My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

The hand crept in, fingers twisting unnaturally as it slithered across the tent floor, reaching for the first unsuspecting victim.

Sylvia.

Its grotesque, elongated fingers wrapped around her ankle.

Her eyes snapped open—just in time to feel herself being yanked into the darkness.

A bloodcurdling scream tore from her throat.

“EVANGELINE! LIGHT!”

Damon’s roar cut through the night. His body surged forward on instinct, fingers locking around Sylvia’s arms as she was ripped from the tent.

They tumbled out past the dead campfire, dragged along by an unseen force.

Evangeline reacted instantly. A burst of blinding light erupted from her hands, swallowing the entire clearing in a radiant glow.

The others jolted awake, eyes wild with confusion.

Xander lunged, catching Damon’s waist. His gravity magic flared, making them heavier in an attempt to stop the pull—but it didn’t work.

Matlock bit his lip, flinging a wave of ice at the darkness. It should have hit something. But there was nothing there—only the grotesque hand stretching into the void of the woods, dragging Sylvia away.

And the laughter.

Soft, childlike giggles floated through the trees.

Leona’s fists clenched. She knew the rule: If you see something, no you didn’t.

But rules be damned.

She saw it.

And it was attacking them.

Her grip tightened around her greatsword as she took a deep breath.

Electricity surged down her blade, and she unleashed a violent arc of lightning at the arm. The glow of her magic crackled against Evangeline’s magic light, merging into something even brighter.

Sylvia kicked and thrashed, fighting to free herself.

Leona leaped forward, bringing her sword down in a powerful swing—

It passed right through.

The blade slammed into the dirt, sending sparks flying.

Her heart stopped.

“I—I can’t hit it…” Her voice was barely a whisper.

Damon’s teeth clenched. His grip on Sylvia tightened.

This was the worst outcome—something they couldn’t touch.

Even with magic.

Matlock sent another sheet of ice toward the hand. It shattered uselessly against the air.

And the voice in the dark sang.

“Jejejejeje… hahaha… come with me, little elf… come with me… give me your organs… give me your skin…”

Mocking. Taunting.

Evangeline gritted her teeth. Light flared violently around her as she raised her rapier.

No hesitation.

“Radiant Blade.”

The weapon hummed.

She slashed—

And the spectral arm severed.

Like a hot knife through butter.

Sylvia kicked off the dismembered limb and scrambled into Damon’s arms, eyes locked on the darkness.

For a moment—just a moment—the forest was silent.

Damon’s gaze flicked to Evangeline. His mind raced. ‘Her power… it’s different. Her class—’

A shriek tore through the night.

Pain.

Agony.

“MY ARM! MY ARM! YOU TOOK MY ARM!”

Then—laughter.

Twisted. Deranged.

“JEJEJE… I WILL TAKE ALL YOUR ORGANS!”

The air turned suffocating.

All around them, more arms rose from the woods.

Hundreds.

Too many.

Dark, writhing limbs emerged from the trees, their grotesque fingers reaching—

And at the top of each palm…

Mouths.

Wide, grinning mouths with needle-like teeth.

And above them—

A single, bloodshot eye.

Watching.

“I see you…”

“You see me…”

“I’M COMING IN.”

The rules were broken.

They had acknowledged it.

And now, the horror in the mountains wanted blood.

Damon gritted his teeth, his exhaustion morphing into something colder. He was tired. Tired of being treated like prey in these cursed mountains, tired of running, tired of barely surviving. His lowly existence gnawed at him, filling him with frustration, but what could he do except run, hide, and pray that he lived to see another day?

“Evangeline, create a barrier! Your magic is affecting it!”

Evangeline’s body was already glowing, her radiant aura rising higher and higher, like a sun in the darkness. She was changing, ascending. She was reaching her first class. Her transformation was accelerating, but her face was pale, exhausted.

“I can’t hold for too long…” she whispered.

He nodded grimly. She didn’t have the mana to sustain the incoming attacks for long. Still, she raised her hands, and a luminous barrier of light magic flared around them.

The hands struck the barrier.

Sizzling burns and cracks spread across its surface as the monstrous limbs slammed against it over and over again, trying to break through.

Sylvia bit her lip, fingers tightening around her bow. A blinding glow of lunar magic coiled around the weapon, her expression dark with anger. She aimed towards where the creature should be, deep within the forest, and let the arrow fly.

Like a meteor, it shot forward, tearing through the trees, the sheer force shaking the ground as it thundered toward its target—

The spirit slapped it away.

Effortlessly.

“Jejejeje… your power lacks purification… let me eat you… let me consume you…”

The glow of Evangeline’s magic finally revealed the horror that Damon had already seen.

Unlike the others, Damon had always been cursed with the ability to see in the darkness of this forsaken place. He had seen the eyes watching them before, and now, under the light, the others finally saw it too.

A monstrous being.

A grotesque mass of arms, an endless tangle of limbs, as if an entire graveyard of bodies had been fused into a single entity. Pale, grey flesh stretched unnaturally over its form, and embedded in its body—

Eyes.

So many eyes.

The others recoiled, horror twisting their features.

Damon tore his gaze away, forcing himself to act.

“Xander, support Evangeline! We need to rebuild the fire and shut the tent!”

Xander quickly moved to Evangeline’s side, his gravity magic steadying her. The fire was easy to reignite—they piled on more wood, and soon, flames roared brightly against the darkness.

But Evangeline’s glow was fading. Her breathing was weak, her body unsteady.

“Get in the tent! Now!” Damon ordered, ushering the others inside.

They scrambled in without hesitation.

“Evangeline, now!”

She slowly backed away toward the tent, keeping her light blazing as long as she could. At the very last moment, she collapsed inside, and Damon zipped the tent shut.

Outside, the creature roared.

The ground shook as it slammed its massive limbs around them.

“Let me in… let me in… jejeje… let me in!”

But it couldn’t.

Even a being like that had to follow the rules of the mountain. It circled them, its endless hands twitching and clawing at the earth.

Damon exhaled sharply, turning his gaze to Evangeline. She lay motionless against him, her body radiating warmth. But as he touched her, his eyes narrowed.

Something was wrong.

Dark patches spread along her neck, swollen and black, as if her body was infected… but it wasn’t. Her skin shimmered with a faint golden glow, as if purging the corruption on its own.

Damon’s grip tightened.

‘Did she absorb the impurities into her body… and then purify them internally?’

His stomach twisted.

If that was going to be her first-class skill—

Then it was going to kill her.