Chapter 4 – The First Battle
The slums never sleep. Even when the moon hung high and pale, the streets still stirred with restless footsteps and hushed voices. Rats scurried through the gutters. Old boards creaked under the weight of thieves and drunks. Survival never stopped here—it simply shifted into another form.
I had grown used to it. The night's chaos was nothing new. But that evening, the air tasted strange. My vision, sharpened by the sight only I possessed, filled with colors more vivid than usual. Red anger bled through the alleys. Orange sparks of desperation flickered like dying flames. The slums had always been thick with emotion, but tonight it felt as if the air itself was restless.
"Noctis," I whispered under my breath.
"Yes?" the voice answered smoothly, steady as always.
I hesitated. "Is it just me, or is there… more? Like the air's heavier."
"Not your imagination," Noctis replied. "Margicules are clustered in high density tonight. About 12,000 in the surrounding area."
I frowned. "That's more than usual?"
"Much more. Something is stirring."
I exhaled slowly, gripping the strap of the small bag slung over my shoulder. Inside were scraps of bread, barely edible, but enough to keep me from starving another day. I turned a corner, slipping into a narrow alley I always used as a shortcut.
That's when I saw them.
Three boys—older than me by a few years—waiting in the dark. Their circles glowed faintly above their hands, cracked and weak, but still circles. They weren't ordinary slum rats. They had a spark of mana, and they wore their cruelty like armor.
"Well, look who it is," the tallest sneered. "The quiet rat from the orphanage."
I stopped, keeping my face blank.
"Got food, don't you?" another said, eyes flickering with hungry orange. "Hand it over."
I clutched the strap tighter. "I need this."
The tallest one laughed, the sound harsh in the narrow alley. "You? You're nothing. You don't need anything." His hand glowed faintly with mana, his circle sputtering into view. A pitiful excuse for magic, but enough to make him dangerous here.
I could have run. That was what I usually did. Avoid fights, avoid notice, avoid giving anyone a reason to look too closely at me. But tonight, my veins still thrummed with the memory of shadow and light. My body felt different. Alive.
And I was tired of running.
The first boy lunged.
His fist, wrapped in a weak mana glow, came straight for my face. Instinct took over. My hand shot up, green light bursting from my palm. The glow blinded him, and his skin sizzled as if burned, though I hadn't harmed him. Healing light, pure and absolute, overwhelmed his pathetic mana like water drowning a spark. He stumbled back, clutching his hand, eyes wide with fear.
"What—what was that?!"
The others didn't hesitate. They rushed me together, wild and reckless.
"Shadow," Noctis said calmly in my mind. "Call it. Let it answer."
I swallowed hard, lifted my hand, and let the cold rise.
Black mist spilled from my fingers, curling like smoke, slithering along the ground. The boys skidded to a halt, eyes going wide. One tried to back away, but the shadow lashed out, wrapping around his ankle and yanking him off his feet.
He screamed.
The last one charged anyway, panic twisting his aura red and yellow. I raised my other hand, green light flaring, and the shadow responded in tandem. Light and darkness burst together, colliding in front of me, forming a barrier that shimmered like glass. His punch landed—and bounced back, cracking his own wrist.
He collapsed, clutching his arm, whimpering.
Silence filled the alley, broken only by the groans of the boys on the ground. My breath came hard and fast, my hands still glowing, one green, one black. I hadn't killed them. I hadn't even truly harmed them. But I had shown them.
I wasn't prey anymore.
The tallest boy scrambled to his feet, eyes wild with terror. "Monster," he spat, voice trembling. "You're a monster!"
Then they fled, dragging each other away into the night.
I stood alone in the alley, shadows still swirling faintly around me, green light pulsing from my chest. My hands shook. Not from fear. From exhilaration.
For the first time in my life, I hadn't hidden. I hadn't run.
I had fought. And I had won.
"Not bad," Noctis said, his voice carrying a trace of amusement. "But you were sloppy. You let the shadow surge too fast. If you'd lost focus, it would have consumed you."
I let out a shaky laugh. "Thanks for the encouragement."
"Encouragement? No. That was advice. But… for what it's worth, I'm proud."
My chest tightened at the words. No one had ever said that to me before. Not once in my life.
I whispered, so quietly even I could barely hear it, "Thanks, Noctis."
The voice in my mind was warm. "We're partners. Always."
I smiled, just a little, standing in the silence of the alley. For the first time, the slums didn't feel quite so suffocating.
End of Chapter 4