The city of Velstrine was alive with chaos.

Screams tore through the smoke-choked streets as civilians scrambled for cover. In the distance, a fire raged, painting the skies in hues of orange and black. Entire blocks were in ruins, reduced to rubble by the clash of titanic forces. Somewhere in the heart of the destruction, the so-called heroes of the Syndicate battled a rogue Eidon user, their powers tearing apart the city they claimed to protect.

Kain Vallis stood frozen in the ruins of his family's home, watching the carnage unfold.

His legs felt like lead. The air, thick with smoke and ash, burned his lungs. A twisted beam from the collapsed ceiling jutted out of the rubble at his feet, a grim reminder of the house that had once sheltered him and his family. It was gone now. All of it.

Just like them.

"Kain!" a voice called, hoarse and desperate. His neighbor, Marlen, stumbled toward him, clutching a gash in her side. Blood stained her dress. "Don't just stand there, boy! You have to run—before the shockwaves hit us again!"

But Kain couldn't move. His eyes were fixed on the center of the destruction, where three Syndicate heroes faced the rogue Eidon user in a battle so violent it might as well have been a natural disaster. He could see them clearly from here—icons of power and glory, dressed in their Syndicate-issued armor, their abilities turning the battlefield into a spectacle of fire, ice, and shattering stone.

He had once admired them. The heroes. Protectors of the people. Beacons of justice in a dangerous world.

Now all he could see was devastation.

Marlen grabbed his arm, her grip trembling but insistent. "Kain! If we stay here—"

Her words were drowned out by a deafening explosion. Kain flinched as a wave of heat rolled over him, forcing him to shield his face. One of the heroes—an armored woman with a flaming spear—had just unleashed a massive firestorm to drive back the rogue Eidon user. The attack annihilated what remained of a nearby building, sending debris flying in all directions. Civilians who hadn't made it out screamed as they were caught in the collapse.

Marlen yanked him harder, dragging him down an alleyway. "We have to go! Move, boy!"

Kain stumbled after her, his mind spinning. His ears rang with the sound of distant shouting, collapsing structures, and the roar of flames. Around him, the city crumbled, each street lined with rubble and ruin. He could barely think, barely breathe.

When they finally stopped, Marlen leaned against the wall of a half-intact shop, panting. "Idiots," she hissed, glaring toward the battle. "Heroes, my ass. They don't care about the people they're supposed to protect."

Kain didn't answer. His gaze lingered on the battlefield in the distance, where the rogue Eidon user—a man wielding dark, crackling tendrils of energy—fought back with equal ferocity. He looked just as dangerous as the heroes, and yet…

And yet, Kain couldn't shake the question forming in his mind.

Who were they really fighting for?

Hours earlier, the city had been at peace. Kain had been at the bakery, picking up bread for his family. The town square had been crowded, bustling with the cheerful energy of people going about their lives. He had smiled at his younger sister, Talia, as she ran up to him, clutching a flower she'd bought from a vendor.

"It's for Mother," she'd said proudly, her blue eyes sparkling. "You think she'll like it?"

Kain had ruffled her hair. "She'll love it. Let's head back."

That memory now felt like it belonged to someone else.

The attack had come without warning. One moment, they had been walking home; the next, the ground had trembled beneath their feet. The rogue Eidon user had appeared first, his arrival marked by an explosion of black energy that sent people running in terror. The Syndicate heroes followed soon after, descending like gods of war, their powers promising swift justice.

But there had been no justice here—only destruction.

His sister had disappeared in the chaos. His mother had been inside the house when it collapsed. And Kain… Kain had been powerless to stop any of it.

"—should be grateful they're here," Marlen was saying, snapping him out of his thoughts. "If it weren't for the heroes, this rogue bastard would've destroyed everything by now. They're saving us."

Kain stared at her, disbelief tightening his throat. He looked around at the rubble, the blood-streaked streets, the bodies of civilians who hadn't made it out. "Saving us?" he said, his voice shaking. "Do you see what they've done, Marlen? How is this saving us?"

Her face fell, but she said nothing. What could she say?

They found Talia's body an hour later.

Kain knelt beside her small, still form, his hands trembling as he brushed the dust from her face. She had been caught in the blast from the flaming spear. The flower she had bought for their mother lay crumpled beside her.

A part of him broke in that moment. Shattered.

But in the shards of his grief, something new began to form. A thought. A conviction.

He looked up at the fiery glow on the horizon, where the battle raged on. His chest burned with anger—but beneath that anger was something sharper. A question that cut through the haze of his pain.

Why?

Why had no one stopped this?

Why did power—this force so many admired, so many idolized—always seem to cause more harm than good? Why were heroes, the so-called guardians of peace, no better than the chaos they fought against?

Kain clenched his fists, his teeth grinding as his emotions churned. Anger. Loss. Helplessness. But instead of lashing out, he exhaled, forcing the fire inside him to cool. No more. No more flames. No more destruction.

He thought of Talia. Her laugh. Her flower.

That's what power was supposed to protect. Not this endless cycle of destruction.

It was then, kneeling beside his sister's body, that Kain made his decision.

"I won't fight," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the distant sounds of the battle. "Not like them. Not like this."

Marlen, standing behind him, frowned. "What are you saying?"

Kain rose, his eyes burning with resolve. He looked toward the battlefield one last time, his heart hardening against the flames and smoke.

"Power isn't meant to destroy," he said, more to himself than to her. "It's meant to protect. And if I ever use mine, it will be for that alone."

Ten Years Later

The ruins of Velstrine had become a ghost town, abandoned and forgotten.

Kain Vallis stood on the outskirts of the city, staring at what remained of his home. The buildings were overgrown with vines, the streets silent save for the whisper of the wind. He hadn't been back here in years.

But he'd never forgotten.

The Syndicate had declared the incident a "success." The rogue Eidon user had been neutralized. The heroes had been praised for their efforts, and life had gone on.

Except for the people who had lived here. The families who had been torn apart.

Kain adjusted the strap of his travel pack, his expression grim. A decade had passed, and he still carried the weight of that day. He had wandered far from here since then, helping where he could, never using his Eidon for harm. He'd seen the cracks in the hero system up close—seen how it rewarded the strong while crushing the weak.

And now… now he was tired of running.

Turning away from the ruins, Kain began walking. The world wasn't going to change on its own.

He didn't know what lay ahead, but he knew one thing for certain. He wasn't going to watch from the sidelines anymore.

Because peace, real peace, was worth fighting for.

Even if you didn't throw a single punch.