His name was kael
Sixteen years old.
No parents.
No power.
Five years ago, his mother and father were killed during a rift outbreak in Sector D. The defense line collapsed. Hunters arrived too late. Thousands died that day.
Including them.
Kael survived only because his uncle pulled him from the rubble.
Since then, he had been living in a small apartment on the edge of the city, supported by government compensation and whatever part-time jobs his uncle could find.
Life wasn't kind to powerless people.
Every day, Kai watched awakened students fly past him on hover bikes, glowing with energy, laughing like the world belonged to them.
Maybe it did.
He clenched his fists.
In two days, he would start at Hunter Academy.
Not because he had talent.
Not because he was chosen.
But because the law demanded it.
Every sixteen-year-old had to attend the academy. It was humanity's last filter—either you awakened and became useful…
or you were discarded.
Kael stared at his reflection in the cracked mirror.
Dark circles under his eyes.
Scar across his cheek from the rift incident.
Empty gaze.
"I don't care if I don't have talent," he whispered.
"I'll become a hunter anyway."
Outside, sirens echoed through the city.
Another rift had opened.
And somewhere deep inside Kai's body, something stirred.
Something ancient.
Something that had been waiting.
And he collapsed