The morning sun warmed the courtyard of the Ironcloud Sect, but Ryu Seorin felt none of its comfort. His body stung with fresh bruises, and there was dried dirt clinging to his face as he stood at the edge of the training field, a wooden sword trembling in his grasp.
A ring of disciples circled him, smirking.
"Hey, now, Seorin," jeered one, "show us this fantastic talent of yours.
"Talent?" another laughed. "What talent? He can't even sense qi properly!"
Seorin didn't argue-because it was true.
No matter how long he meditated and no matter how carefully he followed the instructions of the elders, his meridians remained quiet.
Empty.
Silent.
"Just let it go," Seorin muttered to himself. "Don't react. Don't escalate."
But the largest of the disciples, Hongji, didn't intend to let him walk away.
Hongji gave him a shove in the chest. "Look at me, trash."
Seorin stumbled backward but kept his voice even. "Hongji, I'm not in the mood. I said I'd—"
The wooden sword slammed into his ribs before he could finish.
Pain burst through his side. He dropped to one knee, gasping.
The disciples laughed louder.
"Look at that! He folds from a single hit!"
"He should leave the sect. He's hopeless."
Seorin pressed his hand to the ground in an attempt to get up but Hongji's shadow loomed over him.
"You know why you're getting this, right?" Hongji said slowly. "Because the Elder stuck you in our class out of pity. We don't need deadweight like you dragging us down."
Seorin clenched his teeth.
He was determined to fight back.
Not physically-he wasn't stupid enough for that-but with words.
But experience had taught him one truth:
The words only made things worse.
So he kept quiet.
That only made them angrier.
Hongji's foot slammed into his stomach. Seorin curled forward as air rushed from his lungs.
The others joined in, kicking and mocking in a blur of pain and dust.
He felt ribs shift, maybe crack.
His vision dimmed.
Just bear it. As always.
But today, something was different.
His body wasn't numb and tired after a few hits today.
It felt…
hot.
A hovering warmth along his spine.
Muffled vibration, faint yet rhythmical, as a pulse stirred into life after slumbering for years.
Hongji lifted his foot again.
"Let's see if one more kick puts him out—"
He didn't finish.
Because the vibration in Seorin's spine suddenly surged.
His vision went white.
His thoughts froze.
And a cold, emotionless voice echoed inside his skull:
"Critical injury detected. Host life-signs destabilizing."
Seorin's eyes widened.
What. what was that?
They froze, looking around nervously.
"Did anyone hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Something just-what is that light?!"
A thin line of blue luminescence crawled beneath Seorin's skin, tracing the length of his spine like a sleeping beast waking from centuries of slumber.
The voice spoke again:
"Spinal Nexus Core reboot initiated."
Seorin tried to move, but his limbs were heavy. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
The… Nexus? What is that?
The blue light pulsed.
"Host synchronization resuming. Estimated dormant time: fifteen years, three months, nine days."
Hongji stumbled backward, terrified.
"W-What kind of demonic technique is this?!"
The others, whispering in panic, backed away.
Seorin rose slowly to his feet—
not with strength born of training,
but with strength born of inevitability.
Pain faded.
Bruises melted away.
His lungs began filling with breath once more, as if he had never been hit.
His eyes lifted then, calm and cold.
The voice chimed:
"Initial combat analysis complete."
One of the disciples panicked and surged forward with his wooden sword held high.
The world slowed.
Lines of movement appeared in front of Seorin's eyes,
trajectories, angles, weaknesses.
His body moved by itself. He sidestepped, flicked the attacker's wrist, and swept his leg out. The disciple hit the ground hard, the breath knocked out of him. Everyone stared. Even Seorin. I. did that? But the voice went on, impervious to the shock around him: "Synchronization at 24%. Host state stabilized. Welcome back." Seorin stood in the center of the stunned crowd, heart racing, mind spinning. He didn't know what the "Nexus" was. He didn't know why it had awoken now. But as the faint blue glow faded beneath his skin, one thing was for sure: That useless disciple of the Ironcloud Sect was gone. And whatever had taken his place… Was only beginning to wake up.