his shoulder.
"Alright," he muttered to himself.
"Let's get this over with."
The door creaked open, and Kai stepped into the night.
***
The city outside was eerily calm. The distant sound of vehicles, the occasional shout, and the hum of neon lights painted the night with an unnatural vibrancy.
Kai walked through the dimly lit streets, hands shoved deep into his pockets, his thoughts swirling.
'If I had a few bucks left I could have just boarded a taxi...it'd be a lost stressful than draining the little energy I have on a trek.'
His eyes narrowed, and he quickened his pace. The sooner he got to the site, the sooner he could finish the job, and the sooner he could get his pay check and get a nice meal... or maybe not.
You see they were six classes of sorcerers, viz:
☆Seeker Class- Rank 6
☆Vanguard Class- Rank 5
☆Specter Class- Rank 4
☆Obsidian Class-Rank 3
☆Titan Class-Rank 2
☆Eternal Class-Rank 1
But Kai, who came from a legacy possessing the strongest of the strong in sorcery was the weakest of the weak ironically.
As a seeker, he was bearly able to complete seeker class raids and most times ended up extremely injured or forced to escape for his life. So ofcourse he felt the usual chills as his body screamed at him to not go in for the job today.
A nagging thought crept into his mind.
' Why was he so worried about this one? After all, he'd survived dozens of raids before. Right? I can't keep trembling before any raid, it ain't right.'
The closer he got to the raid's location, the more unsettled he felt. There was something in the air—a shift in the mana, the way the city felt too still, too quiet.
Kai shook his head, trying to dispel the unease.
"I'm being paranoid," he muttered, gritting his teeth.
"I've been in worse situations."
His thoughts flickered back to the last time he had a decent meal. Pizza. Lasagna. The kind of comfort food that made him feel normal again. He hadn't had anything close to that in months. He laughed bitterly to himself.
"Maybe this job will pay enough to get a pizza... if I survive, that is."
He paused his progression and his hand reached into his pocket, fingers brushing against a crumpled paper.
He pulled it out, smoothing it against the cold night air. It was a letter detailing the address of the raid.
His gaze flicked down, scanning the words, and then he looked up. There it was—written on the mailbox right in front of him, the same address.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
The house ahead of him was an imposing, desolate mansion. Its dark, twisted architecture loomed over the street, a sight that would send most people running.
The windows were shattered, the front door hanging ajar. But something about it—the energy surrounding it—made Kai pause. It was absolutely obvious that a Nightmare Devil resided there.
"Couldn't get any creepier, could it?" he muttered to himself. But despite his words, he felt the chill creep up his spine.
***
Kai's breath caught in his throat as his senses flared. The mana—he could feel it, pulsing from the house like a tidal wave. It wasn't Seeker-level mana. It wasn't even Vanguard-level. It was something far stronger.
'Something isn't right. Seekers aren't supposed to be sent for missions above our class. The mana emitting from this house doesn't feel familiar, so could it be a mistake from the association or is it just my paranoia.'
His pulse quickened. The last time he'd felt anything like this, it had nearly cost him his life.
He wasn't prepared for this.
He was barely hanging on as a Seeker and The worst part? He was the heir to the Draven legacy, the weakest sorcerer of the greatest family in history.
A disgrace. A failure.
Kai clenched his fists, the chill on his hands making his skin crawl.
"No way. The association keeps the interest of their workers in mind during mission assignment. There's no way they'd assign me to a mission far above my rank." he whispered, barely believing it.
But before he could think further, something sharp, something immediate, caught his attention, coming from his rear.
Wasting no time, he turned, and before he could react, something moved out of the corner of his eye.
His heart skipped a beat, and a shriek tore from his throat.
"Oh no..."