The sky was dark.
Not because it was night—but because the Empire willed it.
Ash rained from the floating city of nobles above. Below, in the slums of the Outer Ring, the people walked with heads down. No one spoke. No one dared.
"Trash like us don't speak. We survive."
That's what old man Han always said. He was dead now.
Killed for speaking out.
Killed for dreaming of freedom.
In the corner of a ruined alley, a boy with silver eyes and bloodied hands looked up at the sky.
He was Sei. Seventeen. A slave since birth.
Today, his chains were broken.
Literally.
The man who had whipped him since he was five now lay dead beside him—his throat crushed.
Sei didn't remember doing it.
One moment he was being beaten again for stealing bread.
The next—
DING!
[Liberation Path Activated]
+1 Soul Flame | +100 Strength (Temporary)
System Booting…
Then everything went red.
And when it cleared… the overseer was gone.
Crushed.
His own hands were glowing with blue fire—thin, almost like lightning.
"What… was that?" Sei muttered.
A blue panel floated in front of him. His heart nearly stopped.
Liberation System Online
You are the first of your kind.
The more you free, the more you rise.
[Current Level: 1]
[Flames of Liberation: 1]
[Skill Unlocked: Chain Breaker - Rank F]*
Chain Breaker (F) – Your strike becomes a force that shatters physical or spiritual bonds. Deals bonus damage to oppressors.
"A… System?" Sei whispered.
He'd heard of them.
Only nobles awakened Systems. Born with spirit roots. Given celestial names.
But he was born in the gutter.
A zero.
A dog.
"Why me?" he asked the glowing panel.
It didn't answer.
Instead, the ash above began to swirl.
A siren blared.
The Overseer's death had triggered an alert.
Sei only had seconds.
WHOOSH!
A spear flew past his head, slamming into the wall behind him.
BOOM!
Dust exploded everywhere.
A figure stepped through the smoke—armor engraved with the sigil of the Iron Cult.
A Level 10 Cultivator.
Too fast.
Too strong.
"You killed a handler, mutt?!" the soldier growled. "You'll die a thousand deaths for that!"
Sei stood.
He had never fought before.
Never held a weapon.
His heart was pounding so hard, he thought it would burst.
But the fire was back.
The panel glowed again.
Liberation Target Detected
Warning: Enemy Cultivator exceeds your level
Activating: Chain Breaker (Overload)
[WARNING: Soul Damage Likely]
Sei didn't care.
He was tired of crawling.
"I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees!"
The cultist charged.
CRACK!
His spear came down like thunder.
But Sei moved.
Too fast.
Like lightning.
His hand glowed bright blue.
He struck the air itself—
BOOM!
A sonic blast erupted as invisible chains cracked around him.
He grabbed the cultist's spear mid-swing and—
SNAP!
Broke it in half.
The cultist's eyes went wide.
Sei's fist crashed into his gut with a sound like a cannon.
BANG!
The man flew back thirty feet, smashing through a stone wall.
Unmoving.
Liberation Complete
+1 Soul Flame
+500 EXP
New Skill Unlocked: Soul Sense (F)
Sei dropped to his knees.
Breathing hard.
His arms were smoking.
His body hurt—but his soul… burned.
Not with pain.
With purpose.
The chains weren't just physical.
They were spiritual.
Mental.
And he would break them all.
To Be Continued…