The rain hadn't stopped in three days.
In the dying village of Harell, buried deep in the mountains of the lower realms, the sky wept like it knew what was coming. The ground was mud, the crops were drowned, and the air tasted like forgotten prayers.
Rael Tenebris, seventeen years old and barely taller than the spear he carried, stood at the edge of the village square. His dark eyes scanned the altar being built—again. Another "Chosen One" ceremony. Another child to be blessed by the gods.
Another reminder that he wasn't meant for anything.
The villagers whispered about the oracle's vision. That this year, a golden-haired child would receive the Mark of Ascension, a sign of divine favor. Songs were written. Offerings were prepared. Hope bloomed in starving hearts.
Rael said nothing. He simply watched. Always watching.
He wasn't jealous.
He was just… numb.
---
The elder priest moved through the crowd, soaked robes dragging behind him. His voice echoed like thunder in a valley that had forgotten sunlight.
> "We gather, as all years before, to witness the will of the gods! One among us shall be chosen. One among us shall receive the divine code!"
The crowd knelt. The selected child stepped forward—a boy no older than twelve, glowing faintly under the rain, his body trembling with awe.
The sky shimmered.
Lightning twisted into symbols.
A beam of gold shot from the heavens—too fast, too violent—
And missed.
---
It struck someone else.
Rael.
Silence.
Even the storm paused.
He hadn't moved. He hadn't prayed. He hadn't stepped forward.
And yet, there he stood, surrounded by a circle of burning glyphs, divine runes spiraling into his flesh, his eyes wide in horror.
> "N-no," the priest whispered. "That's not possible. He wasn't… he wasn't supposed to…"
Then came the voice.
A voice not of angels, not of gods.
But of the System.
> [System of Origin Installed.]
[Host Identified: Rael Tenebris. Access Level – Forbidden.]
[ERROR: Selection Rejected by Celestial Command.]
[Divine Override Failed.]
[System Lock Initiated.]
Rael dropped to his knees, clutching his chest as lines of ancient code glowed beneath his skin. The villagers screamed.
The priest turned pale.
> "You're not the chosen one," he gasped. "You're a glitch."
Rael looked up.
And the rain finally stopped.
The runes on Rael's skin flared, pulsing like a heartbeat not his own. He could feel it—something ancient, something impossibly vast—pouring into his body, rewriting his veins, his mind, his soul.
He didn't know what was happening.
But the gods did.
High above, where mortal eyes could not see, the divine court trembled. In the blinding halls of the Celestial Pantheon, the gods stood in disbelief as their most sacred system had chosen the wrong vessel.
> "Revoke it," one of them spat, his voice shaking the realm. "Remove the system from him. Now!"
> "We can't," whispered the god of order. "The System of Origin is bound. It cannot be undone without killing the host."
> "Then kill him. Now."
---
Back in Harell, Rael gripped the earth beneath him as the voice returned.
> [Warning: Unauthorized Host Detected.]
[Initiating Divine Cleanse Protocol…]
From the heavens, a light pierced through the clouds. Sharp. Blinding. A spear of judgment.
The villagers scattered in panic. Some screamed for the priest to do something. Others dropped to their knees, begging forgiveness for merely witnessing the error.
The priest just pointed at Rael, his hand trembling.
> "He stole the blessing! Kill him before he brings ruin!"
The light roared down like a divine hammer.
Rael didn't move. He couldn't.
His body was frozen, but not in fear—in awe. His mind spun as memories not his own bled into him. Images of worlds. Systems. War. Time itself fracturing.
And then—impact.
Or at least, it should have been.
The light hit him.
And shattered.
---
A wave of silence rippled outward. Trees bent. Stones cracked. The villagers were thrown to the ground.
Rael stood.
Alive.
The divine spear had broken… on him.
Around his body, an invisible barrier pulsed, made of symbols no one could read, not even the priest.
> "He deflected a divine strike…" someone whispered.
"That's impossible…" someone else cried.
"He's cursed…"
"He's a demon…"
"He's going to kill us all…"
Rael turned, his voice a hoarse whisper.
"I… didn't ask for this."
---
Far above, the gods watched in horror.
The System had chosen a mistake.
And the mistake had survived their judgment.
One god—the youngest—spoke in a hushed tone.
> "If we don't stop him now… this boy could one day… kill us all."
The room fell silent.
The war had not begun.
But the seed had been planted.
And its name was Rael Tenebris.
The villagers didn't wait for an explanation.
Torches rose. Voices turned into screams. Fear mutated into rage.
> "He defied the gods!"
"He brought their wrath here!"
"He'll doom us all!"
Rael stumbled backward as the crowd surged. No one reached for him yet, but he could feel the change—how quickly worship turned to bloodlust. Even those who once gave him scraps to eat now hurled stones with trembling hands.
The priest raised his staff.
> "In the name of the heavens," he bellowed, "cast him out!"
The ground cracked beneath Rael's feet. Not from the divine—but from the System.
> [Host Integrity: Stable.]
[Power Levels Locked.]
[System Adaptation: 2%...]
[Notice: You are being hunted.]
A whisper echoed in Rael's mind.
> Run.
---
He did.
Through the mud-soaked fields, past the screaming villagers, into the forest that once held his childhood dreams. He didn't look back. Not when the flames began to rise. Not when they cursed his name. Not even when his only home burned in the distance behind him.
By the time the sun rose, he was alone.
Again.
And for the first time… he didn't feel weak.
---
Deep within the silverwoods, Rael collapsed by a silent stream. He cupped water in his hands, but before he could drink, the voice returned.
> [System Message: You have been marked for celestial erasure.]
[Initiating passive evolution to prevent divine interference.]
