Shadow: I Can Use Al

Let’sbehonest.You’veprobablyreadahundredstorieslikethisbefore.Guygetsasystemoutofnowhere.Acheatappears.Somemysteriousforcedecidestogifthimpowerlikeit’safreetrial.Yeah…thatone.Thisisnotthat.Becauseinsteadofreceivingasystem…Hebuiltone.Withhisownhands.Insidehisownbody.Andno,thishasneverhappenedbefore.Notevenonceinhistory.Thisisthefirstsystemevercreated.Notgifted.Notfound.Notstolen.Made.HisnameisShadow.Yes,itsoundslikehe’stryingtoohard.No,hedidn’tchooseit.Blamehisfamilyforthatone.Atsixteen,hedidsomethinginsane.Hesuccessfullyinstalledasysteminsidehimselfusingforbiddenrunetheoryandlogicthatmostpeoplewouldrejectimmediatelyjustbyhearingit.Andsomehow…Itworked.Nowhere’swherethingsgetinteresting.Infinitemana.Thatmeanshedoesn’trunoutofenergy.Ever.Nolimits.Noexhaustion.No“you’reoutofmana”warnings.Butdon’tgetexcitedyet—hestillhastoactuallylearnhowtouseitproperly.Sorightnow,it’sless“overpoweredgodmode”andmore“unlimitedfuelinsideamachinehehasn’tfinishedbuilding.”“Ohcool,asystem.”No.Hemadeit.“Ohcool,questsandleveling.”Yes—butthisoneanswerstohim.“Ohcool,onemillionbeastcoresrequirement.”Yes.Andhisreactionwasverysimple:“…You’rejoking.”Inthisworld,peoplearebornwithlimits.Oneelement.Onepath.Onedestiny.Shadowlookedatallofthatanddecidedsomethingverysimple:“I’mnotdoingthat.”Nowlet’sclearsomethingup.HeisNOToverpoweredatthestart.HeisNOTinvincible.Butheissomethingfarmoredangerous:Apersonbuildingthethingthatwilleventuallymakehimunstoppable.Heissmart.Thekindofsmartthatturnsimpossibletheoriesintorealityjustbecausehethoughtaboutthemlongenough.Heiscalm.Thekindofcalmthatusuallyshowsuprightbeforesomethinggoesverywrongforeveryoneelse.Andheisobservantenoughtoturneverythingheseesintosomethingusefullater.Nowaboutpeople.Somefearhim.Sometrytounderstandhim.Andsomerealizetoolatethattheyneverevenexistedonthesamelevelof“understanding”ashiminthefirstplace.Andthenthereareothers…Especiallywomen.Somefindhimhardtoread.Somefindhimstrangelyattention-grabbingwithoutknowingwhy.Andsomerealize,evenwithoutmeaningto,thattheireyeslingerlongerthantheyshould.Notbecauseheistryingtocharmanyone.Butbecausesomethingabouthimsimplypullsattentionwithoutaskingforpermission.Hedoesn’tchaseit.Itjusthappens.Soyeah.ThisisastoryaboutShadow.Theguywhodidn’treceiveasystem.Hecreatedone.Andnowtheworldisgoingtofindoutexactlywhatthatmeans.Unfortunatelyforeveryoneelse…Thatdiscoverywon’tbegentle.