Raze was just another ghost in the crowd.
In a world where strength defined status and bloodlines dictated futures, he had nothing.
Raze grew up in a home that was built on absence. His parents were Beast Hunters, traveling through different planets, rising through the ranks to obtain a high position. They would only return in bursts. Weeks apart, sometimes even months each time they became a little more distant, and a little less familiar.
By the time Raze entered his teenage years, he found himself staring out through windows, wondering if the world had passed him by. He was wishing for an ability and wishing to be seen.
But wishes didn't matter here.
At school, he was a target painted in skin. No ability meant no value. They reminded him every day with fists, with laughter, with looks that sliced sharper than blades. They called him useless. A nobody. A stain on a world that worshipped strength.
The house paid for itself due to the auto-pay feature that is connected to his parents banking accounts. His parents didn't even need to come back home for that.
Raze woke up at 6:00 a.m. the same as always.
The silence of the house greeted him like an old friend, empty and cold.
He sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the floor as if it might offer him some answers.
I'm so useless…
The thought lingered, heavy.
I can't even step into an ability class without being reminded that I don't belong.
Raze was sixteen and summer break loomed just ahead, but just the thought of it didn't bring him peace, all it brought was dread.
Would he still be the same after it all? Weak, fragile, and forgettable.
His chest tightened.
Is this it? Is this all I'll ever be?
Raze stood up slowly, dragging his fingers through his hair as if trying to wake up the strength he didn't have. He dragged his feet across the cold floor. The light bleeding through the blinds painted faint lines across his face—his blue eyes dulled by routine.
His gaze flicked to the clock that is hanging on the wall.
7:12am
"Damn, I'm about to be late!," He rushed into motion, quickly picking out an outfit to wear; something not flashy and something that wouldn't catch anyone's attention.
He slung his backpack over one shoulder, double-checked for his ID, school tablet, and emergency credits. Then scrambled to the kitchen, tossing together a half-burnt slice of toast and an energy bar.
The door shut behind him as he exited out the house. He didn't have to worry about locking the door due to its automatic locking function.
His steps echoed down the quiet street.
The walk to school was a blur. Concrete, noises, and faces he didn't want to see.
Raze kept his hood up, head down, blending into the morning rush like a shadow with a heartbeat.
As he stepped through the front doors, the atmosphere shifted.
The air inside the building always felt different.
Not because of the temperature.
But because of the stares.
Like a predator's den, dressed up in lockers and fluorescent lights.
They're already looking…
The thought crawled across his mind as he made his way down the hallway.
He didn't need to hear their words.
The smirks. The sidelong glances and the way conversations would hush just long enough for a sneer to form.
He passed a group of students laughing near the vending machines. One of them nudged another and jerked his thumb toward Raze.
"Still powerless?" the boy snorted under his breath. "You'd think his parents would've bought him something by now."
Raze didn't stop walking.
Inside he felt that hollow twist in his chest.
Just ignore it. Keep walking. You're almost there. Just a few more hours, then you can disappear again.
His classroom door loomed ahead like the gates of a prison.
He reached for the handle, already bracing for whatever came next.
As he pushed open the door, a few students turned their heads as Raze stepped in just long enough to confirm what they already knew.
He slipped into his seat at the back, next to the window. The one place the sunlight touched.
Chatter filled the room, casual and chaotic. Names of abilities were being tossed around like trading cards.
"Did you see Leon's Flame Construct yesterday?"
"He's already ranked Bronze in Beast Clearance."
"No way! At sixteen?"
Raze opened his school tablet and stared at the screen without reading. Just enough to look busy.
The door slid shut behind their teacher as he walked in. He was a tall man wrapped in gray robes, a crimson emblem stitched onto his chest: the mark of a former Gold-ranked Beast Hunter. His voice cut through the noise like a blade.
"Settle down. We're continuing our breakdown of elemental affinities today."
As the lecture began, glowing diagrams filled the smartboard at the front of the room, they were runes, elemental circles, and combat footage of past battles.
Abilities being used in real-time, projected like war trophies.
Raze sat motionless.
This part of the lesson was never for him.
I'm not even allowed to register for training courses, he thought, his fingers tightening under the desk.
He glanced around the room. Every student wore their potential like a badge some literally, through house crests or bloodline symbols. Others through confidence, posture, and power that leaked off them in waves.
And then there was him.
Just Raze and nothing more.
"Today's demonstration," the teacher said, tapping the board, "will feature affinity manipulation in combat application. Are there any volunteers?" he asked.
Hands shot up like missiles.
The teacher scanned the room, then pointed.
"Yune. Craven. Front and center."
Raze leaned back in his chair, his eyes half-lidded as his classmates cleared space at the front of the classroom. The desks shifted automatically to form a circular arena.
