Raine sat frozen, his hand trembling as he stared at the markings glowing on his arm. The Core was gone, absorbed into his body as if it had melted into his skin. His room felt eerily quiet, except for the faint hum of energy radiating from the symbols.
"What... what just happened?" he muttered to himself.
He tried accessing the System interface, swiping at the air as he always did. Nothing appeared. No menu, no stats, no helpful notifications. Instead, the red markings on his arm pulsed faintly, as though alive.
The last message still echoed in his mind: "All Restrictions Lifted."
"Restrictions?" Raine frowned. He'd spent his whole life at the mercy of the System. The ranking, the rules, the limits—it had all been a constant, unyielding force. Now, without it, he felt... exposed.
But also powerful.
The weightless sensation coursing through his body hadn't faded. If anything, it grew stronger. He clenched his fists, testing the strength in his fingers. There was a new heat, a tingling in his muscles.
"What are you?" he whispered, staring at the symbols.
Raine's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of boots stomping outside his hovel. He froze, his heart racing. Heavy footsteps approached, accompanied by muffled voices.
"Sector's been flagged," one voice said. "Some kind of Core anomaly detected. Search every shack."
Raine's blood ran cold. The Enforcers. They were the last people he wanted to deal with.
The metallic clang of a baton against a nearby door made him flinch. "Anyone inside? Open up!"
Raine scrambled to his feet. He didn't need to stick around to know how this would go. Enforcers didn't care about explanations—they cared about control. If they found him with these strange markings, he'd either end up in a lab or dead.
He grabbed his satchel and glanced around his cluttered room. No weapons, no decent escape plan. Just scraps and junk. The narrow vent in the corner of the ceiling caught his eye. It wasn't ideal, but it was his only option.
The Enforcers were getting closer.
"Open this door now, or we're coming in!"
Raine didn't wait. He shoved a pile of broken parts aside and jumped for the vent. His hands gripped the edge, and he hauled himself up just as the door burst open behind him.
"There's no one here!" one Enforcer barked, stepping inside.
"Search it anyway. Anomalies don't just vanish," another replied.
Raine crawled through the tight vent, sweat dripping down his face. The metal groaned under his weight, and every sound felt amplified in the silence. He bit his lip, moving as carefully as he could.
"Clear!"
"Keep looking. They'll pay us double if we bring something back."
Raine clenched his fists. The Enforcers weren't here by accident—they'd been tipped off. Someone had detected the Core's activation.
And now they were hunting him.
The vent opened into an alley behind the scavenger market. Raine dropped down, landing awkwardly on his feet. The cool night air hit him like a slap, and he crouched low, scanning his surroundings.
The market was quieter now. Most of the stalls had closed, and only a few shadows moved between the dimly lit alleys. Raine stuck to the walls, keeping his head down.
"I need to get out of the sector," he thought. Staying in familiar territory was too dangerous. The Enforcers wouldn't stop until they found him, and his odds of surviving a fight with them were slim.
He made his way toward the outskirts, avoiding the main streets. The further he got from the scavenger district, the more abandoned the city became. Crumbling buildings lined the streets, their windows shattered and their walls covered in rust and grime.
But even here, he wasn't safe.
The markings on his arm pulsed again, brighter this time. Raine stumbled, clutching his arm as a wave of heat surged through him. His vision blurred, and a strange, static-like noise filled his ears.
Images flashed through his mind—fragmented and disjointed. A towering machine, its core glowing the same red as the markings on his arm. A battlefield littered with broken weapons and scorched earth. A voice, faint but commanding, whispered something he couldn't understand.
Then it was gone.
Raine collapsed against a wall, gasping for air. The heat subsided, but the tingling remained. He looked at his arm again, sweat dripping down his face.
"What are you doing to me?"
The Core wasn't just dormant. It was alive, and it was changing him.
By the time Raine reached the edge of the city, his legs felt like lead. He stumbled into an old train yard, the tracks long rusted and the cars abandoned. It was as far as he could go for now.
He found a spot beneath an overturned freight car and crawled inside. The space was cramped, but it offered some cover. For the first time since the Enforcers showed up, he allowed himself to rest.
The markings on his arm pulsed faintly in the darkness, casting a red glow on the walls. Raine stared at them, his mind racing.
If the Core really had lifted his restrictions, what did that mean? Was he stronger now? Faster? He didn't feel like much of anything—just tired and confused.
Still, something was different.
He held out his hand, concentrating on the tingling sensation coursing through his body. The markings brightened, and the air around his palm seemed to shimmer. He focused harder, and a small spark of energy crackled to life.
His eyes widened. "What the—"
The spark grew, forming into a faint, glowing orb. It hovered above his palm, pulsing softly.
For a moment, Raine just stared. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he willed the orb forward. It shot out, hitting the wall with a faint burst of light.
He blinked, his heart racing.
"I... I did that."
The System never gave F-Rankers abilities like this. The most he'd ever gotten was a slight strength boost after leveling up. But this was different.
This was power.
Raine leaned back, his mind spinning. Whatever the Core had done to him, it had opened doors he didn't know existed.
But it also painted a target on his back.
The Enforcers wouldn't stop hunting him. And if they found out what he could do, they'd tear him apart to get it.
For now, all Raine could do was survive.
But deep down, he knew this was just the beginning.