The Shadow Sovereign: Level Up from the Dirt

The Sovereign's Contract

The metal claws tore into Kemi’s chest, and a bright red light flooded my eyes.

I fought the guards with everything I had, but a heavy boot slammed into my skull, pinning my face against the floor. Blood filled my mouth. Through the red blur, I watched the glass tube fill with crimson lightning. The extraction machine beeped like crazy, pulling a glowing, round stone straight out of my little sister’s chest. The Calamity Core.

"Incredible," Chairman Femi said. He stood up from his leather chair, his gold-plated armor shining under the laboratory lamps. "An ancient energy source, hidden inside a starving Mainland rat. It will power the Island for ten years."

"Stop it! Take me instead!" I choked out, but the guard on my back pressed harder, cracking my ribs.

I looked at Ifunanya. She stood right behind Femi, her face completely blank. She looked at me like I was a broken piece of plastic. Six months of dating, six months of sharing my few tokens, all a lie.

"Why?" I managed to say. "I loved you."

Ifunanya did not even blink. "Love does not pay for Island energy bills, Zane. Your sister was going to die from the mana-rot anyway. At least this way, her body is useful to the city."

"She is not dying!" I let out a wild roar.

I bit the guard's arm, forcing him to drop his grip for one second. I threw myself forward, crawling toward the glass tube. But I did not even make it two steps.

Chairman Femi moved like a flash of light. His golden metal glove grabbed my throat, lifting my entire body off the ground. He squeezed tightly, cutting off my air. I kicked my legs, but he felt like solid stone.

"Mainland trash always think they can change their fate," Femi said calmly. He threw me sideways across the room.

My body crashed into a heavy iron medical cabinet. The bones in my left arm snapped with a clear pop. Three of my ribs broke, and I collapsed into the corner, spitting out thick, dark blood. I could not move my legs. My body was completely broken.

"Throw him out with the rest of the trash," Femi said, turning around. "Once the core is out, dump the girl into the lagoon.

The two large guards grabbed my broken ankles, dragging me out of the room. My head bumped against the floor all the way down the hall. I watched the thick doors close, separating me from Kemi. The last thing I saw was her bright, staring eyes looking right at me through the glass. She was not crying. She looked cold, like she was memorizing Femi’s face.

They dragged me down a back elevator and threw me into a dark, muddy alley behind the hospital. Rain started falling, washing the blood from my face.

"Stay down if you want to live an extra five minutes, boy," one guard said. He kicked me hard in the stomach and slammed the heavy metal exit door shut.

I lay in the freezing mud, gasping for air. My broken arm felt like fire. My vision started to fade, the edges of the world turning black. I failed. My sister was going to die because I trusted an Island elite.

Suddenly, a sharp tone rang inside my ears.

Ding.

A bright blue digital screen popped up right in front of my eyes.

Warning: Host vital signs dropping below 1%.

System Protocol 0-0-0 Activated: Lineage Selection Complete.

Unlocking Forbidden Class: Sovereign Necromancer.

I blinked, but the glowing blue letters stayed in the air.

System Notice: Your body is currently broken. Would you like to accept the Sovereign's Contract to repair your flesh?

Yes / No

A system? Like the top hunters on the Island?

"Yes," I rasped into the empty alley. "Yes! Give me the power to kill them!"

Contract Accepted.

Skill Unlocked: 'Rise from the Dirt' (Rank F)

Mana Regeneration: Maxed for 60 seconds.

A shock of freezing energy rushed through my chest. The broken bones in my arm snapped back into place instantly. The pain in my ribs vanished, and the cuts on my skin closed up perfectly. I sat up, my hands gripping the wet dirt. I felt stronger, lighter, and completely filled with a new, dark energy.

The heavy hospital door opened again. The two guards walked out, carrying a large black plastic trash bag. They threw it into the mud right next to me.

"The girl's heart stopped," one guard said, wiping his hands on his pants. "The boss said to throw her in the lagoon, but this dumpster is closer."

My heart stopped. I crawled over to the bag, my hands shaking wildly as I tore the plastic open.

Kemi lay inside. Her chest was completely still. The skin around her heart was black and burned from the machine, and her eyes were closed. She was not breathing. She was dead.

"Look at that, the boy is still alive," the second guard laughed, drawing a silver pistol from his belt. "Let me finish him off.

A massive wave of rage exploded in my brain. The blue screen flashed bright red.

Enemy detected. Two targets nearby. Would you like to activate 'Rise from the Dirt'?

"Do it," I whispered, standing up from the mud.

The shadows beneath the two guards suddenly stretched out like thick black ropes. The shadows wrapped tightly around their boots.

"What is this?" the guard with the gun shouted, trying to aim at the floor. The shadow ropes yanked upward, throwing both men flat onto their faces in the dirt.

I did not hesitate. I picked up a heavy, jagged piece of rusty iron from the dumpster and rushed forward. I jammed the iron spike straight into the neck of the first guard. He gasped, his body going stiff before he went completely still.

The second guard scrambled backward, his eyes wide with terror. "What are you? You are a monster!"

"I am the guy you threw in the dirt," I said. I picked up the fallen silver pistol and shot him directly between the eyes.

Ding.

Two enemies defeated.

Extracting souls…

Two Shadow Soldiers added to your army.

The shadows beneath the two dead guards began to bubble. Two tall, dark figures made of pure black smoke rose up from the corpses. They had glowing blue eyes, and their faces looked exactly like the guards I just killed. They knelt down in the mud before me.

"Master," they said together, their voices sounding like hollow wind.

I ignored them and ran back to Kemi's body. I knelt in the mud, pulling her small, cold frame into my arms. "Kemi. Please. Wake up. I have the power now. I can save you."

Her chest stayed perfectly flat. The system screen did not offer to heal her. It only tracked my own stats. I failed her. The rage inside me turned into a cold weight. I looked up at the high glass towers of the Island, my teeth grinding together. I would raise an army of the dead and burn every single billionaire to ash.

Suddenly, a loud gasp broke the silence.

Kemi’s eyes snapped open. They were no longer brown. They were glowing with a terrifying, blood-red light. Red lightning crackled across her skin, and the black burns on her chest began to disappear. She grabbed my arm with a grip so tight it bruised my flesh.

"Zane," she whispered, her voice sounding completely different, deep and calm. "The extraction failed. The core exploded inside my soul. I have the data now. I know exactly how to destroy them."