Seikan’s cold green eyes stared at the black void before him. The sensation of falling didn’t seem to end. His memories were a blur—a dark alley, blood-soaked hands, the glint of a knife. That was all he could recall before everything went dark. Kalsei’s voice broke through his haze of confusion, sharp but filled with that same sarcastic energy.
“Seikan, you died too, huh? Pretty wild ending for both of us. Last thing I remember is slipping on spilled noodles.” Kalsei’s voice, soft and gentle despite the odd comment, made Seikan wince.
He turned to look at Kalsei, who floated beside him in the void. His friend’s pale white hair with its pink and teal streaks was somehow still perfectly styled. Kalsei, as always, looked like a teenager with a perpetually innocent and cute expression plastered on his face, his golden eyes shining even in death. Seikan shook his head. He never understood how Kalsei maintained that bright energy, even in a situation like this.
“Died, yes. What’s next? Some eternal nothingness?” Seikan’s tone dripped with disdain.
Before Kalsei could respond, the void twisted and rippled, enveloping them both in a harsh, cold light. A booming voice echoed around them.
"Welcome, Seikan... Kalsei... to the realm of Velcyne, a world bound by systems of power. You will serve as heroes—or villains—depending on your choices. Rejoice! You have been granted new lives!"
Both of them felt a jolt, as if reality itself shattered around them. When Seikan’s eyes opened again, they stood on a sprawling field of green beneath a golden sky. Kalsei’s eyes widened as he stretched his arms.
“So... not noodles. We've been totally isekai'd, dude," Kalsei giggled.
"Initializing System..." The system's voice chimed in both their minds.
A window suddenly appeared in front of each of them, as the voice read out the information:
System Profile Name: Seikan Class: Rune Master Level: 1 Skills:
Shadow Infusion (Lvl 1):
Infuse shadows into runes to create deadly traps or empower spells.
Rune Creation (Lvl 1):
Engrave simple runes on surfaces.
Health: 250 Mana: 500 Strength: 10 Agility: 18 Intelligence: 25 Wisdom: 22
Luck: 4
Seikan blinked. "They’ve labeled me as some sort of Rune Master." He flexed his fingers, feeling power surge through him as if his runes were etched into the world itself.
System Profile Name: Kalsei Class: Reality Shifter Level: 1 Skills:
Reality Blink (Lvl 1): Briefly alter reality in a small radius, distorting time and space.
Golden Sight (Lvl 1): Sense magical auras and hidden entities within range.
Health: 200 Mana: 600 Strength: 13 Agility: 24 Intelligence: 16 Wisdom: 18
Luck: 2
Kalsei, ever the optimist, stretched again. "Reality Shifter? That sounds cool. Wonder how far I can push this." His eyes flashed gold for a second as he tested his abilities, causing the wind around them to flicker and change direction.
A dark shadow loomed overhead. Seikan tilted his head up to see a massive wolf-like creature emerge from the nearby forest. Its fur was matted, glowing with a strange red light. Its fangs dripped with blood, and it growled, hungry and ready for a fight.
A window appeared in front of them. The system's voice echoes in their minds.
New quest: Defeat Bloodfang Wolf Rewards: 200 Experience Points Map of Local Area
Kalsei's smirk faltered as the Bloodfang Wolf growled, baring its fangs. It wasn’t just a game, and the weight of the moment pressed down on him. His golden eyes flickered as he tried to activate his reality-warping power, but doubt gnawed at him. The wolf lunged with terrifying speed, and Kalsei instinctively imagined it slowing down. For a split second, reality twisted—the air around the wolf shimmered, causing it to stumble slightly as Reality Blink took effect. However, the delay wasn't enough. The wolf quickly recovered, its red eyes locked onto Kalsei as it launched itself again.
“Damn it!” Kalsei cursed, stepping back, barely avoiding the wolf’s snapping jaws. He hadn’t accounted for how fast it would react after being momentarily dazed. His heart raced as he focused, trying to picture the wolf stuck in place, but the image kept slipping in his mind. The more he struggled to focus, the more erratic his power became. His eyes glowed too brightly, and the space around the wolf warped chaotically, bending and distorting trees, rocks, and even the ground. The wolf moved unpredictably, dodging Kalsei's poorly controlled attempts to trap it.
Seikan, observing Kalsei’s struggle, realized he had no time to waste. He raised his hands, tracing unfamiliar runes in the air, each stroke more difficult than the last. His fingers moved swiftly but clumsily, unfamiliar with the symbols that seemed to change as he drew them. "Damn this system," he muttered under his breath, feeling the resistance in the air as he tried to complete the rune. His magic flickered, faint at first, and the rune he’d drawn in the air trembled, unstable.
