A New Riftborn

The forge room's dim glow reflected off the Riftsteel tools and scattered ingots, casting long shadows against the stone walls. The residual heat from earlier smelting still clung to the air, mixing with the distinct scent of metal and coal. Julia stood in the center of the room, her expression composed but taut with anticipation. In her gloved hand, she held the low-tier core, its deep violet hue pulsing faintly.

She studied it carefully, her grip tightening. "This little thing holds that much power?"

Kade leaned against the worktable, arms crossed. "More than you'd think. You ready for this?"

Julia exhaled through her nose, a flicker of hesitation in her eyes before it was stamped out by determination. "Yeah."

She removed one glove, hesitating only briefly before pressing the core against her skin. The moment it made full contact, the core disintegrated, dissolving into tendrils of radiant light that seeped into her chest like ink sinking into water.

At first, there was nothing. Then, the pain struck.

Julia gasped, her spine arching as if an electric current had surged through her body. Her breath hitched, muscles seizing as raw Resonance Energy flooded her system, demanding to be integrated. Kade immediately recognized the signs—the tension, the way her body trembled as it tried to adapt.

Her breathing turned uneven, ragged.

"Julia," he said, his voice steady but firm. "Breathe. The way we practiced."

Through clenched teeth, she managed a nod, forcing herself to inhale deeply. She tried to remember the rhythm, the visualization exercises that had become second nature in their training. Oxygen carries the energy, let it flow, don't let it burn through me uncontrollably.

Her breaths became more measured, aligning with the pulses of energy surging through her veins. Slowly, the spasms in her muscles eased—not because the pain was gone, but because she was regaining control.

Kade crouched nearby, watching closely. Unlike him, she wasn't absorbing an overwhelming mass of Resonance Energy from an Ascendant—she was evolving naturally, at a pace her body could handle. She's taking it better than I did, but it's still brutal.

Her fingers dug into the stone floor, anchoring herself as the transformation continued. Her muscles tensed and flexed in rapid waves, fibers breaking down and reforging stronger than before. Her bones thrummed as the energy seeped into her marrow, reinforcing every part of her structure, and expanding the capacity for energy in her cells by a slight margin. Each moment felt like she was being made undone and put back together.

Yet, through it all, she stayed conscious.

She let out a ragged breath as the energy finally settled, leaving her sprawled on the floor, drenched in sweat.

Kade moved closer. "You good?"

Julia let out a weak chuckle, her voice hoarse. "That... that sucked."

Kade smirked. "Yeah, it does."

She lifted a trembling hand, flexing her fingers as if testing the unfamiliar strength surging beneath her skin. "I feel... different. Stronger, but also like I have nothing left."

Kade nodded. "Your body's spent. The energy wasn't just a power boost—it was fuel for your evolution. You need rest."

Julia groaned, rolling onto her back. "How long?"

"A day, maybe more."

"Figures," she muttered, closing her eyes.

Kade watched as she succumbed to exhaustion, her breathing slow but steady. As he sat back, he couldn't shake the realization that had been gnawing at him.

She evolved differently than I did, how can that be?

He had taken in far more energy than should have been possible. The sheer volume of Resonance Energy he absorbed from the Ascendant should have torn him apart. So why didn't it?

Maybe his body's capacity to store energy was different—greater, but also more dangerous. If he failed to control it, if he ever misstepped, it wouldn't just drain him. It could consume him entirely.

That thought unsettled him more than anything else.

Kade sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he hoisted Julia onto his back. She didn't protest, too drained to move on her own. Her breaths were shallow but steady, her body slack with exhaustion. He carried her carefully up the scaffolding to his makeshift shelter, his old hideout in the maintenance room above the storage area.

The room was sparse—just an old cot, a few crates, and a dim lantern flickering in the corner. Kade laid her down, shifting a tattered blanket over her. She mumbled something incoherent before turning onto her side, slipping into deep rest.

He took a step back, arms crossed, watching her in the dim light of the flickering lantern. Why do I trust her with my life? he wondered, his mind turning over the question like a blade in his hand.

He still knew nothing about her beyond the surface—a skilled fighter, relentless, dangerous in her own right. But something in the way she fought, in the way her eyes burned with resolve, made him understand her on an unspoken level. There was no hesitation in her strikes, no mercy, no fear. She wasn't just surviving—she was defying.

