The man in the brown shirt was following them.
Kade confirmed it after the third turn.
They had crossed two streets, passed a crowded bus stop, and doubled back through a narrow passage between shops.
Every time Kade looked behind him, the man appeared somewhere in the crowd.
Never too close.
Never too far.
Always watching.
"Tobi."
"Yes?"
"We have a problem."
"Another one?"
"The man from the buka."
Tobi glanced backward.
"Brown shirt?"
"Yes."
"He’s been following us since the junction."
Kade stopped.
"You noticed?"
"Of course."
"Why didn’t you say anything?"
Tobi shrugged.
"I thought he was following you."
"He is!"
"Then I was correct."
Kade stared at him.
"One day, your mouth will get us killed."
"Not before your mysterious ghost-eating hobby."
They turned into a busy electronics market.
Generators roared outside repair shops. Traders shouted prices. A young apprentice hurried past carrying three television screens stacked against his chest.
Kade slowed.
Crowds were useful.
A supernatural creature might ignore witnesses, but a human pursuer would have to be more careful.
At least, he hoped so.
The System flickered.
[SPIRITUAL SIGNATURE DETECTED.]
[SOURCE: APPROACHING.]
Kade looked around.
"Analyze."
[MULTIPLE SPIRITUAL SIGNATURES PRESENT.]
[TARGET SELECTION REQUIRED.]
"Which one is following us?"
[INTENT CANNOT BE DETERMINED.]
"Naturally."
He glanced behind him.
The man in brown had disappeared.
Kade didn’t feel relieved.
He felt watched.
They found temporary shelter inside a small phone-repair shop.
The owner, a heavyset man wearing glasses with one cracked lens, looked up from a dismantled phone.
"What do you want?"
"Charging," Tobi answered.
The man pointed toward a socket.
"Five hundred."
"For one phone?"
"For electricity."
Tobi opened his mouth.
Kade handed over the money before the argument could begin.
They sat on a wooden bench near the entrance.
Kade connected his dead phone.
Nothing happened.
The repairman glanced at it.
"Bring it."
He examined the device, pressed the power button, then connected it to another charger.
Still nothing.
"Board problem."
"It was working yesterday," Kade said.
"Yesterday is not today."
Tobi nodded solemnly.
"Very philosophical."
The repairman ignored him.
Then his gaze settled on Kade’s shoulder.
His expression changed.
"Where did you get that mark?"
Kade went still.
The black tracking symbol had faded.
His shirt covered it.
There was no way the man should have seen it.
"What mark?"
The repairman removed his glasses.
For a moment, Kade saw something impossible.
A faint amber light burned beneath the man’s skin.
It gathered around his chest.
Dense.
Circular.
An Ase Core.
The System responded.
[CULTIVATOR DETECTED.]
[REALM: SPARK.]
[HOSTILE INTENT: NOT CONFIRMED.]
Kade stared.
The repairman noticed.
His eyes narrowed.
"You can see it?"
Kade said nothing.
The man stood.
"Come here."
Tobi immediately rose.
"We’re actually leaving."
"Not you." The repairman pointed at Kade. "Him."
Kade considered running.
Then he looked toward the street.
The man in brown might still be outside.
At least this cultivator hadn’t attacked them.
Yet. Find the original chapter at g.com.
"What do you want?"
The repairman studied him.
"Show me your hand."
"Why?"
"Because I want to know whether you’re dangerous."
Kade nearly laughed.
He had spent the entire morning wondering the same thing.
He extended his hand.
The repairman touched two fingers to his wrist.
Warmth spread beneath Kade’s skin.
A faint amber thread appeared between them.
Then it snapped.
The repairman recoiled.
"What?"
Kade withdrew his hand.
"Something wrong?"
The man stared at him.
"Where is your Core?"
Kade swallowed.
"I don’t have one."
"Impossible."
"That’s what everybody says."
The repairman tried again.
This time, the amber light around his fingers brightened.
A blue window appeared.
[EXTERNAL ASE PROBE DETECTED.]
[ASE CORE: ABSENT.]
[WARNING: HOST SPIRITUAL RESERVE MAY BE EXPOSED.]
Kade pulled away.
"Enough."
The repairman stepped backward.
His face had gone pale.
"You have no Core."
"I already told you."
"But you can perceive Ase."
Kade said nothing.
The man’s gaze sharpened.
"And something is moving inside you."
Tobi stepped between them.
"Sir, with all due respect, we came to charge a phone."
The repairman ignored him.
"What House are you from?"
Kade frowned.
"House?"
"Your family. Your teachers. Who trained you?"
"Nobody."
The man stared at him.
Then laughed.
Not kindly.
"A Coreless boy claiming spiritual perception without training."
He shook his head.
