My boots weighed a ton as I climbed the stairs of the old building in Liberdade[1] where Lucas lived. It wasn't just physical weariness; it was the weight of knowing I had a target on my back. Or rather, a target on my arm.
The door to apartment 402 was ajar, the sound of computer fans whirring loudly inside. I pushed the door open with my left shoulder.
"Lucas?"
The place looked like a cave lit by blue and red neon. Empty pizza boxes fought for space with network cables, disassembled motherboards, and books on occultism. In the center of it all, Lucas was hunched over three monitors, typing at a speed that would make any pianist envious.
"You took your time," he said without turning his chair. "The Fervor in the college area spiked weirdly about thirty minutes ago. That wasn't you healing a kitten, was it?"
"It was a Chosen of Umbra," I dropped the bomb, closing the door behind me.
The sound of the keys stopped immediately. Lucas spun his chair around. The mocking expression vanished, replaced by genuine fear.
"You... met a Chosen of the Malevolent? And you're in one piece?"
"His name is Vitor. Student, playboy, teeth stained with blood." I sat on the unmade bed, holding my right arm which was still throbbing, the light under the jacket now dim, in rest mode. "He tried to skewer me with a shadow spear. Said he was hunting vitality to go up a Circle."
Lucas cursed under his breath and turned back to the monitors.
"I told you, Dayanne. The war isn't just fun and games. If he's a Chosen, he has access to powers I only dream of having. His magic is unstable, destructive. If he didn't kill you, it's because he didn't want to pay the full 'price' right there and then."
"He bit his tongue," I remembered, feeling a shiver. "He bled to make the magic work."
"Classic Umbra. Physical pain as fuel." Lucas started typing frantically. "Give me details. Appearance, likely major, anything."
"Slicked-back hair, designer clothes, the face of someone who's never held a hoe in his life. He talked about 'evolution' and how I was mediocre for protecting the status quo. Said his name was Vitor."
Lucas snapped his fingers.
"Hacker, remember? The spiritual world is superimposed on the internet too. Let's see who this 'Gated Community Darwinist' is."
As he worked, I observed the room. There were runes drawn with silver permanent marker on the side of his PC case. That was how the Awakened functioned: infusing their own life force and small acts of faith into common objects to create tools. Lucas's computer wasn't just a machine; it was his Grimoire.
"Got him." Lucas pointed to the central screen.
A social media profile picture appeared. It was him. Vitor Alencar. Economics student, son of a construction tycoon. In the photo, he was smiling on a yacht, holding a glass of champagne.
"Vitor Alencar," Lucas read the digital rap sheet. "The family owns half the new real estate developments in the South Zone. The family motto? 'Building the future on the past.'"
"Or 'crushing those below to rise up,'" I finished. "Matches Umbra's philosophy: Ambition, personal power, radical change."
"There's more," Lucas opened an encrypted forum, black background with shaky green letters. "There are reports on the Deep Web about 'accidents' at Alencar family construction sites. Workers fainting from sudden exhaustion, beams falling where they shouldn't. It looks like he doesn't just use entropy to fight on campus. He might be using it to sabotage competitors or speed up construction by draining the workers' vitality."
I felt a bitter taste in my mouth. I used my power to be a barrier. Vitor used his like a bulldozer.
"He said he's coming back, Lucas. He marked Goiás's barn."
Lucas stopped typing and looked at me seriously. He grabbed a small flash drive hanging around his neck like an amulet.
"Listen, Dayanne. You have the Gift, but you don't have eyes everywhere. I'm not a Chosen, I don't have infinite light coming out of my arm, but I have this."
He plugged the drive into the PC and started transferring data.
"I'm going to set up a surveillance algorithm on the campus security cameras. If that playboy's face shows up near the Vet barn, my system alerts me and I call you. It's the most my 'Infused Arsenal' can do for now."
"Thanks, Lucas."
"Don't thank me yet." He turned the screen to me. The map of São Paulo was full of red dots. "Vitor isn't alone. No one gets to his level of arrogance without having friends in high places. There are bigger Circles, Dayanne. And if he's the pawn, you just kicked the King's board."
I stood up, feeling Aureus's energy respond to my determination. My right arm warmed, ready for the next round.
"Well, tell the King that this country girl doesn't know how to play chess," I said, walking to the door. "But I'm very good at building fences to hold wild cattle."
Lucas laughed, nervous.
"Just try not to lose the other arm before graduation, okay?"
I closed the door, leaving the hum of computers behind. I had a name, a face, and an ally. Vitor Alencar wanted evolution through pain? I would show him that true strength comes from enduring pain for others.
The war had stopped being a shadow in the subway. Now, it had an address and a name.
[1] Liberdade is a neighborhood located in the central area of the municipality of São Paulo, belonging partly to the Liberdade district and partly to the Sé district, administered by the Sé Regional Prefecture.