THE FADE SYSTEM

CHAPTER 4: FIRST CONTACT.

Clank!

Two blades spears were crossed together blocking Klaus' path to the city. He looked at the guards - they were clad in white uniform and had smug looks on their faces.

“Easy there, boy.” The first guard scanned his appearance. "You look like a walking pile of dirt.”

The other laughed. “Yeah. Where’d you crawl out from? A pig’s den?”

Klaus looked at them without emotion. His clothes were torn. Dirt covered his boots. His face held no sign of anger or pride.

“I don’t care about your opinions,” he said. “Move out of my way. Or I’ll move you myself.”

The guards blinked, then burst out laughing.

“Do your worst, trash,” the first guard said. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Klaus didn’t speak again. He raised his hand and drew a line through the air. A rift opened—dark and swirling. From it, a loud screech echoed. A large form slithered out.

It was the first of his Fade Soldier - Black Leviathan.

The guards froze. Their mouths hung open. Fear took over their mocking smiles.

“That... that’s an Elite-Grade monster,” one of them whispered.

Still, they tried to stand their ground. They raised their spears with shaking hands.

The serpent didn’t wait. It swung its tail across the gate. The impact sent both guards flying like broken dolls. They hit the wall and dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Klaus stepped over their bodies and entered the city. However, his peace didn't last as the guards had caught up to him.

“That’s him! The intruder!”

"Hey you! Where do you think you're going?"

Klaus sighed. He didn’t want to make things worse. He had already caused a scene at the gate. Fighting again would only bring more attention.

He bolted through the narrow streets with the guards in hot pursuit. Klaus slipped into a dark alley and stopped when he reached a dead end. Before he could turn around, he was already surrounded by the guards.

"You bastard, now you have nowhere left to go!" The Head-guard declared as the rest pointed spears at him.

Klaus raised his hands. “Why are you chasing me? I didn't do anything wrong?"

The head guard blinked. He didn't know whether Klaus was serious or trying to get on his nerves even more than he already has. “You knocked out two of our men at the gate!"

“I told them to move, they refused and told me to do my worst,” Klaus replied nonchalantly. “So, I did."

The guards looked at each other like he was mad.

“He’s delusional,” one of them muttered. "He's not even trying to explain his actions."

The Head guard had heard just about enough. He pointed his blade at Klaus and declared to the others, “Take him down!”

They charged at him.

Klaus frowned. “Why is everyone in this world so violent?” he muttered. “Do they all enjoying fighting so much? If so, why are they so weak?”

Just as he was about to make his move, a bright flash sparked from above them engulfing the entire alley.

The brightness of the light blinded the guards as they were forced to cover their eyes.

“Damn it! I can't see!"

“This is light magic… it can only be the work of that man!”

Klaus was not affected by the light thanks to his Fade Eyes. However, he was also lost for words as he couldn't tell what was going on.

And then all of a sudden, he felt the hand of a man grabbing his.

“Let's go” a voice said.

Klaus was dragged through the narrow paths until they emerged at an area of the City that was completely different from what he had seen before.

The streets smelled bad, and trash was everywhere. The houses were old and broken. The people outside looked all sick and skinny. They had torn and dirty clothes ired. Even the Children played in the dirt.

Klaus looked around. He couldn't help but shake an odd feeling. It was familiarity. He felt like he had been to a place like this before.

The man looked back to see that Klaus had stopped running. "Oy! Still with me?”

Klaus snapped back to reality as he takes a proper look at the man, He had a large build, Orange eyes and wore a sleeveless jacket that revealed his chest with a pair of brown pants.

"Why did you help me? I didn't require any assistance."

The man laughed “Geez, don't you know how to show gratitude?"

Klaus tilted his head. “Gratitude? What is that?”

:

The man blinked a few times. “Are you serious? You're telling me you don’t know what gratitude means? What are you, an alien?”

Klaus tilted his head slightly and shook it once.

The man stared at him, dead silent for a moment. Then he groaned and dragged a hand down his face. “You’re really strange… I like you. Come on. Follow me.”

Without waiting, he turned around and kept walking down the narrow alley. Klaus followed without a word.

“I don’t know what you did to tick off the Royal Knights, but you better lay low,” the man continued as he glanced over his shoulder. “They don’t usually come this far out. This is the forgotten part of Ying City. The end of the map. Most folks pretend we don’t exist.”

Klaus said nothing. His eyes moved across the crumbling buildings and broken signs. The sky above was a dull gray. He didn’t know what it meant to be forgotten, but he felt like he fit right in.

The man stopped and leaned against a wall sprayed with faded graffiti. He pointed at himself. “Name’s Bane… Bucky Bane.”

“Klaus.”

“No last name?”

“I don’t have one.”

Bucky raised a brow. “Where you from?”

“I don’t know.”

Bucky’s mouth opened to ask more but closed again. He rubbed his chin instead. “No memories at all?”

Klaus shook his head again.

Bucky let out a sharp breath through his nose. Originally, he planned to show the kid a quiet street and let him figure things out on his own. But now? “Man, you're more lost than a newborn calf. If I leave you on your own, you’ll just walk into more trouble. Lucky for you, I’m feeling generous.”

He turned around with a cocky grin and jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “Come on. I’ll take you to my super secret special hideout.”

They walked a while longer until Bucky stopped at the edge of a broken platform. Below it, a tunnel yawned open like the mouth of a giant beast. Murky water flowed through trenches on either side, and the stench hit harder the deeper they went.

Bucky talked as they moved. “I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, but this city ain’t exactly fair. Ying City classifies everyone into two types: highborns and lowborns. That’s it. You’re born, and boom—your worth is decided.”

The tunnel curved, and Klaus followed him in silence.

“While the highborns eat from golden plates and sleep on soft pillows, the lowborns like us fight over moldy bread and rain-soaked blankets.” Bucky kicked a pebble into the water. “It’s survival of the nastiest down here. No room for mercy.”

Klaus kept his expression neutral. He didn’t need Bucky to explain struggle. He had lived in a place far worse.

“You said you didn’t know where you came from, right?” Bucky glanced at him. “That’s something we got in common. I never knew my folks. Grew up on my own.”

Klaus felt something stir inside him. It was small, unfamiliar. Like an itch in his chest. Is this empathy? he wondered. Is this how pity feels like?

He frowned instantly. The feeling was unpleasant.

Bucky noticed the frown and smirked. “Aw, don’t look so down. I’m tougher than I look. Besides, you might be a weirdo, but you’ve got a heart somewhere in there.”

Klaus said nothing. It’s a disgusting emotion. I don’t like it, he thought.

After walking for almost half an hour, they reached a sealed metal tube half-buried into the wall. Two guards stood in front of it—a bulky man with a scar over his mouth, and a sharp-eyed woman with braided hair and tattoos.

They straightened the moment they saw Bucky.

“Welcome back, boss.”

“He’s with me,” Bucky said, jerking a thumb toward Klaus.

The guards nodded. The woman pulled a lever, and the metal seal slowly hissed open. A faint light spilled out from within.

Bucky led the way.

Inside, the tunnel opened into a wide underground space. There were makeshift tents lined up along the walls, some made of torn fabric, others patched with plastic sheets. Fires crackled in barrels. People walked around, carrying baskets or talking quietly. Some cooked over open flames. Laughter rang out from a group of kids chasing each other near a rope swing.

Klaus looked around with wide eyes. For a hidden hole in the ground, it was strangely full of life.

“Welcome to the Cove,” Bucky said, spreading his arms proudly. “The last place in Ying City that still has a bit of freedom.”