Lowwater's heartbeat had changed.
Three days ago, Hook Street was just another market choked by gangs. The Docks were another turf with the stink of fish and bribes. The Old Foundry was a furnace where men worked and bled for scraps.
Now, all three whispered one name.
Evan Sharp.
The streets called him Ghost, Swift Claimant, Domain Strider. Children played "catch the blur" in alleys. Merchants painted chalk lightning bolts over their stalls as ward-marks. Guards cursed his name in the barracks. And the Registry—
The Registry panicked.
In a stone hall hung with banners, Silver officer Aelira stood with her coat immaculate, her braid unruffled. Across the table sat three other officers, all with slates open, numbers scrolling in angry red.
"Bronze Ravel humiliated," one officer spat. "Rust Vipers broken, Netweaver routed, Forgemen fallen. Three districts in four days. Unregistered growth curve is impossible."
"It isn't impossible," Aelira said calmly. "It's Velocity."
"Tier One shouldn't outpace a Bronze."
"Tier One shouldn't survive Silver pressure," another snapped. "And yet he did. Four minutes on the Docks, under full gravity field."
The room went quiet.
They all looked at Aelira. She held their gaze without apology. "He adapts. Faster than our data models. Faster than slates can capture. Every failure makes him sharper. He is building domains, threading them together. He's not just running—he's claiming."
The third officer rubbed his temples. "Domains. That's the problem. Hook Street, Docks, Foundry—if he keeps weaving territory, the city itself will shield him. Every patrol, every Bronze we send, their perception will twist. He'll be uncatchable."
"So escalate," the first said. "Deploy Gold."
The word hung heavy. Gold meant war, meant sanctioned devastation. Too visible. Too political.
Aelira's lips curved faintly. "Not yet. Gold would break the city. And breaking the city would crown him. No—he must be cut before the myth hardens."
"How?"
Her eyes flickered like steel catching sun. "I will train the net. Let him run. Let him grow. But when he hits Silver again—when the timing is right—I will be faster."
In an alley across town, Pike spat blood onto the stones. His Dogs had deserted him. The Rust Vipers wouldn't answer his calls. Even the Forgemen had bent their heads to Evan Sharp.
But hatred kept him upright.
He scrawled the name again and again into soot on the wall. Evan Sharp. Evan Sharp. Evan Sharp. Until the letters blurred into claws.
"You took my street," he muttered. "You took my crew. You made me crawl."
His laughter broke sharp and cracked. "So I'll take something of yours. When you run, Ghost, you'll find only fire behind you."
A voice whispered from deeper shadow. "You want him burned? We can sell you flame hotter than Registry fire."
Pike's eyes gleamed. "Name your price."
On the rooftops, Evan tested his new title.
Title: [Domain Strider I]Effect: Multiple Domain Bonds harmonize. Threads can overlap, weaving a network. Movement across domains enhanced.
He leapt from Hook Street to the Docks. Before, the transition felt like stepping between different songs. Now it was one rhythm, the notes blending. His feet hardly noticed the shift.
He ran again, this time toward the Foundry. The furnaces glowed, the iron hissed, but the Domain thread welcomed him. Three territories, one pulse.
Domain Network effect: Movement speed +10% when traveling between bonded domains.Perception distortion: +5% to enemies across bonded network.
Evan grinned. The city was no longer obstacles. It was track.
He blurred into a circuit: Hook Street → Docks → Foundry → Hook Street again. Each lap faster. Each lap smoother. His panel ticked numbers upward.
Overflow streak maintained. (Day 4/7).Overflow: 10% → 11%.+1 Speed.Speed: 522 → 523.
The numbers meant less than the feeling. The air didn't resist him anymore. Corners bent to his stride. Lantern light flickered as if hurrying to keep pace.
But even in exhilaration, his system whispered reminders.
Quest Pending: Survive Silver Aelira (Round Two).Status: Active. Timeframe uncertain.
He remembered her hand pressing the world flat. The way his ribs had screamed. The way he had nearly drowned in weight.
He clenched his fists. "Next time, I won't just survive. I'll run through you."
By dawn, the Registry had doubled patrols. Slates flashed warnings in markets. But everywhere, the whispers were louder than orders.
"He outran fire.""He outlasted Silver.""He claimed the Foundry.""Evan Sharp is the city's ghost."
Merchants painted chalk symbols on shutters. Dockhands left offerings at moorings. Foundry workers smuggled scraps of steel etched with lightning.
And in hidden corners, darker powers listened.
If a boy could defy Bronze and Silver, if a boy could weave streets into shields—then perhaps he could be used. Or perhaps he had to be erased before his shadow touched the whole city.
That night, Evan perched high on a smokestack, soot streaking his arms, the city sprawled like prey below him.
His panel glowed one last time.
Status — Evan Sharp Level: 9 Speed: 523 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], [Domain Strider I] Domains: Hook Street (Strong), Docks (Minor), Old Foundry (Minor) Overflow: 11%
Three domains. Nearly 530 Speed. Silver watching. Enemies plotting.
He exhaled into the soot and grinned at the horizon.
"Catch me."
And the city blurred.