Rise of the Chaotic Shadow Emperor

Fia's cold eyes glanced briefly at Sidius' direction before following her uncle. Her expression was unreadable, as if she were a robot in a human skin.

Contrary to that, Vanessa seemed torn. She wanted to help Sidius up but she ultimately looked away and followed the two.

Staring at the three individuals vanished in his sight, Sidius gritted his teeth and punched the ground in frustration, venting his rage at his own carelessness.

The near-death situation he just experienced was replaying in his mind like a broken record, making him even more furious.

All the mockery and the bullying he got when he was young overlapped with what Fia said— "Spare him, He's jus an F rank", and it repeatedly echo in his head.

"Dammit! Dammit!" he continued to punch the ground with all his power.

As he vented, a dark crimson energy seemed to emerge from within him, engulfing his entire being with its calming yet empty space that continued to tolerate his rage.

However, in that moment of losing control, Sidius snapped back to his senses. He quickly regained his composure, realizing that being mad wouldn't solve anything.

"Huu... I got naive. I just learned a mystical art, and I acted like I'm some powerful chosen," he thought, reflecting on his impulsive actions.

"I even tried helping the lady with two D ranked chosen following her. What a joke!" he added as he lied down on the cold ground of the forest.

With Sidius' face facing upwards, his view caught the moon casting its ethereal glow. He stretched his hand towards the luminous orb, as if attempting to seize it within his grasp.

'I need to get stronger...' he muttered.

This experience was a wake-up call that he couldn't afford to be reckless and overestimate his abilities.

"Fia Quinteval... I will make you look up to me," Sidius declared, as he set another goal. A goal that will not make him slack off training.

"What rotten luck. I almost died today." he stand up, preparing to head back to his apartment. He was still frustrated about the incident earlier.

"Stronger... I need to become stronger," he murmured, his mind fixated on the need for power.

Getting on his bed, instead of his usual routine to sleep, he sat in a lotus position and delved deep into his thoughts.

"Things lately have been going smoothly, but that doesn't mean my life is safe. I need power... power..."

"How do i get more powerful?!"

Sidius contemplated and considered every possible things that he could do.

"Ah!"

"System, why did Eidos initiate a contract with me?" he asked inwardly. This is the question that he had been wanting to ask the system.

[Eidos needs dark element to grow.]

"Huh!? But during the entrance exam, my elemental affinity only showed low compatibility with fire and wind elements... does it mean that my dark element was so thin that the elemental measuring orb can't read it?" he questioned, confused.

"That's weird... Hey System, what are the characteristics of my dark element compared to others?"

[The dark element is more vicious compared to others. It is stronger than most various dark elements.]

Reading the response, Sidius was shocked.

"What!? All chosen who possess the dark element are either bad guys or have some mental disorder going on with them. And if I have a purer form of dark element, doesn't that make me the leader of all assholes?"

"And why am I not insane yet!? Hey System, answer me!"

Sidius continuously asked but there was no response.

'So you don't know, huh?' Sidius gave up on the idea for the moment. The mystery surrounding his dark element was perplexing, but he knew that focusing on it now wouldn't lead to any immediate answers.

"What about you, System? Aren't you a Hero system? Why did you bind with a chosen who has the dark element?"

Once again, there was no response.

"You don't know either? What's your use then?" Sidius complained, feeling a bit frustrated.

[If you want a higher level of information, please continue to work hard.]

Sidius let out a sigh. He knew he couldn't extract more information from the system at the moment. So, he decided to focus on consolidating his cultivation.

Feeling the mana in his middle dantian, he enveloped it with his mind power, guiding its course in a circular motion while simultaneously absorbing a small part of mana from his surroundings.

1st cycle... 2nd cycle...

5th cycle...

He continued this process until he was suddenly woken up by his alarm. Surprised, he looked at the window and realized it was already morning.

"I was cultivating for that long? But I was just at the fifth cycle though?" he questioned himself.

Upon examining his mana, he realized it had become denser and more stable, a significant improvement compared to before.

The speed of his cultivation now resembled that of normal chosen, yet the resulting power was comparable to those prodigies.

Sidius also noticed that Eidos ranked up to F-. It is now a small sized earring in a shape of a sword. The blade shone with a deep black hue, while the handle emitted a soft white glow, complementing each other perfectly.

He glanced at his phone and saw the broken phone screen displaying the time to be 8:27 AM.

"I'm late..." he thought. "There's no class anyway, and even if I disappear in the Edrodorth academy, no one will care," he added, momentarily dismissing any concerns.

However, thoughts of two specific women flashed in his mind.

'Well... let's not care about them for now.'

Sidius also saw that he had an unread message at his disposal. He clicked into it and learned that Pliero messaged him.

"I accept your terms," he read in his mind.

Sidius couldn't help but smile as he read the text. He was confident that no one could dig into his past since he had meticulously erased all traces of his previous life, including those relating to his parents.

One could just know that he was an abandoned, talentless individual with a sister confined in a hospital – nothing more, nothing less.