The rain in Sector 7 didn't wash away the filth; it just made it glisten under the neon lights.
Noah pulled the collar of his damp coat higher, shielding his face from the biting wind. He stood on the edge of a rusted fire escape, four stories up, looking down at the chaos unfolding in the street below.
Screens the size of buildings illuminated the night, all broadcasting the same image. A golden figure, floating effortlessly above a cheering crowd. Perfect hair, a perfect smile, and eyes that seemed to hold the warmth of a thousand suns.
Atlas. The First Hero. The Savior.
"Logic dictates that justice prevails," Atlas's voice boomed from the speakers, smooth as silk, echoing through the wet alleyways. "As long as I breathe, this city is safe."
Noah stared at the screen. His expression didn't change, but the metal railing under his gloved hand groaned, twisting slightly under an unnatural pressure.
"Liar," Noah whispered. The word didn't carry anger. It was cold, factual. A statement of absolute truth.
Below him, the "safety" Atlas spoke of was currently burning.
A massive, hulking figure—a Villain known as 'Magma Core'—was rampaging through the intersection. Cars were flipped like toys, their metal frames melting into puddles of slag. Police drones buzzed around him like annoying flies, only to be swatted out of the sky by whips of molten rock.
"Where is he?!" Magma Core roared, his voice sounding like grinding stones. "Where is the Golden Boy?! I want Atlas!"
The civilians were screaming, a stampede of terrified bodies pushing against the police barricades.
Noah watched them run. He didn't move to help. He wasn't a hero. Heroes were people who believed the world was fair. Noah knew better. The world was a machine, running on strict rules, laws of physics, and established concepts.
And he was the glitch.
A flash of silver light cut through the street. Another hero arrived. Not Atlas, of course. Atlas didn't deal with the small fry. This was 'Velocity', a speedster hero trying to make a name for himself.
Velocity blurred, creating a vortex of wind to smother the flames. He was fast. He struck Magma Core a dozen times in a second, his fists creating sonic booms.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
But it was useless.
Magma Core laughed, his body flaring brighter. "Too hot! You can't touch me!"
Velocity screamed as his suit began to singe. He retreated, panting, his speed useless against a target he couldn't physically contact without burning alive. The laws of thermodynamics were absolute. Flesh burns. Heat transfers. Velocity couldn't win.
"Pathetic," Noah muttered.
He stepped off the fire escape.
He didn't jump. He didn't use a grappling hook. He simply stepped into the empty air.
For a normal human, gravity would dictate a fall. But as Noah's boot touched the nothingness, a faint, azure digital ripple distorted the air.
[System Active] [Concept: Gravity] -> [Status: Partial Theft]
Noah descended slowly, as if he were walking down invisible stairs. The logic of gravity had been stolen, just a fraction, enough to treat the air like solid ground.
He landed on the asphalt behind the police line, unnoticed in the panic. He walked calmly toward the raging villain. The heat was unbearable, enough to blister skin from fifty meters away. The police shouted at him to stop, but their voices were drowned out by the roar of the fire.
Velocity, the speedster hero, looked up from where he was nursing his burns. "Hey! Kid! Get back! You'll melt!"
Noah ignored him. He kept walking until he was ten meters from Magma Core. The heat waved against him, drying the rain on his coat instantly.
Magma Core turned, seeing the lone figure. The villain grinned, exposing teeth made of obsidian. "A fan? Want an autograph burned into your skull?"
He raised a massive, lava-dripping fist to crush the insect before him.
Noah stopped. He didn't take a fighting stance. He didn't summon a weapon. He just raised his right hand, palm open, fingers slightly curled.
His eyes, previously a dull grey, suddenly ignited with a terrifying, electric blue light.
The world seemed to pause. The rain droplets froze in mid-air. The roar of the fire became a dull hum.
Text, visible only to Noah, cascaded down his retina.
[Target Identified: Magma Core (Rank B)] [Analyzing Composition...] [Primary Concept: High Temperature / Magmatic Solidity] [Theft Probability: 92%]
"Burn," Magma Core shouted, throwing a wave of liquid fire at Noah.
Noah didn't dodge. He clenched his hand.
"By the authority of the Void," Noah said, his voice cutting through the chaos. "I deny your Heat."
[Skill: Conceptual Theft] -> [Activated]
SNAP.
The sound wasn't loud, but it was felt in the chest of everyone present. It was the sound of a law of physics snapping like a dry twig.
The wave of fire rushing toward Noah didn't extinguish. It didn't turn to steam. It simply... stopped being hot.
The red-hot magma turned grey instantly. It solidified in mid-air, crashing to the ground as harmless, cold rocks. The intense heat radiating from Magma Core vanished in a microsecond, replaced by a biting chill.
"Wh-what?" Magma Core looked at his hands. The lava that made up his skin was turning into dull, grey stone. He tried to reignite it, tried to call upon his power, but the concept of heat was gone from his immediate vicinity. "My fire! Where is my fire?!"
Noah took a deep breath. A glowing, red orb of energy was now floating in his palm. It swirled violently, containing the stolen essence of thousands of degrees of Celsius.
"You don't need this anymore," Noah said calmly.
He looked at the confused, petrified villain who was now just a naked man covered in grey dust, shivering in the cold rain.
Velocity, the hero, stared with his mouth open. The police lowered their guns. The camera drones zoomed in on Noah's back.
"Who..." Velocity stammered. "Who are you?"
Noah didn't answer. He looked at the red orb in his hand—the stolen logic of Heat—and crushed it.
Whoosh.
The energy absorbed into his body. The digital interface flickered.
[Logic Stolen: Heat] [Conversion Rate: 100%] [Physical Stats Increased] [Current Mental Load: 14%]
Noah turned around, his coat billowing in the wind. He glanced up at the giant screen, where Atlas was still smiling, still preaching about justice and order.
The difference was stark. Atlas saved the day with smiles and light. Noah had just neutralized a B-Rank threat by breaking the laws of reality, without throwing a single punch.
He walked into the shadows of the alleyway before the reporters could descend on him.
"This is just the warm-up," Noah whispered to the darkness, his blue eyes glowing brighter than the neon signs above.
He pulled a crumpled photo from his pocket. It was an old picture of two young boys standing in front of an orphanage. One was him. The other was the man now known as Atlas.
"Enjoy your throne while you can, brother," Noah said, crushing the photo in his hand. "I'm going to steal it all. Your fame. Your power. Your life."
[New Quest Generated] [Target: The logic of "Invulnerability"] [Location: Unknown]
Noah smirked.
The hunt had begun.