Kael and Lyra moved cautiously through the ruined streets, the neon-white glow from the suit illuminating debris and broken vehicles. Monsters were fewer now, retreating to shadows, but Kael's mind was elsewhere. The System Error flashing in his stats nagged at him, persistent and impossible.
He stopped atop a collapsed overpass and looked down at the streets below. Numbers floated around him, the panels flickering. Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence—they were all higher than they should be. Every strike, every dodge, every simple movement had been amplified beyond normal limits.
Lyra watched him, curious and worried. "Kael… do you think that circle on your neck… it's causing this?"
Kael's hand rested on the static, blade-like device at the back of his neck. The core pulsed softly, lines of neon-white lightning running along the seams of his suit. "I don't know," he admitted. "But I think it's the reason I'm stronger than everyone else. The System… it's supposed to be uniform. But this… this is different."
He flexed his fingers experimentally. Sparks traced the lines of the suit, reacting instantly to his movements. "It's like it's alive. Like it knows what I want to do before I even do it."
Lyra frowned. "But is it safe?"
Kael shook his head. "I don't know yet. But I can't ignore it. Not if it gives me an edge. We survive because of it." He scanned the streets. More monsters stirred in the distance, moving with mechanical precision. "We'll have to learn fast. The glitch might be dangerous, but it's also our advantage."
The city was alive with hidden threats, and the System was no longer abstract. Kael felt the energy of the suit humming in sync with his heartbeat. Every flicker of light, every pulse from the circular core, reminded him that this anomaly could change everything.
He clenched his fists. The monsters, the ruins, the unpredictable System; all of it was a test. And Kael Ardyn had always survived tests.
For the first time, he understood that the System Error was not just a quirk. It was a key. A weapon. A path to power.
The sun had long disappeared behind the ruined skyline, but the neon-white glow from Kael's suit lit the way. The night was far from over, and the world had already begun to recognize that a new player had entered the game.