"Huh. It's just a rock."
Damien tilted his head to the side, squinting at the tiny black rock his friend was holding with a cloth. Unspectacularly dull and grainy, it didn't seem all that impressive. Could it be that Luka was messing with him, and the real Island fragment hadn't come in yet?
Yes, that has to be it. Damien nodded to himself. He found it hard to believe such a pathetic rock would leak Particles into his body, resulting in superhuman strength, and, of course, what he'd been dreaming of since childhood… magic.
"It's not just any rock… It's an Island rock." Luka grinned mischievously, then joined Damien on the couch and placed the fragment on the glass table.
"You know how it goes," he continued. "Touch the fragment and cease to be human."
Damien was silent for a moment, still studying the fragment intently. Then he sighed.
"And you're sure we didn't get scammed by your cousin? This cost both of our savings and then some, and he didn't seem like a reliable guy."
Luka laughed, brushing hair from his face. "No, Darrel is the most trusted black market Island scavenger there is! Plus, he wouldn't do that to family."
"I see." Damien bit his nails. The truth was, he wasn't nervous about it being a scam, but what came after he touched the rock. Sure, he'd gain magic and become something greater than human. But he'd lose something of equal value in return.
Freedom.
***
About a hundred years ago, the first Island sprouted across the sea. At first, nations paid them little to no attention as wars for power raged and technology was far too limited to spare men for exploration.
There wasn't a soul alive who could have predicted that abominations were hiding beneath the soil until an Island break occurred off the coast of Kamakura.
Asia never stood a chance. And once the west fell, the entire world was plunged into chaos as thousands of Islands sprouted, overwhelming the remaining millitary powers. It wasn't until a ragtag group of survivors stumbled upon an Island's shore that they gained Particles and slew the monsters to claim the land as their own.
Now Baldia stands alone as the only human nation across a sea of Islands.
Of course, any human who comes into contact with Particles and awakens as a Raider must surrender their life to the cause — protecting Baldia and raiding Islands for the resources necessary to survive.
Failure to do so ends in execution.
***
A few minutes later, Damien was pacing around his high-rise apartment, chewing on a bottle cap. He had built a good life for himself by buying essential items like meat in bulk and reselling them to the hungry folk of Baldia during famines.
Basically, he and his business partner Luka were scumbags.
But rich scumbags! Scumbags who don't have to worry about when they'll eat or drink. Damien thought, chewing more intensely.
A few years ago, if someone had told him he'd trade in his cushy life to risk everything and become a Raider, he would have laughed in their face. Glamorous as his dreams for magic were, nothing was more precious than life itself.
And Raiders die. A lot.
It's rumored that 70% of Raiders die in their first four years.
"Second-guessing yourself?" Luka said, tapping his finger on his chin. His emerald eyes, however, were burning with curiosity, never leaving the Island fragment on the glass table.
"No…"
"Well, it definitely surprised me when you came back from the Wastelands freaking out, saying we needed to change our ways." Luka picked up the rock by the cloth and brought it inches from his face. Then his sharp gaze froze Damien. "Look, I'm okay with throwing away everything we built because you're my friend and I owe you my life for bringing me into this business. But tell me, what did you find out there?"
"Walking corpses," Damien said quietly. In particular, he was thinking of one little boy he'd seen, begging for water. Although his throat was so dry he couldn't speak, and his bones so frail he couldn't walk, he crawled from mud hut to mud hut.
Damien was out there on a deal for fresh meat and water, and ended up giving more to the boy than he had probably eaten or drunk all year.
It wasn't enough. In the end, he watched the boy die.
After exhaling slowly, Damien stormed to Luka's side and ripped the fragment out of his hand.
"Money can't save anyone or change anything. Power. Someone needs to be powerful enough to bring in enough resources for even the Wastelanders."
If no one else will… it'll have to be me.
The cloth fell to the table, and Damien's heart was racing as his hand curled around the rock. Luka jumped up from the couch with enthusiasm.
"How does it feel! What magical affinity did you gain?"
"Cold…" Damien frowned.
Was it really a scam?
But just then, the dull black rock started glowing a bright yellow, and its surface, once as cold as the Arctic, began to burn like a miniature sun.
"Agh." Damien grimaced, dropping the rock. It glowed even brighter from the carpet before releasing tiny motes of light that floated into his chest. The Particles rampaged through his body, wreaking havoc everywhere they went.
Damien collapsed. His organs, his blood, his bones, his muscles — all of it was being melted and reformed in a furnace of golden light.
His horrified screams startled Luka, and the idiot decided it would be best to also touch the rock.
So he too collapsed, screaming his ass off.
Moments later, Damien made it through the cauldron.
He sat up, wiping sweat from his forehead, feeling oddly renewed. Then he stumbled to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror with an intense expression.
Messy black hair, an oddly thin nose, pale eyes, and a skinny frame. He had half expected, after so much agony to have a few muscles to show for it, but everything seemed to be exactly the way it was before — besides one little detail.
A smile crept across his face. Just under his left eye were three numbers etched in golden ink:
999.
His Particle count.
As far as he knew, a Particle count reflected how many Particles actually resided in his body. The higher the count, the stronger the magic a Raider possessed.
Since I just awakened, I'd be considered E-rank, right? And by slaying monsters on the Islands and absorbing their Particles, I can raise my count and grow stronger?
Even so, Damien knew the initial count played a significant role in how strong a Raider could ultimately become. Through his shady black market dealings, he'd learned that all Raiders had a cap they would eventually reach, and that a higher initial count demonstrated a deeper affinity with the Particles.
So it begged the question. Is 999 good for an E-rank?
Suddenly, Luka burst into the bathroom grinning.
"We actually did it! I can't believe we're Raiders!"
Damien didn't return the smile — not until he saw the golden ink beneath his friend's left eye.
707.
"C'mon, we should test our super strength and find out our magical affinities."