The Ancient stone dominated everything.
Even beneath a sky heavy with gray clouds, it was impossible to ignore that monster of living rock tearing through the horizon, as if it wanted to remind all of us how small and miserable we are.
— Looks like it's going to rain… — I murmured, looking up. — And those clouds are hiding the top. How many meters tall do you think this thing is?
— Three thousand meters tall, young man.
I nearly choked on my own breath. I turned my head slowly, like someone expecting to see a ghost, but it was just a guard in a gray tunic about ten steps away. He spoke without even lifting his head, as if random people asking about colossal rocks were part of the daily routine.
— Three thousand? — I repeated, because my brain still hadn't accepted it. — Damn. And yes, before you ask: I'm a foreigner.
He finally looked at me. His face was so calm it almost made me angry.
Like: why isn't Chiulrom like this?
— I see you already have a necklace. You're well informed — he commented.
— I'm trying — I replied, giving that half-smile of someone just trying not to look like a complete idiot.
— All right. Have a good day.
— Thank you, sir. Good work — I said, far more formal than I liked. Must have been the atmospheric pressure of the monolith.
He walked away, and I stayed there thinking:
The Chiulrom Sentinels could learn some manners from that guy.
Seriously. It would save a lot of shouting. And bruises.
I kept walking, but something kept poking at me from the inside.
Curiosity. The kind that makes you do stupid things.
Blue chi is forbidden out there… but here, no one seems to care.
Could I test it?
My brain: don't do it.
My hands: haha, blue chi go brrr.
I slowly clenched my fist.
The blue chi rose along my right arm — dark, dense, pulsing as if it had woken up hungry and decided I was breakfast.
I held it for a second.
Just one second.
The guard didn't even blink.
Nothing. Zero reaction. Not even that classic stare of "I'm going to arrest you because you breathed wrong."
— Hey, kid.
Damn it.
— Yes? — I turned, bracing myself for the lecture, the scolding, or maybe a kick.
— Are you okay?
…What?
What kind of guard asks if I'm okay INSTEAD of slamming me into the ground?
— I'm… I'm fine — I answered, so stiff it felt like my brain had glitched. — Sorry, I just… thought out loud.
— It's fine. Just try to keep yourself under control, all right? — He smiled. SMILED. — Inside the walls, it's safe. Outside… that's another conversation.
I stood there, processing.
And processing.
And still processing.
So that's it. Blue chi isn't a crime here.
Finally, a place where I'm not automatically an elemental terrorist.
I took a deep breath — finally without fear of being beaten for existing — and kept walking.
The entire city seemed to breathe around that three-thousand-meter stone.
As if it were the heart of the world, and we were just cells trying to survive.
And I…
I was only just beginning.
And given my track record, that meant some shit was still going to happen.
Probably before lunch.
So I went back to walking the streets, trying to pretend life was normal — even knowing that, if normality ever existed in my destiny, it died a long time ago and didn't leave a note.
The wind kicked up dust, my jacket slapping against my body as if it were complaining about me. I would complain too, if I could.
That's when I saw it ahead: a hooded figure throwing a punch so fast and so hard into a guard's face that the poor guy became floor decoration. Wonderful. Exactly the kind of peace I expected from the city: none.
I saw the fallen guards.
I heard the screams.
I saw the hooded man moving away.
And I thought:
"If I pretend I didn't see anything… maybe my life lasts five more years."
I started running.
Didn't think.
Avoiding trouble was never a skill I developed.
Some guards were down. Others were trying to deal with the mysterious man — "trying" being a generous word, because the guy moved as if he'd signed a contract with gravity and broken every clause.
Two guards started chasing him, and the fight drifted farther away as I got closer. I remembered what Cindi had said earlier:
"You need prestige, Ark."
Prestige. As if I could buy that at a market stall. If those guards failed — and honestly, they looked like they were about to — maybe I could seize the chance and earn some points in the city. Maybe even a job that didn't involve dying before thirty.
When I got close, most of them were unconscious, looking more like people who hadn't slept well than trained guards. One of them murmured:
— Young man… help us… call for reinforcements or try to help the others…
But before I could answer, another guard, equally beaten, shouted:
— NO! This is our job!
