Shadow Being System

Amidst the chaos, the students huddled together, fear etched on their faces. They clung to the safety of the teachers\' proximity, watching helplessly as the war unfolded around them. William stood among them, his heart pounding in his chest, his eyes flicking between the intense battles raging around him. His hands clenched and unclenched, frustration building.

He didn\'t have an ability like the others, no elemental power or supernatural strength. All he had was his sword and the martial arts training from school.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, William noticed something strange. The group of students around him seemed to be thinning out. His mind raced. Where were they going? Were they moving away? But no one had left—students were vanishing right where they stood.

His breath hitched. Panic began to spread across his chest as he activated his 3rd Eye. The world shifted into focus, revealing something horrifying: a small, blue beast, similar to the others but much smaller—around 5 feet tall. It slinked through the shadows, silently creeping up on the students, devouring them one by one.

The beast\'s lightning crackled faintly around its body, but it moved with eerie silence, feeding on the unsuspecting students.

The newborn tier beast, William thought, horror flooding his veins.

The beast\'s black, bloodshot eyes gleamed with hunger as it lurked behind another student, its fangs sinking into the boy\'s neck. William\'s heart pounded as he watched the student drop lifeless to the ground, the beast growing slightly larger with each victim it consumed.

"They\'re all distracted… No one\'s noticed," William whispered to himself. His breath was shaky, but he knew what he had to do. If he didn\'t act now, more students would fall prey to the creature.

The system\'s voice echoed in his mind. "William, you need to lure the beast away. It\'s feeding on their life force to get stronger."

His hands tightened around the hilt of his sword. "I don\'t have a choice, do I?"

"No. You\'re the only one who\'s seen it. Go, now."

William\'s eyes darted to the beast, watching it stalk toward another student. He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath before shouting, "Hey! Over here!"

The beast\'s head snapped toward him, its glowing red eyes narrowing. For a brief moment, William felt a wave of fear, but he pushed it down, forcing himself to stand tall. He pointed his sword at the creature and yelled again, "Come on, you ugly thing! Let\'s go!"

The beast hissed, its body crackling with faint sparks of lightning as it lunged toward him, moving with terrifying speed. William spun on his heel and sprinted down the tunnel, leading it away from the other students. His heart pounded in his chest, adrenaline surging through his veins as he darted between the rubble and debris left by the ongoing battle.

He could hear the beast\'s claws scraping against the stone floor behind him, growing closer with each second.

"Duck!" the system warned.

Without thinking, William threw himself to the ground as a bolt of lightning shot past him, striking the wall. The sound of cracking stone filled the air, but he rolled to his feet and kept running.

The beast was relentless, its growls echoing through the tunnel as it charged at him again. But William had led it far enough. He skidded to a stop, turning to face the creature as it closed in on him.

The system\'s voice was calm but firm. "You\'re skilled in martial arts, William. Use it to your advantage. The beast is fast, but it\'s reckless. You need to stay sharp."

William raised his sword, taking a defensive stance as the beast lunged at him. It swiped its clawed hand toward his head, but William ducked just in time, swinging his blade upward in a counterstrike. His sword bit into the beast\'s side, drawing thick, black blood that sizzled and hissed as it hit the ground.

The beast screeched in pain, but its lightning-quick reflexes sent it diving toward William again, teeth gnashing. William leaped back, narrowly avoiding another deadly swipe.

"Watch out!" the system\'s voice came again.

William felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as the beast sent a small bolt of electricity shooting toward him. He dodged, but the bolt clipped his shoulder, sending a sharp pain down his arm. His vision blurred for a second, but he shook it off, gripping his sword tighter.

The beast growled low in its throat, circling him like a predator stalking its prey. William\'s breaths were ragged, his body already aching from the few hits he\'d taken, but he couldn\'t afford to slow down. The system was right—the beast was fast but wild, not thinking clearly, just driven by hunger. He had to use that against it.

He baited the creature with small movements, letting it think he was retreating, only to twist his body and slice at it with his blade. Each time he landed a hit, the beast grew more enraged, its lightning crackling violently around it. But then, disaster struck.

With a loud clang, William\'s sword shattered as the beast caught it in its maw and bit down. The metal splintered into pieces, leaving him holding only the hilt. His heart dropped.

"Shit…" he muttered.

The beast roared, sensing his vulnerability. It lunged forward, its jaws wide and ready to tear him apart. William\'s mind raced. He didn\'t have a weapon. He was exhausted. But he wasn\'t done yet.

As the beast closed in, William threw the broken hilt aside and rushed forward. With a primal yell, he leaped toward the creature, grabbing a shard of his broken sword from the ground and driving it deep into the beast\'s skull. The shard pierced through its bone, and the beast let out a horrific screech as black blood gushed from the wound.

The creature\'s body convulsed violently, sparks of lightning flickering around it as it tried to shake him off. But William held on, pushing the shard deeper until the beast finally collapsed, its body twitching before going still.

William\'s chest heaved with exhaustion, his hands slick with the beast\'s blood. But as the adrenaline faded, a strange sensation washed over him—a sense of calm, of peace. His body felt lighter, almost refreshed, as if the life the beast had drained from its victims was now returning to him.

His vision blurred as his knees buckled, the weight of the battle finally crashing down on him. The last thing he remembered before everything went dark was the sound

of his heartbeat, slowing as he fell into unconsciousness.