The Bloodfang Wolf pounced toward Seikan now, its growls filling the air as it neared him. Seikan’s heart raced. He forced himself to focus, adjusting the rune in a split second, adding a new line where he hadn’t before. The ground beneath the wolf glowed faintly as his rune connected, but not fully. The dark runes cracked, releasing weak tendrils of shadow that only partially bound the creature’s front legs.
The wolf thrashed violently, breaking free of the incomplete binding. “Damn it! It’s not enough!” Seikan growled, sweat forming on his brow. He tried to redraw the symbols in the air, his movements growing more frantic as the wolf closed in.
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Kalsei, seeing Seikan in danger, forced himself to calm down. "Focus, damn it... focus!" He took a breath, his golden eyes flashing again. This time, instead of trying to predict a specific outcome, he pictured the wolf moving slower—no sudden halts or extreme bends in reality, just a gradual decrease in its speed.
The air shimmered again, and this time, it worked. The wolf’s movements became sluggish, as if moving through molasses. Its growls were distorted, echoing strangely as it stumbled forward in slow motion.
Seikan seized the opportunity, his fingers moving with newfound precision as he corrected the runic pattern. The dark tendrils of shadow thickened, this time wrapping tightly around the wolf’s legs, pinning it to the ground. Shadow Infusion completed its work, holding the creature in place.
“Now!” Seikan shouted, his voice tense. He couldn’t hold the binding for long—it was far from perfect, and cracks were already forming in the shadows.
Kalsei took a deep breath. His guilt weighed heavy on his chest, but he knew what he had to do. He raised his hand again, his golden eyes locking onto the creature. This time, he didn’t try to overcomplicate the reality he was shifting. He simply imagined the space around the wolf collapsing in on itself, crushing it.
The air tightened, and a bubble of warped reality formed around the Bloodfang Wolf. Kalsei could feel his control slipping, the pressure building as the wolf struggled violently, but he held firm. Slowly, the bubble contracted, the wolf’s body distorting as reality bent around it.
The beast howled in pain, but the sound was swallowed by the collapsing space. With one final push, Kalsei closed his eyes, and the bubble imploded. The Bloodfang Wolf collapsed, its body limp as the distorted reality snapped back into place.
Panting, Kalsei lowered his hand, his legs trembling from the exertion. "That... that was harder than I thought." His voice was quiet, the weight of what he had just done settling in.
Seikan, equally exhausted, wiped the sweat from his brow. “We’re not going to survive this world if we keep struggling like that. We need to learn... fast.” His cold green eyes turned to Kalsei, who still looked shaken.
Kalsei forced a smile. “Yeah... guess we're not as OP as we thought." He let out a shaky laugh, but his heart wasn’t in it. The battle had taken a toll, not just physically but emotionally. He’d never had to fight for his life before, not like this.
A system window appeared before them, the mechanical voice breaking the tense silence:
Bloodfang Wolf level 3 has been defeated. Requirements met for quest completion. You have earned 200 experience points and a map of the local area.
As the system voice finished saying that, a map appeared in both their hands.
Kalsei barely looked at the notification, still catching his breath. Seikan, on the other hand, stared at the map in his hand, the implications of their struggle weighing heavily on his mind.
“We’re not strong enough yet,” Seikan muttered. “We need to train. Sharpen these abilities before we face something worse.”
Kalsei nodded. “Yeah... but at least we’re still alive.”
'For now', Seikan thought to himself, his fingers still tingling from the unfamiliar magic he had wielded. If they were going to survive, they needed to master their powers—and fast.
Kalsei smiled softly. "Well I guess we won. Anime makes this look so much easier. This feels too real."
Seikan surveyed the field with a cold gaze. "This world isn’t a children's cartoon. We’ll need to figure out what the system wants and whether we can escape or... rule it."
Kalsei tilted his head at that. “Rule it? I was thinking more like exploring and figuring out the limits of our powers. Besides, you know, we’ve always been outcasts. Maybe this is a chance to carve our own path. A second chance to be the people we want to be.”
Seikan didn’t respond immediately, his mind already racing with possibilities. He felt the power of the runes at his fingertips. Perhaps this new world was something they could both manipulate to their advantage.
Seikan stood motionless, staring at the map that had appeared in his hand. The parchment was old, frayed at the edges, and marked with symbols that reminded him of ancient runes from his studies back on Earth.
Kalsei examined his own copy, his golden eyes glowing softly as he tried to decipher the landmarks. “Looks like this map is guiding us toward something,” Kalsei said, tilting his head, “but it’s all cryptic. There's no ‘You are here’ arrow or anything.”
