The scream came again.
“HELP!”
Aether stopped.
The sound had come from somewhere ahead.
He stood silently for a moment, listening.
The ruined street was almost completely dark now. Broken streetlights flickered occasionally, casting brief flashes of light across abandoned cars and shattered buildings.
Another scream echoed through the streets.
This time, Aether could tell exactly where it came from.
“Three hundred meters.”
His eyes narrowed.
The system immediately responded.
[Origin Analysis activated.]
[Multiple Origin signatures detected.]
[Human signature: 1.]
[Beast signatures: 4.]
Aether frowned.
“Four?”
He moved forward carefully.
He didn't rush.
If the new world had taught him anything already, it was that appearances could be misleading.
A weak-looking beast could have a dangerous ability.
A seemingly harmless situation could become a death trap.
He kept one hand around the metal rod he had been carrying since the first battle.
As he approached the source of the scream, the sound of fighting became clearer.
BOOM!
Something crashed into a building.
Aether stopped behind the remains of a concrete wall.
He looked through the opening.
A girl was fighting four beasts.
She looked around his age.
Long dark hair flowed behind her as she moved, and her clothes were covered in dust and small cuts.
She held a broken metal pipe in one hand.
But what caught Aether's attention wasn't her appearance.
It was the strange energy surrounding her.
Blue-white light flickered around her body.
The girl swung the pipe.
CRACK!
One of the beasts was thrown backward.
Aether immediately activated Origin Analysis.
[Target Analysis]
Name: Unknown
Species: Human
Cultivation: Origin Awakening — Initial Stage
Ability: Lightning Manipulation
Physique: Thunderheart Physique
Potential: B
Current Condition: Injured
Threat Level: Moderate
Aether's eyes narrowed slightly.
“She's awakened.”
The girl suddenly stumbled.
One of the beasts took advantage of the opening and lunged toward her.
“Behind you!”
The girl turned.
Too late.
The beast was already in front of her.
Aether moved.
He grabbed a broken piece of metal from the ground and threw it.
WHOOSH!
The metal struck the beast's head.
The beast's attack changed direction.
The girl immediately reacted.
Lightning exploded from her hand.
BOOM!
The beast was blasted into the ground.
It stopped moving.
The remaining three beasts turned toward Aether.
Aether sighed.
“So much for staying unnoticed.”
[Origin Analysis activated.]
[Target: Ironclaw Hound]
[Rank: F]
[Attribute: Metal]
[Ability: Iron Claws]
[Weakness: Lower abdomen]
[Potential: C]
Three identical targets.
Aether smiled slightly.
“That's manageable.”
The first hound charged.
Aether sidestepped.
Its claws ripped through the concrete wall behind him.
Before it could turn around, Aether drove his metal rod into the exposed lower abdomen.
The beast collapsed.
[Origin Energy +2]
The second beast attacked from the side.
Aether ducked beneath its claws.
He grabbed its front leg and used its momentum against it.
The hound slammed into the ground.
The girl stared at him.
“You're... human?”
Aether glanced at her.
“Last time I checked.”
The girl blinked.
For the first time since the fight began, she looked genuinely confused.
Aether turned back toward the beasts.
The third hound growled.
It suddenly changed direction and rushed toward the girl.
Aether's expression changed.
He kicked a broken piece of concrete.
The chunk struck the beast's leg.
Its movement slowed for just a moment.
That was enough.
The girl understood immediately.
Lightning gathered around her arm.
“Move!”
Aether stepped aside.
A bolt of blue-white lightning struck the beast.
BOOM!
The hound fell.
Silence returned.
Aether looked at the girl.
She was breathing heavily.
Blood trickled down from a cut near her forehead.
“You're hurt.”
“I noticed.”
Aether raised an eyebrow.
She looked at him for a moment before adding,
“Thanks.”
Aether nodded.
“No problem.”
The girl lowered the metal pipe.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
She studied him carefully.
The strange new world had already taught her not to trust people easily.
Yet the boy standing in front of her didn't look like the survivors she had encountered earlier.
He was calm.
Far too calm.
His messy black hair was slightly covered in dust, and his sharp blue-gray eyes seemed to constantly observe everything around him.
Even after fighting several beasts, he didn't look panicked.
She couldn't understand him.
Aether noticed her staring.
“Something wrong?”
She immediately looked away.
“No.”
Aether almost smiled.
“Right.”
The girl frowned slightly.
“You're annoying.”
“And you were screaming for help five minutes ago.”
“That doesn't mean you get to make fun of me.”
“I wasn't.”
“You were.”
Aether looked at her.
Then at the dead beasts.
Then back at her.
“Maybe a little.”
For the first time, the girl smiled.
It was small.
Almost unnoticeable.
But it was there.
Aether looked around.
“We shouldn't stay here.”
Her expression became serious again.
“Why?”
Aether pointed toward the darkness between the buildings.
“Because those weren't the only beasts nearby.”
The girl's expression changed.
“What?”
[Origin Analysis]
[Multiple Origin signatures detected.]
[Distance: 620 meters.]
[Highest detected threat: Rank D.]
Aether's eyes narrowed.
“Something stronger is coming.”
The girl tightened her grip on the pipe.
“Then we fight.”
Aether looked at her.
“You're injured.”
“I can still fight.”
“I didn't say you couldn't.”
He turned toward the ruined street.
“I said we shouldn't.”
The girl stared at him.
“Then where are we going?”
Aether looked toward the distant outline of the city.
“Somewhere we can understand what's happening.”
She hesitated.
“You don't know either?”
“No.”
Aether started walking.
“But I'm going to find out.”
The girl stood there for a moment.
Then she followed.
“Wait.”
Aether stopped.
She walked closer.
“My name is Lyra.”
Aether looked at her.
“Aether.”
“Just Aether?”
“Aether Draven.”
Lyra nodded.
“Aether Draven.”
She looked toward the dark city ahead.
“Then I guess we're going together.”
Aether glanced at her.
“For now.”
Neither of them knew it yet.
This meeting had been nothing more than a chance encounter.
But the world had changed.
And in a world shaped by Origin, chance was rarely as simple as it appeared.
Far above them, hidden beyond the shattered clouds, something watched.
And somewhere deep within Aether's system—
A new function remained locked.
[???]
[Condition for unlocking: Unknown.]
The path ahead had only just begun.