The Awakening Hall was massive—a dome of silver and steel, buzzing with electric energy as hundreds of sixteen-year-old students gathered in concentric circles. The floor pulsed with blue light beneath their feet, drawing intricate sigils in circuits of unknown origin. At the center, a towering obelisk glowed with the power of countless awakened fragments, humming with silent judgment.
This was the day every student had waited for: the Core Awakening Ceremony.
Everyone, except Rael Kaen.
He stood quietly at the end of the last circle, back straight, hands folded behind him. No excitement. No fear. Just a calm gaze scanning the ceiling. It was as if he didn't belong in the room filled with nervous chatter and trembling fists.
"Begin Core Resonance!" announced Examiner Elith, a tall man in silver robes with scanning lenses over his eyes.
Each student's circle glowed in turn. The light formed a field around them—some brilliant red with fire affinity, others humming with static blue or pulsing green. Holographic windows opened mid-air, floating above their heads.
[Core Type: Flame Lotus]
[Affinity: Fire]
[Potential: B+]
[Core Type: Ironhide Drake]
[Affinity: Earth]
[Potential: A-]
The crowd murmured in awe. Cheers, gasps, whispers of envy. Each student stepped forward glowing with pride.
Then, the final name echoed.
"Rael Kaen."
The light beneath him sparked—and fizzled.
A glitch. Then silence.
No color. No data. Nothing.
The obelisk dimmed for the first time all day.
"System unable to detect core." The examiner's voice lost its formality. "No fragment resonance detected."
Whispers turned into giggles. Laughter followed like a wave.
"Core-less?" someone mocked.
"Is that even possible?"
"Trash spawn."
Rael didn't blink. He stood there, motionless, almost too still for someone just told they had no future.
The examiner frowned. "Next."
Rael stepped away without a word.
But inside his mind—something shattered.
---
[CORE WINDOW SYSTEM BOOTING...]
A smooth, unreadable voice echoed in his consciousness. A panel flickered to life before his inner vision—a dark, transparent rectangle laced with data strings and unreadable symbols.
---
[WELCOME, USER: RAEL KAEN]
System Classification: Forbidden Core - Silent Class
Visibility: Hidden from public systems
Core Fragmentation: Incomplete (0%)
Identity Masking: Active
System Access Level: Locked (Tier 0)
Multiversal Access: None
---
Rael's eyes sharpened. He exhaled slowly.
So this was it. The reason his tests had always failed. Why his results came up blank in every scan, every test, every measurement.
He wasn't born without a core.
He was born with a core no one could see.
He sat silently on the outer step of the Awakening Hall while students and their parents celebrated. His mother hadn't even come—she was too sick. He'd made sure she believed this day didn't matter. Because it didn't. Not to him.
He closed his eyes and whispered in his mind, "Expand system view."
The panel grew larger.
---
[CORE WINDOW – DEEP ACCESS MODE]
Fragments: 0
Energy Nodes: 0/100
Core Evolution: Dormant
System Type: Adaptive Evolution
Core Trait: Unknown
Access Key: Not Installed
Mask ID: Available – "Specter Zero"
---
His brow twitched.
Specter Zero.
He hadn't named that.
"Why is that available?" he muttered under his breath.
The system did not respond.
Instead, the system pinged:
[Core Personality Sync: 91% Complete]
[Activating Passive Trait: Core Echo]
A rush of air circled around him. Invisible. Quiet. A pulse radiated outward—but no one noticed.
They never would.
He understood.
His power was not made to shine under sunlight. It was born for shadow.
"What's my first task?" he asked the system.
[Locate Fractured Node. Restore First Fragment.]
A new message popped:
[Fractured Node Detected: 3.2 km North – Forbidden Forest Ruin]
Forbidden. Of course.
That place was sealed off years ago after a rift collapsed and corrupted the area. No student was allowed near it. No teacher dared to enter it anymore.
"Perfect."
Rael stood up. He brushed off his uniform and looked down at his student ID.
[Rael Kaen – Class 4C – Rank: Zero Core]
To them, he was nothing.
Exactly how he wanted it.
---
Later That Night...
He moved silently under moonlight. Over rooftops, through fences. Like a shadow.
The ruined forest whispered like it remembered his name. The trees were twisted, the ground cracked with glowing veins of dimension residue.
His Core Window glowed faintly behind his eyes.
[Node proximity: 80 meters… 50 meters… 10…]
Then he saw it.
A floating crystal shard impaled into the stone of a broken statue.
It pulsed weakly. Like a dying heartbeat.
[Fragment recognized: Proto Echo Shard]
[Claim? Y/N]
Rael extended his hand.
"Claim."
The moment his fingers touched it, a scream pierced the air—not audible, but spiritual. Like the rift itself howled.
The crystal shattered into his palm.
His system exploded with data.
---
[Fragment Claimed: Proto Echo Shard]
Core Trait Unlocked: Echo Sight (Passive)
Fragment Energy: +1
System Level Up: Tier 1 Access Unlocked]
New Tab Unlocked: Skill Integration]
---
Suddenly—movement.
A noise from the trees.
Rael ducked behind stone as something massive stepped into the clearing.
Too late.
