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Chapter 5 - Chapter 5 : Whisper in the Slums

"And in the moment of despair, gravity bowed before rage."

The air was thick with smoke and hunger. The slums, suffocating with makeshift tin roofs and sewage-lined alleys, had swallowed Kaien and Cindra for the past two years.

Every morning was survival. Every evening was a gamble.

They scavenged for food, traded scrap metal, dodged patrol drones, and slept with one eye open. Cindra had grown tougher—her cheerful eyes dimmed, her voice now a cautious whisper. Kaien, hardened by time, had learned to endure—but not forget.

One afternoon, as Kaien tried bartering for stale bread, Cindra wandered into an alley, chasing the voice of a crying child.

But it was a trap.

Three slum thugs circled her, drawn not by desire but desperation—anything valuable in the slums was worth blood. They cornered her. She screamed.

Kaien heard it.

In that instant, something snapped.

He sprinted, blood thundering in his ears, fists clenched. When he reached her, one thug had already struck her down. Rage swallowed reason. Kaien leapt into the fray.

A fist flew.

And then—everything changed.

The ground beneath them trembled.

The metal crates nearby crumpled as if pulled by an invisible force. A thug screamed, lifted off the ground, then slammed down so hard the cement cracked beneath him.

Kaien stood still, his breath ragged. Around him, a faint shimmer of pressure distorted the air. For the briefest moment, gravity had bent—responding to his rage.

The thugs fled in terror. Cindra, bruised but alive, looked up at him, eyes wide with fear and awe.

Kaien looked at his own hands.

 "What… was that…?"

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