Shadowbound - 02 Hegemony System

A constant stabbing sensation jabbed at his mind, wrenching out an indignant groan as Jordan awoke in another plane of existence.

He opened his eyes to find himself lying face down on soft, luscious green grass. Feeling hazy, he chewed on it... it tasted sweet to his dull taste buds.

The throbbing pain pulsed persistently, agonising through his skull and filling him with a sense of disorientation.

Gazing upward with bleary eyes, he noticed the sizzling sun in the strikingly blue sky. Its rays were amiable, casting a golden glow upon the world around him. It was the kind of day when people usually go out to have fun with their friends and family, basking in the festive embrace of nature’s beauty.

Nicely done, my subconscious... I needed a dream like this after such a day...

His eyes darted around, searching for any recognisable landmark, any semblance of familiarity that could anchor him back to his old life before he fell into the dimensional rift. All he found was an expanse of dense greenery, towering trees with massive trunks, and hedges.

Then he noticed his state, or rather, the lack thereof.

“Umm, why am I completely naked?”

But soon his attention moved elsewhere. He jolted, hearing cries of wild beasts echoing.

He leapt to his feet, his eyes wandering about. The howls of animals grew louder, closing the distance between them. Even though he couldn’t see them, he couldn’t shake the feeling that danger loomed just beyond his sight, ready to pounce.

No form of fear spread in his heart, however. Considering what he had to deal with for years... Common savage beasts weren’t even enough to raise his eyebrows over.

The only problem was the stabbing pain coursing through him. There was a growing sense of weakness as well...

The rhythm of his heartbeat quickened as the danger revealed itself. A ravenous hyena, an awakened one at that. It stood chest-high and appeared fiercer than most wolves in the wilderness. Its predatory gaze locked onto Jordan, its jaws dripping with saliva at the prospect of a sumptuous meal.

Honestly, a hyena wasn’t supposed to scare him, no matter how savage it appeared. It seemed to be a tin-ranked beast at best, something he could deal with easily even before his descent into the sunless land. His expertise and power should have made him impervious to such threats.

Yet when he tried to draw darkness to shape into a weapon... it did not listen to his call.

It hadn’t registered in his mind that he wasn’t on that dead planet, but in a dream... Wait, is this a dream? Considering the vividness, could it be possible that his plan succeeded? But then what about that big-ass scorpion?

“Goddamn it!” Jordan shouted. It wasn’t a time for contemplation. His frustration grew as he bolted, still naked and defenceless, with the ravenous beast hot on his heels.

He pressed his trembling hands against his abdomen as he ran, desperately trying to grasp his primal essence, the power that enabled him to manipulate darkness and many other things.

It was hard, as if pulling a heavy anchor with bare arms. The very fabric of the obstacle fought against him. But he persisted, a familiar determination rising, driven out of desperation.

A cold sensation spread across his abdomen as Jordan finally managed to draw in a trickle of his dark essence. It was a small victory amidst the overwhelming uncertainty, yet it was all he needed to get his hopes up. His essence source was obscured by a dark sphere that hindered him from drawing any more energy. Oddly, Jordan could visualise the dark sphere in his mind’s eye, its ethereal presence shaking ever so slightly under the pressure he exerted.

An unsettling feeling gnawed at his heart, even though it felt similar to the familiar darkness. He imagined the power gushing out, taking the form of a sharp projectile.

The savage animal was barely twenty yards away. No matter how much distance Jordan covered, it would catch up eventually. The realisation urged him to give it his all and more.

His fingers trembled with power as wisps of energy pulsed through his channels. He drew more, wisp after wisp. Through sheer persistence, Jordan gathered enough energy to form at least one [Magic Bolt], or its dark counterpart. It wasn’t the most potent spell, but it would have to do.

Darkness shaped by his will, taking the form of a sharp spike with accelerating energy pulsating behind it. Almost prepared, Jordan spun around, facing the growling animal that was merely a few paces away.

“Bugger off!” he shouted, shooting the dark bolt in its direction. He believed his shot was true, aimed directly at the head of the savage creature.

The outcome was, however, not, as he expected. His bolt missed the head, only by a small margin, a couple of inches at most. The animal lurched away at the peak of the moment, while the spike tore into its torso.

It howled, predatory instincts conflicting with its sense of self-preservation. It watched him cautiously, uncertain whether to continue the chase. The brief pause allowed Jordan to gather his wits.

But in the next moment, the hyena lunged at him, closing the distance with astonishing agility.

Jordan clenched his fists, bracing himself for a close-quarters confrontation, while simultaneously drawing more essence from the black sphere. He needed to be ready for whatever came next.

With two gigantic leaps, the hyena pounced on him, growling menacingly. Jordan’s instinct screamed, and he managed to dodge the initial attack, jumping to his right. However, his evasion was short-lived, as the creature hurtled into him, its savage maw opening to take a bite of his neck.

Jordan barely blocked the hyena’s paws with his arms, momentarily halting its attack. SO fucking weak!

For the first time in the confrontation, it was Jordan’s turn to deal a blow, and he delivered a well-placed one, ramming his knee into the hyena’s midsection. The hyena screamed in a painful howl, causing its disgusting saliva to spray onto his face. When the hell did I grow so weak?

