Chapter 6 — When the World Starts Asking for Your Name
Verdan woke up like it had something to prove.
The village moved early. Too early. Doors opened before sunrise. Boots scraped stone. Voices stayed low, clipped, careful. People nodded instead of greeting each other, eyes scanning the road, the treeline, the sky.
Fear didn't shout.
It whispered.
Elias felt it the moment he stepped outside.
The air hummed again—stronger than before. Not loud. Not sharp. Just present. Like pressure building under skin.
He adjusted the strap across his chest and paused on the porch. His side still hurt, but the pain had changed. It was no longer a warning. It was a reminder.
You survived.
For now.
His father stood beside him, tightening the straps on a travel pack. The man moved with calm efficiency, but Elias could see the tension in his shoulders.
"You don't have to come," his father said.
Elias shook his head. "I do."
They both knew this wasn't about curiosity.
This was about answers.
At the edge of the village square, Captain Rourke waited with six guards. They were better equipped than the border patrol from yesterday. Leather armor reinforced with steel plates. Spears and short swords etched with faint runes. Two carried crossbows—heavy, designed for penetration rather than speed.
Guild gear.
Elias recognized it instantly, even without context.
The symbols were different from the guard crest. Cleaner. Sharper. Made to be seen.
Rourke spotted Elias and raised a hand.
"You're coming," the captain said, not as a question.
Elias nodded.
"You're still injured," Rourke said.
"I can walk," Elias replied.
Rourke studied him for a second longer, then nodded once.
"Stay behind the line," he said. "And don't be a hero."
Elias almost smiled.
Almost.
The prisoner was brought out next.
He walked on his own this time, shackles still locked, suppression runes glowing faintly around his wrists and ankles. He looked cleaner now. Less like a drifter. More like someone who didn't care how he looked.
His eyes found Elias immediately.
"Good morning," the man said cheerfully. "Sleep well?"
Elias ignored him.
Rourke gestured forward.
"We move," he said.
The gates opened.
Verdan fell behind them.
The road to the marker stones felt different today.
Yesterday, it had been quiet. Open. Normal.
Now it felt watched.
Birdsong was sparse. The wind carried a faint metallic tang. The grass along the roadside bent unevenly, as if pressed down by something heavy that wasn't there anymore.
Or maybe was.
The guards spread out, forming a loose wedge. Rourke took point. Elias stayed near the center, close enough to hear orders, far enough to avoid attention.
Liora hadn't come.
That had been the hardest part.
She'd stood on the edge of the square, arms folded tight, eyes fixed on Elias. She hadn't tried to stop him. She hadn't asked him to stay.
That scared him more than if she had.
The prisoner walked calmly between two guards.
"You know," he said conversationally, "this path used to be safer."
No one answered.
"The markers used to hum louder," he continued. "Stronger. You could feel them pushing back."
Still silence.
The man chuckled.
"Time erodes everything," he said. "Even lies."
Elias's jaw tightened.
Rourke stopped near the stones.
Up close, the damage was clear.
Cracks split the runes along the marker's base. Not natural wear. Intentional fractures. Mana leaked from them in thin, wavering lines, like breath escaping broken lungs.
"This wasn't brute force," Rourke said quietly. "This was… precise."
The prisoner smiled.
"You flatter me," he said.
Rourke turned on him.
"You did this alone?" he demanded.
The man shrugged. "I was enough."
Elias felt the System stir.
[ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS: INSTABILITY CONFIRMED]
He exhaled slowly.
"Captain," Elias said. "There's more coming."
Rourke glanced at him. "How do you know?"
"Because it feels like yesterday," Elias said. "Just before the beast appeared."
Rourke's hand tightened on his sword.
"Positions," he ordered.
The guards moved instantly.
Crossbows up. Spears angled outward. A practiced response.
Too practiced for something that "rarely happened."
Elias stepped back, heart steady.
Then the air screamed.
Not loud. Not violent.
It screamed the way metal screamed when bent too far.
