A hush fell over the hall as the names were called. One by one, the children stepped forward, their hands trembling with anticipation. Today was the Cipher Awakening Ceremony, the day when every child in the Dominion received their power—the ability that would shape their fate forever.
At the center of the grand hall stood the Cipherstone, a towering obsidian pillar pulsing with golden veins. It was an ancient relic, the source of all Ciphers, a bridge between human potential and the unseen laws of reality.
"Kain Veritas," the officiator finally called.
A dark-haired boy, barely fifteen, walked forward. His expression was calm, yet a faint tension lingered beneath his composed demeanor.
He placed his hand on the Cipherstone.
Silence.
The golden veins that had reacted so vibrantly to every other child remained dim. The crowd murmured.
The officiator frowned. "Concentrate, boy. Feel for the Cipher within you."
Kain shut his eyes. He had been waiting for this moment. Since birth, he had felt… different. Maybe now, he would finally understand why.
He reached deep into himself, searching for that spark—the connection every person was meant to have with their Cipher.
Nothing.
Seconds stretched into eternity. A whisper spread through the hall like wildfire.
"He doesn't have one."
The officiator took a step back, shaking his head. "Impossible…" His voice was laced with something between disbelief and fear. "Every child is born with a Cipher. The Code does not make mistakes."
But Kain was the mistake.
The realization hit him all at once. He wasn't just weak. He wasn't just slow to awaken. He had no Cipher at all.
A laugh broke the silence. Someone in the crowd sneered. "No Cipher? Then what is he? A defect?"
The murmur turned into outright scorn.
"A failure."
"A broken child."
"He's not even worth the air he breathes."
Kain's fingers curled into fists, but he said nothing. His father, Lord Veritas, a man known for his strength and status among the Cipher Lords, stood motionless. His gaze lingered on Kain for a moment—cold, unreadable. Then, without a word, he turned away.
That single act of silent rejection hurt more than any insult.
The officiator finally spoke, his voice harsh and definitive. "Kain Veritas, you are Cipherless. By law, you will be stripped of inheritance, your status reduced to a mere commoner. You have no place among the heirs of power."
Kain exhaled slowly. There was nothing he could say. Nothing he could do.
Until, at that very moment—
A line of text appeared before his eyes.
—━━━[Cipher Detected]━━━—
Analyzing Cipher Code…
Deciphering Hidden Laws…
Override Potential: 1%
Kain's breath caught in his throat.
This… This wasn't normal. No one else had ever mentioned seeing something like this. The words pulsed faintly, like a system watching from beneath reality itself.
His fingers twitched as he stared at the officiator, then at the others around him. He could see something now—lines of code floating around each person, golden symbols interwoven into their very existence.
A boy nearby, the one who had laughed at him earlier, stood tall and confident. His Cipher had already awakened—something called Ironhide, which made his skin as strong as steel. Kain focused on the symbols hovering near him.
One line stood out.
> Law of Ironhide: The stronger your defense, the slower your movements.
Kain's eyes widened.
A weakness. A restriction in the very foundation of the boy's power.
For the first time since the ceremony began, Kain smiled.
If he couldn't have a Cipher, then he would do something better.
He would rewrite the rules of reality itself.