Hook Street had never been so quiet.
Merchants moved with strange lightness, hands closing on coins they hadn't expected to see again. Dogs that hadn't fled outright slunk through side lanes, ears low, watching shadows for the boy who had turned their leader into a joke.
And above it all, Evan Sharp ran.
Not to escape. Not this time. He ran because running itself was fuel.
Overflow (5%) → (6%). +1 Speed. Speed: 181 → 182.
The panel glowed, patient and inevitable. Evan smiled against the wind. Every footfall wasn't just motion—it was growth. He could feel it under his skin, muscles singing, bones sharper, reflexes hungrier.
He had claimed Hook Street. The market whispered his name. And already, part of him wanted more.
Two wardens watched from the edge of the market, their slate between them.
"He humiliated a whole gang," the younger said, voice tight. "Level? System type?"
The older tapped the slate. The screen stayed empty. "Blank entry. Tracking suppression."
"Impossible," the younger spat. "Unless—"
"Unless it's not registered." The Older's mouth tightened. "And unregistered growth this fast? He's dangerous."
They shared a look. Bronze-level ability-users were expensive to move. But if this continued, if the boy's legend spread unchecked, the Guild would demand blood.
Meanwhile, Pike's scream echoed off an alley wall as he punched a barrel until his knuckles split. His knife lay discarded in the mud; blade bent from the force of his own panic.
"HE TOUCHED ME LIKE I WAS NOTHING!" Pike roared. His Dogs didn't meet his eyes. Not one.
"Boss," Scar-Lip muttered, ribs bandaged, voice thin. "Maybe we… maybe we get help."
"Help?" Pike spat. "From whom?"
Scar-Lip swallowed. "The Vipers."
At that, silence fell. The Rust Vipers weren't street scum. They were syndicate muscle—real killers, bound by debt and blood. If Pike brought them in, Evan wouldn't just face Dogs. He'd face trained blades.
Pike's grin came back, cracked but hungry. "Yeah. The Vipers. We'll see how fast he runs when his legs are cut out from under him."
Evan landed lightly on a rooftop, chest steady, hair damp with sweat. His system pulsed again.
Quest Available: Expand Your Claim. Objective: Spread your dominance beyond Hook Street. Options: • Seize a rival gang corner. • Outrun a patrol in front of witnesses.• Challenge a Bronze and survive. Reward: Title progress, +20 Speed, +1 Level.
He exhaled slowly. The Dogs weren't enough. Even Pike had been too easy once he let himself flow. The real threat wasn't the street rats—it was the Registry. The man in gray fire, the wardens with their slate. They would not stop.
"Then neither will I," Evan whispered.
The city below was a board. Every street, every shadow, every roofline belonged to those fast enough to claim it. And for the first time, Evan wasn't just trying to live inside it. He was ready to redraw it.
Far across the city, a Bronze-ranked enforcer sat in a dim-lit hall, coat folded on his lap, eyes shut. His slate pulsed once, marking him for deployment.
A message scrolled bright across the glass:
Target: Evan Sharp. Classification: Unregistered. Threat Level: Escalating. Order: Capture or kill.
The man's lips curved faintly. "Finally. A chase worth running."
As Evan prepared to drop into the alleys again, the panel pulsed with a new surprise.
[DING] Perk Unlocked: Overflow (2%). Condition met: Maintain streak for 3 consecutive days. Effect: Motion now grants compound growth. Each day streak increases Overflow % by 1.
His breath caught. Every day I keep moving, I grow faster… faster than anyone can calculate.
He smiled. A real smile this time.
"Then let's see how long I can run."
Status — Evan Sharp Level: 5 Speed: 182 Skills: Quickstep (F), Burst Step (F), Momentum Shift (F), Echo Step (F)Titles: [Uncatchable I], [Swift Claimant] Path: Velocity — Tier 0 (Overflow 6%, streak active)
The Registry was moving. Pike was begging the Vipers. The city whispered his name. And Evan Sharp, fastest being alive-in-the-making, hadn't even taken his second breath yet.
Hook Street had never sounded like this before.
The rhythm of the market, once broken by fear and the Dogs' swagger, had shifted into something lighter. Stalls clattered open with confidence. Merchants called out prices with voices that no longer trembled. A butcher laughed as he swung his cleaver, striking harder than the meat deserved. Even the smoke rising from cookfires looked thicker, bolder, like the street itself had drawn breath again.
Evan Sharp sat on the edge of a roof, one leg dangling over the street, watching it unfold below.
He had claimed Hook Street. Not by banners or contracts, but by speed alone. Everyone had seen Pike fall. Everyone had seen how his blade couldn't catch a shadow. Everyone had seen the boy who should have died yesterday stand in the street and tell a gang it no longer owned the ground it walked on.
The whispers were spreading already.
"That boy—""Faster than my eyes could follow—""Like lightning in daylight—"
Evan tore off a chunk of warm bread and chewed slowly, savoring it. The baker who had pressed it into his hands earlier had blushed, muttering something about speed burning calories. He hadn't known what to say. Gratitude felt strange, heavy in his mouth, but he had managed the words anyway.
