Lowwater had seen storms before.
They came down the river with black clouds and thunder that cracked rooftops. But nothing it had ever known looked like the boy standing in the Tower Plaza, eyes sparking violet, arcs crawling down his arms like living veins.
Evan Sharp had broken Tier.
And the city whispered it in a hundred tongues. Ghost. Domain Strider. Silver. Lightning Crown.
The first test came sooner than he expected.
The Cinder Guild weren't subtle. They never had been. Pike's coin had bought their fire, and fire wanted to be spent.
The plaza air warped, heat waves rising from cracks between cobbles. Workers stumbled back as thin red lines spread across the ground like veins, glowing hotter with each breath. Someone screamed—too late.
The first eruption came like a furnace door kicked open.
Flame surged out of the cracks, climbing into a wall of molten fire that split the plaza. Cinder arsonists stepped from alleys, their faces wrapped, their gloves dripping orange slurry. Behind them stood Pike, eyes wild, smile broken.
"There!" he screamed, pointing at Evan. "Burn the ghost! Burn him dead!"
The system pulsed.
Hazard: Cinder Guild ambush.Threat Level: High.Objective: Survive eruption and neutralize guild operatives.Reward: +50 Speed, Thunderstep synergy.
Evan cracked his knuckles. Violet arcs spat from his fists, snapping across stone. His eyes lit with stormlight.
"You brought fire," he said softly. "I brought lightning."
The first arsonist hurled a vial. It burst midair, spraying liquid fire that clung like tar.
Quickstep blurred Evan aside, violet trails hissing where he moved. The flames struck a wall, stone blackening.
Another flung slurry onto the cobbles. Heat surged upward, ready to burst. Evan planted a foot and whispered:
"Thunderstep."
He vanished.
The next heartbeat detonated.
Violet lightning exploded where he had stood, ripping the cobbles apart in a concussive wave. The slurry ignited too early, bursting in a flash that flung the arsonist into a wall. Sparks crawled across his clothes; he screamed as violet arcs chewed through him like a second fire.
The plaza fell silent. Everyone had seen it. One step, one explosion.
The Cinders roared. Three more flung slurry in unison.
Evan grinned, teeth flashing in violet light. He chained Quickstep → Burst Step → Thunderstep. Each landing detonated, violet shockwaves flinging flames aside, tearing firewalls into sparks. Arsonists shrieked as their own infernos turned traitor, licking them instead of the boy.
[DING] Thunderstep synergy unlocked.Effect: Thunderstep's shockwave converts nearby fire into kinetic discharge. Fire attacks lose 30% power in blast radius.
Evan moved faster, each strike a storm note. Violet arcs lashed cobbles, rooftops, walls. Flames hissed and died under the pressure of lightning.
The crowd watching from alleys shrieked with awe. "Silver! Lightning Crown! Ghost!"
But Pike didn't flinch. His smile split wider, teeth sharp with hate.
"You think you can outrun fire, boy?" he shouted. "I'll show you what burns faster than lightning!"
He hurled a vial bigger than the rest. The Cinders screamed and scrambled back. The liquid inside glowed bright white, molten like the heart of a forge.
Evan's Speed Sense screamed arcs—every one ending in ruin. The vial's path was perfect. The explosion would erase the plaza.
He didn't dodge.
He planted.
"Vector Break."
The vial's motion snapped. For three seconds, it forgot down, forgot speed, forgot to be a weapon. It hung in the air like a raindrop trapped in amber.
Evan Burst Stepped, snatched it midair, and hurled it into the Foundry's Domain thread tugging faint in his chest. The air itself bent. The vial flew higher, higher, until it cleared the rooftops and detonated above the river.
The explosion turned night to noon. A wave of fire rolled across the water, steam rising in a wall. The crowd gasped.
Evan's eyes sparked brighter. "Not here."
The arsonists panicked. Some tried to flee. Others screamed and hurled vials blindly.
Evan blurred through them. Velocity Veil+ bloomed—ten ghosts hammering, one carrying Vector Veil's clean strike each second. Every afterimage exploded with violet arcs, each strike a thunderclap. Men dropped, their fires sputtering, their vials shattering harmlessly.
The plaza filled with thunder.
Pike stumbled back, eyes wide now, hate laced with fear.
"You're not—" he choked. "You're not human."
Evan walked toward him, violet arcs crawling across his shoulders. Sparks hissed in his irises.
"You were right once," he said, voice low. "I'm not what I was."
Pike turned and ran.
Evan let him. Lightning leapt from his heels into the cobbles, chasing him in a trail of smoking black.
"This city isn't yours anymore," Evan called after him. "It runs with me."
The system pulsed.
Quest complete: Cinder Ambush neutralized.+50 Speed.Speed: 820 → 870.Thunderstep synergy evolved.Thunderstep (D → D+): Shockwave radius +25%, fire conversion +50%.
The arcs settled faintly around him, but the violet glow in his eyes didn't fade. The crowd pressed in, shouting, crying, cheering. Some called him Ghost, others Domain Strider, others the new name—Lightning Crown.
He didn't correct them.
Far away, Aelira stood on a rooftop, braid coiled, eyes sharp. She had watched the explosion from afar.
"Violet," she murmured. "Not blue. He's not walking our path. He's carving his own."
Her lips curved faintly. "Good. A race is only worth running if the other runner is fast."
Status — Evan SharpLevel: 10Speed: 870Tier: 2 — Silver (Lightning Stepper)Passive: Lightning CurrentTechniques: Thunderstep (D+), Vector Break (D), Vector Veil (E), Velocity Veil+ (E), Speed Sense (E)Titles: [Uncatchable II], [Domain Strider II]Domains: Hook Street (Strong), Docks (Minor), Foundry (Moderate), Towers (Minor)Overflow: 14%
Evan stood in the wreckage of fire and thunder, violet lightning crackling across his arms, sparks flashing in his eyes.
Silver wasn't just a name. It was power, and it was his.
He looked to the horizon, where the city's unclaimed streets sprawled like a dare.
"Faster."