He let his gaze drift across the room, watching bloodlines in motion.
Yune stepped forward first, tall and composed, her violet braid trailing down her back like a war banner. Her family crest shimmered faintly on her uniform's sleeve. It was a single serpent coiled around a single star.
The Arkyn bloodline, Raze recalled.
They have venom-based manipulation. It was told that her ancestors could kill a beast without even touching it.
Opposite of her stood Craven. He was bulkier, and had a rough-cut, his knuckles already crackling with sparks.
He had a jagged symbol burned into his wrist, which were three intersecting hammers.
The Volkran Bloodline, Raze thought.
They channel raw kinetic energy, store it, then unleash it like a railgun.
"Begin," the teacher ordered.
Yune blurred forward, her fingers slicing through the air. Thin whips of violet toxin danced like liquid threads, lashing out toward Craven's arms. Craven stood there, not making any effort to dodge.
Instead, he stepped into the strike, letting it wrap around him then roared as his fists ignited, bursting outward in a thunderous shockwave.
The toxins shattered like glass.
Gasps filled the room, but
Raze remained unfazed.
He'd seen it all before.
Legacy kids, power plays, and predictable footwork dressed in flash.
It's always the same.
Born into power. Raised to win. Applauded for it.
His eyes lingered on Yune as she reset her stance, poison reforming across her fingertips.
They don't fight to survive. They fight to prove whose name echoes louder.
He exhaled slowly, letting his head rest against the back of his chair, as the battle continued. Applause rose in bursts.
But none of it reached him.
Hours crawled by.
Each tick of the clock was a slow bleed.
Until finally the final bell rang like a mercy.
Raze was out of his chair before the sound faded, grabbing his tablet and bag in one fluid motion. "Finally I'm out of here" he murmured excitedly.
He slipped into the corridor, weaving through waves of students without making any eye contact.
Every second inside those walls felt like a risk. A comment, maybe a shove, or getting beaten.
He wasn't about to give them the chance to.
The school doors hissed open, as he stepped out into the fading light.
A breeze brushed against his face cool and dry..
"Finally," he muttered, exhaling.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking with his hood up, mind drifting, and footsteps steady on the fractured sidewalk. The hum of city life pulsed in the distance, but out here it was quiet.
The kind of quiet that let thoughts slip through the crack.
As Raze continued on his way back to home. The house loomed just ahead familiar and hollow.
Inside, the silence welcomed him like a cold friend. He dropped his bag by the door and moved into the living room. The worn couch sagged under his weight as he sank down, his eyes closing against the weight of the day.
Why am I even alive? The question whispered behind his eyelids, unanswered.
What use am I in a world where power is... everything?
He imagined a different world one without abilities, one without bloodlines. A world where he could prove himself on his own terms, not by what he lacked.
The quiet stretched.
Then suddenly.
Knock. Knock.
Raze's eyes snapped open.
Nobody ever knocked.
Curiosity prickled beneath his skin.
Knock. Knock.
He rose slowly from the couch, his heart tightening in his chest. The house suddenly felt colder.
Step by step, as he approached the door.
He slowly unlocked the door then opened it.
Standing there Infront of him was a tall blonde man, who looked like he was in his mid-twenties. He had blonde hair, which was seemingly glowing due to the evening sunlight. He was dressed in an outfit that seemed woven from shadows. His expression and demeanor were calm but the calmness seemed unnatural.
The man's eyes met Raze's. Calm and almost unsettling.
Silence hung between them.
Then he spoke.
"I am Theodore Clockwork," the man said, his voice calm and unnervingly so. "I've heard of your... weakness."
Raze didn't respond. He couldn't.
"I'd like to offer you something," Theodore continued, his tone still smooth, still impossibly steady. "Something that will change your entire life."
His eyes never blinked.
"This gift no, this burden must remain secret. What you're about to become… must remain hidden. There are beings out there," he tilted his head slightly, "in the spaces between stars and dimensions, who hate what we are."
Raze's heartbeat quickened. "What do you mean 'what we are'?"
"You'll understand, eventually. But know this." His voice deepened just slightly, just enough to send a chill. "You have no real choice. What I'm about to give you... I will give it to you, regardless of whether you accept it or not."
The calm in his eyes didn't flicker.
It was absolute and it was final.
"May you be the one who finally changes things." A faint smile, too knowing, touched his lips. "Goodbye, Raze Zaden."
The moment his name left the man's mouth, something snapped.
Raze's knees started to buckle as his vision began to blurr.
What's happening?!
His thoughts raced, his heart hammering.
What did he do to me?
How does he know my name?
Then
Ding.
A voice echoed through his head.
> "God Slayer System has been granted to: Raze Zaden.
> Congratulations. You are the first… and the last… user of this system."
Then came silence and darkness.