Chapter 9. First interaction

Pain brought Axel back to the surface.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself inside a modest wooden structure. The scent of dried herbs hung in the air, mixed with woodsmoke. Light filtered through the cracks in the shutters. The ceiling beams were thick and dark, the furniture plainly carved.

He tried to sit up, but he instantly regretted it.

Pain flared along his ribs and spine, bandages wrapped his torso and shoulder. Dried blood clung to the wrappings.

"Don't move," a voice said.

A woman stepped into view. Middle-aged, dark hair streaked with silver, braided down her shoulder. Her robe bore faint rune embroidery that shimmered like slow embers. Her gaze was calm and practical, her tone firm but not unkind.

"You were in bad shape when we found you. Near the warding stones east of the village. We brought you here."

Axel's throat ached. "Water..."

She handed him a clay cup. The taste was clean and bitter.

"That place is usually off-limits," she added. "People don't just walk out of there."

The memory returned in pieces, the pain, the light, the golem, the fragment.

And now... people.

> External node contact confirmed.

> Civilian registry: pending.

> Protocol shift advised.

He looked up at her again. "Where am I?"

"Outskirts of Aetherreach Citadel," she said. "I'm Sera. You're a mystery. No tag, no echo in the system. Not exactly typical."

Axel turned toward her. "You make it sound like I'm already dead."

Sera didn't flinch."You're not dead. You're unregistered. That's worse."

Silence stretched between them.

"Entities without tags are unstable," she continued. "No system knows where you belong. No domain accepts you. You move through the world like... a blank variable."

"Then why haven't I collapsed already?" Axel asked, jaw clenched.

"Because something's mocking the system for you," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Something is faking your presence just enough to keep you anchored. But it's not perfect."

"That's why the world doesn't reject you. Not yet. But it doesn't accept you either."

Axel's gaze dropped to the flickering interface still hovering near his palm.

> Fusion: 0.27%

> Module stability: [Unknown]

> Alert: External System Interference Detected

"Whatever's patching you into the world," Sera said, "it's not native. And if the native system ever realizes that..."

"It'll purge me," he finished.

"Or worse," she whispered. "It'll overwrite you."

***

Sera moved quietly around the room, the way someone does when they've done it all before. She checked his bandages, her fingers brushing over softly glowing tools set into a wooden box. The runes on them shimmered faintly.

"You're not from any province I know," she said.

Axel stayed silent.

She glanced at the faint marks running down his back. "Those lines… they are not dangerous, but they are not Citadel-issue either. Just… different."

He winced when she pressed against a bruise.

"What's the Citadel, exactly?" Axel asked.

"Regional capital. Trade, research, rune arts mostly. Wardens train there, the Archive's housed in its upper quarter, and it's the only place with a stable gate network. You'll be headed there."

Axel's head spun slightly. Still too much to process.

The door opened. Two people entered—one in thick leather marked with pale runes, the other in a darker robe. The robed one nodded at Sera.

"This him?"

"Found just outside the perimeter," she confirmed. "He's not tagged and has no echo."

"I'm Warden Elric. This is Initiate Kael."

Kael stared openly, curious but also suspicious.

"Your entry point was off-limits," Elric said.

"There's no record of entry. No trace. Explain."

Axel met his gaze.

> Suggestion: initiate cover.

"I was taken," Axel said. "By people I didn't know. They locked me inside. I escaped."

Kael's brow furrowed. Elric remained stoic.

"That's your story?"

"It's the truth I have."

After a long pause, Elric spoke again. "You'll be moved to the Citadel. Cleared or not, they'll want answers."

Axel nodded faintly. There were neither arrests nor bindings, but he knew very well that it was only the beginning.

Once they left, Sera sat back down beside him.

"You'll need to be careful. The Citadel's not cruel, but it doesn't like unknowns."

Axel's eyes flicked to the corner of the room.

"They believed me?"

"They believed something. Doesn't matter. You're flagged now. They'll keep an eye."

> Cloaking protocol sustained.

> Observation redirected.

> Interference subroutine initializing…

Axel blinked. A pressure bloomed at the base of his skull. His spine tingled—then the markings across his back shimmered.

Light flickered along the etched lines. Pale-blue energy pulsed and swirled.

Sera's eyes widened. "What did you just do?"

> Error: interference protocol incomplete.

> Neural feedback loop detected.

> Cognitive overload imminent.

His nose bled.

He wiped it with the back of his hand. Blinking, he looked up again, but this time he saw something different hovering above Sera, like it was part of the interface.

-----

> Name: Sera

> Rank: C

> Job: Artisan – Level 6

-----

> Skill obtained: Neural Parse

> Description: Allows direct neural decoding of nearby conscious or systemic structures. Simplified usage: understand complex systems or mental states.

Sera stared. "What… was that?"

Axel leaned back against the pillow. "I don't know either..."

> Status update available.

-----

Name: Axel

Rank: F+

Strength: F+

Agility: F+

Mana: F-

Stamina: F

Intelligence: E --> E+ 

Luck: F+

Skill: Neural Parse <-- NEW

Physique: –

Oath: –

Grimoire: Corrupted Sword (Core Fragment [Seeded – Effect Unknown])

Job: –

Trait: Persistence

Tag: Deviant – Survivor – Observer (incomplete)

Fusion: 0.469%

Status: Adapting Combatant

System Integrity: Degraded

-----

Axel blinked again, but the overlay was gone.

Sera tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowing. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." He rubbed the side of his temple, masking the aftershock of the sudden influx of data. "Just… residual tension."

He kept his eyes low. Those floating identifications had been too clean to be hallucinations.

He hadn't imagined it.

Sera stepped away from the bed and began sorting through a crate near the wall. "You bled from your nose just now. That's not tension. That's strain."

"I've had worse", this time, meaning it, remembering his fight with the golem, this was just a minor inconvenience.

As she turned her back, Axel allowed himself a glance, this time nothing hovered over her now, but the sensation still lingered.

He exhaled slowly and forced the data stream to subside. A faint gleam pulsed across his irises, subtle enough to be dismissed as reflection.

Sera didn't notice.

"Rest while you can," she said, closing the crate. "We might have to move by dusk."

Axel nodded but said nothing.

Inside his skull, something hummed. A new way of seeing.

One the world, the system, hadn't meant to give him.

And now, he wasn't going to let go of it and would use it to his advance in this world that wanted to erase him.