[Reaper Class Selection Interface Initialized]
[Choose Your Tier I Path:]
• Path of the Wraithblade – Soul Assassin "Walk unseen between breaths. Strike where fate itself forgets." • Bonuses: +Speed, +Critical, +Stealth Techniques • Special Skill: Soul Sever – Ignore Physical Defense for 3 seconds.
• Path of the Hollow Monk – Deathbound Caster "Bind silence to word. Weave prayers into blades." • Bonuses: +Spirit Regeneration, +Curse Techniques, +Talisman Control • Special Skill: Requiem Sigil – Banish low-level spirits; weaken elites.
• Path of the Dread Shepherd – Spirit Commander "Call the dead, and they will follow. Break the living, and they will kneel." • Bonuses: +Minion Capacity, +Command Range, +Corruption Resistance • Special Skill: Soulbrand Legion – Summon bound wraiths to swarm target.
Ren stared at the glowing options floating before his vision.
Each one pulsed with energy. Each one offered power—real, unnatural, monstrous power.
Aria leaned against the stone archway near the exit. "Decide quickly. The wards will collapse by dusk. And I'm not hauling your half-dead body across haunted wastelands."
Ren swallowed. "What would you choose?"
She didn't even pause. "None. I'm not suicidal."
Helpful, he thought.
His eyes lingered on the first path—Wraithblade. Speed. Stealth. Precision. It called to the part of him that liked to move unseen, that had once spent nights raiding guild halls solo in VRMMOs, thriving in the shadows.
But then there was Dread Shepherd—and something inside him stirred. That subtle, chilling hunger. The one that whispered: More. The sickle—his sickle—shivered faintly from the salt circle as if responding.
Ren inhaled slowly.
"I'm choosing the Shepherd."
[Class Confirmed: Dread Shepherd – Tier I Reaper][Soul Binding Stabilized…][Command Thread Limit: 2][Class Skill Unlocked: Soulbrand Legion Lv. 1]
[Reaper Weapon: Rebinding… Complete.]
[Weapon Name: "Ashfang" – Grade: Cursed Relic][Ability: Consume spirit energy from slain foes to grow. Gains form over time.]
The sickle at the altar pulsed violently. Shadows curled around it like black smoke inhaling. It twitched once, then slithered across the floor into Ren's outstretched hand.
It felt… alive.
"You named your weapon?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I didn't. The system did."
"Great. That always ends well."
Ren stood, shakily, and slung the sickle across his back. It adjusted to him immediately—twisting, shifting—until it curved across his spine like a hooked wing.
"Let's go," he said.
The wildlands between the ruined village and Ghosthollow City were no-man's land.
Broken shrines. Burned trees. Phantom echoes drifting between wind-battered rocks. The sky here never brightened fully—just faded from deep crimson to dull gray, like the world had forgotten what true daylight looked like.
Ren and Aria traveled by narrow ridge paths, keeping to the shadows. She moved like a shadow herself, silent and sure. He trailed behind, occasionally stumbling as the system force-fed him data.
[Nearby Hostiles: 3 Spirit Wraiths – Low Grade (Decayed Soldiers)][Distance: 42 meters – Flanking formation detected][Recommendation: Bait with Soulbrand Legion to reveal position]
Ren narrowed his eyes. "Three incoming. South ridge."
"I see two," Aria murmured. "Where's the third?"
Ren's breath slowed. He focused, and the world shifted again—Soulbrand threads snapping from his fingertips into the air.
Three flickers appeared—like oil on water—surrounding them.
"There," he whispered, and unleashed the skill.
[Soulbrand Legion Activated – Bound Wraiths: 2][Entity Summoned: Fragmented Memory (Scythe-Bearer)][Entity Summoned: Childshade (Weeping Lure)]
Two phantoms exploded from his soul.
One was a cloaked specter wielding a two-handed scythe, its body stitched from old execution masks. The other—a hunched, doll-faced child-ghost dragging an iron bell behind her—shrieked as she burst from Ren's shadow and lunged at the closest wraith.
The battle was brief. The summoned spirits moved like vipers, severing the enemy with ethereal blades and banshee wails. Aria dispatched the third herself—talisman knife drawn, cutting clean through its head with a flash of silver.
When it ended, Ren staggered to one knee. Cold sweat ran down his back.
"…You okay?" Aria asked, crouching beside him.
Ren nodded. "Yeah. Just… summoning them drains more than I expected."
"They're still bound to your core. They take your breath to move."
He could feel it—those two ghosts whispering in the corner of his mind, waiting for orders, lingering like old dreams.
Aria watched him a moment longer. "You're stabilizing faster than I thought."
"Is that a compliment?"
"Don't get used to it."
By nightfall, they reached the edge of a massive cliff.
Down below, nestled in a cracked valley surrounded by bleached forest and miles of spiritual fog, stood a city of silent towers, half in ruins, half rebuilt with pale stones and chained lanterns.
Ghosthollow.
Hundreds of spirit-beacons floated above it, and massive ward-totems flickered in the walls like teeth of dead gods.
Ren stared in silence. "That's a city?"
Aria pulled her cloak tighter. "It's the city. Last place on this continent where someone like you won't be immediately burned alive."
"Comforting."
"The Pale Council is expecting you," she added. "They… don't like Reapers. But they like wild variables even less."
"Wait—who are they?"
She started walking again. "Exorcists. High-class soul-masters. Necro-monks. The council governs the balance between life and death. If you want to survive this world, you'll need their permission."
Ren frowned. "And if they don't give it?"
She paused, half turning, and for the first time, her ghost-white eye glowed faintly.
"Then I'll kill you before they do."
[Main Mission Updated: Meet the Pale Council – 00:11:07 until summons enforced][Side Mission: Survive Spirit Trial Entry Exam]
[New Warning: Spirit Lords have sensed your awakening. Entities en route. Stay hidden.]
Ren's stomach sank as the system flickered with red glyphs.
"This isn't over, is it?" he whispered.
Aria didn't turn. "It's barely begun."