Kai's eyes slowly opened. He clutched his head, squeezing it hard.
"Ahh… it hurts too much."
His vision blurred, the mind spinning, and he realized he was lying on cold, black familiar metallic ground.
He waited until the pounding in his skull eased. Mist curled endlessly around him.
"Trial realm… ahhh…" He let out a breath, then forced his head up—notifications floated before him, blinking. He ignored them for now.
Instead, his mind replayed the memory. "I was drowning… and that monkey was chewing my—" His eyes widened. He instantly checked his hand which was now completely intact.
"I guess it confirms it– if I get hurt or die there, it won't affect me here." He exhaled sharply, noting it down in his head, though the thought only raised more questions.
More and more questions flooded in his mind as he replayed everything again.
"The system said HP decreases by 1 every minute. Then why was it dropping so fast? And.. when I just moved, why was I still drowning? Did thirty seconds pass that quickly?"
His mind processed everything as he stared at the mist around him.
Kai rested his hand on his chin, tilting his head slightly. With his other finger, he tapped his temple in thought.
"Everything was fine until that monkey showed up. Time sped up for me the moment I saw its creepy figure. Creepy… fear… unstable…" He exhaled sharply. "Yes. I was too scared."
He closed his eyes again and thought for a while.
"What if, in that place… something changes depending on pulse rate of blood?"
He went silent, staring into the mist.
He made a mental note to test this possibility and took some deep breaths to calm down.
"Guess, I need to start meditation."
Kai lifted his torso and got into a sitting position, glancing at the system notifications.
"Let's see…"
---
[Congratulations! You've successfully completed the tutorial trial]
The message brought a faint smile to his face — just as he guessed, it was a tutorial.
[+2 Free Stats Gained]
[+2 HP backup]
[+10 Skill Points]
[+1 Fragment of the Shadow Element]
—
HP backup! Wait! There's something wrong I think..
Oh! I now get it. It's for.the shadow realm where HP decreasing to 0 will imply me failing the trial.
Although he continued with the system.
—
[Trial Completed for the First Time]
[Hidden Quest Completed]
[+2 Free Stats Gained]
—
"Four free stats… wow. Guess I'm basically a god now."
—
[A New Quest Has Been Received]
[Kill the Shadow Monkey]
[Reward: +1 System Skill]
—
"Now that's what I'd happily do," he muttered, smirking. That little nightmare won't get away next time.
—
['Trials' Tab Has Been Unlocked]
—
[Skill 'Assess' Has Been Leveled Up]
[Now Provides More Relevant Information]
—
['Shadow Skills' Tab Has Been Unlocked]
[A New Shadow Skill Has Been Gained]
[Shadow Resist (Passive) (Lv.1)]
[Shadow Resistance: 20%]
[Allows User to Resist External Shadow Abilities]
[(Doesn't Affect Time Distortion)]
[Cost: None]
—
Kai's eyes widened as he read the last notification.
"Time distortion?!"
"I THINK I GET IT NOW, It was the perception of TIME that was being changed for me and it was related to the stability of my mind."
It was the end of the notification though he was a bit happy because he had figured something out.
Back on the home screen, he noticed a small white dot glowing beside the profile icon.
"Guess something new's there."
He tapped it open.
—
[User: Kai Zen]
[HP: 01 / 20]
[Ability: Shadow]
[Vital Flux: 20/20]
[Soulmark Status: Awakened (10%)]
—
Kai frowned.
"So… it's not 'System' anymore. It's 'Shadow.' And only partial at that." He sighed.
"Figures."
"Is it because of the trial? Does that mean the trials are how you gain your abilities?"
He wasn't sure. Maybe everyone with a soulmark had a system — maybe not. He'd soon find out in the Demon Militarization Institute — the academy built for those gifted with soulmarks.
Students without a soulmark, or without potential, were expelled — unless they had the money to buy their spot. Those who didn't… were done for.
And those who stayed without power? They usually ended up as puppets for the strong.
"And what the heck is that vital flux? It wasn't there before, is it related to soulmark?"
He clicked the 'about' botton.
[Vital Flux (VF Points): Energy pool used to activate Shadow abilities. Consumption depends on skill intensity or Shadow's workload. Replenishes over time or via recovery items.]
Oo.. It's getting interesting
Kai exhaled slowly. "I hope the system gives me something useful…"
He tapped the new [Trials] tab.
—
[Trials]
[Shadow Route]
—
He opened the trial description.
—
[Trials is a soulmark function that allows the user to reach and master their peak potential by collecting elemental fragments.]
—
"Peak potential, huh?" He muttered, leaning back. "So the best version of myself... This is insane."
He switched to the [Shadow Route].
[0 Trials Completed]
A smile crept onto his face. "Yeah… I get it now. If I collect all the shadow fragments, I'll unlock the full shadow ability instead of just this partial thing. The fragments are like pieces — I've gotta collect them all to complete the picture."
He laid back on the cold, dark ground and tried opening the other routes.
[Do You Want to Initiate the Trial?]
[Yes] [No]
"Nope." He shook his head quickly. "I'm done for today."
Everything that happened had already overloaded his brain. He needed a break.
"Now, what do I do with these free stats?"
[4 Free Stats Available]
He opened his current attributes.
—
[Strength: 12]
[Stamina: 22]
[Agility: 12]
[Acuity: 15]
—
He remembered how the monkey had appeared — fast, almost teleporting.
"I should increase my Agility," he decided.
[+4 Agility Assigned]
He suddenly felt a surge of life energy in him.
It feels good
I can feel my body is now way more agile now!
—
[Agility: 16]
—
"Alright… time to check what has changed"
He inhaled deeply and started his test. He broke into a run into a random direction.
[Do you want to initiate the trial?]
[Yes] [No]
Ignoring the system panel he focused on his speed which was insanely faster than before.
"Whoa! Feels like I'm the flash now!!" he was surely amazed. "That's… PROGRESS."
There was a big smile, on his face, after a while.
After catching his breath, he finally felt ready to leave this place without a single worry.
[Do You Want to Exit?]
[Yes] [No]
"I wonder if THIS was the tutorial then how would a real Trial be like?"