High above the shimmering skyline of Velrion, four black-robed figures stood like carrion birds atop a towering skyscraper. Their silhouettes were jagged against the bruised purple of the twilight sky.
"As I predicted, the first phase was merely a flick of the wrist," the lead figure murmured, a dark smirk tugging at his hidden lips. "The shadow-user is efficient, but he cannot be everywhere at once."
"Then we proceed to the next phase," another replied.
In a sudden glitter of dying shadows, the four figures vanished, splitting into separate directions like a curse cast upon the wind.
Below, in a lonely, damp alleyway far from the bustling main thoroughfares, three students were strolling back toward the Academy. They moved with the casual, slightly nervous energy of those who had broken curfew to find a taste of the city's forbidden flavors.
"Hey, ZhangLi, you're quite the bad boy for sneaking us out, aren't you?"
The speaker was Suheok, a boy of massive, chubby build who was currently wiping grease from his chin. He nudged the student walking in the center with a teasing grin.
ZhangLi kept his eyes closed, his expression one of bored superiority. "Is that my thank you for helping you bypass the gate sensors? You know you have a problem, Suheok. If you love Chur'r that much, you should just move into the street stalls."
"C'mon, Brother Zhang," Chan-Fa interrupted, running a hand through his blonde hair. "Suheok is just joking. But he's right we have to be careful. If the headmaster finds out we were out here eating Zha Jiang Mian, we're dead."
"And who are you to talk, Chan-Fa?" Suheok countered with a smug look. "You're in the same boat. You'd sell your soul for a bowl of those specialty black-bean noodles."
"Yeah, yeah, chubby guy. You caught me, but we are not in the same boat."
"Yes, you are!"
"No, I am not."
"Yes, you are!"
"Will you both just shut up!" ZhangLi snapped, his eyes flashing open.
The bickering faded into the background, unnoticed by the black-robed figure watching them from the rafters of a nearby warehouse. The cultist's third eye which was a vertical slit of crimson mana, opened on his forehead, scanning the three boys for their vessel potential.
'Is it the fat one? No... his mana circuits are clogged with excess. The blonde? Too weak likely a Tier-5 fluke. What about the third one?'
The eye locked onto ZhangLi. He had a sharp, faded haircut, silver earrings that caught the dim light, and a posture that screamed of suppressed resentment.
'Yes... a Tier-6 host. High conductivity. Even better... his heart is already rotting with envy.
The figure leapt down with the silent grace of a spider.
Below, the banter continued. "You know," Suheok mused, trying to sound confident. "I've gotten tired of the girls at the Academy. Maybe I'll find a real catch out here in the city."
PFFT.
Chan-Fa erupted into a scoffing laugh.
"What's so funny, Chan-Fa?" Suheok asked, his face reddening.
"Hahaha! Do you really want to know why the ladies aren't chasing you, Suheok?" Chan-Fa pulled a small, enchanted mirror from his pocket and thrust it in front of the larger boy's face. "Look at that piggy-face. If mirrors could scream, yours would be deafening."
Suheok's expression turned cold. He lunged forward, grabbing Chan-Fa by the collar. "What do you really think of me, Chan-Fa? Just because you have the kind of face girls crawl toward, you think you're better than me? Huh?!
"Hahaha! Just reduce your diet, bro. That's a fact," Chan-Fa replied, his mocking smile never wavering.
"Let him go, Suheok," ZhangLi said, his voice dropping an octave. "Don't let the idiot mess with you. Looks aren't everything. Strength is the only currency that matters in the Vanguard."
Suheok's grip faltered. He let go of the collar, his anger replaced by a sudden, desperate hope. "Yeah... you're right. I just need to get stronger. Then they'll swarm me."
"Hey, ZhangLi," Chan-Fa asked, straightening his shirt. "Speaking of strength... has anyone ever actually motivated you to seek it? I mean, someone who made you feel like you had to get more powerful?"
