Lucius sat in the backseat of a military SUV, staring through the tinted window as the convoy drove through what could only rightfully be called an apocalyptic town.
Entire buildings had either been partially destroyed during conflicts and never repaired or simply abandoned until time and neglect reduced them to crumbling shells. Broken windows were covered with pieces of wood, damaged roads were filled with potholes, and rusted metal sheets had been nailed across collapsed walls in desperate attempts to keep the structures standing.
This has been Lucius’s life for the past 18 years.
This was where they returned after spending twelve hours every day inside the Gatefield mines. They worked in conditions that slowly poisoned their bodies, risking death from cave-ins, mutated beasts, and aether exposure, only to return to broken apartments and abandoned buildings.
Their daily payment was equally disgusting.
Unsalted porridge, a small loaf of stale bread that was often already beginning to rot and a bottle of water, during and after work.
It did not matter whether someone had children or elderly parents to feed. The payment remained the same. Fortunately or unfortunately, this did not matter much because the constant exposure to aether has killed her fertility of both men and women, reducing the chances of fertility through intense sexual sessions to a mere 1%.
In this type of place, Dreg’s can only hope to get pregnant once in five years and even then it’s most likely going to end with a miscarriage.
Life as a Dreg was deeply saddening, the kind that numbs a person. That was how monsters like Lucius are born.
Lucius watched a woman sitting beside a collapsed building while holding a child against her chest. Both of them were painfully thin. The child was too weak to cry while the mother stared blankly into the distance.
Lucius slowly looked away. It was sickening.
"So, how did you manage to survive the mutant horde at the mine?" Sergeant Skull asked, trying to make small talk with the newest Guardian in town.
As far as the Sergeant was concerned, the situation was simple. A new Guardian had appeared in his jurisdiction, and the earlier he established a good relationship with the boy, the better. If Lucius eventually became powerful or famous, being one of the first soldiers to assist him could become incredibly beneficial.
Unfortunately, Lucius did not share his enthusiasm. He stared out the window with a blank expression. It was only natural that he remained cautious around the man who had ordered his execution without hesitation barely an hour earlier.
Lucius finally turned away from the window.
"After we were abandoned by the security team, Helen and I ran into the tunnel but we were followed by some mutant hyenas. Helen didn’t make it, and I got chased down to the tunnels dead end. Fortunately, I awakened my Talent at the last moment and killed them," he lied with a straight face.
Sergeant Skull laughed loudly while nodding. "Hahaha. Very brave. As expected of a Guardian."
Skull’s laughter slowly faded when he realized Lucius was not laughing. He continued staring through the window. Skull cleared his throat and turned his attention back toward the road.
The convoy continued forward. After crossing several blocks, Lucius suddenly leaned closer to the window and his eyes locked onto a particular building.
"There."
The driver slowed down slightly and Lucius pointed through the window. "That is where I stay with my sister."
Sergeant Skull immediately straightened. "You heard him. Stop the car!"
The military SUV screeched to a halt beside the damaged building. The other military vehicles forming the convoy quickly stopped as well, their soldiers glancing around the area while maintaining a cautious perimeter.
Before anyone could say anything, Lucius opened the door, jumped out and ran toward the building. Sergeant Skull watched his retreating figure with a strange look in his eyes.
"Chief," Private William said from the driver’s seat, "have you noticed he looks a little too well-fed for a Dreg?"
Skull frowned. The observation had not escaped him.
Dregs were usually pale and severely malnourished. Most had sunken cheeks and thin limbs, their skeletal frames visible beneath their skin. Lucius, however, looked completely different.
His complexion was healthy, his body appeared strong and his muscles were visible beneath his sack clothing.
In fact, he looked healthier than many people who had spent their entire lives living in the safer districts of the capital.
"Well, he still has the collar," Private Luke said from the passenger seat before Skull could respond. "It is safe to assume it has something to do with his Talent. You know how strange Guardian Talents can be."
Sergeant Skull’s eyes narrowed. He continued watching the direction Lucius had disappeared.
"I think that brat might actually be a Specialist," he muttered.
Both Private Luke and Private William immediately turned around.
"What?" They spoke at almost the same time.