Of course. Pride. Because nothing says "competence" like all of you on the ground while one hooded guy beats you like training dummies.
— Sir — I shot back — you can barely stand. At best, you might be able to walk. If you want, I can try to follow the man and relay his location to you.
The guard who had asked for help didn't hesitate:
— All right, kid! Then run! If you stay here, it'll be hard to catch him!
— Fine — I replied. I should start charging admission for these decisions.
I took two steps and heard another guard trying to sound responsible:
— Young man, stay back! This is dangerous! We'll handle it!
Uh-huh. Sure. You'll "handle it." With the ground, maybe.
— No — I said, already running. — Call for reinforcements. I'll go after him.
With my fist clenched and blue chi activated, my body responded with that vibration only those who've nearly exploded can recognize, and my torn cloak rippled behind me as if trying to keep up with the madness.
In a side corridor, I saw a fallen guard. I deactivated the chi and approached.
— What happened? — I asked, with little time for politeness. — Where's the other guard?
He took a deep breath, struggling.
— He… went… after… the man…
— Are they close? — I asked, already reactivating the blue chi.
— Y-yes…
— All right. Take care.
I ran again. Because apparently I become an athlete whenever the situation is terrible.
And then I saw him: the hooded man, running out of the city as if he'd stolen something. Maybe he had.
— Where's the other guard? — I murmured. — What happened? And where does this guy think he's going?
The wind hit my face. The chi pulsed. And I… I had no idea what I was about to face.
But, as always, it was too late to turn back.
And I hate to admit it… but part of me already wanted to see how this would end.
When life turns into a disaster, at least I get a good story to tell.
To anyone willing to listen.
When I finally left the city behind, an uncomfortable sensation started poking at my head.
Here… here he can see me.
I slowed down and observed the terrain more carefully. That's when I saw it: an uneven path of scattered stones, climbing toward the more open desert.
— Couldn't be better — I murmured. — Perfect terrain to draw attention.
The good part: tall rocks, broken shadows, bad angles for anyone watching from afar.
The bad part: jumping, climbing, slipping, and probably breaking something in the process. And all that for what? Prestige? Information? Answers?
— Gaining prestige is never easy… — I grumbled, already tired of being tired.
Sometimes my life felt like a badly written joke. I laughed at myself, short and humorless, and kept going, maintaining distance as I followed the hooded man heading toward the forest to the north.
We were far enough from the city. A good sign.
And, at the same time, a terrible one.
He started looking back more often.
— This guy never gets tired of checking if he's being followed? — I murmured. — Relax, friend. You made quite a mess.
I remembered the injured guards, scattered on the ground like broken dolls.
— They're too busy trying not to die to worry about you right now.
I used the desert stones as cover, moving carefully, controlling my breathing. Every step was calculated. He remained suspicious, far too alert for someone who was supposedly getting away clean.
Until the landscape changed.
Trees.
Shade.
Silence.
The forest.
But before entering, something stopped me for a moment.
The desert ended in a cut that was too clean. Too straight. As if someone had drawn an invisible ruler there.
The trees didn't advance a single centimeter beyond that line. One of them looked as if it had been cut in half — branches extended… and blocked.
What the hell happens here?
I moved even more slowly, the sound of my steps swallowed by the damp earth. That's when I saw him disappear into a dark opening between roots and rocks.
A cave.
— Damn it… — I whispered.
I crouched behind a fallen tree and checked my supplies. A few bruised fruits. That was it.
— Perfect. I'll have to wait until nightfall. With this. — I muttered. — Wonderful life.
Time dragged on, and just when I was almost reconsidering my life choices… he came out of the cave.
He wasn't alone.
He was carrying a young girl in his arms.
My body tensed instantly, ready to react — until I saw her more clearly.
On her face… a green mark. Subtle, but unmistakable.
My stomach sank.
— Hm… — I thought, the sarcasm slowly fading. — So that's it.
Ultra Cancer.
Everything made sense now. The rush. The violence. The constant fear.
— That's life… — I murmured, this time without irony. — His daughter.
I watched the two of them in silence as night began to fall, the forest slowly swallowing everything.
It didn't make the man any less dangerous.
But it made the story…
much sadder.