Kierran was born from violence — the product of rape, conceived in cruelty, never wanted. His mother carried him not out of love, but survival, enduring the pregnancy in silence, trapped between a body not her own and a future she couldn't face. She didn't name him. Didn't hold him. The moment he was born, she seized the doctor's injector, plunged it into her heart, and let the light go out — choosing death over motherhood. He lived. She didn't. Raised in cold wards and forgotten systems, he grew up knowing one truth: the world didn't want him before he even breathed. And now, that same world expects him to protect someone — when no one ever protected him.
After the vision fades —
Kierran stands under the waterfall, trembling.
But not from fear.
From fire.
A warmth rises in his chest —
not Aether.
Not power.
*Recognition.*
**[New Attribute Unlocked: Courage of the Weak]**
🔸 Gain strength when facing overwhelming odds
🔸 Resilience grows with pain — not despite it
🔸 Fear doesn't vanish… but it no longer leads unless you let it .
He opens his eyes.
Wipes the water from his face.
"Huh?"
"I wasn't made to be strong.
But I'm still here I guess."
And for the first time —
he doesn't feel broken.
He feels *built* for this.
Kierran stands beneath the waterfall like a blade beneath a forge's hammer — relentless, shaping. The force of the cascade drives into his shoulders, numbing his skin, burning his muscles, testing every inch of his resolve. He doesn't move. Doesn't yield. Lets the cold and pressure sink deep, teaching his body to endure what the mind wants to escape. Each breath is a fight. Each second, a choice — to stay, to stand, to become more than what he was. This isn't just cleansing. It's conditioning. A ritual of will. And with every passing minute, his bones feel heavier, his stance firmer, as if the water isn't breaking him — but *building* him. The pain doesn't fade. He just stops running from it.
Kierran raises his hand — focuses —
and summons fire.
A flame flickers to life above his palm —
orange, unsteady.
The waterfall hits it —
*snuff*.
Gone.
He tries again.
Harder.
The fire roars up —
but the water crushes it,
again.
And again.
He grits his teeth — pours more will into it —
but the flame won't hold.
Won't *burn through*.
He stares at his hand.
"This isn't enough."
The water wins.
For now.
" I wonder ...haven't seen my grandparents in a while , I hope the system didn't gobble them up ." Kierran tries to joke and make himself forget about the struggles he faces.
(Meanwhile, back at the forest ...)
Rain hammered against the roof in uneven waves, the sound blending with the low growl of distant thunder. Inside the small house, Sunny lay sprawled across an old couch, one arm hanging over the edge while the dim orange glow of a lamp painted the room in warmth.
The storm had swallowed the entire city hours ago. Streets flooded. Power flickering. Wind clawing at the windows like restless hands.
But inside, for once, there was peace.
Sunny exhaled slowly, eyes half-lidded as he listened to the rain. A cup of untouched tea sat on the table beside him, steam curling lazily into the air.
Then—
Knock.
A single sound.
Sharp. Heavy.
Sunny's eyes opened immediately.
Another knock followed, slower this time.
Knock… Knock…
He frowned and sat up. Nobody visited this late, especially during a storm like this.
The room suddenly felt colder.
Sunny rose from the couch and walked toward the window beside the door. His footsteps slowed as he reached the curtain. Something about the knocking felt… wrong. Too deliberate. Too calm.
The rain outside blurred the glass, but he could still make out a figure standing at the gate.
A man.
Tall. Motionless.
A black raincoat draped over his body, dark water streaming from its edges. Heavy black boots stood ankle-deep in the flooded ground. His face remained hidden beneath the shadow of a lowered hood.
The man didn't move. Didn't knock again.
He simply stood there. Waiting.
Sunny narrowed his eyes.
"Who the hell is that?"
A pulse of unease crawled beneath his skin. Not fear exactly… instinct. The same instinct that warned Resonance users when danger was near.
For a brief moment, the air inside the house trembled.
Barely noticeable.
But Sunny felt it.
Aether.
His expression hardened instantly.
The man outside wasn't ordinary.
Lightning split across the sky, illuminating the figure for half a second—
And Sunny noticed something that made his stomach tighten.
The man's boots were dry.
Completely dry.
Even in the middle of the storm.
The air fractured the moment Sunny released his Aether.
Black-gold currents spiraled around his body like burning smoke, distorting the ruins beneath his feet. Across from him, the Watcher remained motionless beneath a silver cloak, though the space around them trembled violently — as if reality itself feared their presence.
"So you're the one they call Sunny," the Watcher said softly.
Then the world exploded.
Sunny lunged first, his fist wrapped in Void Resonance. The impact shattered the ground before it even connected, sending a shockwave screaming through the canyon. But the Watcher raised a single hand — and the Aether split apart like torn fabric.
Sunny backs up a bit and then lunged forward, Aether surging violently around his arm like a storm desperate to break free. The air trembled as blue-white fractures of energy spiraled around his clenched fist, growing brighter with every step he took.
He threw the punch with everything he had.
The impact never came.
