Shadowbound Ascension: The Necromancer's Journey

Aiden stood in line, feeling the tension rover steadily in anticipation of his turn in the reevaluation list. The Hunter Association was a huge building full of hunters and screen which showed dungeons that were under attack and information about the appearance of gates. It was a building of the latest architectural design that represented power and might; the first phenomenon of M-Rank hunters who were the elite force of the world.

The prior generation of M-Rank hunters had formed the Association to safeguard the world from dungeons and gates, as well as to guarantee the Hunters were unified as well as assisted. Now the light was transferred to the "Lord of Shadows" one of the current M-rank hunters and the mysterious head of the Hunter Association. There was no one who knew his real name, but everybody heard about his outstanding skills in sneaking and killing. His name itself could maketh great warriors tremble in their spine, even when alive and in their full fighting ability.

By the time Aiden could be re-evaluated, he must have thought about so many things that had led him to this particular point in the existence of the mysterious system, the strength he gets from it, as well as the need to protect his family with all he has. The system had taken him forward but had also opened an array of questions to ask about his future.

Last but not the least; it was his turn. He moved towards the different stations and arrived at the evaluation place where an officer scanned his status together with the Identification Number.

"H-Rank?" the officer muttered before turning on the evaluation tool to start the test.

They ran an objectification scan on him from his head and down to his toes as well as his mana receptacle, physique, and dormant abilities. The numbers which were displayed on the screen began to blink and after a while the police officer's eyes opened very wide.

"Rank E?!"

Mou watched as the officer keyed in some information on an input device and went through the outcome.

"You have jumped two grades – G and F – This has never been done before, sir." Saying this the officer was looking straight up at him rather surprised.

A notification flashed in front of Aiden's eyes as the system chimed in:A notification flashed in front of Aiden's eyes as the system chimed in:

[System Alert: Congratulation you have reached rank E promotion to H to D-Rank dungeon is now permitted.

It was a winning expression and Aiden simply couldn't help but smile. It was very much apparent that the effort he was putting in was beginning to yield some positive results, but the responsibility that lay on him became a little more intense. Dungeons with the ranking higher than H were significantly dangerous than the dungeons of the rank H However the reward of the higher ranked dungeons was better too.

The moment the officer was giving him his new personal hunter card, Aiden's joy stopped him. He got a feeling and this time it was even stranger than the previous one that somebody is observing him closely.

Despite that, the Lord of Shadows continued to skim through the reevaluation records, and when he saw a hunter having just jumped two ranks, he paused. The Lord of Shadows looked deep in thought then leaned back in the chair and scowled maliciously at the kid.

'That,' he muttered to himself, 'should be rather interesting.' That is why he was able to shadow people following their every move unseen and/or unknown for the most part, thus he started to follow Aiden at the Association's office.

This subtle interest did not escape attention. The very second that the Lord of Shadows took an interest in something, the two other M-Rank hunters – the head of the most powerful guilds of the city – took note. The so-called "Wrath's Fist," guildmaster of Dragon's Wrath Guild who has an immense fight strength, looked at Aiden's data with curiosity and excitement. The "Angel of Dawn", the leader of Heaven's Blade, beautiful woman with divine abilities to heal, briefly looked at the records and saw something in the young hunter.

Not all the attention that Aiden received was welcome however as he soon came face to face with some rightly menacing glances.

He then stepped outside the Association and as he felt the wind of the busy city touching his face; he had the eerie feeling that he was being followed once again. He looked around but could not lay his eyes on any of them. There's a sort of energy in the air and everyone in New Arcadia is out and about but it still did not feel right. He just looked at it and waved it off' not considering it for the moment.

He was lost in thought until a ring of his phone in his pocket interrupted him. A smiling man walked out saying it was him, the doctor who had treated the mother of the child.

"Hello sir/ma'am, Is this Aiden?" the doctor posed.

"Yes, it is." Aiden gulped, uncertain if something terrible had happened to his mother.

"Hello there was no need for you to call.. I was just calling to remind you that she was discharged from the hospital earlier than scheduled.. she's... perfectly fine now?"

Aiden relaxed and smiled. "Yes, she is fine now, actually she is hundred percent okay or rather perfectly fine now."

The doctor sounded perplexed. "That is … unbelievable She was very sick and now it seems she was never sick at all."

"Well, at least she is ok," replied Aiden, not wanting them to know about the healing potion from the system. When he hung up, he still felt that his existence was waiting for something much bigger, much worse than what he had ever gotten himself into.

Unseen entities and creepy sights followed Aiden as he begin to walk down the dark alley and quiet corners.

This game was only getting started.