Chapter 2: The Unmarked Star

His name was Nyx Caelum.

A name whispered like an echo in the dark, like the last glimmer of a dying star. It meant "night sky" in one of the Old Tongues. Fitting, really. Because to everyone else, he was nothing but the empty space between the lights.

He was sixteen. Scrawny. Eyes the color of wet ash. Hair black like oil and just as messy. Wore the same ragged hoodie every day like armor, even though it didn't protect him from anything. He skipped school not because he hated it (though he did), but because he didn't have time for it. Time was a luxury. And Nyx couldn't afford luxuries.

He worked instead. Ran deliveries. Cleaned scrap. Fixed broken processors in the back alleys of Tierless districts. Saved every coin, every minute. Not to live... but to test.

You see, Nyx had tried 1,680 times.

One thousand six hundred and eighty applications. Begging the System to re-scan him. To double check. Triple check. Maybe they missed something. Maybe a spark got stuck behind his ribs. Maybe he did have a power. Maybe he wasn't one of the hated.

But every time, the same answer came back: UNMARKED.

That word haunted him more than any insult. More than any bruise. It was a label etched into his life, deeper than skin. The System said he had no Mark. No Will. No use.

He wasn't dangerous. He wasn't useful. He wasn't worth anything.

But still, he tried.

Why?

Because even in a world where power was everything, there were a few who had abilities without Will. Minor things. Small, quiet things. Like breathing underwater for twenty seconds longer than normal. Like knowing the direction of north without thinking. Like seeing people's moods as colors.

None of those would save your life in battle. None of those would rank you high enough to get a proper uniform, a warm bed, or protection.

But it meant something: not everyone needed Will to matter.

Of course, if your ability could be used for combat, you were immediately conscripted. The System didn't wait. You got a rank, a number, a uniform, and a one way ticket to a military academy where they turned you into a weapon. There were treaties to prevent another World Burn, sure. But everyone knew how fragile they were. If one nation broke the rules, the others would crush them.

Unless…

Unless the bribes were good. Unless the strong were involved.

The truth?

If you had enough power, rules bent around you like gravity. A man who could level cities with a whisper didn't worry about handcuffs. Laws? Justice? Those were for the weak.

So when Nyx skipped school that day, he wasn't running from responsibility.

He was running toward a miracle.

One more scan. One more chance. One more test. Maybe, just maybe this would be the time something changed.

He stepped into the Re-Assessment Center like he had dozens of times before. Stood in line behind hopefuls and frauds. Waited his turn. Held his breath.

The machine hummed. Lights flickered. The metal arm extended and scanned every inch of him.

A pause. A flicker of static. A dull click.

And then the words:

RESULT: UNMARKED.

He didn't cry. He didn't scream. He didn't even flinch.

He just nodded once, slowly, and turned away.

As he walked down the street one more ghost in a city full of them he heard the sirens.

The breach happened fast.

Something tore through the air like a howl. Shattered glass. Screams. People running. Buildings crumbling. And then came the monster.

It was massive. Wrong. Like someone had taken the idea of fear and sculpted it from blood and metal. Its eyes burned. Its mouth opened, and things inside it twisted like snakes.

It didn't attack randomly.

It hunted him.

Nyx ran. Ducking through alleyways. Vaulting over fences. Clutching his ribs where it had slashed him. Blood soaked his hoodie. Pain screamed through his body.

And then

Something inside him screamed back.

Not fear. Not pain. Not instinct.

Will.

The monster lunged.

Nyx raised his hand, not even thinking. Not begging. Not hoping. Just... acting.

And in that moment, reality cracked.

Light poured from his wounds. Not white. Not golden. But something else something deep, like starlight through the ocean.

The creature froze. Roared. Burned from the inside out.

And when it fell, silent and smoldering, Nyx stood there trembling, coughing, bleeding.

The System would find the remains. The breach logs. The security footage.

And the impossible truth:

An Unmarked boy had used Will.

But how?

That was the question everyone would soon be asking.

And Nyx? He didn't have an answer.

All he had was fire in his chest and a world about to burn.