Chapter 1:Awaking I wake up gasping, chest burning as if someone drove a spike of pure light straight through my ribs. Rain hammers the cracked roof of my old warehouse, each drop plinking onto the concrete floor in a relentless rhythm. For a heartbeat, I think I'm still dreaming—the sky tearing open, a massive armored figure descending, voice booming like thunder:
"You are my blood."
Then the beam hit me. I felt it. Every fiber of me.
But when I sit up, clutching my shirt, there's nothing. No wound, no glow, no mark. Just the same scrawny body, the same threadbare blanket, the same empty stomach. I laugh once, short and bitter. Another stupid dream. I've stopped believing in them—dreams where I'm strong, where I fight back, where Lu Huang and his dogs don't dare touch me. I always wake up weaker than before.
Dragging myself outside, the twin suns rise over Neo-Zhau. The air smells of wet metal and street-food smoke. Hover-carts whine past, loaded with glowing crystal fruits that only the rich can afford. My stomach growls. I follow the same route to the market square as every day: deliver packages for a few credits, avoid eye contact, survive.
But today, the city feels different.
They're waiting.
Exactly where they always wait—leaning against the neon noodle stall like they own the district. Lu Huang in front, arms crossed, smirk on his face. His two cronies flank him, cracking knuckles and laughing at something I don't want to hear. Lu wears the academy jacket he doesn't deserve—dropped out last year but still acting like he's elite.
"Well, well. Look who crawled out of the gutter," Lu calls, loud enough for everyone to hear. A few vendors glance over, then quickly look away. Nobody helps the orphan. Nobody ever does.
My feet stop moving. I want to turn and run down the alley like usual, but something inside me shifts. A warmth spreads from my chest, slow and steady, like embers waking after a long winter. My heart beats louder in my ears.
Lu pushes off the stall and steps toward me. "Got my credits ready, rat-boy? Interest went up this week."
I don't answer. I never do. I just stare at the ground, waiting for the first shove.
But the warmth grows hotter. And then, a voice—not mine, but familiar—whispers clear as crystal inside my head:
Kick him. Right there. Now!
I blink. What? Now?
Lu's right in front of me, close enough to smell the spice on his breath. Qi flickers faintly around his fist—not much, just enough to bruise.
And my body moves before I can think.
My leg snaps up, foot driving straight into Lu Huang's groin with perfect, vicious precision.
The sound he makes isn't human. He folds in half, eyes bulging, dropping to his knees as if someone cut his strings. Silence falls over the square except for the rain hissing against hot metal roofs.
I stare at my own leg, still raised, trembling. What… just happened?
Lu's cronies freeze, mouths open. One finally stutters, "Y-you're dead, orphan!"
The warmth in my chest flares brighter, almost joyful. That voice again, calm and certain:
They're bluffing. Shield yourself.
I don't know how I know what to do—but suddenly my mind is crystal clear, as if I've practiced this a thousand times. I feel it building inside me.
A barrier.
Qi for structure
Mana for flexibility
Spiritual Energy to read incoming threats
Soul Power to anchor it to me
Will to make it unbreakable
Logic clicks into place. Energy flows in, redirects out. Simple. Perfect.
The bigger crony snarls and thrusts a hand forward. A crude Mana bolt forms—glowing blue, sloppy, unstable—and flies straight at my face.
My barrier snaps into existence an instant before impact. The bolt explodes like water on glass, harmless sparks scattering in the rain.
The crony stumbles back. "What the hell…?"
Lu is still on the ground, whimpering. People are staring now—real stares, not the usual quick glances. Whispers ripple through the crowd:
"That kid just dropped Lu Huang…"
"No way he's untrained."
"Did you see that shield? Clean fusion…"
I lower my foot slowly. My hands shake—not from fear, but from power. Real power, humming under my skin like it's been waiting forever.
I look down at Lu, still curled up protecting himself. For the first time in years, I speak without stuttering.
"Next time," I say, voice steady, "find someone else to bother."
Then I walk away. Nobody stops me. Nobody dares.
The warmth in my chest pulses once, almost like approval.
As I disappear into the alley, rain washing the shock off my face, I stand there for a moment, feeling the city wake around me.
I don't know who I am anymore. I don't know what's happening.
But for the first time in my life, I am not afraid to find out.