The Sky Over Sector 5 was always the same—choked with gray clouds, too tired to cry.
Eryn Kade stood at the edge of the rooftop, hands buried in the pockets of his threadbare academy uniform. Below him, the city pulsed with broken dreams.
Siren, neon lights, and the distant thud of monster sirens from zone 3.
But up here? Silence.
The cold wind bit at his skin, but he didn't move. He'd stopped feeling it along time ago.
"System Holders are Humanity's last hope. Breakers. Slayers. Heroes."
—The First line of every textbook, every ad, every goddam speech.
Eryn wasn't a Hero. Not to them. Not even to himself.
---
The Sound of boots echoed across the steel halls of Aurelis Vanguard Institute. Every step was sharp. Clean. Disciplined. Except his.
Eryn Kade walked with his head low, shoulders tight beneath the oversized, faded gray-blue coat that marked him as a student of the lowest rank — Section 9 - F. His squad patch was peeling. The sleeves were too long. He didn't fix them.
No one ever looked at him when he passed.
Or rather... They did.
With mockery. Pity. Contempt.
"Hey, Kade."
A voice stopped him at the stairs, smooth like poison.
Lucien Graves. Top 1 in the Academy.
Charismatic. Powerful. And the stepbrother Eryn never asked for.
Lucien learned against the railing, flanked by other elite students in sleek, polished uniforms. His armor glinted under the arficial lights — custom forged, top tier. His gaze sliced like a knife.
"Did you crawl all the way here from the trash again?"
Laughter erupted from his friends.
Eryn didn't respond. He never did. Not because he couldn't — but because nothing he said ever changed anything.
"You really should quit while you're behind," Lucien continued, descending the stairs.
"You're dragging the Kade name though the mud. Though I guess that's all your mother left behind."
That one stung.
Not because it was new, but because it wasn't.
They always targeted his dead mother. His Sister. The only piece of light he had.
Still, Eryn said nothing.
He simply turned and walked toward his assigned classroom, CombatTheory — Room 9F.
The classroom was cold, flickering with unstable lights.
Instructor Throne didn't even look up as Eryn entered.
"You're late. Again. Minus two demerits."
He sat at the far back, alone. The other students, all other F-rank failures —, barely noticed him. Everyone here was either broken or waiting to be. Most wouldn't survive past their first field simulation.
The Academy didn't train survivors. It trained elite.
Everyone else was disposable.
Later that afternoon, the air was thick with sweat and screams.
Physical Training Grounds — Block F.
"You're not moving fast enough, maggot!" The drill sergeant barked at Eryn as he struggled though the last obstacle. Mud soaked his legs. His knees were shaking. His ribs hurt from the earlier "sparring session" — if you could call it that.
He had been paired with a B-Rank.
On purpose.
They wanted him to break.
And slowly...he was.
--
... So then..
That evening, the city was no quieter.
Eryn walked alone, the hum of traffic and neon signs casting pale reflections over the cracked sidewalks. His part-time job — Grim Mart 24/7, was tucked between a pawnshop and a collapsed storefront from the last Riftquake.
"Almost midnight."
"If I don't show up, Selene won't sleep."
"She worries too much. Even when we have nothing left to give."
He pushed the door open. No bell. Just the low hum of fluorescent lights and a buzzing fridge motor that hadn't stopped in weeks.
He stepped behind the counter and wore the same face he always did.
Behind the counter, he moved like a machine.
Scan. Bag. Smile. Repeat.
"One more shift. Just one more."
"At least here, no one's looking at me like I'm filth."
But even that was a lie.
The jacket he wore —old, scuffed, stitched, still bore the faint crest Aurelis Vanguard Institute on the shoulder.
He'd tried to remove it once.
It burned.
Midnight came.
And with it, the predators.
The door creaked open.
Three figures entered.
Loud. Laughing. Drunk.
Wearing fake-brand jackets and stolen shoes.
"Oh...n-no."
"Please... not tonight."
One of them slowed when he saw Eryn. His head titled.
Then the sneer came.
"Oi... I knew i recognize that patch."
"You're that academy reject, right? From section F?"
The others laughed, coming closer.
"Hah, look at this guy — guarding snacks like it's some high-level quest."
"What happened, man? No system? No sponsor?"
"...W..What? They know, they remember me?"
"Even these guys...?"
Eryn didn't answer.
Didn't flinch.
He just started scanning the chips a customer had left behind earlier.
Slow. Focused.
"I-If I stay quiet, they'll leave faster."
But one of them slammed his fist on the counter.
"Oi, don't ignore me. Trash."
Eryn froze.
The scanner in his beeped uselessly.
The second thug stepped in and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him forward until their faces were inches apart.
His breath reeker of cheap alcohol and instant ramen.
"Com on, Breaker Boy."
"Show us some of that elite courage you academy types brag about."
The third one moved behind the counter.
Then the first punch landed — square in Eryn's ribs.
The air left his lungs in a sharp gasp.
"Can't breathe—"
"Focus. Stay slow.."
A second blow caught him in the gut.
He doubled over.
Knees hit the floor with a crack.
Then came the boot – right to his side.
Then another.
And another.
One kick caught him in the shoulder, sending him sprawling into the shelf behind him. Instant noodles and canned meat clattered to the floor around him.
"D-don't fight back."
"Just protect the face."
"They'll stop once they're bored."
He curled into himself.
Arms over his head.
Teeth gritted so hard they ached.
Laughter echoed above him.
One of them leaned down, tapped Eryn's head mocking like a child being scolded.
