Kael Drayven hated ceremonies. Especially ones that decided if you'd live like a king or die forgotten.
He stood in the cold Awakening Hall with forty-nine others, all waiting for the same thing: to be chosen. The Drive Engine overhead churned like a heart made of steel, ticking louder with each passing moment. One by one, the other students stepped onto their pedestals, and one by one, their destinies were sealed by a flash of light and a chime from the system.
"C-Class Drive—Lightblade."
"A-Class Drive—Beastshifter."
The crowd cheered when the noble kids awakened strong Drives. Kael kept his eyes on the ground, hands in his pockets, pretending he didn't care.
But he did. Everyone did.
He wasn't supposed to be here. No sponsor. No rich bloodline. Just a fluke. A late-bloomer orphan the academy couldn't explain, dropped into the system by an ancient law that hadn't been enforced in decades.
People stared at him like he'd cheated his way in.
Maybe he had. But Kael never asked for this. He didn't want fame or riches.
He just wanted answers.
Why did his body feel like it was burning some nights?
Why did machines flicker when he walked past?
Why did people close to him always leave or worse?
And now, as the stone beneath his boots began to glow, Kael couldn't run anymore.
----- [Drive Synchronization: Initiated]-----
His name flashed across the air in glowing script.
People fell quiet.
Then came the pulse.
It wasn't like the others.
The pedestal beneath Kael cracked. Not once. But again and again until the stone itself screamed. Lights dimmed. The Drive Engine above whirred and groaned, trying to compute what it was seeing.
-- [WARNING: Forbidden Core Detected]--
The walls began to hum.
Kael's breath hitched.
Pain lanced through his spine like a spear made of lightning. His vision blurred. He dropped to one knee, clutching his chest as something inside him moved something ancient, dark, and unbearably alive.
[Class: SSS]
[Designation: Overdrive – Carnal Nexus]
----
[Emotional Anchors Required. Searching…]
A chorus of voices gasped behind him.
"Did that just say SSS-Class?"
"That's impossible. That class is banned!"
Kael didn't hear them. He couldn't. The world had gone underwater. His ears rang. His heart felt like it was being rewritten. And then.
[Anchor found: Lust. Bond thread created.]
Kael's eyes opened, glowing faint crimson.
Thin, shimmering threads stretched out from him connecting to three others nearby. Two girls collapsed. The third, a noble, met his gaze with a confused, half-enchanted look.
---- [Trait Unlocked: Sinborn Vortex]----
---
---
----
Kael collapsed fully this time, coughing, sweat soaking his clothes.
Footsteps thundered.
Instructors. Guards. Alarms.
"Contain him!" someone shouted.
Kael looked up as a rune-covered gauntlet aimed at his chest. A bolt of force fired. Fast. Deadly.
But it never reached him.
It froze midair and shattered.
The guards froze.
Kael stood, limbs shaky, but his voice steady. "Don't touch me."
They didn't.
Not because they respected him but because they were afraid.
And Kael understood something in that moment. This wasn't just a power. It was a curse. A sentence. A fate that would put a target on his back for the rest of his life.
But for the first time, he didn't feel small.
He felt seen.
He felt dangerous.
And if the world wanted to bury him
He'd drag it down with him.