Chapter 4 – Market of Broken Things
Chapter 4 – Market of Broken Things
The Emberlight outer market was loud, chaotic, and smelled faintly of roasted lizard meat.
Kael kept his hood low and his pace steady as he slipped past rows of stalls shouting everything from "Cultivation elixirs—Tier 1 only!" to "Beast leather armor, scratch-tested by my own mother!" A wandering merchant even waved a glowing, slightly cracked spiritual ring in his face, yelling, "Authentic! Comes with memory imprint! Mostly blank!"
He ignored them all.
Most of the outer market was junk.
Which, today, made it perfect.
His eyes scanned for one thing and one thing only—scraps of spatial gear. Broken rings, fractured pouches, discarded relics—anything that once contained spatial mana would be enough to awaken the Void Flame, according to Pyra.
"You sure about this?" he asked silently.
"Yes," Pyra replied. "Void Flame is stubborn. It needs a spark of what it once devoured to awaken. Spatial energy is fuel to it. Get close to something with a distorted space signature, and I'll do the rest."
Simple enough… in theory.
In practice? Spatial gear was rare. Even broken ones cost gold. He had a single bronze coin in his pocket.
Not helpful.
He ducked into an alley between two vendors and sighed. He could almost hear the merchants muttering "failure" under their breath. The story of the boy who shattered the Awakening Orb had already spread—some thought he was cursed, others thought he'd died.
If only they knew.
"Watch it, trash," someone snapped as they passed by and bumped his shoulder. He turned just enough to glimpse the red trim on their collar.
A noble.
Kael said nothing. He kept walking.
He found it in a side stall tucked behind a fortune teller's tent.
An old man with one eye and a crooked beard sat hunched behind a cloth-draped table, surrounded by chipped crystals, cracked rings, and faded talismans.
A small wooden sign read:
"MARKET OF BROKEN THINGS – Useless to most, priceless to some."
Kael stepped closer.
"You buying or just here to waste my daylight?" the old man rasped without looking up.
Kael scanned the table carefully—until his gaze landed on it.
A black ring. Chipped, hollow, the inner inscription almost burned out.
But it flickered.
Just once.
Barely noticeable.
"That one," Pyra said, immediately. "It's been overused. The space inside it is unstable—perfect fuel."
Kael pointed. "This ring. How much?"
The old man squinted. "That thing's a dud. Broke mid-shift during a beast raid. Sold it to me for a cup of soup. One bronze."
Kael pulled his single coin from his pouch and slid it across.
The man pocketed it with a grunt. "Don't come crying when it collapses on your finger."
Kael took the ring.
It felt… wrong. Too light. Too cold.
Like it had forgotten it once held power.
Kael didn't wait.
He ducked into another alley, checked that he was alone, and held the broken ring in his palm.
"Now what?" he whispered.
"Hold still," Pyra replied.
A moment passed.
Then the air pulsed.
The ring cracked again—this time with sound—and released a flicker of warped mana. A ripple, like a bubble of space folding in on itself.
Kael gasped as violet fire erupted from his palm. It didn't burn him. It moved through him. Around him. Like it was claiming him.
And then—
[Void Flame – Activated]
[God-Origin Flame Status: Bound]
Core Abilities Unlocked:
– Dimensional Flicker (Lv. 1)
– Void Step (Lv. 1)
– Spatial Burn (Lv. 1)
Consciousness: None
Growth Potential: Limitless
Kael stared as a tiny flame hovered above his palm—dark violet, nearly black at the center. It didn't hiss or rage. It purred.
A panel unfolded inside his mind, giving full details:
Void Flame Abilities (Lv. 1) Dimensional Flicker (Passive / Utility)
Momentarily phases a part of Kael's body into a parallel spatial layer, allowing him to evade physical attacks or slip through obstacles.
Duration: 0.5 seconds | Cooldown: 10 seconds Void Step (Movement)
Teleports Kael up to 5 meters by stepping through a spatial rift. Leaves a faint afterimage.
Cooldown: 30 seconds Spatial Burn (Offensive / Flame Enhancement)
Coats weapons or hands in Void Flame that scorches across space itself. Ignores physical barriers and burns through magical shields.
Effect: Damage scales with willpower and focus
Kael swallowed.
"I… I did it."
"Yes. You've officially stepped onto the path," Pyra said, voice warmer than usual. "Congratulations. You've bound your first flame. And trust me, it's not a gentle one."
Kael clenched his fist, and the flame vanished into his skin.
He returned to the street, blending into the crowd. No one looked twice at him.
But he had changed.
A hidden flame now burned within him—quiet, patient, powerful.
And nobody knew.
But someone was watching.
High on a nearby rooftop, a cloaked figure lowered a lens carved from beast bone and narrowed their eyes.
"So he really did awaken something…" the figure whispered.
Then they vanished without a trace.