The space between the markers twisted inward. Mana folded, collapsed, and tore open in a jagged line.
Three shapes fell out.
They hit the ground hard.
Not beasts.
People.
At least, they had been once.
Their bodies were warped, muscles swollen and uneven. Skin stretched too tight over bone, black veins pulsing beneath it. Their eyes glowed faintly red, unfocused but alert.
Corrupted humans.
Elias felt his stomach drop.
Rourke swore.
"Loose!" he shouted.
Bolts flew.
Two struck true, punching into corrupted flesh with wet thuds. The creatures roared—not in pain, but rage—and surged forward.
They moved fast.
Too fast.
One leapt, clearing ten meters in a single bound, crashing into a guard and sending both tumbling.
"Hold the line!" Rourke shouted.
Elias backed up another step, pulse quickening.
The System flared.
[THREAT ESCALATION: CONFIRMED]
[NEW OBJECTIVE AVAILABLE]
"No," Elias whispered. "Not yet."
A corrupted lunged toward him.
A guard intercepted, spear driving into its chest. The creature didn't slow. It grabbed the shaft, yanked the guard forward, and tore into him with clawed hands.
Blood sprayed.
Elias froze for half a second.
Half a second too long.
The creature turned toward him.
Their eyes met.
There was nothing human left in them.
The System pulsed hard.
[MISSION GENERATED]
[OBJECTIVE: ENGAGE]
Elias moved.
Not forward.
Sideways.
He ducked as claws sliced through the space where his head had been. Rolled. Came up near a fallen crossbow.
Pain flared in his side.
He ignored it.
Elias grabbed the weapon, braced it against his shoulder, and fired.
The bolt slammed into the creature's throat.
It staggered, choking on dark fluid.
Elias didn't wait.
He grabbed a loose stone, smashed it into the creature's knee as it fell, then slammed the crossbow's stock into its skull.
Once.
Twice.
The skull cracked.
The creature went still.
Elias backed away, breathing hard.
He'd killed people before.
This felt worse.
"Elias!"
Rourke's voice cut through the chaos.
Another corrupted broke through the line, charging straight toward him.
Rourke intercepted, blade flashing. Steel met corrupted flesh. Sparks flew as runes flared.
The fight ended fast.
Too fast.
The silence afterward was heavy.
Two guards lay on the ground.
One wasn't moving.
Elias stared at the bodies.
The prisoner laughed.
Loud.
Genuine.
"There it is," he said. "The truth."
Rourke turned on him, blade raised.
"Shut up," he snarled.
The man only smiled wider.
"They're changing already," he said. "People don't like hearing that."
Rourke struck him.
The blow was clean. Controlled.
The prisoner hit the ground, coughing blood.
He laughed anyway.
They returned to Verdan with fewer people than they'd left with.
The village felt smaller now.
Closer.
Fragile.
Healers worked quietly. Bodies were covered and moved. No speeches were made.
Elias sat on the steps of his house, hands shaking slightly.
Lyra sat beside him, unusually quiet.
"Are monsters people?" she asked suddenly.
Elias closed his eyes.
"No," he said.
It was the first lie he'd told her.
That night, the System spoke again.
[ASSESSMENT UPDATE]
[HOST INTERVENTION IMPACT: SIGNIFICANT]
[WORLD RESPONSE: ACCELERATING]
Elias stared at the text.
"What do you want from me?" he asked.
The panel shifted.
[ANSWER: YOUR NAME]
His breath caught.
"What?" he whispered.
[RECOMMENDATION: REGISTRATION ADVISED]
[PATHWAY UNLOCK — GUILD AFFILIATION]
Elias leaned back against the wall.
So that was it.
The world wasn't asking him to hide anymore.
It was asking him to step forward.
To be counted.
To be seen.
Outside, the mana lamps flickered on, one by one, casting pale light across Verdan's streets.
Elias looked up at the stars.
"If I give you my name," he murmured, "you won't let me walk away."
The System did not deny it.
By morning, Elias would have to decide.
Stay a shadow…
or let the world learn who he was.