The city's lights flickered faintly as dusk fell, painting the streets in shades of gray and gold. Li Tian moved cautiously through the alleyways, his senses sharpened by the knowledge that every step could be observed, every action scrutinized. The scar in the sky, barely visible now against the evening glow, pulsed faintly, a silent heartbeat reminding him that reality was already shifting beneath his feet.
He had spent the entire afternoon trying to train control over the sparks that flared from his hands. Simple experiments — moving objects, lifting rocks, suspending paper midair — had left him drained, dizzy, and painfully aware of the cost. Each interference seemed to scrape away a piece of himself: a memory here, a fragment of thought there, a fleeting sense of existence that vanished for a heartbeat before returning altered and hollow.
The system is correcting you, the whisper warned again, faint but persistent. Deviation persists. Interference escalates.
Li Tian's hands trembled as he reached the edge of a crumbling brick wall. He flexed his fingers and concentrated, trying to lift a small stone the size of a fist. The rock wavered, wobbling in midair. Sparks leapt from his palm, dancing erratically as if protesting the manipulation.
"Careful," Lin Yao's voice whispered from the shadows, though she remained a few meters away. "Do not overextend. Each push brings the world closer to reclaiming you."
"I… I can't control it fully," Li Tian admitted, breathing hard. "Every time I try… it feels like it's ripping pieces of me away."
She stepped closer, her eyes scanning him, expression unreadable. "It will. That is the cost. You are touching the fractures in the fabric of the world. The Old Gods' remnants are reacting. And the Keepers… they know."
Li Tian clenched his fists, sparks surging between his fingers. His mind flashed with yesterday's memories, fragmented and incomplete. He realized he was forgetting things he shouldn't — the smallest details, the faces of friends, the order of events — all fading like mist.
"Then… I have no choice, do I?" he asked quietly.
Lin Yao shook her head. "You have choices. But each has consequences. Every action now is amplified. You are not just a student anymore. You are a variable the system wants to erase."
Suddenly, a disturbance ran through the air. Li Tian's hair lifted slightly, and the faint hum of the scar in the sky intensified. He felt it before he saw them — three figures moving through the alley at impossible speed, their presence distorting the air.
The Keepers of Order had arrived.
"You are the anomaly," the tallest one said, his voice calm yet absolute. "Your interference yesterday has left marks on the system. The Core cannot tolerate such deviation."
Li Tian froze, sparks flaring instinctively. He backed up, pressing himself against the wall. "I don't want to fight you!" he said, though his voice betrayed fear and exhaustion.
"The world does not wait for your consent," another Keeper replied. "Nor does it forgive hesitation."
The alley pulsed faintly as the Keepers moved closer. Li Tian's power surged uncontrollably, reacting to the tension. A streetlamp flickered and bent, twisting in midair before snapping upright. The system's warning roared inside his mind: Deviation too high. Containment imminent.
He raised his hands, sparks dancing violently. A small car nearby lifted slightly, spinning in a slow arc. His stomach churned as reality seemed to resist him; the sparks burned brighter, and his vision blurred. Moments of memory vanished — the name of the shop across the street, the layout of the alley, even the taste of water he had drunk minutes ago.
"The cost… is increasing," Lin Yao whispered, her voice tense. She was observing quietly from the side, her dark eyes alert to the shifting energy around him.
The Keepers moved as one. The tallest raised a hand, and the air shimmered violently. The alley bent, folding in subtle, impossible angles, as though multiple dimensions overlapped for a heartbeat. Li Tian staggered, struggling to maintain focus. Sparks surged, crackling and snapping like tiny lightning bolts.
"You cannot fight the world," the tallest Keeper said. "Your existence is a violation. We are correcting it."
Li Tian gritted his teeth. "I… won't let you erase me!"
A jolt of energy exploded from his hands, bright and uncontrolled. It ripped through the alley, sending debris scattering. The Keepers barely flinched. One of them, the youngest, smiled faintly. "He has no understanding of the cost… yet."
The alley warped again. Li Tian felt a wave of vertigo as fragments of reality overlapped: streets twisted, shadows moved against logic, and the scar in the sky grew wider, darker. The whispers inside his head became a cacophony.
"Deviation too high… interference uncontrolled… containment imminent… Core instability rising…"
Li Tian gritted his teeth, trying to hold onto the rock suspended before him. It hovered, trembling violently. Sparks jumped from his palm, lashing outward. He felt something break inside him — a memory, perhaps, or a fragment of identity. He could not tell. His mind felt stretched thin, fraying at the edges.
Lin Yao stepped forward, raising her voice. "Stop! You will lose yourself if you continue! Control it, or it will take more than your mind!"
Li Tian's body shook violently. He tried to pull back the power, to contain it. Sparks surged and died. The rock fell. But it was too late. A tremor ran through the alley. The Keepers' robes fluttered unnaturally, as though caught in a wind from another dimension.
Then, a sound unlike anything Li Tian had heard before: a low resonance, deep and ancient, vibrating through the very ground beneath him. The air shimmered with faint black threads that reached up from the street.
The shards of the Old Gods had awakened, responding to the uncontrolled surge. Li Tian's vision blurred, and he stumbled backward. The alley seemed to fold in on itself. He could feel the presence of something immense, something observing, ancient, patient, and yet reactive.
"The fragments… are awakening…" Lin Yao murmured, almost to herself.
The Keepers reacted immediately. The tallest stepped forward, one hand raised. He murmured words Li Tian could not comprehend. A wave of energy pulsed outward, striking Li Tian. The boy fell to his knees, sparks dying, body trembling violently. Pain shot through his head, burning as if the scar in the sky had reached into him personally.
"You are a variable," the tallest Keeper said, voice calm and absolute. "But you are also fragile. You are not invincible. The system corrects, and it will continue until deviation ceases."
Li Tian coughed, blood faintly trickling from his mouth. "I… I don't care," he whispered. "I won't… let you… erase me…"
Lin Yao moved beside him, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder. "Then listen carefully," she said. "There is a way to survive this. But the path is dangerous. You cannot fight alone, and every step will cost you something vital — your memory, your sanity, your existence itself. The Old Gods… they are stirring. And the Keepers… they are not your enemies, exactly. But they are necessary for order, and you are a threat to it."
The scar in the sky pulsed again. Li Tian raised his trembling hands. Sparks flickered faintly. The fragments of reality twisted in response. He understood something he had not before:
Every action had a cost. Every interference with the world came at a price far greater than he had imagined.
And yet, he would not yield.
Not now. Not ever.
The Keepers of Order watched silently, assessing him. The scar in the sky widened subtly, a warning from the world itself. Somewhere beneath reality, fragments of the Old Gods whispered, resonating with the uncontrolled energy of the anomaly.
Li Tian clenched his fists. His vision blurred. His body ached. Memories flickered and vanished. Sparks erupted again.
The reckoning had begun.
And he was at its center.