The thick mist that perpetually veiled Blinding Town clung to the air like a silent guardian of secrets. It wrapped around the streets and alleys in swirling layers, muting sound and color alike. Only the faint hum of distant helicopters and the occasional flash of blue and red lights broke the monochrome gloom.
At the far eastern ridge — a forgotten sector of the town — lay the abandoned Hydro-tunnel, a massive underground passage that once channeled clean water through the region decades ago before industrial negligence sealed it off. Its rusted metal gates now hung loosely from their hinges, half-buried under vines and fog-dampened debris.
Hutton Maxwell, his hood drawn low, stood before the corroded gate with Bob, Boma, and Julian. The dim lamplight from a nearby post flickered weakly against his face, revealing eyes that gleamed with newfound power — sharp, steady, and faintly glowing with the calm brilliance of the Nascent Soul stage.
