Lowwater did not sleep, but that night it whispered.
Hook Street's fires had barely gone out before rumors ran ahead of the wind. Merchants swore they had seen a Bronze officer dragged bleeding through the dust. Dockhands told each other of an invisible hand pressing them flat while a boy stood against it. Children mimicked quick dashes in alley games, chanting "fastest ghost, fastest ghost" until their parents hushed them.
By dawn, Evan Sharp's name was on every tongue.
He crouched on a ruined rooftop overlooking both Hook Street and the Docks. The two domains hummed faintly in his bones, threads tugging at each other, unsure whether they were friends or rivals.
His panel glowed.
Status — Evan Sharp Level: 9 Speed: 477 Skills: Quickstep (F), Burst Step (F), Momentum Shift (F), Echo Step (F) Techniques: Velocity Veil+ (E), Speed Sense (E), Vector Break (E) Titles: [Uncatchable I], [Swift Claimant] Path: Velocity — Tier 1 (Acceleration Passive) Domains: Hook Street (Strong), Docks (Minor)Overflow: 10% (streak active)
Four hundred seventy-seven. A number too high to belong to alleys and markets. Each breath was energy begging for release. Every twitch of muscle was enough to break bone if he forgot himself.
But numbers alone didn't make him safe. He remembered the way Aelira had pressed her hand down and bent the world. How close his ribs had come to splintering. Four minutes of survival had been victory, but it was survival.
His panel chimed again.
Quest: Train Vector Break. Objective: Cancel three hostile vectors in live combat. Reward: +20 Speed, Vector Break (D).
Evan exhaled. "Live combat." The system never gave him a choice.
The city gave him one anyway.
A whistle echoed from Hook Street below. He saw them before the crowd did—half a dozen armored patrolmen, not Registry Bronze but city guards. They carried spears and shields, moving with the stiff gait of men told to make an example.
"By order of the Registry!" one shouted. "The anomaly known as Sharp is to be captured for questioning!"
Merchants froze. Children ducked. The baker clutched her ladle like it was a weapon.
Evan dropped from the roof and landed silently between the guards and the crowd. His coat fluttered once, then stilled.
"You shouldn't be here," he said.
The guards hesitated. Rumors were one thing. The boy in front of them, calm as stone, was another. Still, duty stiffened their backs.
"Form up!" the sergeant barked.
Spears lowered.
The system pulsed.
Micro-Objective: Neutralize the patrol without civilian harm. Reward: +15 Speed.
Evan blurred.
Quickstep slid him past the first thrust. Burst Step cracked the cobbles as he slammed a shoulder into the second guard's chest, sending him sprawling. Echo Step left a ghost that drew a spear into smoke.
Three came at once. He ducked, Momentum Shift catching a spear's push and turning it into a shove that propelled him into the sergeant. His fist hammered the man's gut. Armor crumpled. The sergeant wheezed and collapsed.
Two guards flanked him. He triggered Vector Break.
The world shivered. For an instant, the thrust of both spears lost meaning—their vectors gone. The weapons slowed as if underwater. Evan weaved between them and tapped both men on the jaw. They dropped bonelessly.
[DING] Vector Break use registered. (1/3)
The last guard stood alone, trembling. His spear rattled in his grip. Evan didn't strike him. He simply looked.
The guard dropped his weapon and fled.
The market erupted. Cheers rolled across Hook Street like thunder. Merchants raised fists. Children whooped. Evan didn't smile, but he raised one hand and the cheers doubled.
[DING] Micro-Objective complete. +15 Speed. Speed: 477 → 492.
Far across the city, Pike seethed. His knuckles were raw from punching walls, his throat hoarse from screaming. The Rust Vipers had cut ties after their captain fell. The Dogs barely followed him now. But Pike's hate burned brighter than his fear.
He whispered Evan's name over and over until it sounded less like a man and more like a curse.
"We'll see how fast you run when your whole world burns," he muttered, eyes fever-bright. "I'll find someone. I'll find anyone."
Somewhere in the shadows, someone heard him.
Back at the docks, Evan tested Vector Break again. He sprinted straight at a crane where dockhands swung heavy cargo. The rope swung toward him like a pendulum. He triggered the technique—
—and the swing vanished. For a heartbeat, the rope was weightless, the arc gone. He dashed through untouched, then the swing resumed behind him, crashing into a post with a thud.
He grinned. Vector Break wasn't just survival. It was possibility.
The system approved.
[DING] Progress: 2/3 hostile vectors canceled.
Night fell. Evan perched on the warehouse roof, watching Hook Street and the Docks breathe below him. Two domains hummed in his chest now. Two corners of the city that were his. But the whispers in the alleys spoke of more.
"The Foundry's next.""Ghost should take the Towers.""Once he has the city, no one will touch us again."
The panel pulsed.
Title Update: [Swift Claimant] — evolving…Requirement: Three domains claimed.
Evan leaned forward, eyes sharp on the horizon where the Foundry's smokestacks glowed red against the stars.
"I'll take it," he whispered. "All of it."
And he ran into the dark, faster than rumor.