The sun rose over Virellis with no fanfare. Its light, pale and unforgiving, struck the cobbled streets and the spires of the city like a reminder: the world did not notice you until you forced it to.
Kael stood in the central square, the broken Name Fragment clutched tightly in his hand. His heart pounded with a mixture of fear and anticipation. Today, he would awaken. Today, he would prove he was more than a shadow among laborers, more than a forgotten clerk in a city that devoured the irrelevant.
He stepped forward, raising the fragment. He whispered the Seed's first Edict, words unformed yet urgent:
"Let the world acknowledge me."
And then… nothing happened.
The air remained stubbornly ordinary. Citizens passed by without noticing the trembling of his hands. A merchant dropped a basket of apples, but not from fear, only clumsiness. The city ignored him. His voice, fragile and full of demand, carried no weight.
Confusion turned to panic. Kael's body trembled, the Seed within him thrumming violently. He tried again, louder this time, forcing the fragment to resonate, to impose his will.
A flicker.
The shadow of a lamppost bent unnaturally, a cobblestone lifted slightly, then dropped. The effect was imperceptible to anyone else but Kael felt it in his bones, the tiniest acknowledgment that reality had, however briefly, faltered.
It was not enough.
From above, a voice carried down from the balconies of the city council: "This one… is unworthy. Null-Bearer."
The words hit Kael like a hammer. The crowd turned, eyes sharp and accusing. Whispers spread instantly: laborer tries to wield forbidden power, a Seedless fool branded Null-Bearer. He tried again, but each attempt drew only ridicule, suspicion, and fear.
The city-state's surveillance was swift and invisible. Men in official insignia council agents, masked and silent emerged from alleys. They measured him, not with weapons, but with authority itself. Their presence pressed on him, a political and metaphysical judgment that weighed heavier than stone.
Kael stumbled backward. His fragment felt suddenly hot in his palm, almost alive, almost punishing him for his audacity. Reality itself seemed to recoil. The Seed pulsed in warning: You are not ready. You are not seen.
A child ran past, tripping over Kael's shaking feet. A soldier laughed. Another citizen spat on the ground near him. The Null District had been indifferent; the central square was cruel. And now, society itself rejected him.
He wanted to disappear. But even that seemed impossible. The Seed throbbed in defiance, whispering: You cannot vanish until named… until recognized… until you impose yourself.
Kael fled into the alleys, the city's gaze following him like chains of invisible iron. He could hear whispers of the council's decision trailing him: Null-Bearer. Irrelevant. Dangerous. Unseen.
And yet, beneath the fear, beneath the humiliation, something fierce and undeniable burned. The Seed had stirred. It had responded, imperfectly, but it had responded.
He was branded and ostracized, a failure by society's indifferent rules but the first spark of power had ignited.
Virellis did not care, but the Seed did. And that was all that mattered for now.Do you want me to continue with Chapter 3 now?