My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Their journey had been nothing short of eventful—an entire day spent fighting monsters and sneaking past the ones they couldn’t afford to engage.

The sun was close to setting, casting long shadows across the ruins. Damon exhaled, the red sheen of blood on his sword catching the crimson hue of the dying light.

He stood atop the corpse of a monster—an ugly creature with eyes in its mouth. Hideous, malformed. A shame Matia had landed the killing blow. The beast had been guarding a waypoint, but for some reason, it had chosen to attack them instead.

Which worked out. They were going to use the waypoint anyway.

Damon turned and walked toward the others. He could feel Evangeline and Sylvia glancing at him.

He needed healing—his wounds were deep and pulsing—but he didn’t ask. Both girls could heal, though Sylvia had a stronger affinity for it. Evangeline’s magic was built more for purification. She hadn’t used that skill today, not yet.

Purge. The first class skill that allowed her to remove corruption and send a portion of it into her own body. Dangerous. Costly.

“Do you need healing… you look injured…”

Damon shook his head.

He was injured, badly even. But he didn’t want their help. Not yet.

‘I want to test out that item.’

There was something in their expressions—both of them. Sylvia’s eyes carried something unspoken, but Damon already knew what was on her mind.

As for Evangeline, she had been glancing at him with a hesitant expression all day. He couldn’t guess what she wanted to say.

Now wasn’t the time for either of those conversations.

Besides, he had another option now. A new way to heal. He needed to test its effectiveness.

The new item acquisition mechanic.

“Let’s go…”

The others nodded and stood. Damon didn’t want to wait to find camp—his hair was stiff with dried blood. He reeked. No doubt everyone was eager to clean up.

He approached the waypoint. It hovered in front of them, a small monolith embedded with glowing gems that pulsed softly as it floated in place.

Damon reached out and placed his palm against the surface. As he did, a soft swirl of light blossomed from the contact—like a tiny nebula unfolding before them. Icons appeared, celestial symbols that shifted until they formed the image of Lysithara.

The city was mapped out in brilliant detail—except for the places he had never been, which remained dim and obscured.

One icon blinked—a known waypoint. Then several more.

Valarie’s voice came from his shoulder, her lips disembodied yet somehow untouched by the blood and grime that coated the rest of him. Even the crevices of his armor were caked in gore, his once-pristine gear dented and scarred.

“Select the farthest active waypoint. It’s closest to the city gates…”

Damon nodded toward the clean, floating lips. Even now, she sounded regal. The sword in his hand—Broke Bonds—was battered. It had taken a lot of punishment today. He hated the idea of losing such a fine weapon.

Still, he tapped the farthest waypoint.

The world shifted. He remained standing before a waypoint—but it wasn’t the same one.

They had arrived.

The party turned and looked up.

The sight before them stole their breath—a massive tower, impossibly tall, looming ahead. From afar, it had looked distant. Now it felt close. But it wasn’t. Its size simply defied distance.

They stared in awe.

Thud.

The shockwave launched them briefly off their feet. A giant’s step, taken miles away, yet powerful enough to collapse the ground beneath them from sheer force.

A behemoth. Somewhere out there, a monster too vast to comprehend moved through the world, unaware or uncaring of their presence.

A shadow eclipsed the sky.

A massive, three-headed reptile—snake-like and wingless—drifted above the clouds. Space tore open in its wake, reality fracturing as the beast slithered through the air. The cracks sealed slowly behind it, as if the world were desperate to stitch itself whole again.

They stood amidst spiraling ruins. Below was blackness—a chaotic spiral of space and time. Damon felt an instinctive, bone-deep dread. A fall into that abyss would never end.

He looked up.

The wreckage climbed like a wall. A windowless tower, gutted and skeletal. Old motifs and crumbling pillars told of a forgotten age. Ahead, beyond the wreck, a vast tear in space stretched across the city—an entire section obliterated, replaced by a void.

Sylvia pointed upward.

“We have to go up. We can’t cross the rift. But there’s another waypoint further above. If we use that one, we’ll reach the other side…”

Damon nodded, eyes tracing the gaping void beneath them. It was centered in the ruined tower.

Valarie’s lips moved.

“This is the Spiral Tower,” she said. “A defensive structure. The hole below leads beneath the Crystal Tower. That’s where… or rather where Mugu imprisoned some outsiders. Even some of our allies…”

Valarie scoffed, “As for that rift that splits the city—that was a sword strike from the Blind Old Daoist.”

She smiled. “But there’s good news. Dawn Break Hollow isn’t far from here. We’re at the very heart of the city now—maybe even past it. You kids kept your promise.”

Sylvia pointed upward again.

Leona bit her lip, her gaze lingering on Valarie’s disembodied lips. Her expression was pained, wistful.

Were they really going to say goodbye?

Damon felt a pang in his chest. They had all grown used to Valarie—her calm presence, her wisdom, her sarcastic grace. She was someone they respected deeply… someone they might even admit to loving.

Saying goodbye to the last of the Ascendants hurt more than he’d expected.

“I guess this is goodbye then…” Sylvia muttered, tears glimmering at the corners of her eyes.

Valarie smiled.

“It doesn’t have to be. Let me see you kids off. I’m sure I can still make it to the gate,”

she laughed softly. “With you trouble magnets, I can’t rest in peace without making sure.”

She glanced at Damon.

“Especially with him in the lead.”

Damon smiled, a tear gleaming in his eye.

“Damn old hag.”