"You have been assigned a Talent."
"Processing... Classifying..."
"Warning: Detected Anomalous Trait — Code Red."
Kael Drayven had always hated the silence of the Awakening Room.
It was too clean. Too white. Too sterile—like death in disguise.
Today, a hundred ten-year-olds, including Kael, stood barefoot on glowing blue tiles arranged in a perfect grid. Each square pulsed faintly under their feet, feeding energy into the ancient System Node embedded in the floor. Crystal panels surrounded them, showing 3D holographic projections of stats, charts, and Awakening logs of previous generations.
But despite the grandeur, this was just a regular facility in Blackgate Fortress, one of the last human bastions on Earth.
He could feel it—this day would change everything.
"Drayven, Kael."
His name echoed from the hovering AI sphere. The white orb blinked to life and floated toward him, scanning his vitals with a soft hum. Blue light swept across his face, registering his age, DNA code, and spiritual resonance.
Kael stepped forward to the center of the formation. The moment his foot touched the central glyph, his vision blurred.
The world digitized.
Initiating Player Awakening...
Scanning Genetic Core...
Analyzing Neural Sync Rate...
Calibrating Digital Interface...
Kael felt his body freeze in place. The light grew stronger, and numbers, words, and strange diagrams flooded his mind. It was like having his soul dissected by pure data.
[Welcome, Kael Drayven. Your Awakening is in progress.]
[Initializing Status Interface.]
A transparent blue screen materialized in front of him, revealing his stats.
[Player Status Interface]
Name: Kael Drayven
Age: 10
Race: Human
Level: 1
Class: Unassigned
Talent: ???
Health (HP): 100
Mana (MP): 50
Strength: 10
Agility: 9
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 12
Spirit: 13
Affinity: Unknown
Title: None
Status: [Awakened]
He blinked. Nothing looked extraordinary. Some of the other kids had higher base stats or had already awakened known Talents like "Fire Manipulation" or "Enhanced Reflexes."
But for him... the Talent space still flickered with question marks.
Then, the status screen glitched. Static surged through the panel, and the AI orb flickered violently.
[Talent Assigned: Devour]
[Classification: Forbidden]
[Warning: Galactic Sanction Alert Triggered]
[System Authority Override Detected. Scanning Blocked.]
The entire room fell silent.
Even the other kids who were joking and celebrating stopped to stare.
"W-What the hell?" murmured a nearby instructor, his face pale.
"Did that just say… Forbidden Talent?" gasped another.
The AI orb sounded an emergency alarm. Red lines blinked on its surface, and its voice turned robotic.
[Player Kael Drayven possesses an illegal Trait. Notify higher command.]
"Stop the scan!" a guard shouted.
Two soldiers rushed forward, plasma batons drawn—but the moment they stepped onto the glyph Kael was standing on, they were thrown back by a pulse of dark energy.
[Devourer Protocol Activated]
[Threat Level: Unknown]
Kael collapsed to one knee, clutching his head.
A sharp pain pierced his skull, like something alive had just awakened inside him. He saw flashes—monsters, planets collapsing, creatures with dozens of eyes bowing to a shadow.
He could hear it… a voice.
A deep, ancient voice.
"Feed. Grow. Devour."
Then the vision vanished.
Kael gasped, sweating heavily. His eyes burned slightly—when he blinked, a purple glow flickered across his irises.
"What happened to me…?"
No answer came.
Only chaos.
Outside the dome, sirens blared.
Another emergency alert screamed through the fortress.
[ALERT! District C has been breached. Incoming swarm of Class-A monsters detected.]
[All available Players, prepare for combat.]
Boom.
A loud explosion rocked the ground beneath their feet.
Blackgate Fortress had been breached again. For the fourth time this month.
The Awakening Ceremony was over.
Not because it ended—but because war had come to them again.
Two Hours Later
Kael sat quietly in a reinforced underground bunker.
The instructors had evacuated the untrained children here while armed Players battled the invading swarm. Booms echoed above them, and faint tremors made the ceiling lights flicker.
But Kael wasn't listening.
He was staring at the screen still floating in front of him.
The System Interface hadn't vanished.
In fact, it had evolved.
[Talent: Devour - Level 1]
Effect: Upon killing a target, you may absorb one random trait, skill, or stat. Efficiency increases with Talent Level.
Warning: Uncontrolled devouring may corrupt mental state. Proceed with caution.
Kills Required to Level Up Talent: 3
Beneath it was a new tab:
[Devour Log: 0 / 3]
He clenched his fists.
He didn't understand this power yet… but one thing was clear—it was not normal.
He had something the others feared. Something the System itself had marked as a threat.
Was he a monster now?
Or the only chance humanity had left?
Suddenly, the wall behind them exploded.
Screams filled the bunker.
A three-meter-tall spider-beast with bloodied claws emerged from the dust. Its eight red eyes glowed as it scanned the room filled with defenseless children.
"No…!" the caretaker screamed, raising her baton in vain.
Kael didn't think.
He moved.
The world slowed.
His body felt light—unreal.
He grabbed a broken metal pole from the ground and sprinted toward the monster.
[Combat Engaged!]
[No Weapon Detected. Warning: Success Chance - 12%. Proceed?]
Yes.
He didn't care.
The spider lashed out with a claw.
Kael slid under it, rolled, and stabbed the pole through its lower jaw.
It shrieked.
He drove the metal deeper, fueled by desperation and something darker—hunger.
A flash of purple light burst from his hands.
The creature's body convulsed violently as black particles streamed from it into Kael's chest.
[Target Defeated: Level 3 Void Spider]
[Devour Activated - Absorbing Trait…]
[Trait Gained: Razor Limbs (Unusable – Form Mismatch)]
[Stat Boost: +2 Strength, +1 Agility]
[Devour Log: 1 / 3]
Kael fell to his knees.
Panting. Shaking. Burning with adrenaline.
But stronger.
Definitely stronger.
The children were safe.
For now.
But the look the instructor gave him… was not one of praise.
It was fear.
Kael Drayven, age ten, had just killed his first monster.
And for the first time…
He hungered for more.
Chapter 2 Preview: "The Hunger Within"
Kael's second and third devours will not come so easily. As the fortress tightens its watch on him, and more players awaken, what will he do when the System starts whispering directly into his mind?
Can he control the Devourer System… or will it consume him first?