The leader of the cell-block thugs, a hulking man named Jax with a half-shattered Earth Core, didn't wait for an invitation. He lunged through the cell door, the sharpened rebar whistling through the damp air.
To a normal human, the move was a blur. To Reed, it felt like the world had dipped into thick syrup.
[WARNING: HOST PHYSICAL INTEGRITY AT RISK]
[ACTIVATING VOID INSTINCTS...]
Reed didn't jump back. He didn't even raise his hands to defend himself. He simply slid. It wasn't a step; it was as if the space he occupied suddenly ceased to be, and he reappeared two inches to the left. The shiv passed through the air where his heart had been a millisecond before.
"What the—?" Jax stumbled, his momentum carrying him deep into the cell. He spun around, his eyes glowing with that sickly, flickering yellow light. "Hold him down! The brat is twitchy!"
The two other thugs closed in. One swung a heavy chain, the iron links rattling like a death knell. The other reached out with hands that were beginning to skin over with a layer of rough, magical stone. Reed felt the cold whirlpool in his chest reach a boiling point. It wasn't anger; it was a hunger.
[MISSION: THE FIRST SUBTRACTION]
[INITIATING 'GRASP OF NON-EXISTENCE' (TRIAL MODE)]
[TARGET DETECTED: EARTH CORE FRAGMENT (RANK 4)]
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO ERASE THE THREAT?]
Yes, Reed thought.
As the man with the stone hands reached for Reed's throat, Reed met him halfway. He grabbed the man's wrist. The moment their skin touched, the screaming started. It wasn't a scream of pain—it was pure, existential horror. Where Reed's fingers touched the stone-coated skin, the stone simply... vanished. Then the skin beneath it turned a translucent grey, then transparent, and then it was gone.
"My arm!" the thug shrieked, falling to his knees. "My arm is gone! I can't feel my arm!"
He wasn't bleeding. Where his forearm had been, there was now just a smooth, hollow space in reality.
Jax froze, his sharpened rebar trembling. "What did you do? What kind of freak are you? You're a Null!"
"I don't have a Core," Reed said, his voice sounding like stones grinding together in a deep well. "I have something else."
Reed turned his gaze toward Jax. The air began to warp. Shadows from the corners of the cell flowed into him, wrapping around his limbs like liquid silk.
[SUBTRACTION IN PROGRESS...]
[STOLEN ENERGY DETECTED. CONVERTING TO VOID ESSENCE.]
Reed felt a surge of power. It was cold and intoxicating. He realized he didn't need to eat the slop the guards provided; he could feed on the energy of his enemies. The man with the chain swung wildly, but Reed simply swiped his hand through the air. A wave of shimmering, violet-black distortion rippled outward. When it hit the iron chain, the metal dissolved into fine, black dust.
The chain-wielder bolted, screaming for the guards, leaving Jax alone. Jax backed away until his spine hit the stone wall. "Stay away! You can have everything! Just stay away!"
"You wanted the coin," Reed said, his eyes becoming infinite black holes. "But the coin belongs to the Void. And the Void is hungry."
Reed placed his palm against the stone wall next to Jax's head.
Silence.
A perfect, circular hole three feet wide appeared in the wall. The solid stone had been erased. No rubble. Just a void. Jax collapsed, sobbing.
[MISSION COMPLETE: THE FIRST SUBTRACTION]
[REWARD GRANTED: ACTIVE SKILL - GRASP OF NON-EXISTENCE (LEVEL 1)]
[RANK UP: TIER 4 (UNRANKED) -> TIER 4 (EVOLVING)]
Reed's eyes returned to normal. He felt exhausted, but the hunger was quiet. He looked at Jax. "Leave. If I see you in this cell again, I'll erase more than just a wall."
Jax scrambled out. Reed sat back down, staring at the impossible hole. Suddenly, a soft clapping sound echoed from the hallway. A figure stepped into the dim light. It was a girl in the silver-and-black uniform of the Shadow Faction.
"That was quite a performance, 'Error'," she said, her voice dangerous and smooth. "The Pillar said you had zero energy. It seems the Pillar is as stupid as the Instructors."
Reed narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"
"A friend," she lied, her smile not reaching her eyes. "My name is Nyx, and I think you and I are going to be very busy tomorrow."
She tossed a package of fresh bread through the bars. "Eat up, Reed Blackwell. Kaelen Voss asked for you specifically for 'Combat Practice' tomorrow. He wants to show the school how he handles a 'glitch'."
She vanished into the darkness. Reed took a bite of the bread, feeling the cold tingle of the Void in his veins.
Let him come, Reed thought. I wonder how much 'Fire' the Void can swallow.