The hum of the armored transport was a low, vibrating growl that seemed to rattle Reed Blackwell's very teeth. It was a sterile, mechanical sound—the kind of sound that didn't exist in the Grey Wastes. Out there, the only noises were the screaming wind and the crunch of bone under the boots of things that shouldn't be.
Reed lay on the cold metal floor of the bay, his eyes half-closed. To the guards chatting near the cockpit, he was just a piece of "salvage." A Null they'd found clinging to life by a miracle.
But inside Reed, something was awake.
He could feel it pulsing behind his ribs. It wasn't a warmth, like the stories he'd heard of the Fire Cores. It didn't crackle like electricity. It felt like a steady, rhythmic thrum of nothingness. It was as if a tiny, silent whirlpool had opened up in his soul, and it was slowly drinking the exhaustion from his muscles.
Is this the system? Reed thought, his fingers twitching. Is this what 'Non-Existence' feels like?
Suddenly, the transport jolted. The hydraulic doors hissed open, and a blindingly bright light flooded the bay.
"Move it, trash!" a voice barked.
A heavy boot collided with Reed's side. He didn't cry out. He had learned long ago that crying out only made people kick harder. He rolled, pushed himself up, and stumbled out of the transport.
The air hit him first. It was filtered, recycled, and smelled faintly of ozone and expensive cologne.
Reed blinked, his eyes adjusting to the sight of the Zenith Institute. It was a cathedral of glass and steel, rising like a middle finger to the ruins of the old world outside. Floating walkways connected silver towers, and everywhere he looked, students in pristine white-and-gold uniforms moved with the grace of the well-fed and the powerful.
"Keep your head down," the guard sneered, shoving Reed toward a massive obsidian archway. "A Null like you shouldn't even be breathing this air. If it weren't for that Council Seal you were holding, I'd have dumped you in the incinerator myself."
Reed didn't answer. He clutched the black metallic coin hidden in his pocket—the gift from the stranger in the mist.
As they entered the main hall, a hush fell over the crowd of students. Their eyes, bright with the residue of their various elemental affinities, landed on Reed. He was a stark contrast to their perfection: his clothes were tattered rags held together by grime; his skin was pale and scarred; his hair was a matted mess of dark strands.
"What is that?" a girl whispered, her eyes glowing with a soft green Light Core shimmer. "Is that... a wilder?"
"Worse," a tall boy replied, stepped forward. He had hair the color of embers and a smirk that felt like a slap. This was Kaelen Voss, the top-ranked recruit of the incoming class. "It's a Null. I can smell the lack of energy on him from here. Hey, trash! Did you crawl out of a sewer just to see what real humans look like?"
The surrounding students erupted in laughter.
Reed kept his gaze fixed on the floor. He could feel the whirlpool in his chest spin a little faster. A strange sensation washed over him—a desire to reach out and simply erase the smirk from Kaelen's face. Not hit him. Not burn him. Just make the smirk stop existing.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: HOST EMOTIONAL TURBULENCE DETECTED]
[WARNING: VOID SIGNATURE IS CURRENTLY UNSTABLE]
[STEALTH PROTOCOL: ACTIVE. MAINTAINING COVER.]
Reed sucked in a breath. Not yet, he told himself. I don't even know what I am yet.
The guards led him to the center of the hall, where a towering pillar of translucent crystal stood. This was the Aura Pillar. It was the judge, jury, and executioner of the Institute. It measured the depth of a student's Core and determined their Rank.
A woman with a sharp face and a uniform adorned with silver stripes stood by the pillar. Instructor Vane. She looked at Reed with the same clinical interest one might show a biological specimen.
"Reed Blackwell," she said, her voice echoing. "The boy with the Council Seal. You are an anomaly. No one knows where you came from, and no one knows why you have that invitation. But the Pillar does not lie. Step forward."
The laughter died down. The air grew heavy with anticipation. Even the elite students held their breath.
Reed walked toward the pillar. Each step felt like he was walking toward his own execution. He knew what the world thought of him. He knew what the scanners saw. He was a Zero. A mistake.
He placed his hand on the cold surface of the crystal.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, the Pillar began to groan. The light inside it, usually a vibrant blue, flickered. It turned a muddy grey, then a dull, hollow black. The crystal vibrated violently, sending a hum through the floor that made the students stumble.
"What's happening?" Kaelen shouted, his hand igniting with a small flame in a defensive reflex. "Is the machine breaking?"
