The door closed quietly behind me as I stepped into my new home. It was small, way smaller than my old room, but size didn't matter. What hit me hard was the emptiness.

The place felt hollow, just like I did inside. No familiar voices, no laughter—just silence. It wasn't about the room being empty; it was the absence of family, of the feeling that this was home.

I sat there, surrounded by nothingness, feeling a sadness I couldn't shake off. Memories of happier times seemed far away, leaving me alone with this heavy feeling. The quiet loneliness weighed on me, making me long for the warmth of what used to be.

Clutching the amethyst stone, I hesitantly activated it, hoping against hope for a different outcome. The stone glowed softly, revealing my status—a status that sealed my fate.

"F rank," the words glared back at me, mocking my aspirations. Strength, agility, stamina, intelligence, and health—each parameter marked as average, ordinary, far from the extraordinary.

But what struck me most was the glaring absence: mana. There was no mention of it. I didn't possess the energy that flowed through the veins of the magically adept, a glaring void where potential should reside. It was a confirmation of my inadequacy in a world where magic reigned supreme.

I stared at the stats, an unwelcome testament to my lack of prowess in a realm where talent was everything. The absence of mana felt like a gaping hole in my being, a reminder of my limitations and the insurmountable distance between myself and those born with innate magical abilities.

The family order arrived, demanding I discard the Nightfall surname—a name tied to our heroic ancestor from the monster invasion in 1700. It was an order I had to obey, cutting ties to my lineage.

Alone in my new home, I faced the decree. A document dictated I adopt an ordinary surname, erasing the prestigious Nightfall heritage. With a heavy heart, I became Caleb Rivers—a name devoid of the grandeur that once defined me.

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Writing my new name felt like severing a part of myself. The Nightfall legacy, once my identity, now faded into history. With a sigh, I accepted my new name, knowing it marked a life detached from the heroic lineage I once belonged to. The Nightfall legacy whispered its final goodbye.

Months passed in solitude. I enrolled at the Adventurer Academy, attempting to blend in as an ordinary student. My silent demeanor kept others at bay, and the weight of isolation only deepened my melancholy.

As the days turned into months, the sorrow within me festered. The First Sage's words lingered in my mind—magic born from human emotion. My emotions grew, but they were anything but good—imbued with sadness, frustration, and a deepening darkness.

On the anniversary of my expulsion from the Nightfall family, an overwhelming surge of emotions consumed me. The pent-up sadness transformed into anger, a raging tempest within. And in that tumultuous moment, something shifted within me.

I felt a surge of power, an awakening unlike any I'd known. The air crackled around me, a dark energy swirling in response to my overwhelming emotions. It was as if my anguish birthed something new—a raw, untamed connection to darkness itself.

Suddenly, my mana stat appeared, shimmering in the depths of my being—a tangible manifestation of power. I sensed an affinity to darkness, an ability to draw upon dark mana from the crystalline cores scattered across the realm.

The explosion of my pent-up emotions, culminating in newfound power, left me stunned. I had unlocked a special ability—an affinity for darkness that enabled me to absorb and wield dark mana. The depths of my sorrow had birthed an unforeseen strength—a power born from the shadows that now coursed through me.

With the money my family continued to send, I made selective purchases—acquiring a few dark crystals. Experimenting in seclusion, I delved into their esence, attempting to harness the elusive mana they contained.

After several attempts, a breakthrough came—a method to absorb mana from these dark crystals. However, the process unveiled two distinct approaches. The first involved absorbing a large quantity of mana, serving as a rapid recharge.

But it was the second method that intrigued me—a slow, meticulous absorption converting all mana into permanent increments, albeit infinitesimal—0.01 in status points. However, this path was a luxury I could no longer afford. The cost—100 dark crystals to gain just one status point—rendered it inaccessible.

Hence, I relied on the first method, a swift recharge during battles, enabling almost infinite access to mana. It was a strategy that granted me a unique advantage—a constant stream of energy for magic during confrontations. While the second method remained beyond my reach due to limited resources, the first bestowed upon me an edge, an almost limitless wellspring of mana to draw upon in the heat of battle.