Chapter 1: The Spark Beneath the Rot
The stench of rusted metal and stagnant water clung to the air in the Grave Sector, thick and sour like old blood. Pipes hissed from above, belching steam into the narrow alleys where broken children roamed like ghosts. Faded sigils etched into crumbling stone told stories of a city that once mattered. Now, it was just a carcass.
Lux crouched in the dark beneath a collapsed skybridge, her knees pressed to her chest, one eye fixed on the rat nibbling a moldy crust just a few meters away. Her fingers ached with cold. She hadn't eaten since yesterday. Maybe longer. Time blurred when every day looked the same.
She tightened her grip around the makeshift knife she'd carved from scrap. A single slice was all she needed—fast, silent, clean.
The rat twitched.
She lunged.
It squealed once before the blade sank into its side. Blood warmed her fingers as it kicked weakly, then stopped. She exhaled in relief and cradled the twitching body. Food. Survival. One more night.
A clattering sound behind her.
"Nice catch, sewer-rat."
Lux froze. She knew that voice.
Drex. Fifteen. Shardborn. Fire-wielding prick.
She turned slowly, hiding the carcass behind her. Drex stood at the edge of the alley, two others flanking him—Ema and Tol. All three bore the mark of the Flame Shard, glowing faintly just beneath their skin. It shimmered when they got angry. Or cruel.
"I said," Drex repeated, stepping forward, "Nice. Catch."
Lux stood, silent.
Drex's eyes narrowed. "You deaf now, freak?"
"I killed it. It's mine." Her voice was steady. Not defiant. Not submissive. Just… tired.
Tol chuckled. "She talks."
"You ain't Shardborn," Drex said, grinning as he ignited a small flicker of fire in his palm. "You don't get to claim anything."
Lux backed up a step. The wall was behind her.
They moved closer.
She clenched her jaw. If she handed over the rat, they might leave her alone. Maybe. If not… she'd fight. She always fought.
Her grip tightened on the knife.
The fire in Drex's hand flared. "C'mon, sewer girl. Give it here."
And then, for a second, everything stopped.
The world tilted.
A sharp pain cracked through her skull—like a needle driving into the center of her mind.
[ERROR: SHARD CONNECTION NOT FOUND]
Her eyes widened. The words floated in the air. No—inside her.
[SYSTEM REBOOTING…]
[FRACTURED CORE DETECTED]
[INITIATING SURVIVAL PROTOCOL]
[WARNING: POWER LIMITER ENGAGED 98%]
"What the hell?" she whispered.
Drex blinked. "What did you say?"
Lux didn't answer.
[UNLOCKING ABILITY: CONSUME—SHARDLESS PATH: 0.01%]
The air shimmered.
Light cracked along her fingers—silver and black veins crawling up her skin like lightning in reverse.
Drex stepped back. "What the f—"
The world exploded.
She didn't remember moving. One moment she was against the wall, the next Drex was screaming, clutching his arm as the fire in his hand sputtered and died. His Shardmark dimmed. Lux stood over him, eyes glowing faintly.
Tol ran.
Ema screamed.
And Lux… Lux felt something stirring in her blood.
A hunger.
[ESSENCE DRAIN SUCCESSFUL — SHARD-FLAME LINK: DISRUPTED]
[FRAGMENT ABSORBED: MINOR — FLAME (Tier F)]
She staggered, breath ragged.
Drex crawled away, weeping. "You're not human."
Lux didn't respond. Her body burned like it was being rewritten.
She looked at her hand. Flame flickered along her fingertips.
Her first flame.
Her first power.
Her first theft.
The Grave Sector watched her differently after that.
Some ran. Others whispered. Most kept their distance.
Rumors spread.
The Shardless girl burned a Shardborn.
But Lux didn't care.
She had questions.
What was this system?
Why did it call her a Fractured Core?
Why did her mind feel like a shattered mirror trying to reassemble?
And most of all—
Who was she really?
In the dead of night, under the bones of a broken cathedral, Lux sat cross-legged. Rats circled warily, giving her a wide berth.
She stared into her palm.
Fire danced across it.
But beneath the flame, the silver lines still pulsed.
[CONSUMPTION CAPACITY: 0.06%]
[POWER RECONSTRUCTION: IN PROGRESS]
Her vision blurred again—only this time she saw something bigger. Not just flame. Not just heat.
A sphere.
A lattice of impossible light.
A core.
Her core.
And in the center of that—
[CREATOR SEED — STATUS: DORMANT]
She didn't know what it meant. Not yet.
But deep down, she knew one thing:
She wasn't just Shardless.
She was what came before the Shards.
The world had shattered the Creator.
Now a piece of the Creator was waking up.
And it was hungry.
End of Chapter 1