Why are humans allowed to live only until a hundred or so years?
It was a question that had plagued me for so long.
Why the hard limit? Why couldn't humanity be immortal, invincible entities cruising through eternity? Was it some cosmic joke? Did whatever creator out there simply want them to suffer the slow decay of time?
I've thought about that for the longest time.
The answer, it turned out, wasn't malice. It was necessity.
For something to be classified as "sharp," there must exist something "dull" to compare it against. For a being to be considered "powerful," there must be a mountain of "weak" corpses beneath it to provide the contrast.
Existence requires definition. Definition requires limits. We are defined by what we can lose.
Life is only precious because it can be unceremoniously snuffed out. If it lasted forever, it would cease to have value. It would just be.
And that fleeting moment of change—when the sharp dulls, when the living dies, when power transfers from one vessel to another—that shift releases energy. It is the fundamental resource of reality.
Evanescence.
Every soul holds a reservoir of it, innate and waiting. It is the potential for change, trapped within a mortal shell, released only when that shell is broken or fundamentally altered. To control that resource is to control the very definitions of the world.
To make the sharp dull, and the weak strong.
<<----------->>
"Hey. Look at him. He's finally awake."
The voice was loud and raspy. It was followed by a chorus of mocking laughter that echoed off the cold, damp stone walls.
Evo opened his eyes. His head throbbed with a dull, rhythmic pain. He was lying on a floor that smelled of mold and old sweat. As he tried to sit up, his memories felt like a fog. He couldn't remember much. He just knew he had appeared in a field not too long ago. He had seen a town in the distance and walked toward it, hoping for answers.
But he didn't have a "Blessing."
In this world, every kingdom had its own way of measuring power. Some called it a status panel, others called it the soul's script. When he reached the gates, the guards had looked at him like he was a ghost. They checked for his baptism—a mark that linked a person to a kingdom's system.
In this place, the system was simple: Levels and Attributes. Strength, Defense, Agility, Vitality, Magic. It was all just a UI, a screen to show how much "Power" a person had stolen from others. Whether people called it Mana, Qi, or Divine Power, it didn't matter. It was all just Experience gained by killing things.
Evo had nothing. No level, no stats, no blessing. So, they threw him here.
"What's the matter, blanky? Forgot how to speak?"
Evo looked up. Three men stood over him. They were big, dressed in rags, and had the hungry eyes of wolves.
"I... where am I?" Evo's voice was thin.
"You're in the pit," the leader said, grinning to show a missing front tooth. "And since you don't have a blessing, you don't have any protection. You're just a pile of free experience waiting to be harvested."
The man stepped forward and kicked Evo in the stomach.
[Warning: Hostile entities detected.]
A voice rang out in Evo's head. It was cold and mechanical, like a machine trying to sound human.
[Mission: Unify this fractured world or die.]
Unify? Evo thought, coughing as he curled into a ball. I can't even stand up.
"Look at him shiver," another inmate laughed. He pulled out a sharpened piece of wood. "Let's see if a blank slate bleeds the same as a Level 10."
The leader reached down to grab Evo's hair. In that moment, something inside Evo snapped. It wasn't anger. It was a cold, logical realization. If the rule of the world was to take power, then he would take theirs.
He didn't think; he just acted.
Evo grabbed the leader's wrist. The man's eyes widened, surprised by the sudden strength. With a quick twist, a loud crack filled the cell. The leader screamed, but Evo didn't stop. He lunged forward, driving his shoulder into the man's chest and sending him crashing against the stone wall.
The other two froze.
"Kill him!" the leader barked, clutching his broken arm.
The man with the wooden shiv rushed forward. Evo moved to the side, his body feeling strangely light. He grabbed the man's arm and redirected the force, slamming the inmate's head into the iron bars of the cell door.
Thud.
The man slumped to the ground, unconscious or dead. Evo didn't care. He turned to the third man, who was already backing away.
"Wait, I—"
Evo didn't wait. He closed the gap in a single stride and struck the man in the throat. The inmate fell, gasping for air.
As the three men lay broken on the floor, Evo felt a strange sensation. It was like a warm stream of water flowing into his skin. He could feel their "Power"—the experience they had spent their lives gathering—leaving them.
[Experience acquired.]
[Converting Experience to Evanescence...]
[Conversion successful. 1 Star of Evanescence gained.]
As the heat settled in his chest, the cold voice in his head spoke again.
[Emergency Evanescence protocol was activated to ensure vessel survival. A temporary surge of power was granted to neutralize threats.]
Evo leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath. Now that the surge was fading, he remembered something. Before he had entered the town, while he was still standing in that empty field, the voice had briefed him. It had told him he was part of the E-System. It had told him that the world was broken and that he was the one meant to fix it. He hadn't understood it then, but seeing the blood on his hands now, it was starting to make sense.
[Notice: The surge was a one-time emergency use. You must now rely on your own Evanescence.]
The heavy iron door at the end of the hall groaned open. A guard walked in, holding a heavy wooden baton. He saw the bodies on the floor, and his face turned red with rage.
"You! What did you do, you little rat?!" the guard shouted, rushing toward the cell. "I'll break every bone in your body!"
Evo stood his ground. He didn't have a status panel, so he couldn't see the guard's level, but he could feel the man's strength. He was much stronger than the inmates.
[Instruction: Use Evanescence to establish a Link. Be quiet. Do not shout.]
Evo focused. He reached into that pool of warmth in his chest—the power he had just taken from the three men—and pulled out a tiny thread of energy. He didn't want to kill the guard. He wanted to use him.
Obey, Evo thought.
He didn't scream the command. He whispered it into the very fabric of the guard's mind.
The guard stopped mid-swing. His baton stayed raised in the air, but his arm began to tremble. His eyes went from angry to blank, like a window with the curtains pulled shut. He looked like he was dreaming while standing up.
"Drop the baton," Evo said softly.
The wooden club clattered to the floor.
"Unlock the cell."
The guard reached for his belt, his movements stiff and robotic. He slid the key into the lock and turned it. The door swung open with a screech.
Evo stepped out into the hallway. The guard stood there, head bowed, waiting for the next command.
"What happened to him?" Evo asked the voice in his head.
[A Link has been established,] the voice replied. [You have spent a star of Evanescence to rewrite his will. He is now a part of your system.]
Evo looked at the man. "Is he a slave?"
[More than a slave. He is an extension of you. Because of the Link, any power he gains from now on will not go to him. It will be funneled directly to you. He will fight, he will kill, and he will grow—but the strength will be yours to keep. You are the King, and he is your Pawn.]
Evo looked at his own hands. They were clean, but he felt the weight of what he had just done. He was a puppeteer, and this guard was his first string.
"And the Goddess?" Evo asked, remembering the briefing from the field. "Can she see this?"
[Not yet. Controlling a guard is a whisper. It is a small change in the world. But be warned: the more powerful the target, the louder the noise. If you control a Queen or a King, it will be a shout. And if you shout, she will find you.]
Evo nodded slowly. He looked down the dark hallway that led to the surface. He had no memories of his past, no blessing from this world, and no friends. But he had a Link.
"Let's go," Evo said to the guard.