The gutters hissed as rainwater raced through the cracked pavements of Grayblock District—one of the poorest zones in the city of Sanctura. Towering skyscrapers loomed in the distance, glowing like sanctified beacons of wealth and power. But here in the back alleys, under flickering streetlights and rusted fences, dreams came cheap and died young.
Damien Gray zipped his soaked hoodie, pulling it tighter as he stepped over a trash bin overflowing with rot. His shoes—two sizes too small and held together by tape—squished with every step. He didn't complain. Complaining didn't change rent. And tonight, rent was two days late.
"Two hours at Mr. Han's garage," he muttered to himself. "Then groceries. Then home. Then homework... maybe."
His stomach growled.
A soft light buzzed behind his ear. Damien reached up, tapping the worn communicator clinging to his skin like a leech. An old school model—probably a decade behind modern Saints' tech.
> Public Alert: A-Class supernatural threat in Quadrant Twelve. Citizens advised to shelter immediately. Evacuation teams en route.
Quadrant Twelve? That was barely a block from here.
Damien froze. In the distance, a boom shook the ground, followed by a streak of blue light carving across the sky like a divine sword. Sirens wailed as pedestrians scattered. A distant voice shouted, "He's breached the barrier!"
"Saints above…" Damien whispered.
That meant one thing: a Saint was fighting. And whoever they were fighting—was not human.
But he couldn't afford to be curious. Poor kids who stuck their noses where they didn't belong often ended up in body bags—or worse, vessels for demonic possession. Damien turned to run toward the alley shortcut that would take him to the garage.
Then he heard it.
Screaming. Not the panicked, "we're under attack" kind. But the helpless, we're trapped and about to die kind.
He looked over his shoulder.
In the distance, a two-story building tilted unnaturally—wood and brick crumbling from its side. It was about to collapse. From within, the cries of children echoed.
A split-second decision.
Damien dashed back, his heart hammering, leaping over puddles and broken fences, ignoring the terrified crowd fleeing the other way. "Don't be stupid," he told himself. "You're not a Saint. You can't do anything!"
But his legs didn't listen.
---
The house groaned like a dying beast as he reached it. Smoke poured from the second floor. Through a shattered window, he saw them—a woman shielding two kids beneath a fractured staircase.
"Hey!" Damien shouted, climbing through the side. "Hold on!"
The woman's eyes widened. "No—get out! The whole place is coming down!"
He didn't listen. He ducked, crawled, grabbed one child—then the second—then helped the mother to her feet. Just as the ceiling gave a sharp crack—
BOOM.
A massive shockwave hit the house.
Wood exploded. The world spun. Damien flung the kids forward, shielding them with his back. Something hit his side—hard.
Blackness threatened to swallow him whole.
Then… a strong hand grabbed his shoulder.
A voice—deep, commanding, warm with power.
"You have Divinity," it said.
---
When Damien opened his eyes, he was outside. Alive. The kids were crying, hugging their mother. The building was rubble. But standing at the center of a glowing crater—his white cloak torn and face bloodied—was a man Damien recognized instantly.
John Davis.
The highest-ranked Saint of their era. Michael Rank. The strongest in the world.
John looked at him with strange intensity.
"You didn't run," he said quietly. "Not many do. Even fewer without power."
Damien tried to speak, but his ribs ached too much.
John raised a hand. A cross-shaped construct of white energy formed in the air—pure, radiant, and sharp-edged. It hovered briefly, then vanished.
"…Your Divinity is faint. But it's there."
Damien blinked. "What?"
But John only smiled faintly. "Rest now, Damien Gray. You've changed your fate tonight. But don't ever tell anyone who sent you to the Academy. It would only make things harder."
Before Damien could respond, John was gone—vanishing in a blinding shimmer of light.
And Damien, for the first time in his life, blacked out… with a future waiting.
---
[End of Chapter One]