Warm sunlight fell onto Alex, and he groggily opened his eyes.

He rubbed the sleep off his eyes and looked around himself. He was lying on the ground just a couple of steps away from the city gates.

"What am I doing here?" Alex asked himself and replayed everything that had happened before he fell asleep because of draining all his mana.

He rose to his feet and stared at the golden screen before his eyes.

[Monarch’s Gluttony: Host, you have obtained an Evo Blueprint: Shadow Spirit (Half, F)!]

[Seed of Evolution (SoE): Host, you have unlocked the Evolution Pathway: Shadow Spirit (Half)!]

"Huh?" Dumbfounded, Alex pinched himself to make sure he was seeing the right thing.

Spirits were supposed to be energy lifeforms, and Alex was a physical one. According to basic logic, such an evolution should have been impossible, but for some odd reason, the Evolution System didn’t seem to think the same.

Alex walked closer to the city’s outer wall and leaned against it.

He looked at the message from [Seed of Evolution] and thought, What do I have to do to evolve into a Shadow Spirit?

A blue system screen appeared before him.

[Evolution Pathway: Shadow Spirit (Half)]

[Requirements: Shadow Affinity Gem (F), 200 Evo Points]

"I need a shadow affinity gem?" Alex frowned.

Affinity gems were similar to mana crystals – however, instead of pure mana, they had elemental mana that could be absorbed to gain or increase one’s affinity for that element.

These gems were very rare because of the high demand among players, and the methods required to obtain them were difficult.

The most common method was to kill a monster with an affinity, but it only had 25% chance of dropping an affinity gem.

The second and difficult method was to kill a spirit that had 100% chance of dropping an affinity gem, but the way Helina had ripped apart the shadow half-spirit, Alex was sure that he had obtained nothing from it.

Just in case with the last bit of his hope, he turned his head toward the spot where the shadow half-spirit had died and blinked.

There on the ground, something was reflecting the sunlight.

"No way!" Alex muttered and ran toward it.

He crouched beside the shiny object, and his gaze fell on an obsidian-like gemstone in the shape of a teardrop.

Seeing it, Alex couldn’t believe his eyes.

Is this really mine? Is luck really in my favor this time?

He picked up the shadow affinity gem and looked with a drooling face, his eyes shining with greed.

He hid the shadow affinity gem closer to his chest and looked around.

"Phew! No one’s here."

Alex shot to his feet and walked towards the city wall.

The gates had yet to be opened, and that was good for him because he didn’t want anyone to know what he was about to do.

Alex moved to a relatively safer and concealed spot and commanded in his head, Evolution.

The requirement screen once again flared before him – this time, it had more words, though.

[Evolution Pathway: Shadow Spirit (Half)]

[Requirements: Shadow Affinity Gem (F), 200 Evo Points]

[SoE: Host, all requirements have been met. Proceed with evolution?]

Alex took a deep breath. He was about to do something that even original Alex hadn’t done throughout the grueling years of his life as a Player – he wondered if anyone had done it the way he was doing it.

"To think I am breaking the Law of Existence on my very first evolution. Heh."

Alex let out a chuckle and answered with a determined expression, "Yes."

[SoE: Host, you are being evolved!]

Alex’s body suddenly turned sluggish, and he fell to his butt.

Cracks appeared on the shadow affinity gem in his palm.

A shadowy mana came out of it and dug into him.

"Eek!" Alex yelped as he felt the cold, shadowy mana move in his body.

Alex’s body turned cold as though he had been thrown into a tank full of ice-cold water, and suddenly, the cold vanished.

The nearby shadows wiggled and swallowed him. They tore into his body, turning Alex’s eyes and body pitch-black for a moment, then a golden screen appeared before him.

[Ding!]

[Evolution complete!]

Suddenly, his status screen materialized by itself.

[Host: Alex Blade (Anomaly)]

[Race: Half-Human (Pseudo Shadow Spirit)]

[Main Class: Slave (Forced - Locked)]

[Sub Class: None (Locked)]

[Talent: Hall of Great Evils (SSS), Perfect Shield (B)]

[Level: 2 (20/400) (F)]

[Rank: Bronze V]

[Combat Value: 18.2 (19.7)]

[Evo Points: 265]

[Mana Pool: Initial]

[Skills: Mark of Subservience (S), Monarch’s Gluttony (S), Seed Of Evolution (S), Mana Kick Boxing (C), Mana Amplification (B)]

[Artifacts: Grand Mage’s Black Shirt (Rare), Grand Mage’s Black Pants (Rare), Grand Mage’s Pair of Black Shoes (Rare)]

[Affinity: Shadow (Novice)]

[Servant: Helina Gradlise (★, B)]

Alex stared at the screen for a long moment, then laughed with an extremely satisfied look, "Haha! I obtained the shadow affinity. It’s the lowest rank, though."

Alex rose to his feet and checked himself.

Although his body itself looked the same, he now had two pitch-black marks across his arms, chest, and back.

The marks looked like two serpents coiling around his body.

"I look like some protagonist, haha."

Alex shook his head and clenched his fist. "I don’t feel much of a difference."

Just as those words escaped his lips, a system screen appeared.

[Ding!]

[System: Host Alex, you have met the requirement for a hidden class!]

Alex blinked. "What?"

[System: Main Class (Slave) is being evolved into Hidden Class (Shadow Slave)!]

The instant Alex read those words, a specific noble cockroach came to his mind.

[System: Host Alex, you have received two class-specific skills.]

[Shadow Movement (B)]

[Shadow Eyes (C)]

"Huh? What in the damnation?!"

Receiving a B-Rank skill wasn’t in Alex’s daily checklist, but he wasn’t the one to complain.

"Let’s try them," Alex mumbled, and it was then that he noticed that he was able to see everything clearly.

Even the spots covered by the wall’s and trees’ shadows were clear to him.

It must be because of Shadow Eyes.

Alex gave the mental command to activate [Shadow Movement] and disappeared from his spot.

Though a circular shadow remained at his spot.

Did I... did I just enter my own shadow?

Alex wasn’t shocked – he was utterly baffled, and just as he thought about moving forward, his shadow moved in that direction.

Alex grinned in satisfaction. Though, as a shadow, he had no lips or mouth for that matter.

Alex entered the city from beneath its gates and mentally laughed in exhilaration.