A hulking creature of stitched metal and bone looked straight toward him, eyes burning with blue flame.
And it was smiling.
The stitched monster towered above Rael, standing nearly three meters tall. Its skin was an unholy blend of rusted metal plates and decaying flesh stitched together by wires pulsing with dark energy. Blue flames burned in its eye sockets like sentient hatred.
The system's voice echoed coldly in Rael's mind.
[Unknown Entity: Rift-Bound Golem]
Threat Level: C+
Recommended Action: Escape]
Rael didn't move.
Instead, he let his breath slow, his eyes locked onto the creature's twisted frame. A student would run. A soldier would call for backup.
But he was neither.
He was invisible to the world. He could fail, break, fall, and no one would remember his name.
So there was nothing to lose.
"Engage Echo Sight," he commanded silently.
A ripple passed through his vision. The world changed.
The creature no longer looked whole. Its body now appeared fractured—blue energy lines crisscrossed its joints, faint glows pulsing at weak points. Behind the flames in its eyes, he saw it: a tiny black shard embedded deep inside the skull. The Core Fragment that bound it.
A second system window opened midair.
---
[Combat Sub-Interface Activated]
Target: Rift-Bound Golem
Status: Corrupted, Semi-Stable]
Detected Weak Points: 5]
---
The golem lunged.
Its massive hand slammed down where Rael had stood—crushing the stone into dust. But Rael had already rolled forward. Silent. Fluid. No panic in his movements, only calculation.
[Skill Integration Tab – Available]
"Integrate Proto Echo Shard," he ordered mid-movement.
[Skill Integration: Success]
New Skill Learned: Echo Step (Lv.1)
— Blink forward five meters, leaving an afterimage. Cooldown: 10s
Perfect.
The golem turned, claws grinding sparks across stone.
It lunged again.
Rael activated Echo Step.
In a blink, he vanished—reappearing behind the beast. His afterimage was crushed instantly, but he was already moving.
He grabbed a rusted pipe from the ground, flipped it like a short spear, and launched it directly into one of the glowing joints.
CLANG!
The creature roared.
[Weak Point Damaged: Joint Integrity -12%]
It spun to strike.
Too slow.
Rael ducked beneath the arm and slammed a kick into the back of its knee. The corrupted sinew gave way slightly—but not enough.
Another window popped up.
---
[Energy Nodes: 1/100]
Core Sync Progress: 4%
Skill Usage Logged: Echo Step (Lv.1) – Experience Gained]
---
The golem howled again. Blue fire surged from its chest. Rael's eyes narrowed.
It's charging something.
He sprinted into the shadows, weaving between broken statues and fractured stone. The air grew hotter.
A massive beam of flame burst from the golem's mouth, obliterating half the ruin. Trees ignited. Rocks turned to slag.
Rael's back hit cold stone. Safe.
He knew now—this wasn't a beast. It was a machine of war, bound to a corrupted fragment like a puppet. And it was guarding something.
Rael's Core Window flashed again.
[New Mission Unlocked: First Kill]
Objective: Defeat Rift-Bound Golem
Reward: System Upgrade, Access Key Tier 1]
He exhaled.
This wasn't about survival anymore. It was the first step.
Rael tore off part of his uniform, wrapping it around his right fist. He gripped the broken pipe tighter.
The golem spotted him again.
It ran this time.
Rael moved faster.
Five meters before it struck, Rael activated Echo Step again—vanishing mid-charge. He reappeared on its back and drove the pipe straight into the skull where the shard glowed.
[Critical Hit – Core Fragment Damaged -42%]
The monster staggered.
Rael pulled out the pipe—and stabbed again.
[Core Fragment Damage -31%]
The golem screamed a distorted, broken noise.
Energy exploded from its body, knocking Rael back.
He slammed into the wall—hard—but didn't cry out. Blood ran from his nose. The world spun. Pain screamed through his ribs.
Still, he got up.
The monster limped now, sparks flying from one leg.
The system pinged.
[Core Trait Evolving: Echo Sight (Lv.1) → (Lv.2)]
New Feature: Time Delay Field Detection]
Rael blinked—and the golem's movements became slower.
Not in reality.
Just in his mind.
A half-second lag.
That was all he needed.
The golem roared and charged. Its claws surged for the kill.
Rael stepped sideways, swung the pipe like a blade—and with a shout, drove it completely through the Core Fragment in its head.
The golem froze.
Flames died.
Its body twitched… then collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
Dust settled.
Rael stood in the center, panting. Alive.
The system voice returned—calmer now.
---
[Target Eliminated: Rift-Bound Golem]
Mission Complete: First Kill]
Reward Granted: System Upgrade + Access Key Tier 1]
Energy Nodes: 9/100]
Core Evolution Unlocked: Adaptive Branch Selection (Locked)]
New Mask Identity Available: "Specter Zero"]
---
Rael wiped the blood from his lip and stared at the burning remains.
He didn't smile.
Instead, he looked up toward the sky—and whispered.
"This world will never see me coming."
The wind swirled as if it heard him.
And far above, on a hill shrouded in mist, a cloaked figure watched him through glowing red lenses.
"He's found it," the figure murmured. "The Silent Core… It has returned."