Instructor Vane leaned in, her eyes wide. "Impossible..."
The screen above the Pillar flashed red. Large, blocky letters appeared for the entire Academy to see:
[CORE TYPE: ERROR]
[ENERGY CAPACITY: 0.00]
[RANK: TIER 4 - REJECT]
The silence lasted for three heartbeats before the hall exploded into a roar of mockery.
"A literal zero!" someone yelled.
"He's not even a recruit, he's a ghost!"
"Why did the Council send us a corpse?"
Instructor Vane's face hardened. The curiosity was gone, replaced by a cold, professional disdain. "The Pillar has spoken. You have no affinity, Reed Blackwell. You have no energy. Why the Council saw fit to grant you entry is beyond my understanding, but we do not disobey the Seal."
She turned to a junior guard. "Take him to the Sector 4 dorms. The Slums. If he survives the first week, we'll see if he's fit to wash the floors in the Tier 1 wing."
The guard grabbed Reed by the collar of his rags. Reed didn't fight back. As he was dragged away, he caught a glimpse of Kaelen Voss. The fire-user was laughing, pointing at the "0.00" on the screen.
Reed was hauled through the beautiful glass halls, down into the belly of the Institute, past the kitchens, past the laundry, and deep into the damp, dark sub-levels where the sunlight never reached.
The Sector 4 dorms weren't rooms; they were cages. Iron bars, thin mats on stone floors, and the smell of rot. This was where the "support staff" and the failed recruits lived—those the Factions kept around for the grunt work they didn't want to waste Core energy on.
The guard threw Reed into a cell and slammed the door.
"Dinner is at six," the guard sneered. "If you want to eat, you'll have to fight the others for it. My advice? Don't get comfortable. A Null like you usually ends up in the scrap heap by Friday."
The guard's footsteps faded away, leaving Reed in total darkness.
Reed sat on the edge of the thin mat. His body ached. His stomach was a pit of hunger. But as he sat there, the violet screen appeared in his vision again. It didn't care about the Aura Pillar. It didn't care about Instructor Vane or Kaelen Voss.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION: 100% COMPLETE]
[WELCOME, HOST REED BLACKWELL]
[THE VOID SYSTEM HAS CALIBRATED TO YOUR CURRENT REALITY]
Reed whispered into the dark, his voice cracked. "What... what are you?"
[I AM THE ABSENCE OF ALL THINGS.]
[I AM THE TRUTH BEYOND THE LIGHT.]
A new list of text scrolled down.
[CURRENT STATUS:]
Name: Reed Blackwell
Title: The Non-Existent
Rank: 0 (Evolution Path: Locked)
Current Ability: Stealth of the Void (Passive) - Your presence is naturally ignored by those with higher energy signatures. You are a shadow in their peripheral vision.
[MISSION TRIGGERED: THE FIRST SUBTRACTION]
Objective: The world believes you are a 'Zero.' Prove them right by 'erasing' the first threat to your existence.
Target: The bullies of Sector 4.
Reward: Unlock First Active Skill: [Grasp of Non-Existence].
Reed looked at his hands. In the pitch black of the cell, they seemed to be fading at the edges, as if the darkness around him was merging with his skin.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps. Not a guard's heavy boots, but the light, predatory steps of several people.
"New meat?" a raspy voice whispered from the other side of the bars. "I heard the guards talking. A Null with a Council Seal? That means you've got something valuable on you, kid."
Three figures emerged from the shadows. They were older, their faces scarred by years of living in the Sector 4 pits. The leader held a jagged piece of rebar that had been sharpened into a shiv.
"Give us the coin, Null," the leader growled, his eyes glinting with a faint, sickly yellow light—the sign of a shattered, low-rank Earth Core. "Give it to us, and maybe we won't break your legs before dinner."
Reed stood up slowly. For the first time in his life, he didn't feel the fear of the hunted. He felt a cold, calm clarity.
They think I'm a zero, Reed thought.
The whirlpool in his chest expanded. The shadows in the corners of the cell began to stretch toward the bars, like ink dropping into water.
Let's see what happens when they try to touch 'Nothing.'
[WARNING: VOID ENERGY SURGING]
[DO YOU WISH TO INITIATE THE FIRST SUBTRACTION?]
"Come and take it," Reed said, his voice sounding deeper, echoing as if it were coming from a great distance.
The bullies lunged.