Jordan didn’t stop ramming his knee, while a jet-black dagger materialised in his palm. Without hesitation, he plunged it straight into its chest, causing red-hot blood to well up.

Jordan ignored the blood. He wasn’t disgusted; it had been a while since he felt something so warm.

The creature’s maw drew menacingly close to him, saliva dripping. Jordan channelled the essence more into the knife, as it transformed into a blade, digging deeper into its chest. The sensation of warm, crimson blood showering over him was visceral, accompanied by the creature’s last howl.

The hyena’s lifeless body slumped on top of Jordan. The whole experience left him breathless and drenched in blood. His limbs felt heavy, drained from the effort of defending against the savage beast. Exhausted, he remained still in the warm embrace of the blood and the lifeless hyena, contemplating and easing his heartbeat.

It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult...

[Congratulations! You have awakened the Aspect: Nether.]

[You have awakened Affinity-based Nether Aspect Ability: Shadowmeld (Epic)]

Jordan stopped thinking as a realisation struck him. These disembodied texts felt strangely familiar, no matter how long he hadn’t seen them.

[You have met the eligibility of the Hegemony System with flying colours.]

[Connecting the user to the Hegemony System.]

[System Clearance set at: ★]

[The class system is open to you.]

[Preparing System Interface... Please wait a moment...]

“The Hegemony system?” Jordan husked, climbing up from the warm embrace of the dead creature and its blood. “So I’m back on Earth?”

Tears streamed down from his eyes as he considered his new reality. The situation felt incredulous. But Jordan didn’t want his hope to shatter.

Even if it wasn’t Earth, he hoped it was some other world under the regime of the Hegemony System... Because anything is better than the sunless world where he was exiled for who knew how many years. Jordan had lost count.

But why was it connecting him to the system like the first time when the cataclysm came to Earth?

“I have been a certified citizen,” he mumbled. “Is this a mistake?”

[Unable to determine complete records of the user... Advising to visit the System Spirit in the local village.]

[Your status window is ready. Please select your name...]

Jordan licked his lips. Should he go with his real name, or some funky-ass title? After a second thought, he clicked his tongue, feeling too old for this.

“It’s Jordan. Jordan Eric Ames.”

[Confirming “Jordan Eric Ames”, Y/N?]

He confirmed and waited for it to show his status page. Jordan would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious... Because it had been a long time since he had laid eyes on them.

______________

[Status]

Jordan Eric Ames | Human* (Mutated) Tin Lvl 1.

Class: N/A

Subclass: N/A

Core: Tin ★ (Undefined).

Attributes:

[Might: 10]

[Speed: 10]

[Cognition: 10] 

[Spirit: 10]

[Affinity: 10]

[Recovery: 10] 

Unallocated Points: 0

Aspects: 

[Nether] 

Shadowmeld (Epic/Affinity) Lvl 1

Comprehension: 

Achievement: Shadowbound (Undefined).

System Boons: Inspection.

[System Log] [Active Quest] [Options]

________________

Jordan stared at the disembodied holographic message with a frown. Why does my status page look like the day the system came to Earth?

Hell, he had already reached Copper rank when he fell beyond the system’s regime. He hardly had a clue how far he had grown to survive the sunless land. But the system page showed all of them had regressed to 10—more than a respectable figure for a Lvl 1 human, but nothing too special.

[Please visit your nearest system village to gain a class fitting of your aspect.]

“Umm, you wouldn’t mind giving a map, would you?” he snorted. The system remained silent. He would need to work his ass up again to rise his System Clearance to gain other system abilities like Map.

The throbbing pain still circled within his head, though far weaker in intensity. He wheezed for breath, sitting up, feeling like a novice again. After a few minutes, his pain settled as he turned his gaze to the hyena. It lay still in eternal peace, its body surrounded by grisly blood.

The beast was clearly awakened, one or two-star Tin ranked at best. That meant there was a chance of getting an essence core out of it.

There really was a core in the hyena’s head as he pried it open. It was smaller than a peanut, oval, and completely black, full of foreign essence, similar to the kind coursing through his channels.

Jordan wasn’t sure what to do about it. He could, of course, absorb it to grow his power at a faster rate... But that would introduce impurity into his core.

Unwittingly, he rubbed his chin in contemplation, only to find his palm meeting smooth skin. His beard was gone.

What?!

Jordan blinked, confused. Biting his lips, he finally examined himself for the first time after he awoke in this forest. It wasn’t just his beard, but all his body hair was gone. His head was bald, smooth like a bowling ball. There were no eyebrows either. He couldn’t help but think he looked like a creepy alien, even though he couldn’t see his face.

My hair is going to grow back, right? But it wasn’t just about his hair. His body felt invigorated, brimming with life force. If he wasn’t mistaken, he even appeared younger, with his smooth dark skin devoid of all the scars he had accumulated over the years. It was like a newborn baby in an adult size.

Jordan couldn’t imagine how all that was possible. He had too little information to even start investigating.

All that after I get into safety, Jordan thought, redirecting his gaze downward. I need to find something to wear, too.

Unfortunately, just about the time, the dead hyena’s companions decided to show themselves, all howling in unison at the very sight of their lost companion or a sumptuous meal.

“Probably the latter,” Jordan mumbled as he clenched his jaw, drawing on the primal essence again.