Status — Evan SharpLevel: 5Speed: 181Skills: Quickstep (F), Burst Step (F), Momentum Shift (F), Echo Step (F)Titles: [Uncatchable I], [Swift Claimant]Path: Velocity — Tier 0 (Overflow 5%)Domain Bond — Hook Street (Minor): While within Hook Street, stamina recovery increased. Hostile influence weakened.
The new bond settled into his bones like a quiet hum. Every time he breathed, the street seemed to breathe with him. Each step felt easier here, lighter. Hook Street was his now, not because he had declared it, but because speed had decided it for him.
He muttered around a mouthful of bread, "Speed is survival. Speed is ownership."
The panel flickered at the edge of his vision.
Overflow (5%) → (6%).+1 Speed.Speed: 181 → 182.
He swallowed, grinned, and leaned back on his hands, just listening to the market below. For once, the sound wasn't hostile. For once, it was alive.
At the edge of the street, two men in blue coats watched with stiff backs and pinched faces. Wardens. Registry. One older, hair silvering at the temples, the other younger with his jaw tight and eyes hot with anger. They had a slate between them, its polished surface flickering as their thumbs worked across it.
"Look at it," the younger hissed. "Empty. Again."
The older scrolled with calm patience. "Name: missing. Age: missing. Ability classification: suppressed."
"That's impossible," the younger spat. "Slates don't lie."
"They don't," the older agreed softly, eyes narrowing on Evan's blurred afterimage still dissolving near the bakery. "Which means the anomaly is him."
He tapped a key, and the slate buzzed low. One word scrolled across the screen.
Recommendation: Escalate to Bronze.
The younger swallowed. "We're really calling a Bronze… for a street rat?"
"He's not a street rat anymore," the older said flatly. "He's unregistered. And unregistered growth this fast gets people killed."
Evan wasn't listening to them, but his system was.
[DING] Hazard Advisory: Registry escalation detected. Prepare for Bronze-level pursuit.
He exhaled slowly. A Bronze. Like the man in gray, the one with fire in his hands. The one who had hunted him on the rooftops and failed. They were coming again. He would have to be faster.
Far across the city, in a reeking alley, Pike screamed. He punched a barrel until the wood split, knuckles bleeding. His knife lay bent in the mud.
"He TOUCHED me," Pike roared, spittle flying. "Like I was NOTHING."
Scar-Lip, ribs bandaged, winced as Pike's voice cracked. "Boss, maybe we… maybe we bring in someone else."
"Someone else?" Pike spat. "What, you want me to beg the guards to handle a brat?"
Scar-Lip shook his head. "Not guards. The Rust Vipers."
The alley went still. Even the rats froze.
Chain-Wrapper muttered, "The Vipers… that's syndicate. Real killers."
Pike's grin came back, thin and hungry. "Good. Let's see how fast the rat runs when the Vipers cut his legs out from under him."
Back on the rooftops, Evan stretched his legs and stood. The city below him felt different now, like a board waiting for him to move the pieces.
The system pulsed again.
Quest Available: Expand Your Claim.Objective: Spread your dominance beyond Hook Street.Options:• Seize a rival gang's corner.• Outrun a patrol in front of witnesses.• Challenge a Bronze-tier and survive.Reward: +20 Speed, +1 Level, Title Progress.
Evan narrowed his eyes at the city's veins of alleys and rooftops. The Dogs weren't enough. Even Pike had been too easy. The Registry was the real threat. Men with slates who wanted to write him down like an insect. Men with fire in their palms. They would not stop.
"Then neither will I," he whispered.
He leaned forward and ran.
The rooftops blurred beneath him, tile and tar flashing past. His body thrummed with energy. Each footfall was a promise. Each stride was a declaration. The burn in his muscles only sharpened him.
Overflow (6%) → (7%).+1 Speed.Speed: 182 → 183.
Far across the city, a man in a Bronze-gray coat sat in a low-lit chamber, incense curling around him. His slate buzzed once, a clean, insistent chime.
Target: Evan Sharp.Classification: Unregistered.Threat Level: Escalating.Order: Capture or kill.
The man's eyes opened, dark and calm. A smile touched his lips. "Finally," he murmured, rising to his feet. "A chase worth running."
He shrugged on his coat, and the incense guttered as the air grew hotter.
Back on the rooftops, Evan's panel flared.
[DING] Perk Unlocked: Overflow (2%).Condition Met: Maintain movement streak for 3 consecutive days.Effect: Daily Overflow growth compounds. Each day streak increases Overflow % by 1.
Evan's breath caught. Every day he kept moving, he grew faster. Faster than anyone could calculate.
He laughed, the sound stolen by the wind. "Then let's see how long I can run."
He blurred forward, Echo Step leaving a ghost of him behind. His real self was already half a block ahead.
Status — Evan SharpLevel: 5Speed: 183Skills: Quickstep (F), Burst Step (F), Momentum Shift (F), Echo Step (F)Titles: [Uncatchable I], [Swift Claimant]Path: Velocity — Tier 0 (Overflow 7%)
The Dogs were broken but plotting. The Rust Vipers were stirring. The Registry was moving Bronze. And the city whispered his name.
Evan Sharp, the boy left for dead in an alley, had become something else entirely.
And this was only the first lap.