"Either you’re lying, or someone has done something terrible to you."
Kade felt the words settle in his chest.
Coreless.
He’d heard similar insults before.
Powerless.
Empty.
Defective.
But this man wasn’t mocking him.
He sounded frightened.
"What’s an Ase Core?" Tobi asked.
The repairman glanced at him.
"You don’t know?"
"No."
"Then you shouldn’t be here."
He turned back to Kade.
"Every cultivator needs somewhere to hold Ase. The Core gathers it, refines it, and allows the body to use it safely."
Kade thought of the nineteen units inside him.
"Can someone store Ase without one?"
The man’s expression hardened.
"Not naturally."
"What happens if they try?"
"Best case? The energy disperses."
"And worst?"
"The body tears itself apart."
Silence.
Tobi looked at Kade.
Kade looked away.
The System appeared.
[HOST CONDITION: STABLE.]
[ASE CORE: ABSENT.]
[SPIRITUAL ENERGY STORAGE METHOD: DIVINE DEVOURER SYSTEM.]
Kade read the message twice.
So that was the difference.
Other cultivators stored power inside their bodies.
His System stored what he consumed.
But it didn’t explain why his body could survive the process.
Or how long that would remain true.
The repairman returned his glasses to his face.
"Listen carefully, boy. If someone offers to awaken your Core, refuse."
Kade frowned.
"Why?"
"Because you don’t have a dormant Core."
The man lowered his voice.
"You have nothing for them to awaken."
They left ten minutes later.
Kade’s phone remained dead.
The repairman refused further payment.
He also refused to answer any more questions.
Before they departed, however, he gave Kade one warning.
"Stay away from anyone who asks to examine your spiritual channels."
The man answered with four words.
"Some people collect abnormalities."
Now, walking through the market, Kade couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Tobi glanced at him.
"You’ve gone quiet."
"I’m thinking."
"Dangerous activity."
Kade ignored him.
The repairman’s explanation had confirmed something important.
He wasn’t simply an unusually weak cultivator.
He was fundamentally different.
And if people collected abnormalities, someone might consider him valuable.
Not as a person.
As something to study.
Or sell.
His stomach tightened.
A familiar whisper stirred.
Hungry.
Kade stopped.
Ahead, a young woman stood beside a stall selling phone accessories.
A faint blue light surrounded her chest.
Her Ase Core.
The System identified it automatically.
[ASE SIGNATURE DETECTED.]
Kade could feel its warmth.
His mouth went dry.
For one terrible second, the energy looked almost edible.
He clenched his fists.
"No."
Tobi turned.
"What?"
"Nothing."
The whisper persisted.
Take it.
Kade stepped backward.
He concentrated on the traffic.
The shouting traders.
The smell of hot engine oil.
Anything ordinary.
Anything that belonged to him.
Slowly, the sensation faded.
[FOREIGN INSTINCT SUPPRESSED.]
[WARNING: SUPPRESSION IS TEMPORARY.]
Kade exhaled.
Tobi watched him carefully.
"That hunger again?"
Kade nodded.
"Yes."
Tobi looked toward the woman.
Then back at him.
"Can you control it?"
Kade hesitated.
"I did this time."
Tobi didn’t smile.
"Then we make sure there’s a next time."
Kade looked at him.
Before he could answer, someone shouted behind them.
"Hey! You two!"
They turned.
The repairman stood outside his shop.
He was pointing toward the opposite end of the market.
"Don’t go that way!"
Kade followed his gaze.
The man in the brown shirt stood beside a parked motorcycle.
Watching.
Then the stranger smiled.
He raised his hand.
Between his fingers was a small silver object.
The split-eye symbol.
Kade’s blood went cold.
The man closed his fist.
And vanished.
Not into the crowd.
Not behind a vehicle.
One moment he stood there.
The next, he was gone.
The System flashed.
[CONCEALMENT TECHNIQUE DETECTED.]
[ANALYSIS FAILED: TARGET NO LONGER OBSERVABLE.]
Kade stared at the empty space.
Tobi swallowed.
"Please tell me he entered a shop."
"He didn’t."
"Wonderful."
Behind them, the repairman approached.
His face was grim.
"Whatever trouble you’re carrying," he said, "it has found you."
Kade looked at him.
"Who was that?"
The repairman hesitated.
Then glanced at the folded paper protruding from Kade’s pocket.
He saw the silver marking.
His expression changed.
"Where did you get that?"
Kade covered the paper.
"Why?"
The repairman lowered his voice.
"Because that symbol belongs to people who aren’t supposed to exist."
Kade felt his pulse quicken.
"What people?"
The man looked toward the place where the stranger had disappeared.
Then he said:
"People who know how to hide from the Seven Houses."