He had seen the hunger for destruction before, the kind born from people who had nothing left to lose. But Julia's was different. It wasn't mindless rage. It was precision. A carnal, eager defiance against the fate that had been forced onto her.

Kade dragged a hand down his face, shaking his head. He didn't have time for this. He had too much on his mind already, too many questions that still had no answers. He turned, slipping out the door without a sound.

The walls of the clubhouse felt tighter than before, the air inside weighed down by too many voices, too many bodies crammed into the same space. Kade had never been one for crowded places, and after everything that had happened, the confinement gnawed at him. He needed air.

More than that, he needed to move. He felt an unshakeable restlessness...

His muscles still ached from the battles of the day, but there was an itch beneath his skin—one he couldn't shake. The Morningstar, newly forged and untested, sat by his side, a solid weight against his thigh. The weapon felt unfamiliar in his grip, but not unwieldy. I should get a feel for it. This seemed like the perfect excuse to do something stupid!

Slipping through the front entrance and through the subway line, Kade stepped into the cold night. The city had settled into an eerie stillness, the distant groans of monsters the only sign of life beyond the walls of their refuge. Fires still smoldered in the wreckage of collapsed buildings, their glow casting long, flickering shadows across the streets. Above, the sky stretched vast and fractured, rifts pulsing like the heartbeat of a dying god.

He moved fast, sticking to the alleys and shadows. The main roads were infested—clusters of Wretches skulked through the wreckage, their twisted bodies shifting in the dim firelight. He counted at least a dozen in the nearest pack. "Too many to take head-on without someone watching my back..." but Kade felt like he was being overly cautious, his body was eagerly pushing him forward as if it knew instinctually that there was nothing near by that could threaten him.

Instead, Kade slipped between the wrecked husks of abandoned cars, his steps careful, silent. He hugged the walls, creeping past a collapsed storefront where a shattered security gate sagged inward like broken ribs. Every breath was slow, measured. Predators don't chase what they don't notice.

A lone Wretch, smaller than the others, shambled ahead of him. It hadn't noticed him yet, too busy gnawing at something unrecognizable on the pavement.

Kade tested his grip on the Morningstar. Might as well start small.

He moved fast, closing the distance in three quick strides before swinging the weapon in a brutal arc. The impact crushed the creature's skull instantly, the weight of the strike sending tremors through his arms. The Wretch crumpled, lifeless. Kade exhaled. The Morningstar was heavy, but it felt right.

Another Wretch turned at the sound, its deformed jaw slack with confusion. Kade didn't give it a chance to react. He shifted his stance and swung low, the steel bludgeon colliding with its ribs. The hasty thud that followed was almost enough to drown out the monster's final gasp. It staggered, spine bent at an unnatural angle before collapsing.

Two down. No others had noticed. Good.

Kade's real goal wasn't the streets—it was above them. He had always preferred high ground, ever since he was a kid sneaking across rooftops to avoid the city's uglier scenes. The perspective was different up there. Clearer.

Spotting a fire escape attached to a half-collapsed apartment complex, he sprinted for it. A few Wretches stirred at the sound, their heads jerking toward him as he grabbed the lowest rung and pulled himself up. The metal groaned under his weight, but it held.

Climbing came easy—his body, honed by the resonance energy now flowing in his veins, moved with an efficiency that still surprised him. He reached the roof in seconds, pulling himself over the ledge just as the first Wretch reached the base of the fire escape, clawed fingers scraping against metal.

Too slow.

Kade rose to his feet, stepping onto the rooftop edge. From up here, the city sprawled out before him—a corpse of steel and fire, draped in the eerie glow of the rifts above.

Smoke curled through the air in sluggish tendrils, illuminated by the distant flames still devouring what was left of the old world. Above, the stars burned brighter than they ever had before, freed from the smog of civilization's arrogance. The open rifts pulsed faintly, cracks in reality that led to places unknown. Even destruction had a strange beauty to it.

Kade smirked, shaking his head. This world isn't dying—it's just starting over.

He hadn't wished for the apocalypse, but he had despised the world that came before it. His disdain had long since hardened into something colder, sharper—hate. He hadn't lived in comfort or complacency, so there was little to mourn. Maybe, in time, he would miss the luxuries of the old world, just as everyone eventually would. But for now, he was free. Kade rested, lying on his back as the crisp night air caressed his face. The night sky stretched infinitely above him, a vast canvas of unknown for his thoughts to unravel, untethered by the weight of what once was, his eyes taking in the beauty of it all.