The Watcher raised a single hand and caught Sunny's fist mid-strike.
For a brief second, silence swallowed the battlefield.
Then the impossible happened.
Cracks spread across the concentrated Aether surrounding Sunny's arm.
Not normal cracks.
Fractures.
Like glass.
The Watcher's palm tightened slightly, and the Aether shattered into dozens of glowing fragments that scattered through the rain like broken stars.
Sunny's eyes widened.
"No way…"
A pulse of force exploded outward, throwing him backward across the the house smashing against the wall , landing in a pool of mud . He barely managed to regain balance, boots carving through mud as steam rose from his damaged arm.
The mysterious man remained motionless.
Rain slid down the dark hood covering his face while pieces of destroyed Aether dissolved around him.
"You rely too much on force," the Watcher said calmly. "Aether is not something you wield through anger alone."
Sunny clenched his trembling hand. Pain shot through his fingers.
That attack should've crushed stone walls.
Yet this man had broken it apart with one palm.
Not blocked.
Not deflected.
Split apart completely.
For the first time since the battle began, Sunny felt something cold crawl up his spine.
Fear.
The Watcher stood motionless in the rain.
Sunny circled him carefully, silver Aether crackling around his fists while puddles rippled beneath every step. The alley had become a battlefield of broken concrete and shattered walls.
Neither of them spoke.
Then Sunny moved first.
BOOM—
The ground burst beneath his feet as he shot forward, Aether surging through his arm. His punch tore through the rain like lightning aimed straight at the Watcher's face.
But the man simply raised one hand.
And caught it.
The impact split the alley apart.
A shockwave blasted outward, windows shattering nearby.
Sunny smirked for half a second.
Until he realized something was wrong.
The Watcher's fingers tightened around his fist.
Not physically—
spiritually.
Sunny's eyes widened as the silver Aether around his arm began to distort violently.
Crack.
Tiny fractures spread through the energy coating his fist.
Crack. Crack.
"No…"
The Watcher tilted his head slightly beneath the hood.
"You shape Aether like a weapon," he said calmly. "But you do not understand it."
Then he clenched his hand.
SHATTER.
Sunny screamed as his Aether burst apart into floating silver fragments, scattering through the rain like broken glass. Pain ripped through his entire body as if his nerves themselves had been torn open.
The Watcher released him.
Sunny stumbled backward violently, clutching his arm while unstable Aether sparks exploded around him.
His breathing became uneven.
Fear crept into his chest.
Not because he was injured—
but because the man had destroyed his technique effortlessly.
The Watcher began walking toward him again.
Slow. Steady.
Unstoppable.
Sunny tried forcing more Aether out, but the energy trembled uncontrollably around his body.
The Watcher raised his hand.
Space around his palm warped.
That instinctive feeling hit Sunny immediately.
If that attack lands… I die.
Sunny's pupils shrank.
Then the shadows beneath him erupted.
Grey Mist exploded across the alleyway in a massive wave, swallowing the rain and flooding the street with smoke-like darkness.
The Watcher's attack fired—
BOOOOM.
The alley disappeared behind twisting destruction.
But Sunny's body had already dissolved into streaming grey vapor, escaping through the storm before the blast could reach him.
For the first time—
the Watcher stopped walking.
The rain hissed softly against the swirling mist.
Then beneath the hood…
a faint smile appeared.
The grey mist surged through the city like a living storm.
Sunny barely held himself together.
Every time the mist touched a shadow, he forced himself farther away—through narrow alleys, over rooftops, between flickering lights and sheets of rain.
Pain kept tearing through him.
His Aether channels felt broken.
Unstable.
Behind him, the remains of the alley still echoed from the Watcher's attack.
Keep moving.
The mist finally gathered atop an abandoned apartment building overlooking the city.
Sunny reformed violently.
His body slammed onto the wet rooftop.
"AGH—!"
He rolled across the concrete before stopping near the edge, breathing heavily as rain soaked through his clothes.
For several seconds, he couldn't move.
The Grey Mist swirled weakly around him now, thinner than before.
Something was wrong.
Sunny looked down at his trembling hand.
Tiny cracks of silver Aether flickered beneath his skin.
"No… no no no…"
The Watcher hadn't just destroyed the attack.
He had damaged the foundation of Sunny's Aether itself.
A cold feeling settled into Sunny's stomach.
Then—
the mist around him moved strangely.
Sunny froze.
The fog near the rooftop entrance slowly twisted inward, spiraling as if something invisible stood inside it.
His instincts screamed immediately.
Someone was there.
Sunny forced himself upright despite the pain.
"Show yourself."
Silence.
Rain hammered the rooftop.
Then two pale lights appeared within the mist.
Eyes.
Not human.
Too high off the ground.
Sunny stepped back instinctively.
The creature inside the fog began taking shape—long limbs, a distorted silhouette, its body forming from the very Grey Mist Sunny controlled.
His breathing stopped.
"That's… impossible…"
Then the thing spoke.
In Sunny's own voice.
"You left something behind..