Chapter 3: God of Shadows

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: God of Shadows

"Thunder Swordsman..."

Someone recognized the class.

"It’s actually a Thunder Swordsman! This is a rarity among rarities. It comes with an innate lightning attribute, and the damage is ridiculously high!"

"And it has a paralysis effect. It’s almost unbeatable in a duel."

"I remember the last Thunder Swordsman in Westmere was already a big shot above Level 400, right?"

"The Rowan family is really going to take off now. They were already a wealthy family, and now they have a prodigy."

Caleb Rowan listened to the discussions around him, and the curve of his lips grew wider and wider.

He didn’t return to the queue.

Instead, he walked straight toward Nathaniel.

The two stood two or three meters apart.

The arcs of electricity on Caleb’s body were still dancing, making a sizzling sound and giving off an extremely strong sense of pressure.

Daniel instinctively stepped in front of Nathaniel, gripping his longbow tightly and watching Caleb warily.

Caleb ignored Daniel.

He looked at Nathaniel and raised the thunder sword in his hand.

"Do you see this?"

Caleb’s voice carried an undisguised smugness.

"This is my class, Thunder Swordsman."

He took a deep breath, as if to finally release all the frustration he had accumulated over the years.

"My father only awakened as an ordinary Swordsman back then, and only later changed classes to become a Gale Swordsman."

"But me..."

His eyes sharpened.

"I’m starting as a Thunder Swordsman."

Caleb stared at Nathaniel, his gaze as sharp as a sword.

"In the future, I’ll definitely be even stronger than my father!"

"Nathaniel, what do you have to compare with me?"

Facing Caleb’s increasingly arrogant expression and the crackling electricity around him, Nathaniel didn’t even blink.

He simply nodded.

"Congratulations."

His tone was as calm as a glass of water that had cooled down.

There was no jealousy.

No fear.

Not even a hint of envy.

It was as if he’d run into a neighbor on the street and casually offered a greeting.

The wild grin on Caleb’s face suddenly froze.

It was like he had thrown a punch with all his strength, only to hit cotton.

That feeling of frustration made his chest feel tight.

"You..."

Caleb wanted to say something more.

"Next group: Nathaniel Beaumont, Clara Bennett, Marcus Reed..."

The principal’s voice rang out at just the right time.

Nathaniel didn’t spare Caleb another glance.

He bypassed him and walked straight toward the high platform.

As they brushed past each other, a slight breeze was stirred up.

Caleb glared at Nathaniel’s retreating back, his fists clenched until they cracked. The arcs of electricity around his body became even more violent due to his emotional fluctuations.

"Posturing."

He gritted his teeth and squeezed the words out.

"I’ll see what kind of thing you can awaken."

Nathaniel walked to the door of Awakening Room 10.

The door opened.

It was pitch black inside.

Nathaniel walked in.

The door slowly closed behind him, cutting off all the noise and gazes from outside.

The room wasn’t large, about ten square meters.

The four walls were made of black metal, which felt bone-chillingly cold to the touch.

The soundproofing was excellent, to the point where Nathaniel could even hear his own heartbeat.

In the center of the room was a stone pedestal.

On the pedestal sat the Awakening Crystal.

Within the crystal, it looked as if mist was flowing, emitting a faint light.

Nathaniel took a deep breath.

He walked to the stone pedestal, reached out his right hand, and pressed it onto the crystal.

The touch was very cold.

It felt like touching a block of ice.

Immediately afterward, a warm current flowed through his palm and into his body.

That was the awakening energy.

Nathaniel closed his eyes.

He felt this energy wandering through his body, finally gathering deep within his mind.

"Ding."

A crisp notification sounded in his mind.

There were no unusual phenomena.

No lightning.

No flames.

No phantom of a divine beast.

Everything was very peaceful.

Nathaniel opened his eyes.

A translucent panel appeared in front of him.

[Awakening Successful]

[Class: God of Shadows]

Nathaniel froze.

God of Shadows?

His brows furrowed slightly.

He had heard of powerful Combat Classes.

Warriors.

Mages.

Assassins.

Even rare Hidden Classes.

But he had never heard of a Class called God of Shadows.

He looked down.

More information appeared.