[Survive, and you will adapt.]
[Adapt, and you will ascend.]
Rael stared at the rippling reflection in the water.
His eyes glowed faintly now—symbols dancing inside them like stars.
> "What… are you turning me into?" he asked the silence.
There was no answer.
Only the wind, the cold, and the growing realization that he was no longer just a mistake.
He was becoming something else.
---
Meanwhile, in the highest heavens, the Conclave of Immortals convened. Furious debates echoed through marble halls forged from stardust.
> "The System has chosen a mortal no one ordained."
"If we allow this to continue, he could—"
"—bend the laws of creation."
"—corrupt the balance."
"—become a threat to all realms."
The First God stood.
Ancient, eternal, and unforgiving.
> "Then we erase him. Forever. We send the Seven Heroes. We purge the glitch."
And so, the hunt began.
Rael would not die by mistake.
He would die by force.
---
But fate… had other plans.
Three days passed.
Rael wandered through the wilds of the Silverwood, guided only by instinct and the quiet pulse of the System echoing in his bones. Hunger clawed at his stomach. Sleep teased the edge of his mind. Yet his body, somehow, didn't break.
> [Adaptation Progress: 5%]
[Vitals: Stable]
[New Trait Acquired: Divine Resistance I]
He didn't know what it meant.
But he knew something was changing.
---
That morning, the world felt... still. Too still.
The wind stopped.
The birds vanished.
And then came the hum. A pressure in the air, like the sky was holding its breath.
Rael turned. And saw them.
Seven.
Draped in white, marked with sigils of stars and suns, each one radiant with a different light. They didn't speak. They didn't need to.
They were the Seven Blades of Heaven—legendary champions chosen by the gods themselves. Each one had destroyed nations, slain demons, rewritten natural law.
And now… they had come for him.
---
Rael stepped back instinctively, his fingers trembling.
> "I didn't ask for this," he muttered. "I didn't even choose—"
One of the heroes raised a hand.
> "You're a glitch," she said coldly. "You weren't meant to exist."
Another added, "You were given power that was never yours. You will return it. In death."
> "Please," Rael said, taking a step back, "I'm not your enemy—"
But the sword was already swinging.
---
The first strike shattered the trees behind him.
The second grazed his arm, burning through flesh like sunlight on paper.
The third… he blocked.
He didn't know how. His hands moved on their own, a barrier of light forming around him—a shield of unknown origin.
> [New Skill Unlocked: System Reflex I]
[Power Source: Unknown Protocol Detected.]
The heroes paused.
Surprised.
But only for a moment.
Then they attacked together.
Seven against one.
---
Rael didn't win.
He barely survived.
His body was broken, his vision red with pain, and his breath shallow. But the world around them had changed. Three of the seven lay unconscious. One bled from the mouth. Two retreated.
Only one stood—Seraphiel, the strongest among them.
She looked down at him with something between hatred and confusion.
> "This power… you don't even know what you are, do you?"
Rael spat blood and smiled faintly.
> "A mistake… right?"
She raised her blade.
But something—a shadow—fell across them.
Seraphiel turned too late.
A presence surged. Not divine. Not mortal. Something… broken.
> [System Evolution Triggered.]
[Unknown Protocol – Fragment Alpha: Awakening Initiated.]
The sky cracked.
And Rael vanished.
---
In the eyes of the gods, the boy was dead.
But in truth…
He had just taken his first step into myth.
Darkness.
Cold.
Endless.
Silent.
Rael floated in the void between realms, his body numb, his mind scattered like shattered glass.
There was no pain.
No time.
No sound.
Only the echo of a question, repeating endlessly inside him:
> "Why me?"
Then—light.
Not divine. Not holy.
Something older.
The void trembled. A fractured realm unfolded before him: broken architecture hanging in space, forgotten symbols glowing on ancient stone, rivers of stars flowing like blood in the sky.
> [Welcome to the Null Sanctum.]
[Origin Protocol: Rebooting.]
Rael gasped as air rushed into his lungs. He dropped to the fractured stone floor, coughing, eyes wild.
> "What… is this place?"
The System answered:
> [This is where failed gods are buried.]
---
Before him, a figure formed—shifting, indistinct. Neither man nor beast. Neither machine nor soul.
> "You survived the touch of the divine," it spoke in a chorus of voices. "You resisted the seven. You carry what should never have been given."
Rael stared, blood still staining his lips.
> "I didn't want it."
> "But now you have it. And the gods will never stop hunting you."
Rael clenched his fists.
> "Then I'll survive. I'll adapt. I'll make them regret ever calling me a mistake."
The presence paused… then extended a hand.
> "Then walk the path they buried. The path mortals were forbidden to take."
> "Become what even gods fear."
---
A seal ignited beneath him—an ancient mark, pulsing in time with his heartbeat.
> [Warning: Accessing Forbidden System – Aeon Code.]
[Divine Resistance surpassed.]
[New Path Acquired: Null Sovereign Protocol.]
Rael screamed as power unlike anything before poured into him—not clean, not holy.
It was raw. Wild.
Free.
---
Far above, in the realm of the gods, the First God awoke from meditation—sweat trailing down his divine brow.
> "He touched the Null…"
The hall of immortals fell silent.
> "We didn't create this… we can't control it…"
> "Then we must destroy him before it completes him," one god whispered.
But the First God shook his head.
> "It's already too late."
---
Back in the shattered realm, Rael stood alone beneath a sky filled with dying stars.
His wounds were healing.
His system was evolving.
His eyes burned like forgotten suns.
And though he didn't know it yet, this moment would become legend:
The moment a mortal first walked the path of fallen gods.