Rain fell slowly over the Lower District, tapping against broken windows and rusted metal like a quiet, endless whisper.
KAEL VARYN walked through the narrow street with a wooden crate balanced on his shoulder. The rain soaked his dark hair, but he barely noticed.
Above the fog-covered skyline, the lights of the Upper District shimmered like distant stars.
Kael stared at them for a moment.
He always wondered why people admired stars so much.
"They're beautiful," he once said.
Old ORVEN had laughed.
"Of course they are," the old man replied. "They're far away enough that we don't have to suffer their heat."
KAEL still didn't know if that was wisdom… or bitterness.
⸻
He placed the crate beside ORVEN's noodle stall.
"You're late," Old ORVEN said calmly without looking up from the boiling pot.
"Two minutes," Kael replied.
ORVEN stirred the soup slowly.
"Two minutes is nothing," he said.
Then he glanced at Kael.
"Unless you're dying."
KAEL chuckled.
"Good to know my boss is optimistic."
Orven snorted.
"Life teaches optimism to the rich. The rest of us learn patience."
Kael leaned against the stall, watching the steam rise from the pot.
"Do you ever think about power?" he asked suddenly.
Orven raised an eyebrow.
"Every day."
"And?"
The old man shrugged.
"Power is like fire. Everyone wants it… until they're the ones burning."
Kael smiled faintly.
Before he could answer—
BOOM
The explosion shattered the quiet night.
The ground trembled violently.
People screamed in the distance.
Another blast followed, louder this time.
Orven cursed under his breath.
"Ability users," he muttered. "Idiots with too much power and not enough sense."
Kael looked toward the column of smoke rising from the next district.
"You're not going," Orven said immediately.
Kael hesitated.
ORVEN sighed.
"You always get that look."
"What look?"
"The one people have right before they do something stupid for a good reason."
Kael grinned.
"Is that worse than doing something smart for a bad reason?"
Orven paused.
Then he chuckled.
"Go," the old man said. "But if you die, don't blame my noodles."
Kael was already running.
⸻
The alley beyond the market looked like a battlefield.
Stone walls were cracked.
Metal pipes twisted like broken bones.
Smoke drifted through the dark air.
And in the middle of the destruction…
Something glowed.
Kael slowed his steps.
A small crystal shard rested between broken pieces of concrete, pulsing softly with silver light.
Thump.
Thump.
Like a heartbeat.
Kael crouched beside it.
Power crystals.
Everyone in the world knew about them.
They granted incredible abilities.
But they always demanded a price.
Kael stared at the shard thoughtfully.
"Why do humans chase power so desperately?" he murmured.
The rain answered with silence.
Kael sighed.
"Probably because being powerless is terrifying."
He reached out his hand.
Then stopped.
Another thought crossed his mind.
"But maybe power is even more terrifying."
He almost laughed.
People like him didn't get philosophical choices.
They got survival.
Slowly…
He picked up the crystal.
⸻
Pain exploded through his chest.
Kael gasped—
But no air came.
His vision turned white.
For one horrifying moment…
His heart stopped.
⸻
Everything went silent.
Not the silence of a quiet street.
The silence of nothing.
As if the universe had briefly forgotten he existed.
And strangely, a calm thought crossed Kael's fading mind.
So this is death.
It felt… small.
⸻
Then—
THUMP
His heart slammed back to life.
Air rushed violently into his lungs.
Kael collapsed onto the wet ground, coughing and gasping.
Rain poured over his face as the world slowly returned.
Sound.
Pain.
Breath.
Life.
He looked down at his hand.
The crystal was gone.
In its place, a faint silver mark pulsed beneath his skin.
Once.
Twice.
Like a ticking clock.
Kael stared at it, unease growing inside his chest.
He whispered quietly to himself.
"Every power has a price…"
His heart skipped painfully.
"…but what if the price is life itself?"
In the distance, sirens echoed through the city.
Kael slowly stood, unaware that the moment he touched that crystal…
His life had already started counting down.
⸻
End of Chapter 1