[Name: Nathaniel Beaumont]

[Class: God of Shadows]

[Level: 1]

[Strength: 10]

[Agility: 10]

[Spirit: 15]

[Constitution: 10]

[HP: 100]

[Shadow Energy: 100]

[Equipment: None]

[Shadow Soldiers: 0]

[Skills: Shadow Authority, Shadow Summoning, Shadow Storage, Shadow Sense, Shadow Command]

Nathaniel stared at the panel.

Five skills.

He opened the first one.

[Shadow Authority]

[The fundamental authority of the God of Shadows.]

[Allows the user to manipulate and control shadows.]

[As the Class grows stronger, the user’s authority over shadows will increase.]

Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed.

He opened the next.

[Shadow Summoning]

[Summons a Shadow Soldier from darkness.]

[Current Shadow Tier: Tier 1]

[Shadow Energy Cost: 10]

[Current Shadow Soldiers: 0]

[There is no fixed maximum number of Shadow Soldiers the user can possess.]

Nathaniel’s expression changed slightly.

No fixed maximum?

He continued.

[Shadow Storage]

[Shadow Soldiers can enter and remain within the user’s shadow when not summoned.]

Then:

[Shadow Sense]

[Allows the user to sense movement and presence through nearby shadows.]

[Current effective range: 10 meters]

And finally:

[Shadow Command]

[Allows the user to issue commands to Shadow Soldiers.]

[Command complexity increases with Class level.]

Nathaniel stood silently.

His Class wasn’t simply a summoning Class.

It was something much broader.

He could manipulate shadows.

Sense through them.

Store his soldiers inside them.

And command an army that had no fixed limit.

But there was one thing that caught his attention.

[Shadow Tier: Tier 1]

Nathaniel opened it.

[Tier 1: Shadow Soldier]

[A basic Shadow unit formed from the user’s Shadow Authority.]

[Future Shadow Tiers are locked.]

[Requirements for advancement: Unknown]

Nathaniel stared at the final line.

Unknown.

So even the Class itself didn’t tell him everything.

He slowly raised his hand.

The shadow beneath his feet moved.

Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed.

He hadn’t imagined it.

The shadow really was moving.

It spread across the floor like black ink.

Then it began to gather.

Something slowly rose from within it.

A black figure.

It had the rough shape of a human soldier, but its entire body was covered in dark armor.

There was no skin.

No visible face.

Only two faint crimson lights burned beneath its helmet.

The soldier stood silently before Nathaniel.

Then it lowered its head.

Waiting.

Nathaniel stared at it.

A new notification appeared.

[Shadow Soldier summoned successfully.]

[Shadow Soldiers: 1]

[Shadow Energy: 90/100]

Nathaniel clenched his hand.

He could feel a strange connection between himself and the creature.

It wasn’t like controlling a puppet.

The Shadow Soldier understood his command.

It simply waited for him to give one.

Nathaniel looked at the black figure.

Then at the panel.

One soldier.

That was all he could currently summon at once with his available Shadow Energy.

But there was no maximum number written anywhere.

No 10.

No 100.

No 1,000.

Nothing.

Nathaniel’s gaze became deeper.

He suddenly understood something.

The terrifying part of this Class wasn’t what he had now.

It was what this Class could become.

His eyes moved toward the dark figure.

"Stand."

The Shadow Soldier immediately straightened.

Nathaniel gave a small nod.

Then he looked toward his own shadow.

If one could be created...

Then what about ten?

A hundred?

A thousand?

Nathaniel’s lips slowly curved upward.

Outside this room, thousands of students were waiting to discover what Class the son of two Level 400 powerhouses had awakened.

They expected a powerful Combat Class.

Perhaps even a rare Hidden Class.

Nobody knew what had just awakened inside Room 10.

Nobody knew that the quiet young man standing inside that room had received a Class that did not need a powerful weapon.

He didn’t need a legendary sword.

He didn’t need an ancient artifact.

He had darkness.

And darkness was everywhere.

Nathaniel looked at the Shadow Soldier standing before him.

For the first time since entering the Awakening Room, his calm expression changed.

A faint smile appeared.

"Interesting."

The darkness beneath his feet moved once again.

This time, Nathaniel reached toward it.

The shadow began to spread.