Blackwater District was a city that didn't sleep — not because it was full of life, but because it was full of predators.
Every neon-lit alley, every half-broken streetlight, every cracked window told the same truth: power decided everything here.
That power belonged to Cardmasters.
Two centuries ago, the Card Convergence tore the sky apart. The clouds split in impossible patterns, glowing fissures streaking the heavens like veins of molten gold. From them fell Arcana Fragments — shimmering shards of something unknown, humming with otherworldly energy.
Those fragments weren't just pretty stones. They were alive.
Some lodged themselves in the earth, vanishing without a trace. Others disintegrated midair, becoming motes of light. But a few — a rare, terrifying few — sank into the hearts of chosen humans.
Those people became the first Cardmasters.
By binding to their Deck Core, an invisible construct within the soul, they could manifest Arcana Cards. Each card was a crystallized ability — a weapon, a creature, a spell, or even a battlefield-changing domain.
The strongest Cardmasters could chain abilities, fusing the effects of multiple cards into devastating combos.
The rest of the world learned fast: in a fight between an ordinary man and a Cardmaster, it didn't matter how strong the man was. Without cards, he was nothing.
Society reshaped itself around this new reality.
In cities like Blackwater, Cardmaster Guilds controlled everything from trade to law enforcement. The rich flaunted rare cards like heirlooms. The poor lived in Null Zones, where the unawakened tried to survive between gang skirmishes.
Kai Miller belonged to the lowest rung of them all.
Sixteen years old when he stepped up to the Awakening Pillar, he'd felt the eyes of the crowd on him. He remembered the heavy stillness in the air, the shimmering crystal pulsing as it touched the chosen.
For the others, light had erupted in bursts of color. Deck Cores unlocked. Cards manifested from thin air, their glow illuminating the smiles of the newly awakened.
For Kai? Nothing.
The light ignored him. The Pillar dimmed. The official recording his result didn't bother to hide his boredom as he wrote one word: Unawakened.
That was the polite term.
In the streets, they called him something else.
Null.
Nulls didn't dream of guild membership or rare cards. Nulls worked in the shadows, carrying messages, running errands, scraping together enough to eat while avoiding the notice of gangs. A Null was just a body without a card — prey for those who had them.
Kai survived by being cool-headed and sharp-eyed. Not stronger. Not faster. Just… harder to catch.
The rain in Blackwater was always dirty. It ran down rooftops, mixing with soot and oil, turning the streets into a patchwork of rainbow-colored puddles under neon lights.
Kai walked with his hood up, one hand in his pocket, the other adjusting the strap of his worn messenger bag. He'd just finished a delivery for an old mechanic in the Null Zone — a man who paid on time but kept his eyes on the door, as if afraid his business might be swallowed by the gangs any day now.
>> Three footsteps behind me. Two lighter, one heavier.
Kai didn't look back. His reflection in a puddle showed only vague movement in the distance. The trick was not to spook them too early.
He turned down a side alley — narrow, walls slick with rain, a single flickering sign overhead casting a pale red glow. The hum of the sign was just loud enough to cover small sounds, perfect for hiding movement.
"Hey, Null!" a voice called.
Three men stepped into the alley after him. Their clothes were mismatched — cheap armor plates scavenged from scrapyards, boots worn down to the steel tips.
The leader was the heavy-footed one: broad shoulders, a cruel smile, and in his right hand… a glowing dagger-shaped card.
Weapon Card – Bronze Grade.
It pulsed faintly, each beat matching the man's heartbeat.
"Drop your bag," the thug said, his tone dripping mock sympathy. "Maybe we'll let you walk away."
Kai stopped, half-turned, eyes scanning.
>>Weapon reach: short.
Attack angle: likely overhead or slash.
Right shoulder dips before striking — slow recovery.
Two followers unarmed but probably holding backup cards.
"You lead with your right foot," Kai said, voice calm. "Your shoulder drops before you swing. I could read you in my sleep."
For a second, the man hesitated — surprise flickering in his eyes.
Kai moved.
He stepped in before the dagger swung, slamming his forearm into the thug's wrist. The impact forced the weapon's trajectory wide, scraping sparks off the alley wall. A pivot, a hook to the ribs, a knee to the thigh — all in one fluid motion.
The dagger clattered to the wet ground, its glow dimming as it left the Cardmaster's grip.
The second man lunged from Kai's left.
Kai ducked low, sweeping the thug's legs out from under him. His head hit the pavement with a dull thud.
The third man — thin, jittery — reached for a card in his belt pouch. Kai grabbed his wrist, twisting sharply until the man yelped and dropped the card before it could activate.
The leader roared, recovering his balance. He charged, throwing a heavy punch. Kai sidestepped, catching the man's momentum and sending him crashing into the wall. The blow left a spiderweb of cracks in the soaked bricks.
Rain pattered over the groaning thugs. The neon sign buzzed overhead.
Kai crouched, picking up the glowing dagger card. It was warm in his hand, pulsing faintly — alive in a way no metal weapon could be. For a Null to hold a card like this was… wrong. Dangerous.
The glow flickered once, twice… then went out completely.
Kai frowned, slipping it into his pocket before turning away.
Something about the way it had pulsed bothered him — not fear, exactly, but an uneasy sense that something had just changed.
In the back of his mind, an unshakable thought whispered:
A card had just been dealt to him.
But not one anyone else could see.