A faint humming filled the void — the sound of broken circuits struggling to restart. Static flickered across his vision as if the world itself was buffering into focus.
Then came the pain — dull, deep, and human.
Kance's eyes fluttered open to the sight of cracked metal roofs and dim torchlights. The air was thick with smoke and rot. He tried to move, but his body felt heavier, weaker, as if it wasn't his own. Cold stone pressed against his back. The ground beneath him was damp, reeking of oil and stale water.
He was lying in a slum buried beneath a towering city — a place later he'd learn was called Ashrift, the underbelly of Eldara's shining capital.
> Booting sequence… 27%… Error detected… Adjusting neural link…
A faint digital voice echoed inside his head — his AI assistant, broken but still functional. The faint blue flicker of its holographic interface blinked behind his eyes before fading again.
He sat up slowly, feeling the torn fabric against his skin. His once-clean lab uniform was now reduced to tattered clothes, smeared with dirt and ash. His mind was a blur of fragments — memories of glass towers, white laboratories, and the hum of quantum engines. Then… fire. A world collapsing into light.
He whispered hoarsely, "Where… am I?"
Around him, the slums stretched endlessly — a labyrinth of leaning shacks, broken rails, and smoke-belching pipes. People moved like shadows, their faces hollow, their eyes stripped of desire. It was a place without dreams — only survival.
Kance stared, stunned. Is this… hell?
He clenched his trembling hands, scanning his surroundings. Data overlays flickered weakly in his vision, courtesy of the neural chip still active in his brain. His vitals — unstable. Mana levels — unknown. Structural integrity — 43%.
Then a voice broke through the haze.
"Hey, Kance… are you okay?"
He turned sharply. Standing a few meters away was a girl with messy auburn hair and bright gray eyes. Her clothes were worn, but her expression was alive — a rare spark in this graveyard of hope.
"…Who are you?" Kance asked, his voice hollow, eyes darting in confusion.
The girl frowned. "What? Don't tell me you forgot me again!"
Her tone was half annoyed, half worried. Before Kance could respond, a stabbing pain shot through his head. Images — blurred, chaotic — flooded his mind. He saw the outline of a man, his voice echoing faintly through the void:
> "Your name should be… Kance, my boy."
Then darkness.
His breath quickened. His memories — or perhaps this body's memories — weren't his alone. It was as if his soul had been poured into an already broken vessel prepared for his descent.
The pain subsided. Silence followed. Kance blinked, the confusion replaced by a strange calm.
Then, slowly, he stood up.
His movements were deliberate, mechanical — like a machine awakening from centuries of sleep. The people nearby turned to look; even in a place as dead as Ashrift, such sudden change drew attention.
Lyra — that was her name, though he didn't know how he knew — stepped back in surprise. "Wait… you were barely breathing a second ago! How are you even—"
Kance cut her off softly. "Lyra… explain everything to me. Don't leave out a single detail."
She blinked, completely lost. "Huh? Did you hit your head or something?"
"Please," Kance said, his eyes locked on hers. There was no anger, only quiet desperation. His tone didn't sound like that of a sick boy — it was calm, commanding, almost scientific.
Lyra sighed, rubbing her temples. "Fine, fine. You're acting weird, but whatever."
She looked around cautiously before lowering her voice. "Alright. You're in Ashrift — the lowest part of the capital. People like us don't get to see sunlight much. Everything above belongs to the Guilds and Houses. Up there, they have mana towers, flying ships, and mana-forged weapons. Down here? We have rats, rations, and guards who kick us for existing."
Her voice trembled slightly, bitterness seeping into every word.
"They say it's balance. That the powerful stay up there because the world runs on 'order.' But we know the truth — it's control. If you're born here, you die here. Unless you have a skill that catches someone's eye… and even then, they use you until you're broken."
Kance stayed silent, absorbing every word. His analytical mind pieced things together quickly — this realm ran not on science, but on magic and hierarchy. A different kind of order, yet the same corruption as before.
When she finished, Kance simply said, "Thanks."
Then, without another word, he began to walk deeper into the slums. His steps were unsteady but determined.
"Wha—hey!" Lyra called out, jogging after him. "What the hell, man? I just gave you a crash course on misery and you're walking off like that?"
Kance didn't stop. His eyes scanned every corner — observing the crude market stalls, the broken mana lamps, the faint traces of energy flowing through pipes like veins. His mind was already calculating, analyzi