Chapter 1: New Birth
Everything ended for Aarav in just one second. A truck, a bright light, and then... darkness.
When he regained consciousness, he was lying on the ground. But something was strange. Very strange.
"What... what is this?" He tried to look at his hands, but in front of him were small, furry black paws.
Suddenly, a neon blue screen flashed before his eyes. A system interface appeared, welcoming him as a reincarnated soul. He was now a Shadow Cat, a rare variant, starting at level one.
"What nonsense is this?" Aarav—or whatever he was now—was startled hearing his new voice. It was a soft, feline growl.
He was on the roof of a dilapidated building. Below was a medieval-style city where people were walking around in strange clothes. Some people were carrying glowing weapons in their hands.
"System... does this mean it's that reincarnation thing I used to read about in light novels?"
The system confirmed his situation. He had been reincarnated in the world of Aethermoor. His mission was simple: survive and evolve. A quest appeared—hunt five rats for experience.
Aarav—now officially a black cat—checked his new body. Sleek, muscular, and completely black fur. His tail swayed gracefully.
"Alright... if I can't go back, then I'll have to survive here."
Chapter 2: First Hunt
Aarav decided to follow the system's instructions. Hunting rats seemed simple, especially when he realized how powerful his night vision was.
In a dirty alley, he spotted his first target—a fat, ugly rat, three times larger than a normal rat. The system identified it as a level two sewer rat, a hostile creature.
"Level 2? But I'm only level 1!" Aarav got a bit nervous, but his feline instinct activated.
Using his silent step skill, he quietly approached the rat. The rat didn't notice anything.
POUNCE!
Aarav attacked the rat's neck with his sharp claws. A quick, clean kill. He earned experience points and completed one-fifth of his quest.
"Whoa... that was easy!" Aarav gained some confidence.
Over the next few hours, he hunted four more rats. The last rat was a bit difficult—it fought back. Aarav had to fully utilize his silent step and reflexes.
When he completed the quest, he leveled up and unlocked a new skill—Shadow Blend. It allowed him to merge with shadows and become nearly invisible.
A strange energy wave passed through Aarav's body. He could feel that he had become stronger.
"Shadow Blend? This is great!" He tested the skill. He went to a dark corner and activated it. His body literally began to dissolve into the shadows.
"Am I... invisible? This is OP!"
Chapter 3: First Glimpse of the Dark World
The next day, Aarav started exploring the city. The place was called Shadowpaw City—a place where humans, demi-humans, and monsters all coexisted, but not peacefully.
He saw adventurers hunting monsters, merchants selling magic items, and some suspicious hooded figures making deals in dark alleys.
"This world is dangerous... I need to become stronger."
Then his gaze fell on a poster advertising wanted shadow beasts in the Northern Forest. The reward was five hundred gold coins, and the danger level was C-rank.
"Shadow Beasts? My species variant is also 'Shadow'... maybe I can learn something from them."
He made a decision. He would go to the Northern Forest.
Chapter 4: The Secret of Curse Magic
The Northern Forest was dark and eerie. The trees were so dense that sunlight couldn't penetrate. It was the perfect environment for Aarav.
He was moving quietly using shadow blend when he saw a strange creature—a wolf, but its body was made of shadows. Exactly like him. The system warned him it was a level eight elite enemy.
"Level 8?! I'm only level 2!" Aarav was about to panic, but then the system activated observation mode, allowing him to learn skills by watching creatures similar to him.
Aarav quietly hid in the shadows and began observing the wolf. The wolf was hunting a deer, and there was a pattern to its attacks.
Suddenly, the wolf opened its mouth and a black mist emerged—the deer instantly slowed down, as if paralyzed. The system offered to teach him this skill—Curse of Lethargy—for experience points.
"Yes! Learn it!" Aarav was excited.
He learned the skill but received a warning that curse magic was a forbidden art and should be used wisely.
