The selection began instantly.
The air twisted.
WHOOSH—!
The floor beneath my feet began to glow, filling my veins with a new, deep energy.
Several elemental energies encircled me only to vanish almost immediately.
Fire, wind, lightning, shadow, crystal, mist… and many more.
I felt them.
They were loud and desperate.
But I didn't flinch.
They seemed to be fighting, to be the one to choose me.
I stood in the middle, unmoved.
I let them fight.
Let them choose.
I wasn't desperate. I wasn't like the others, trembling in awe. I'd been cast aside before—on Earth, in that dumpster fire of a life.
I knew what it meant to be rejected. I knew how to start from zero.
After what seemed like an eternity, their skirmish stopped.
Most fled.
Fire burned and died.
Wind howled and faded.
Lightning crackled and vanished.
Did they reject me?
Or did I reject them?
It didn't matter.
My eyes scanned my body. Two energies still encircled me in perfect harmony, creating a perfect balance like yin-yang.
They didn't battle.
They… danced.
BOOM—!!!
Suddenly a dam burst open inside me with a thundering sound.
Shff~!
The first energy slid into me like liquid night.
It was quick and sharp like something slipping through dimensions. It slithered into my veins almost invisibly.
Shadow.
I felt it slide behind my eyes.
It stood… watching, observing everything with a serene silence.
And then—
Tzzk~! Tzzk~!
My head snapped back.
My vision blurred and then sharpened like a broken glass.
It wasn't pain.
It was clarity.
My thoughts moved like lightning. Hundreds of new ideas collided and stitched together in perfect rhythm in mere seconds, only to be replaced a moment later.
This wasn't elemental.
This was internal.
Psychic.
I saw things before they moved.
Felt decisions as they were being made.
I didn't just think faster.
I understood faster.
Shadow and psychic.
These were my two elements. A small, crooked smile tugged at my lips.
'Not bad.'
Then something else moved, a grimoire, my grimoire, a black one of summoning type with a purple hue.
Swish~!
It descended from the third floor of the library.
But unlike the elements, something felt off. Its power felt lackluster as it landed into my hands.
Rings started forming on it, one after another.
First.
Then second.
Followed by a third.
But then… it stopped. No, it felt like something stopped it forcefully.
An obsidian-black spirit card with 3-ring potential followed it. But even the card… was an egg. The spirit beast hadn't hatched yet.
I stared down at the book as the card fused with its first page, a name etching itself onto the page beside the card in glowing ink:
—
Grimoire Type: Summoning
Elements: Shadow & Psychic
Base Form: Nyxveil, the Veil of Night
Max Ring Potential: 3 Rings
Description:
Nyxveil moves silently through shadows, blending darkness with psychic grace. It can cloak its presence or pierce minds, striking unseen and unsettling foes with swift precision and illusions.
—
My smile faltered as a ring formed around my heart.
I officially became an Arcane, but a bitter taste still lingered in my mouth.
'A 3-star grimoire,'. The world was playing a sick joke on me once again. Even in another world, there was no escape for me.
The crowd behind me began to murmur.
"Three rings?"
"What a waste of such rare elements…"
"How disappointing."
I didn't hear the rest.
Didn't need to.
They didn't matter.
'Of course.'
In a world where nine-ringed prodigies die young, torn apart by ambition and enemies, I was handed one of the weakest books in the room.
Once Again.
Just like on Earth.
I was starting at the bottom of the food chain.
"A 3-star summoning grimoire of the shadow/psychic type," announced Rosei once again. His voice carrying a sense of pity.
I turned around while holding my grimoire.
It wasn't the strongest, but I didn't care.
You know, there was a saying.
"There are no excuses—only weak people."
But then… I felt something else as I stepped down from the podium.
A tremor.
A pulse.
The three-ringed grimoire in my hand… twitched.
I focused my eyes on it as the shaking started getting out of control.
The shadow energy in my veins froze.
The psychic hum inside my skull silenced instantly.
Time seems to be slowing down to the point it completely stopped. I looked around only to find everything frozen.
People with mouths half-open, Rosei floating upside down mid-air, and some fat kid with his finger halfway up his nose. They were all still.
'What the hell...?'
My brain raced through every possible explanation.
Every instinct screamed—
'Watch.'
And I obeyed.
Clank~! Clank~!
I lifted my head upwards. Something metallic and heavy seemed to be descending.
'What is that?' I questioned myself.
And then I saw it.
A second book.
A dark golden one, with seven silver rings on top and a weapon symbol in the middle.
But it wasn't peaceful like the others.
It thrashed—like it was angry.
'A weapon type,' I came to a swift conclusion.
It appeared from what seemed to be the highest floor of the library.
Chains bound it tightly as if to stop anyone from opening it.
CLINK!
Then the chains moved. They collided into each other, trying to break free.
CLINK!
With every passing second, the rebel seemed to be growing stronger.
Ba… Thump! Ba… Thump!
My mouth went dry, and my heartbeat quickened.
