CHAPTER 1: PILOT
1293 Words
In this world, greatness came from Systems, channels of power that separated the worthless from the elite.
Every child received their System at age ten in a ritual led by the Council of Ascendants.
Blue light would shine around their heads, ancient runes would appear on their skin, and they'd become more than human.
Mages controlled fire and lightning. Warriors gained strength to bend steel. Healers commanded life itself.
Klein s***h never got any of this.
He stood in Krell's marketplace, hidden in the shadows of a broken archway, watching a ten-year-old girl receive her Awakening.
Her parents cried with joy. The crowd cheered as violet light burst from her chest—a rare Mystic System.
Her mother pressed their foreheads together, thanking the ancient powers for blessing their family.
No one looked at Klein. No one ever did.
He was twenty-three and had never had a System. His parents had taken him to every temple, shrine, and healer within a hundred miles.
They begged the Council for answers. They sacrificed animals and coins, praying until their voices gave out.
Nothing worked. At seventeen, after another failed awakening, his father stopped speaking to him.
At nineteen, his mother followed her husband into silence and the grave. She died thinking her son was cursed.
Maybe she was right.
Klein lived in worthlessness, cast aside by society.
In Krell, the Systemless weren't imprisoned or killed, the world had moved past that.
Instead, they were erased. Jobs went to the gifted. Housing went to those with value. Education and trade excluded anyone without power.
He survived by doing work no one else would: hauling trash, digging ditches, scrubbing blood from the Coliseum floors after fights.
His hands were scarred and callused. His back always ached. Every night he returned to a room smaller than a closet in a building that stank of despair, sleeping on straw.
This was his life. This was all it would ever be.
The girl's ceremony ended, and the crowd left, carrying her toward endless possibilities.
Klein turned and disappeared into the narrow streets where the Systemless huddled together like rats.
Three days later, a notice came out. The Council needed laborers for an expedition to the Blackspine Mountains, dangerous territory where ancient ruins had been found.
The pay was poor, but it was pay. And it would take Klein away from Krell and the city that hated him.
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Klein followed the main raid party, knowing the danger awaited inside the cave. Every step forward carried the weight of his family's needs, and he was ready to face whatever came next.
The raid party entered the dark cave. Shadows danced on the walls as they moved deeper.
Klein felt the chill of the air around him. Suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the cavern.
"Get ready!" Manny shouted. "The boss monster is close!"
The ground shook, and all the System Bearers received a prompt. Klein looked at his hands, but nothing appeared. Panic filled him as he realized he was alone.
A massive shape emerged from the shadows. The Giant Lesser Archfiend stood tall, its dark crimson scales gleaming in the dim light. Klein’s heart raced as he took in the creature’s glowing eyes.
Manny raised his weapon. "We need to take it down. Follow my lead!"
The System Bearers prepared for battle. They charged at the Archfiend while Klein stayed back, watching. The Archfiend lashed out, and Manny countered with a powerful strike.
"Watch out!" one of the bearers yelled.
Klein held his breath, admiring Manny's strength. The battle dragged on, lasting nearly half an hour. Klein felt both fear and awe as he saw the System Bearers struggle against the beast.
Finally, with a final blow, the Archfiend fell.
Cheers erupted in the cave. Klein rushed forward, eager to see the loot. He found a large sack filled with gold, diamonds, and ethereal ore.
"Look at this!" he exclaimed, eyes wide with wonder.
"You can’t keep any of it, Klein," a System Bearer said with a smirk. "Only the bearers take the loot."
Klein's heart sank. "But I fought too!"
Manny approached, handing him a $50 note. "Here’s your cut."
"What’s this?" Klein frowned, disbelief washing over him. "I helped defeat the Archfiend!"
Manny's lackeys laughed as they took the loot. One shoved Klein to the ground.
"Blanks don’t get much. Know your place."
Klein's anger boiled over as he saw Manny’s smug face. He charged at Manny, fists clenched tightly. "You can’t treat me like this!" he shouted, throwing a punch with all his strength.
Manny dodged effortlessly and countered with a single blow. Klein flew backward, landing hard on the rocky ground. "You're dead," Manny sneered, his voice dripping with disdain.
The other System Bearers gathered around, their laughter echoing in the cave. They kicked and punched Klein, their cruelty clear as they overwhelmed him.
As the Dungeon Gate's closure approached, Manny stood over Klein's battered body, the shadows from the cave looming behind him.
"I'm doing you a favor," he said, grinning with satisfaction.
"You won’t have to live this pathetic life anymore." With that, Manny and the other System Bearers vanished, leaving Klein alone in the desolate land.
Klein lay there for hours, staring at the red sun hanging low in the sky. Exhaustion weighed heavily on him, and hunger gnawed at his insides.
His mind drifted to his life, filled with pain and hardship. He remembered the day his parents died, leaving him and his baby sister, Mara, in their grandfather's care.
He had tried so hard to give Mara a better life, working countless odd jobs, but now he felt abandoned and beaten in this barren wasteland.
"Mara, Gramps... I'm sorry," he whispered, tears welling in his eyes as the reality of his situation sank in.
As despair tightened its grip, the sky above began to darken ominously. Storm clouds gathered, swirling in a chaotic dance.
The once-red sky transformed into a violent storm, the wind howling as it picked up speed. Suddenly, one of the clouds descended lower, revealing a massive figure that sent chills down Klein’s spine.
It wasn’t just a storm; a colossal Archfiend emerged from the swirling clouds, its scales glistening like obsidian in the dim light.
Klein, beaten and broken, could only watch in shock as the giant Archfiend approached, its wings casting dark shadows over the land.
The creature's eyes glowed like molten gold, overwhelming and terrifying. Klein's heart pounded with fear, but something else stirred inside him too.
Klein's body hurt with every move. His four broken ribs, swollen lips, and countless bruises reminded him of the beating he'd taken from the System Bearers.
Despite the burning pain, he forced himself to stand. He couldn't just lie down.
Above him floated the most terrifying thing he'd ever seen: a Divine Archfiend. With golden and black scales,
it looked exactly like his grandfather's stories described. Fear gripped him, but he couldn't help admiring the Archfiend's powerful presence.
As Klein looked into the Archfiend's glowing, sun-like eyes, his fear melted away.
He accepted what was coming, knowing he'd die here anyway in this empty land without food or water. He spread his arms wide, closed his eyes, and waited.
"This is the end for me, I guess... I'm ready, great one," he whispered.
But nothing happened. Klein stood there waiting for the Archfiend to kill him, but the creature just hovered there, like it was thinking. Sarcasm crept into Klein's voice.
"Take your time; I'm not going anywhere."
He crossed his arms, getting impatient. Minutes dragged by in silence, the tension messing with his head.
Half an hour passed with the Divine Archfiend doing absolutely nothing. The stillness of the cave made every second feel endless.
"Divine Archfiend?"
- Writer
