Chapter 19: introduction
The Aura radiating from the young man was blinding. To Fighter's specialized eyes, Kaizer didn't just have an energy field; he was a vertical pillar of violent, crackling white-gold lightning that seemed to pierce the ceiling. It was constant, high-frequency, and physically painful to look at for too long.
Fighter squinted, shielding his eyes. He wasn't shocked to see the "Main Character" at the UCA—the lore of Lightning Boy's Adventure dictated he would be here this year. What sent a chill down Fighter's spine was the timing.
Is this a coincidence? Fighter wondered. I knew he'd enroll, but to be in the same intake? In the same exam room? If this is fate, it's moving too fast. But fate or not, this is my chance. I need to be his first ally before the "Blood Children" or the Academy's factions get their claws into him.
Steeling his nerves, Fighter ignored the prickling sensation of static electricity in the air and walked forward. He extended a hand—still pale from his recent scrub-down but steady.
Fighter: "The name's Fighter. What's yours?"
The blonde youth looked up. His eyes weren't just golden; they were luminous, like two dying stars. After a moment of hesitation, he reached out. His grip was like iron, humming with a vibration that made Fighter's teeth ache.
Kaizer: "My name... is Kaizer."
Kaizer's POV: The Weight of the Spark
When I first Bore my Story, I thought it was a miracle. I thought it was the weapon I needed to protect my family, to find my sister, and to prove that a human life—even an insignificant one from the slums—had value.
I was a fool.
In the slums, and even in the prestigious high schools, the "Blood Children" ruled like minor gods. They treated our lives like discarded scripts, killing indiscriminately and taking whatever they desired because their family names acted as a shield. They bullied me for being an orphan, for being poor, for being nothing. I could endure that. But they didn't stop at me. They targeted the only family I had left: my sister, Heena.
She was talented. When she Bore her Story, the UCA didn't ask—they claimed her. They took her away, and the silence that followed was deafening. No letters. No news. Just an empty house and the mockery of the Blood families.
I worked until my hands bled to bridge the gap between a regular human and a Story Bearer, thinking I could earn my way to her. I was wrong. The gap wasn't a distance; it was a canyon.
Then, at my moment of absolute hopelessness, the lightning struck my soul. I became a Story Bearer.
I told myself this power would change my destiny. I told myself I would infiltrate the UCA, tear down their corrupt order, and find my sister. But as I sat in this dark room, the weight of the task felt like lead. Why was the world like this? Why must they kill without reason? Why must the strong devour the weak?
My resolve was a cold, hard knot in my chest: I will break this system. I will rewrite the rules of this world.
Suddenly, a voice snapped me out of the darkness of my own mind.
???: "The name's Fighter. What's yours?"
I looked up. Standing before me was a boy who looked like he had been chewed up and spat out by the world. He was thin, his eyes were strange, and he smelled faintly of industrial chemicals and old blood. But unlike the others, he didn't look at me with pity or arrogance.
I took his hand. It felt solid. Real.
Kaizer: "My name is Kaizer."