Rain hammered against the metal rooftops of Iron City. Screams and gunfire mixed with thunder. A small boy ran barefoot through the alleys, breath sharp and white in the cold air. He didn't remember his real name—only that men with knives wanted him dead.
A rough hand grabbed his neck and slammed him into a wall. "Got you, runt."
Another voice came from the dark, calm and heavy. "Let him go."
The man turned and froze. The stranger's eyes were cold and sharp. "He's got the same eyes I used to have."
That was the night Blade Vayne Wilson stopped being a lost kid. Razor Leon, leader of the Black Fang Syndicate, took him in.
By ten, Blade could shoot blindfolded. By twelve, he could build a gun from junk. By fifteen, they called him Metatron—the silent reaper of the gang. He never smiled, never wasted words. Razor once said, "You kill too clean, boy. Makes others nervous." Blade answered, "I'm not here to make friends."
At seventeen he graduated from school. That same night the Crimson Spire gang attacked. Bullets and fire everywhere. Razor was hit. He laughed through the pain and tossed Blade a chip. "I sent you money. Fifty million. Leave this continent. Go north—to Winterland. Don't come back."
He died smiling. Blade didn't cry. He buried him and walked away as the city burned.
A year later, snow covered Frostvale City. Blade lived quietly in a small house at the edge of town. Sometimes he fixed things for neighbors. Sometimes he just watched the snow fall.
One evening he walked home from the store, hands in his pockets. The giant street screen above the avenue flickered on, washing everything in blue light.
> "Tomorrow marks the global launch of the first full-dive neural game—Ascender Online! Forge your destiny. Create your legend."
Crowds stopped to stare. Blade did too. The words Forge. Build. Ascend. glowed across the snow.
A world built around creation, not destruction.
He stood there for a long moment, then turned and walked toward the tech plaza.
"A forge, huh," he muttered. "Maybe this time, I'll build instead of kill."