One early morning, Kuro walked down the hallway, feeling unusually lighthearted. Lately, his days have been going splendidly. He had successfully ventured into new dungeons outside the academy's confines and left a few Shadow summons behind to farm them. A smile tugged at his lips as he hummed softly, heading toward his class.
The girls who noticed his smile and heard his humming gasped in delight, some even fainting from the overwhelming excitement.
Kuro still couldn't understand why the girls on Prime Earth reacted this way. He had asked Brian about it, but Brian had only remained tight-lipped.
"Hey, have you heard about the weird shadowy creatures showing up in dungeons around the region?" one of the students asked his friends.
Kuro's ears perked up at the mention of the creatures. 'Took longer than I expected for the rumors to spread,' he thought to himself.
"Yeah, I heard that killing them doesn't yield anything. And once you take one down, more shadowy creatures appear out of nowhere and swarm you, beating you senseless. After nearly killing you, they drag you to the dungeon entrance and drop you off," replied one of the other friends.
"Yeah, I got pummeled by them the other day. I honestly thought I was done for," added another.
"I heard the academy and several guilds sent investigation teams, but they found nothing. Apparently, every time someone goes in, the creatures disappear like they were never there," the first friend remarked.
Kuro, having listened long enough, quickly lost interest and continued on his way. Over the past few months, he hadn't been idle. Once his Shadow summons reached an adequate level, he sent them to infiltrate guilds and governments across Prime Earth.
He targeted high-ranking individuals for infiltration—those strong enough to be influential but not perceptive enough to sense the Shadows. As for the Hoyoshil Guild, he had marked every high-ranking member with Shadows, particularly those directly tied to the Hoyoshil family. Initially, he had assumed it would be a challenge to infiltrate the guild, considering they were the third most powerful in the nation. However, to his surprise, their members were shockingly weak—far weaker than even the tenth-ranked Teccy Army.
Through eavesdropping on several meetings, Kuro uncovered that Hoyoshil had risen to power through underhanded methods.
"Every world has its cancer," Kuro mused, "and it seems this world's cancer is Hoyoshil."
On top of that, there was a strange new rumor circulating—girls had banded together to form a group called the "Kuro Bots." Lira and her unhinged followers had apparently united with a shared purpose. Kuro only hoped it wouldn't become a problem for him. "I really don't want to break their hearts," he thought with a sigh.
As Kuro walked down the hallway, his thoughts drifted between the present and the plans that were slowly but surely unfolding. His Shadow summons were growing stronger, and with each passing day, they were spreading across Prime Earth, quietly infiltrating the powerful guilds and government bodies.
The rumors about the shadowy creatures appearing in the dungeons were certainly his idea. He'd anticipated that they would stir up some buzz, but it seemed the rumors were already starting to take on a life of their own. He couldn't help but find a strange sense of amusement in the fact that these creatures, which were his creations, were causing so much confusion. They weren't dangerous—at least, not yet. They were more like distractions, tools to keep others on edge while Kuro worked in the shadows.
As he neared his class, Kuro gave a final sigh and shook off his worries for the moment.
Stepping into the classroom, he allowed his mask of indifference to settle back into place, his lips curling into a soft smile as he greeted a few familiar faces.
***
Once classes have ended, Kuro waves goodbye to Eli as well as Lisa, who he got close with in the past few months.
Once he got back home, he noticed Brian was not inside. A few days ago, Kuro had tried sending a Shadow summon to stay within Brian's shadow. The summon had been almost invisible, but Brian—whether by instinct or sharp awareness—had detected the presence of the Shadow before it even had the chance to settle in. The creature had barely gotten a few meters from Brian before it was forced to retreat, its cover blown.
Brian's sensitivity to Shadows was an anomaly that Kuro had yet to fully understand. There were few who could detect such subtle manipulations, especially someone who wasn't actively trained in sensing them. It made Kuro more cautious, realizing that Brian was no ordinary old man.
"Tomorrow, I will find out my awakener rank. It seems that the principal and Brian are curious about my strength since they have been keeping an eye on me and know that I have been entering multiple dungeons outside the academy. They might have already connected the dots that I am related to the appearance of the shadowy creatures since they appear in all the dungeons I visited."
With those thoughts, Kuro decided to rest for the day.
***
Information:
Average Human: Average stats around 10
Academy students: A little stronger than the average human.
Genin: Fresh Genins have two or more stats at or above 30 while their other stats lag behind. Experience Genins have most of their stats around 60.
Chuunin: Average Chuunins have stats around 100 while elite Chuunins have one or two stats around 130 depending on their specialty.
Jounin: Classified Information
ANBU: Classified Information
Kage: Classified Information
Note: Techniques can change these stats outline depending on the shinobi mastery of the technique.