Elias woke to the sound of breathing.
Not his own.
It came from everywhere—layered, uneven, punctuated by soft beeps that rose and fell like distant sonar. Light pressed against his eyelids, white and sterile.
He opened his eyes.
Ceiling tiles. Fluorescent panels. A hairline crack running diagonally across one of them like a fault line.
Hospital.
The thought arrived before the pain.
Then his body caught up.
Fire stirred beneath his skin—not the violent blaze from the alley, but something deeper and slower. It pulsed with his heartbeat, a dull heat threaded through his veins, as if they remembered something his mind refused to name.
Elias swallowed.
His throat was dry. His tongue felt thick. He tried to lift his arm and managed only a tremor.
"—he's waking up."
A woman leaned into view. Nurse. Tired eyes. Steady hands—the kind that didn't shake even when everything else did.
"Sir?" she said. "Can you hear me?"
Elias nodded once.
Pain flared behind his eyes.
"Good. Don't try to move yet. You were brought in after an assault. Two cracked ribs, a concussion, and—"
She hesitated.
Her gaze flicked to the monitor beside the bed.
"—some irregular readings," she finished.
Irregular how?
The question stayed trapped in his chest.
Something shifted.
Not in the room.
In him.
Pressure settled behind his eyes—familiar now. Controlled. Like a hand resting instead of gripping.
And the world layered.
[STATUS WINDOW — UNLOCKED]
The ceiling didn't vanish. The nurse didn't fade.
The interface simply existed over reality—translucent, anchored to his perception as naturally as sight.
Elias stared.
Name: Elias Crowe
Species: Human
Status: Injured
Condition: Stable
His pulse spiked.
The nurse followed his gaze—and froze.
Her breath hitched. For half a second, her pupils reflected something gold.
Then she stumbled back, striking the metal tray with a sharp clang.
"I—" She swallowed. "Sorry. I thought I saw…"
She shook her head, forcing a thin smile. "Lack of sleep."
Elias didn't answer.
The interface was still unfolding.
Class: ❌ UNASSIGNED
Pantheon Affinity: ❌ UNDETERMINED
Divinity Level: 0.01% (DORMANT)
Divinity.
The word sat there without explanation, as if it belonged.
Elias felt cold.
"I don't have a class?" he asked quietly.
The nurse blinked. "I'm sorry?"
He looked away. "Nothing."
She hesitated, studying him the way professionals do when symptoms don't match charts. Then she nodded.
"I'll get the doctor."
The moment she left, the pressure behind Elias' eyes tightened.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]Class assignment delayed.
Reason: Eligibility conflict.
"Conflict with what?" Elias whispered.
Silence.
The Status Window expanded.
Attributes:
STR: 8
AGI: 9
END: 7
INT: 11
WILL: 14
LUK: ❓
The question mark pulsed faintly.
Elias focused on it.
Nothing happened.
He forced a slow breath, steadying his heart. Panic wouldn't help. Panic never had.
The numbers made sense. He wasn't strong. He wasn't fast. The WILL stat was the only surprise.
He thought of the alley. The pain. The refusal to black out until the sky itself had stopped.
That tracks.
The interface flickered.
Just once.
Then a new line appeared beneath his name, dimmer than the rest—as if it hoped to be ignored.
Annotation: God-Blood Variant
Verification: INCOMPLETE
Elias' breath caught.
"God-blood," he murmured.
The air shifted.
Not enough to draw attention. Enough that the hairs on his arms lifted.
The monitor beside him stuttered, its rhythm skipping a beat before correcting.
[WARNING]Unauthorized awareness detected.
Pantheon proximity increasing.
"No," Elias said immediately. "No—"
The interface dimmed.
The pressure withdrew, like something stepping back behind a curtain.
Outside the window, clouds dragged past in heavy layers.
Something moved within them.
Elias turned his head just enough to see the skyline. The buildings were intact, but the horizon was wrong. A faint glow lingered where nothing should have been—an afterimage of something vast that had recently occupied the space.
A shadow crossed the sun.
The light dimmed.
Somewhere far above the city, a statue that hadn't moved in centuries turned its head.
Elias didn't see it.
But he felt the moment something ancient noticed.
[SYSTEM ADVISORY]Recommendation: Maintain low profile.
Risk Assessment: HIGH
Elias stared at the ceiling.
Low profile.
The words settled into place, solid and undeniable.
Whatever he was now—whatever slept in his blood—it wasn't something the world would tolerate.
And the System knew it.
He closed his eyes.
Fine, he thought. I can do quiet.
Outside, thunder rolled without lightning.
And far beyond human perception, gods began to argue over a discrepancy that should not exist.