Skull did not take back his speculation.
"Didn’t you see what happened in the mine?" he asked. "The way he absorbed the shots from the Ain-Z28? I have never seen a Guardian directly absorb aether like that. Direct exposure is usually toxic, even for Guardians. Even the surrounding aether fog in that cave seemed like fresh air though him."
The two Privates stared at him and their expressions changed. Both men began grinning, their eyes practically glowed with excitement.
Specialists were the rarest type of Guardian. They were also often the most unpredictable. While the other four categories generally followed established patterns, Specialists possessed abilities that could completely ignore conventional classifications. Some Specialists were weak. Others became monsters capable of changing the course of battles alone.
If Lucius turned out to be a Specialist, the soldiers who discovered him would definitely receive recognition.
Private Luke was already imagining his future and Private William looked as though he had just won a lottery.
Sergeant Skull immediately snarled and grabbed both of them by the ears. "You greedy bastards! Don’t count your chicks until the eggs hatch!"
"Ow! Chief!"
"It’s just speculation," Skull continued while pulling their ears. "We still need to take him to the Bureau of Talents and have his Talent officially evaluated before we know anything!"
The two men immediately stopped smiling and Skull released them. Both Privates rubbed their ears while glancing resentfully at their superior.
Meanwhile, Lucius had already entered the building. He ran up the flight of deteriorating stairs, carefully avoiding the sections where the concrete had cracked apart.
In this world, there is only one person Lucius cares about and that is his sister.
Lia was not actually Lucius’s biological sister. She was the daughter of his parents’ close friend. Her parents had died over a decade earlier, leaving her alone. Lucius’s parents had taken her in, and the two had grown up together.
By the time Lucius’s parents died from aether Sclerosis a few years later, they only had each other. Now he was finally leaving this wretched place for a better life, there is no way he could leave her behind.
Lucius soon reached the familiar room.
One of the walls had partially collapsed, allowing sunlight to pour into the room. The light revealed the poverty that the darkness normally hid. Several pieces of cardboard had been arranged across the floor as beds. A pile of empty water bottles was clustered in one corner, while several old containers were stacked beside a rusted cooking pot.
Lucius’s chest tightened. "Lia!"
He walked toward a partially broken wall. There was a narrow gap between the remaining pieces of concrete, barely large enough for a person to squeeze through.
Lucius quickly crouched and looked inside.
Lia was pressed against the wall, hiding inside the narrow space with her knees pulled toward her chest. Her head slowly lifted and her sunken eyes widened upon realizing Lucius had returned far too early.
"Big brother?" she muttered.
Despite being the same age, Lia had always called him that.
Unlike male Dregs, female Dregs were generally assigned cooking duties, which were rotated between groups. Their lives were not easy, but they usually faced fewer physically demanding assignments than the men.
Still, special days like this created a different danger.
When Lia had no assigned work, she often hid inside abandoned sections of buildings to avoid other Dregs. Too many men were hungry, desperate, and sexually deprived. A girl without family protection could easily become a target. He had killed one at the age of fifteen to save her mid rape.
Lia continued staring at him and she could tell something was wrong. Her eyes slowly moved across his healthy face that has gained some color. He was completely different from the man she waved goodbye this morning.
How could someone change so much overnight?
Lia slowly crawled out of the narrow hiding place but Lucius reached forward and effortlessly grabbed her around the waist before lifting her through the gap.
Her eyes widened and Lucius himself barely noticed what he had done. The original Lucius had never been this strong. Yet, lifting Lia felt effortless right now.
He set her down as Lia stared at him. If she had not been severely malnourished, her face might have turned red.
Instead, she slowly raised her hands and Lucius allowed her to touch him. Her fingers traced the edge of his face, almost as though she was trying to confirm he was real. Her hand moved down his throat before reaching his chest.
Then she stopped and her eyes widened at the X-shaped scar.
It had not been there before.
Lia’s fingers trembled slightly as she touched the edges of the wound.
"What happened? ... Are you okay?" she asked.
The concern in her voice was genuine. Lucius felt something strange tighten inside his chest.
He smiled. "I got a Talent."
Lia froze and Lucius nodded.
"And we are heading to the big city."