The air changed first.
After what felt like days underground, the metallic tang of Haven-17's surface hit like a shock. It smelled of smoke and static—like the world had been half-erased.
Lucas pulled himself out of the broken tunnel and froze. The city he remembered—a bright sprawl of glass and light—was in ruins. Whole blocks were gone. The towers that remained leaned like cracked teeth, their faces flickering with broken holograms.
Evelyn climbed up beside him, brushing dust from her silver hair. The pale strands caught the artificial sunlight, glinting like threads of wire.
"So this is what happens when the System resets," she said quietly.
Lucas stared at the devastation. "Looks more like it gave up trying to fix things."
[System Announcement – Global Trial Phase 2: The Fractured Tier]
[Objective: Survive and Ascend. Territory Control Enabled.]
[Warning: Unregistered Anomalies Detected.]
The voice rolled across the empty streets. Then Lucas's vision flickered—the dull gray of his interface booting to life again, text reforming line by line.
[Reconnecting to System Core…]
[Progress Reconstruction Initiated…]
[Retroactive Experience Applied.]
[New Level: 14]
"Fourteen?" he muttered. "That can't be right…"
[Status Menu – Updated Post Trial]
Name: Lucas Hayes
Class: Systemless (Divine Variant)
Rarity: Divine
Level: 14
Unspent Stat Points: 9
Stats:
Strength: 7
Agility: 13
Endurance: 9
Vitality: 10
Intelligence: 6
Perception: 9
Luck: 1
Skill Menu
[Skill Interface — Active Overview]
Adaptive Protocol: lvl.4
Type: Passive
Description: Records combat data and adjusts reaction patterns in real time. Stores behavioral profiles of defeated enemies.
Resonance Shift: lvl.2
Type: Active
Description: Temporarily synchronizes user with the System layer. Increases perception and mobility but causes severe feedback and stamina loss.
[Equipped Relics]
Skystep Soles (Bound Relic): Allows mid-air movement by discharging stored kinetic energy; limited to one use before recharge.
Target Analysis HUD (Bound Relic): Holographic overlay that scans visible targets, identifying weak points and elemental vulnerabilities; improves ranged accuracy relative to Perception.
[Weapons]
Dual Uzis (Divine – Growth Type):
Base Damage: Adaptive (scales with Resonance Output and Agility)
Evolution Stage: II – "Refined Frame"
Growth Trait: Evolves through continuous
combat exposure and neural synchronization.
Lucas exhaled. "Okay… I definitely didn't earn all of that the normal way."
Evelyn leaned closer, studying the holographic panels. "You didn't. The System reconstructed your data after re-establishing contact. Divine Variants evolve through resonance, not by counting kills. Everything we endured down there—the distortion field, the collapse, stabilizing the node—registered as divine-scale survival events."
He frowned. "Then how come you're still ahead of me?"
"Because divine growth isn't linear," she said. "My resonance stabilized sooner, so my sync ratio stayed higher."
Lucas smirked. "So you're saying you're better?"
Evelyn met his eyes, cool and steady. "No. Just ahead—for now."
He let out a quiet laugh. "Guess I'm still the System's favorite mistake."
They moved through the shattered square. Projection panels blinked on one by one, displaying a fractured leaderboard.
[The Fractured Tier – Global Rankings (Top 10)]
Rank Name City Lvl
1 ??? Haven-01 ???
2 Evelyn Rowe Haven-17 17
3 Lucius Varran Haven-17 15
4 Lucas Hayes Haven-17 14
5 Noah Turner Haven-17 13
6 Kira Reign Haven-09 12
7 Mara Kale Haven-17 12
8 Soren Vale Haven-10 11
9 Iris Aven Haven-11 11
10 Unknown Data Encrypted
Lucas blinked. "Noah's alive."
Evelyn tilted her head. "A friend?"
"My only one." His voice dropped. "Looks like he didn't need my help after all."
"Or he's still alive because you're not competing for the same space," she replied.
"Comforting."
A vibration rolled through the street—footsteps, metallic and synchronized. Drones peeled away as armored soldiers approached. Their leader's implants glowed faintly blue.
Lucius Varran – Rank 3.
"Systemless anomalies," Lucius said smoothly. "You've complicated the equilibrium. I've been authorized to fix that."
Lucas raised his Uzis. "Yeah, I'm sure you have."
Evelyn's aura flared silver. "We're not your enemies."
Lucius smiled thinly. "No. You're the error. And I am correction."
He moved first—light splitting into motion. Lucas fired, bullets streaking gold. Evelyn shifted gravity, warping the ground. Sparks and data shards filled the plaza as the three collided, soundless for a heartbeat and then deafening.
When the light faded, Lucius was gone—dissolved into static.
[Warning: Signal Lost – Target Lucius Varran]
Evelyn steadied her breathing. "He'll come back."
"Good," Lucas muttered, reloading. "I'm not done shooting him yet."
Above them, their names on the leaderboard turned red.
[Status: Observed Anomalies. Continuous Monitoring Engaged.]
Lucas sighed. "So now everyone's watching us."
Evelyn gave him a sidelong glance. "Then we give them something worth watching."
The sky flickered gold as the System's voice thundered through the city.
[Phase Two Initiating – The Fractured Tier]
[Next Trial: Dominion Wars – Begin]
Lucas holstered one Uzi, spinning the other idly. "Dominion Wars, huh?"
Evelyn's silver eyes narrowed. "Control. Territory. Evolution through conquest."
He grinned faintly. "Guess it's time to see how a Systemless breaks a war."
Light flared—gold for him, silver for her—as the next Trial began.