And then…
CLINK! SHNNNK—
With a heavy metal sound, the chains snapped. The book was free. Unrestrained and free to force its will.
Flip~
It flipped open right in front of my face. A single page turned, making me take a step back.
On the first page, a golden etched card glowed.
"Ugh—dammit!" I shielded my eyes. "Do you guys always have to be so dramatic?!"
But there was no time to joke.
SHHHNK!
Several chains shot out of the golden book.
My eyes barely had time to widen.
"Wh—?!"
The word barely left my lips before instinct shoved me into motion.
I threw myself to the left, muscles screaming, adrenaline flooding every inch of my body.
I tried to run, but I was too slow. A chain held my leg.
'Move, move god-dammit.'
I kicked, clawed, and twisted.
But it didn't matter. A second chain coiled around my wrist. A third wrapped around my ribs, crushing the air from my lungs.
I couldn't breathe. It felt suffocating.
Chains wrapped every visible part of my face, except my eyes.
THWACK!
My body slammed into the wood floor like a ragdoll.
CRACK—!
I heard it. The breaking of my bones.
My spine arched unnaturally. Something deep inside popped. I couldn't tell if it was a vertebra or my will snapping in half.
Pain drowned out all logic, but I didn't pass out.
Ba… Thump! Ba… Thump!
Cold.
That's what I felt every time the chains rubbed past my skin.
I was lying on the ground, completely covered in chains as the ominous grimoire floated above.
My limbs jerked uselessly.
Only my eyes still moved, darting frantically from side to side.
Suddenly a tingling sensation crept on my neck.
Shlkk—!
Sharp, thick needles grew out of chains and pierced deep into my neck like spears.
'GHH—!'
It pained, but no words came. My mouth shut with a cold metallic taste, leaving no room for sound.
Drip! Drip!
The sound of dripping blood echoed unnaturally loud in my ears.
Drip...!
It was my blood.
Running down my throat, my chin, my neck. Soaking my chest.
Drop by drop.
Not one, not two, but dozens of needles dug deeper into my vocal cords with every passing second.
My body jerked reflexively, trying to rebel, but the chains held me still.
'Make it stop. Just make it stop…'
I urged.
But nothing changed. The needles grew bigger with time. Some curved like hooks and spread across even more.
The taste of iron flooded my tongue. Not just from the chains—
But from my own blood.
They plunged into my shoulders. My thighs. My stomach.
Shunk! Shunk! SHUNK!
Stabbing me, over and over.
Splurt!
Blood started gushing out like water.
What started as mere drops turned into streams of red liquid flowing down my body onto the floor.
I began to shiver.
The cold.
The pain.
The weight.
I was dying as my eyes went to my grimoire, my only power in this world.
My last hope.
Just inches away from me on the floor.
I tried to move my hand to try to reach for it, but the needles tore through my flesh.
Every movement brought a greater wave of pain than before.
'Move,' ignoring the pain, I dragged my body forward.
I moved.
Crawling like a dying beast.
My nails snapped, and my skin tore as I flipped open the book with my broken and disjointed fingers.
'When did they become like this?'
I had no clue.
Blood smeared all over the black book, but I didn't care.
I called him out in my mind. The being resting in the egg. He had to help me.
'Come forth, Nyxveil.'
The card glowed and disappeared upon my call.
A small egg appeared right in front of my eyes. I tried to concentrate energy into the egg, and it showed some signs of hatching.
Crack!
'Faster, faster. I don't have much time.'
And then—
A needle broke through my skull with precise accuracy. Parts of my skull fell right before my eyes.
White pieces of shattered bone.
'Argh!!'
It hurt, it hurt like hell.
Death seemed a more viable option at this moment.
But I wasn't going to give up. Not until i paid back the motherfucker who caused this torture.
A gaping wound formed right in the middle of my forehead as I wriggled in pain.
My brain was visible right through my skull as something dripped out of my brain.
drip… drip…
Thick, syrupy.
Not blood. Not sweat.
Cerebral fluid.
My brain was leaking.
It dripped down the broken skull, mixing with the blood.
The stench alone was enough to make me pass out.
But the pain—
The pain didn't let me escape.
It kept me here.
Alive.
'ARGHH—!!'
Thick metallic needles continued to tear through my flesh.
Ignoring it all, I gave one final push. Concentrating all the energy I had left behind, I limped to the black-egg…
… And slammed my forehead—
CRACK—!
—into the egg and gave it the strongest head-butt I possibly could.
'Come out, you damn bastard.'
Finally, the egg burst open into a violet light, and a black cat with two tails walked out.
It didn't speak.
It just looked at me. With deep blue eyes, reminding me of the full moon on a starless night.
And then it stepped forward.
Step. Step. Step.
Lifting its little paw, it gently placed it on the chains.
And in an instant—
The chains vanished with the grimoire, and two glowing rings formed on my second heart. The one at the right.
'Wait, second heart?'
I don't care. I closed my eyes.
But just before I blacked out, I met the cat's gaze again.
It blinked once. Slowly.
And for the first time—
I felt safe.