"Aww. Where'd that breaker pride go, huh?"
"Thought you people were supposed to be heroes."
The third guy grabbed a handful of snack bags from the fallen shelf.
"Might as well take payment. Customer discount."
"No need to ring it up, Mr. Breaker."
They all laughed.
As they walked out, one of them shouted over his shoulder.
"Tell your boss we said hi. Oh — and that the chips were stale."
The door swung shut behind them with a hollow clang.
The bell still didn't ring.
Eryn didn't move for while.
Just the low hum of the collar behind him.
The soft crinkle of crushed packaging beneath his elbow.
The sting of blood on his lip.
His arms trembled as he tried to sit up. His breath came in uneven gasps.
"They took five... maybe six bags."
"That's...what, eighty credits?"
He looked at the scanner. Still active. Still glowing.
"I'll get docked again."
"Second time this month."
He bit down on the inside of his cheek, hard.
"I can't afford to lose another shift."
"Selene needs meds for her cough,"
He wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
Blood smeared across the faded patch of the Aurelis crest on his jacket.
"Why do I still wear this?"
"Why do I still pretend I belong there?"
No answer came.
Only silence.
And the quiet judgment of fluorescent lights.
—
The streets were nearly empty by the time Eryn left Grim Mart.
Rain fall in sheets — cold, relentless. It soaked through his thin jacket in seconds. The Aurelis Vanguard patch clung to his arm like wet paper, tattered and useless.
He didn't even notice at first.
He just walked.
Head down.
Feet dragging though puddles that had no end.
Streetlights buzzed overhead, casting warped halos on the wet pavement. Thunder cracked somewhere in the distance. A neon sign flickered out behind him.
"I hope to clock out.''
It didn't matter.
He didn't know what time it was.
Didn't care.
All he could hear was his boss'# voice, still ringing in his ears like a sickness:
"What the hell happened back then, huh?"
"You let some nobodies steal inventory?!"
"That's eighty creds, kid. I'm docking that straight out of your pay!"
"Breaker may ass. That what they teach you at that fancy academy? To play punching bag in aisle three?"
"No wonder you're stuck in F-section."
"Useless."
The word hung in his mind.
Each syllable heavier than the rain.
He trudged along the flooded sidewalk, coughing from cold. His hands were clenched inside his soaked sleeves.
"I can't tell Selene."
"She'd try to smile anyway."
"She'd say it's okay. That we'll manage."
"But I know it's not okay at all."
The image of her passed through his mind.
Selene.
Her laugh.
The way her sleeves were always too long because she bought the cheapest uniforms.
The way she'd rub her palms raw scrubbing floors just so he'd have lunch money.
"You always smiled, even when your hands bled."
Eryn stopped walking.
His shoulder trembled.
Not from cold—
But from the weight crushing down on him. His failure. His shame. His powerlessness.
The rain fell harder, drowning the city in a gray haze.
His voice cracked through the silence.
"I'm sorry..."
"You deserve a better brother, Selene."
He closed his eyes, letting the world face.
Then—
A growl.
Low. Wet. Guttural.
His breath caught.
He turned.
And froze.
From the alley... Something emerged.
It's flesh was bone-white, stretched tight over a jagged frame. Glowing tendrils pulsed beneath its skin like veins of molten sickness.
Its face—a warped mask of something once canine, now twisted and wrong, split open to reveal rows of teeth curved like hooks.
Aberrant.
C-Tier.
A Rift-born predator.
"That's... Impossible,"
"There was no gate... No rift alert..."
He staggered back.
His mind raced.
He know this creature. Read about it.
Studied it.
"Spinehowier."
Category: C-Tier Aberrant.
Threat Level: High.
Target Pattern: Isolated prey.
"Why here? Why now-?"
The beast snaried—
And lunged.
Claws like sickles slammed into his chest.
CRACK.
He flew back — slammed into the alley wall with a sickening thud.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
His knees gave put.
He collapsed to the soaked pavement, coughing, gasping—
"N-No... H-help.."
Not to save me.
Just... someone warn them...
His hand reached out.
Toward the street.
Toward the light.
"S-Selene... It's near out home..."
But no one came.
Only the rain.
Only the silence.
Only the spinehowler.
Watching him with hunger.
And in that moment—
The world cracked.
--
--
[ SYSTEM TRIGGERED... ]
[ System Initialization: PROTOCOL OVERDRIVE ENGAGED ]
[ Subject #097: ERYN KADE - Status: CRITICAL ]
[ Watcher Link Detected: "THE IVORY MOTH" Has claimed this SOUL. ]
Time shattered.
Raindrops froze in midair.
The world shimmered — glass fracturing.
Eryn's broken body floated, suspended in the stillness of time.
His heart slowed.
His mind quieted.
Then—
[ Contract Offer: DO YOU WISH TO LIVE?]
[ Condition: SURRENDER YOUR FATE TO THE WATCHER. ]
[ Time Remaining: 10... 9... 8...
Tears streamed down his cheeks.
He wasn't ready.
He was too weak.
To late.
But—
Deep within him...
A whisper.
A flicker.
"N-Not Yet."
"Not like t-this."
His lips moved.
"I... want to live."
[ Acknowledged. ] [ WATCHER "The Ivory Moth" ACCEPT YOUR VOW. ] [ System Awakening: PHASE 01 — COMPLETE. ]
A surge tore through his veins— Agony and clarity colliding.
He screamed—
Then collapsed—
The light vanished.
---
= end of chapter: 1.