"Forbidden art? So it's some kind of dark magic thing?"
He tested the skill on a nearby rabbit. Black mist came out of his mouth and the rabbit immediately started moving in slow motion.
"This is... powerful!"
Chapter 5: First Boss Fight
As Aarav moved forward, he saw a huge shadow beast in the center of the forest—a Shadow Panther, leader of the pack. It was level fifteen with massive health points.
"This is a suicide mission!" Aarav was about to turn back, but then the system gave him an urgent quest. He had to either defeat or escape the Shadow Panther. The reward was a legendary skill called Shadow Travel, which sounded like teleportation. Failure meant death.
"Shadow Travel?! That must be a teleportation-type skill... I need this!"
Aarav made a plan. He would lose in a direct fight, so he decided to use guerrilla tactics.
First, he approached using shadow blend. Then he used curse of lethargy. The panther slowed down, but only slightly.
ROAR!
The panther charged at Aarav in anger. Aarav dodged at the last moment and scratched the panther's leg, dealing damage.
The panther was injured but still dangerous. Aarav had to perform several more hit-and-run attacks, using every ounce of his agility and the terrain to his advantage.
Finally, when the panther became weak and exhausted, Aarav delivered the finishing blow with a strike to its throat.
Immense power flooded through Aarav's body as he leveled up multiple times. He was now level five, and the legendary Shadow Travel skill was his. It allowed him to teleport through shadows within fifty meters.
"This... the real game has just begun!"
Chapter 6: The Guild System
After returning to Shadowpaw City, Aarav realized he needed a base of operations. That's when he learned about the guild system—organizations where adventurers, mercenaries, and even monsters could register for quests and protection.
But there was a problem. Most guilds didn't accept "monster" members, especially not a mere cat.
"I need to prove myself," Aarav thought.
He found a struggling guild called Midnight Fangs, run by a scarred half-elf named Kael. The guild was on the verge of bankruptcy, with broken furniture and barely any members.
Kael looked at the black cat sitting on his desk with confusion. "A... cat? Are you lost, little guy?"
Aarav concentrated and used a new ability he'd been practicing—writing in the shadows on the wall: "I can help your guild."
Kael's eyes widened in shock. "A... talking cat? No, a shadow beast with intelligence?"
The system offered him a new quest to prove his worth to Midnight Fangs by completing three high-rank quests solo. The reward would be guild membership and access to their resources.
Aarav accepted immediately.
Chapter 7: Rising Reputation
Over the next two weeks, Aarav completed impossible quests that had been sitting on the guild's board for months.
The Bandit Camp: Using shadow travel and curse of lethargy, he infiltrated a notorious bandit camp at night. He cursed the bandits one by one, causing chaos and confusion. In their paranoia and slowed state, they turned on each other. By dawn, the camp was destroyed without Aarav drawing much blood himself.
The Haunted Mansion: An ancient artifact had been stolen and hidden in a mansion crawling with undead creatures. But Aarav discovered something crucial—his curse magic was extremely effective against the undead. Their negative energy made them vulnerable to his curses. He cleared the entire mansion and retrieved the artifact. During this quest, he learned a new skill: Curse of Decay, which slowly drained enemy health over time.
The Corrupt Noble: This was his riskiest mission. A noble was exploiting the poor and had connections to dark slave traders. He had bodyguards, magic barriers, and detection spells protecting his mansion. But Aarav's shadow blend made him virtually undetectable. He spent days studying the noble's routine, then struck during a moonless night. The assassination was so clean that even the investigators couldn't find evidence of foul play.
After these quests, Aarav had reached level twelve and earned the title "Silent Death." He also gained a new passive skill—Fear Aura—which caused weak enemies to flee in his presence.
When he returned, Kael and the entire guild were in shock. "You... you actually completed all three? Those were our most dangerous contracts!"