ZhangLi's stride faltered. His memory flashed back to the Academy courtyard. To a guy with amber eyes and messy black hair who had dismantled his pride with a single, effortless skill. He remembered the feeling of the dirt against his face and the crushing weight of his own Tier-6 badge feeling like a lie.
'Oliver Veyron. I don't know how you did it, but I will have my revenge. Even if you're an Elite now, I'll find a way to drag you down.'
"Yeah," ZhangLi replied darkly, resuming his walk with closed eyes. "Someone motivated me."
He waited for a reply, a joke, or even another insult from Suheok. But there was only silence. No footsteps. No breathing.
He opened his eyes and spun around. The alleyway was empty.
"Chan-Fa?"
"Suheok?"
He called out to the stagnant air, his heart beginning to drum against his ribs. Suddenly, he sensed a presence behind him. He shrieked, leaping back and assuming a defensive stance.
A black-robed figure stood in the center of the alley, the hood casting a deep shadow over the face.
"Who... who the hell are you?!" ZhangLi demanded.
"Do not be frightened, child," the figure said, the voice sounding like grinding stones.
"Where are my friends, you bitch?! What did you do to them?!"
"They are safe, little one. I have simply placed them in a shallow sleep so they do not hear the secret I am about to offer you."
ZhangLi's eyes narrowed, his fear warring with a sudden, sharp curiosity. "What secret?"
"Tell me," the figure whispered, stepping closer. "What is your darkest desire?"
ZhangLi froze. His mind raced, his memory returning once more to the image of Oliver Veyron standing over him. The humiliation. The weakness. The feeling of being looked down upon my an inferior Teir.
"Do you know what I want?" ZhangLi's voice trembled with malice. "I want revenge. I want power... more power than anyone in that damn Academy!"
'So easy', the black robed figure thought.
"I will not force you," the figure said, reaching into the folds of his robe to produce a pulsating, dark-red core. It throbbed with a sickly, rhythmic light. "But if it is power you seek... swallow this. You will become something greater than you ever imagined."
The figure handed the core to ZhangLi and immediately began to melt back into the mist, vanishing before the boy could even ask their name.
ZhangLi didn't care. He didn't even remember about Chan-Fa or Suheok anymore. He stared at the core with a greedy, frantic hunger and swallowed it whole.
For a heartbeat, there was nothing.
Then, the world exploded into pain.
"AGHHHHH!"
ZhangLi collapsed to the cobblestones, clutching his chest. It felt as if he had swallowed molten lead. His throat burned, his lungs felt like they were melting, and he rolled across the dirt, clawing at the ground.
Then, the transformation began.
Black, jagged claws sprouted from his fingertips. His teeth elongated, his incisors turning into razor-sharp fangs. He thrashed in the shadows, his bones cracking and reforming with a sickening pop-crunch sound.
Visions flashed behind his eyes.
'More power... revenge...kill...kill...kill Oliver...bleed them all!'
He let out a deep, guttural roar that shattered the windows of the surrounding warehouses.
When the roar faded, the thing that stood in the alley was no longer ZhangLi. A single obsidian horn had erupted from his forehead. His eyes were now red serpentine irises set against a pitch-black sclera. He stood tall, his body rippling with an absurd, cursed energy.
He looked at his claws and smiled a jagged, demonic smile. "So this... this is true power!"
The stones beneath his feet cracked from the sheer pressure of his aura.
"Ohh... I've been smelling that rot from three blocks away."
A cold, bored voice cut through the air. ZhangLi spun around to see a tall figure stepping out of the fog. The stranger wore a sleeveless black vest, revealing spiraling black tattoos that seemed to pulse in response to the demonic energy in the air.
Kageno`Nenji sighed, settling into a low, lethal attacking stance.
"I can't believe I have to handle this mess all over again," Kageno muttered, his eyes locking onto the monster. "Hey, kid. You should have stuck to the grilled meat. This is going to hurt."