2035 – Mid-Fortress City of Blackridge
The air inside the underground classroom buzzed with the low hum of stabilizer fans and the constant flicker of outdated light panels. Jason Charon sat in the back, slouched over a cracked desk, his gaze unfocused. Today marked one year since Awakening Day—the day everyone in his class had either been chosen by the Eris Flow... or left behind.
Jason was the only one left behind.
Across the room, neon blue interfaces floated above his classmates' wrists and eyes. Some had shimmering muscle fiber enhancements pulsing under their skin. Others bore runic scars, etched from the awakening rituals of their respective professions. From kinetic enhancers to flame manipulators, every one of them glowed with potential.
Jason? Nothing. No light. No system. No path.
"Hey Jason," came the voice of Orion Vex, top-tier awakened, Array Master Class, and resident asshole. "Heard they're making a new profession for you—'Custodian.' Maybe you can finally be useful sweeping up the floor after real training."
Laughter echoed. Even the instructor smirked. Jason didn't respond. He didn't flinch. He just stared ahead, eyes glassy. Not because he was tough. But because inside, he was breaking again. A year of this. Mockery, pity, and the crushing silence of his unlit soul.
He used to believe he'd awaken late. That maybe he was a late bloomer, like the stories of Ascendants who triggered powers under pressure. But every exam, every scan, every ritual returned the same result: No resonance with Eris Flow detected.
The bell rang. Jason stood before anyone else. Didn't wait for comments. Just walked.
The surface was cold. Even inside the barrier walls, Blackridge's external zones carried the icy breath of mutated winter drafts. He moved through narrow alleyways between concrete bunkers and scaffolded buildings, ignoring the distant sounds of drills, beast alarms, and metal footsteps.
When he got home, the silence hit hard. His parents weren't there—out on a trade mission, maybe. Or maybe avoiding the son they never bragged about.
Jason climbed the creaky stairs to the master bedroom. He didn't hesitate. Didn't cry.
He opened the sock drawer. There it was, wrapped in cloth, hidden beneath a bundle of old holopads. His father's revolver. Pre-Fall. Fully loaded. Unregistered.
He took it and walked to the bathroom.
The mirror was cracked. Like him. A long fracture ran down the center, splitting his reflection in two. He held the revolver with both hands. It felt heavier than he expected.
He looked himself in the eyes.
"Power... that's all that matters now," he muttered.
And he had none.
He pulled the hammer back.
Click.
He placed the barrel to his temple.
His breathing slowed. Eyes half-lidded. No tears. Just the cold fog of someone who'd finally stopped hoping.
And then—
DING.
A soft, melodic chime echoed in the silence.
Jason froze. His eyes flicked to the mirror. Something shimmered in the reflection. Something impossible.
[SYSTEM ACCESS GRANTED]
A translucent blue screen floated in front of him. Lines of data scrolled upward, symbols and glyphs he'd never seen before pulsing with soft gold light.
[Lineage Confirmed... Processing Ancestral Linkage...]
Jason stumbled backward, eyes wide.
The revolver slipped from his grip.
BANG!
The shot rang out, deafening in the small bathroom. The bullet tore into the wall inches from where he had been standing just a second before.
Shards of tile exploded. Smoke drifted through the air.
Jason was on the ground, heart racing, ears ringing.
He looked up.
[You are the Alchemist's Descendant.]
[All known classifications overridden.]
[Class Zero: Undefined.]
[Initiating Inheritance Protocol...]
His heartbeat thundered. He gripped the sink, struggling to breathe as a sharp pain lanced through his skull. The screen flickered violently, then stabilized.
[Warning: Eris Flow Density Exceeds Safe Parameters.]
[Your body is incompatible with the Alchemical Core.]
[Stabilization Required: External Enhancements Recommended.]
[Black Book Biohacking Access Unlocked.]
Another window popped up—a grim black interface, lined with red text and molecular diagrams. Formulas. Compound structures. Stacks. Jason recognized some of the names—things whispered about in street forums: "Mind Anchor," "Thermo Channeler," "Muscle Buffer." Things banned by the Purity Commission.
These weren't powers. They were tools. Hacks. Rogue tech. Forbidden knowledge.
He gasped as another burst of data slammed into his brain. Visions. A man in robes, surrounded by fire and runes. A whisper: "All is changeable."
Jason dropped to one knee.
But as the pain subsided, something else began to rise in its place. Something quiet. Steady. Familiar.
Hope.
Not the childish hope of awakening like the others. Not the empty hope of recognition.
This was different.
He wasn't like them.
He was something else.
He was the only one.
And that meant... maybe, just maybe... he was free.
That night, Jason didn't sleep. He sat at his desk, surrounded by printed diagrams from the Black Book, mixing powders he stole from abandoned storage lockers. His room smelled of chemicals, herbs, and raw desperation.
His first concoction: a crude stimulant stack, based on something called the "Stabilizer Protocol."
Taurine. Creatine monohydrate. An amino powder blend. Crushed adaptogen capsules. He dissolved it all into warm water, stirred with shaking hands.
He lifted the cup.
"To pain," he whispered.
And drank.
The nausea hit first.
Then the tremors.
Then the stillness.
And then—clarity.
The screen blinked alive again.
[Alchemical Core Stabilized: 1%]
[Status: Surviving]
Jason grinned through the tears.
And deep within the corrupted data structure of the world's System, a ripple spread.
A threat level alert triggered in seven classified satellites.
A name appeared in red.
Jason Charon – Lineage Reactivation Detected
Status: Existential Anomaly
Orders: Terminate on Sight
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Yooo what's up y'all, let me know how I did on the first chapter of this new banger, lmk if you will also like to see more future content, I can assure you it will be worth it ;)