The guild's reputation skyrocketed overnight. Adventurers started joining Midnight Fangs, attracted by rumors of the mysterious "Shadow Guardian" who protected them. Money began flowing in, and Kael was able to repair the guild hall.
Chapter 8: The Dark Council's Interest
Aarav's activities didn't go unnoticed. In the deepest part of the underworld, beneath layers of forgotten catacombs, a secret organization called The Dark Council monitored all forbidden magic users.
"A shadow cat using curse magic?" A hooded figure studied reports and magical recordings of Aarav's exploits. "And it's evolving rapidly. Interesting... very interesting."
The council members debated. Some wanted to eliminate this potential threat. Others wanted to recruit him. They settled on a test.
That night, Aarav was resting on the guild's rooftop when his instincts screamed danger. He sensed them—three assassins, all using shadow magic like him, but far more experienced. The system identified them as level eighteen shadow assassins.
"Damn, they sent three of them?"
The fight was brutal. Aarav used every trick he had—shadow travel to dodge their coordinated strikes, curse of lethargy to slow them down, curse of decay to damage them over time. But they adapted quickly, their centuries of training showing.
They were coordinated and experienced, their attacks flowing like a deadly dance. One of them feinted left while another struck from above. Aarav barely dodged, but the third assassin was already behind him.
A shadow blade pierced through his chest. His health dropped to critical levels—fifteen out of four hundred and fifty points.
Pain exploded through his body. He was dying.
In desperation, Aarav did something instinctive. Instead of fighting the darkness, he embraced it completely. He let his consciousness merge with the surrounding shadows, becoming not just invisible, but truly part of the darkness itself.
Something fundamental changed. The system announced an evolution trigger. Aarav's body began to transform from a Shadow Cat to an Umbral Phantom, an epic variant. His stats doubled, and he gained an ultimate skill: Domain of Eternal Night, which allowed him to create a zone where he controlled all shadows.
The transformation was instantaneous. Aarav's body became larger, more ethereal, with wisps of shadow constantly flowing around him like living smoke. His eyes glowed with purple light, and his presence radiated power.
He activated Domain of Eternal Night. The entire rooftop was engulfed in absolute darkness—not just absence of light, but a living shadow that responded to his will. Within this domain, Aarav was god.
The three assassins didn't stand a chance. Their own shadow magic turned against them, controlled by Aarav's superior mastery. Within seconds, all three were defeated, their forms dissolving into wisps of shadow.
As the assassins faded, one of them whispered with what seemed like satisfaction: "Impressive... you pass the trial. The Council... will contact you..."
Aarav leveled up five times, reaching level seventeen.
Chapter 9: Legend Begins
Word of the "Phantom of Shadowpaw" spread like wildfire through the underworld. A creature that could control darkness itself, that had single-handedly defeated three elite assassins simultaneously.
The Dark Council officially contacted Aarav through a magical message, offering him a position among their ranks. They promised power, knowledge, and resources beyond imagination.
But Aarav refused. He had his own path to walk.
Kael approached Aarav one evening on the rooftop, the half-elf's usual gruff demeanor softened by genuine concern. "You know, when I first saw you, I thought you were just a lost cat. Now... you're the most feared being in the city. What are you planning next?"
Aarav looked at the moon, his purple eyes reflecting its light. Through shadow writing on the roof tiles, he responded:
"I'm going to become strong enough that no one—not the Council, not the kingdoms, not even the gods—can control me. This is just the beginning."
The system presented him with a new main quest: Path to Supreme Shadow. He needed to reach level fifty and evolve to mythical tier. He was currently level seventeen.
The journey of the Shadow Cat had truly begun. But as Aarav gazed at the sprawling city below, he knew that greater challenges awaited. The Dark Council wouldn't take his rejection lightly, rival guilds would see Midnight Fangs as a threat, and somewhere in this world, ancient powers were stirring.
His legend was spreading, but whether he would become a hero or something far darker remained to be seen.