Seikan narrowed his eyes, ignoring Kalsei’s commentary as he traced a path on the map with his finger. “This mark here—it's pulsating with energy. There’s something important nearby, whether it’s a town or some kind of power source. We should head there.”
Kalsei lowered the map and glanced toward the horizon. The sun cast long shadows over the field they stood in, and a forest loomed in the distance, dark and unwelcoming. “Of course, it would be through the creepy forest,” Kalsei muttered.
Without another word, they both started walking toward the forest, their steps eerily quiet against the soft grass. Seikan’s mind was already calculating—he knew the rules of this world were bound by the system. If he could find a way to manipulate it, to exploit the cracks within, he could easily rise to power.
Kalsei, on the other hand, seemed more intrigued by the adventure, his usual bubbly energy only slightly dampened by the recent fight. As they entered the forest, the air grew cold, and the sunlight struggled to pierce through the dense canopy. The sounds of creatures—some familiar, others alien—echoed around them. Seikan’s hand rested on the hilt of a simple dagger he’d found strapped to his waist upon arrival, though he hadn’t yet drawn it.
Kalsei’s eyes flickered between golden and normal, scanning their surroundings for magical auras. “You sense anything weird?” Seikan asked, his voice low but sharp.
Kalsei closed his eyes briefly, focusing on his Golden Sight. When he reopened them, they glowed bright, and a subtle smirk crossed his face. “Yeah, there’s something off about this forest. It's not just a regular creepy woods scenario. The magic here feels... alive. Twisting.”
A soft rustling in the bushes to their left caught Seikan’s attention. He didn’t hesitate, stepping back as his fingers traced a rune into the air. Shadows gathered around his hand as he prepared Shadow Infusion. Kalsei, not missing a beat, raised his hand, ready to bend reality if needed. From the bushes, a figure emerged—humanoid but not human. It was short, with pale, bark-like skin and glowing red eyes. A small horn protruded from its forehead, and its sharp, clawed fingers twitched as it sized them up. Kalsei’s smirk deepened. “Little guy looks like it’s about to jump us.”
The imp screeched, lunging toward them with surprising speed, its claws flashing. Seikan narrowed his eyes on the creature, his rune flaring with dark energy as shadowy tendrils shot from the ground, wrapping around the imp’s legs. The creature thrashed, but the shadows held firm, pulling it down. “I’ve got it,” Seikan said calmly. “You finish it.”
Kalsei hesitated for a moment, remembering the guilt that lingered from killing the wolf. But this was different. This creature wasn’t an animal; it was a monster, a threat. Kalsei’s golden eyes flared as he distorted the air around the imp. The creature shrieked as reality bent around it, warping its form until it collapsed under the pressure.
A window popped up.
Forest Imp defeated Gained 100 experience point You have reached level 2
Both Seikan and Kalsei felt the surge of energy as their levels increased, power flooding their bodies. A seperate window popped up in front of each of them.
Seikan - Level 2 Skills Unlocked:
Advanced Rune Creation (Lvl 2): Engrave more complex runes, increasing spell potency.
Mana Surge (Passive): Increased mana regeneration by 10%.
Kalsei - Level 2 Skills Unlocked: Reality Shatter (Lvl 2): Tear a hole in reality, causing damage to all enemies within range. Spatial Awareness (Passive): Increased reaction time in battle by 10%.
“I can feel it,” Kalsei whispered, flexing his fingers. “We’re getting stronger, faster than I thought. The system is really throwing us into the deep end.”
Seikan nodded. “This world is designed to push us, to evolve us quickly. But we’re still at the bottom of the chain. If we want to survive, we need to level up more—and fast.”
As they moved deeper into the forest, the trees began to thin, revealing a clearing ahead. In the center of the clearing was a large stone structure, half-buried in the earth, covered in glowing runes similar to those Seikan used.
Kalsei’s eyes widened. “Whoa... what is that? Looks like some kind of ancient temple or something.”
Seikan’s heart skipped a beat. Those runes—it felt like they were calling to him. “We’re about to find out.”
They approached cautiously, and as they neared the temple’s entrance, a new window appeared before them.
New Quest: Enter the Ruins of Eldras Objective: Discover the secrets hidden within the temple. Rewards: 500 experience points
Rune of Binding (Unique Item) - Seikan] Shattering Blade (Unique Item) - Kalsei]
Kalsei read the quest window out loud. “500 experience for going inside? And a ‘Shattering Blade’? That sounds... ominous.”
Seikan’s lips curled into a rare smirk. “My quest offers a Rune of Binding with the reward. This is what we need to get stronger."