The morning air inside the Hunter Federation training complex was thick with tension.
Aiden had been summoned before the director again. He didn't protest. By now, he understood that refusal was pointless. Every step he took, every breath he drew, was monitored.
Hana was waiting outside the containment wing, arms crossed. She didn't smile. She rarely did.
"You're late," she said.
"I'm not," he muttered, though the lie felt irrelevant.
"Regardless," she said, eyes narrowing slightly, "the director wants to observe your first controlled activation. Don't embarrass yourself or the system will punish you."
Aiden's stomach tightened. The words carried more weight than she could imagine. Punish… control… restraint. All of them spelled one thing: danger. Not just to him, but to everyone around him.
The director's observation room was stark. A single S-rank Hunter stood beside her, clipboard in hand, while holographic projectors displayed layered readouts of his vitals, mana flow, and the faint outline of the black interface pulsing over him.
"You will be exposed to a controlled threat," the director said. "Your objective is simple: survive while keeping output below the threshold. Do not interfere with other agents unless necessary."
Aiden's jaw clenched. Survive. That was all he had ever been allowed to do.
The system pulsed faintly inside his mind.
[Power Containment: 0.01% — Restraint Active]
[Authority Fragment Dormant — Potential Detected]
Dormant. The word echoed in him, subtle but electrifying. Dormant, yet capable of destruction beyond comprehension.
The training simulation began.
A large-scale dungeon replica filled the chamber: shifting walls, floating platforms, and spectral enemies designed to test Rankers' skills. The "monsters" were clearly artificial, but even so, their mana signatures made Aiden's chest tighten.
They moved unnaturally fast. Small, jagged forms darted in unpredictable patterns, but for the S-rank Hunters, it was routine. They dispatched the illusions with precise strikes, leaving behind bursts of harmless energy.
Aiden remained in the center of the chamber, waiting. He didn't have a weapon. He didn't need one yet.
The system's interface pulsed again:
[Stimulus Detected Threat Level Moderate]
And then, it happened.
One of the spectral forms shifted differently than the others. Its energy flickered, reacting to him as if it were alive. Aiden's pulse accelerated. His muscles tensed. The black interface flared faintly.
[Authority Fragment Activation Partial]
Pain flared behind his eyes, sharp and brief. The world slowed. Not everything. Just the movement of the spectral entity nearest him.
Time stretched around it. He could see the trajectory of its strike before it happened, the angles of its approach, the energy lines marking its path.
He didn't move. He didn't need to.
The entity collided with an invisible barrier and shattered harmlessly.
The system's voice was calm. Cold.
[Containment Stable: Output 0.01%]
Aiden staggered. He felt a stirring in his chest not pain, not excitement, but clarity. Something ancient and vast, coiled and waiting inside him.
Hana approached cautiously. "Did you feel it?" she asked, voice low.
"I… don't know," Aiden admitted. "Something… moved."
"Good," she said. "Or dangerous. Depends on how the system reacts."
Aiden frowned. "It's not supposed to happen."
"Nothing about you is supposed to happen," Hana replied. Her words weren't cruel. They were truth. "You're classified as an anomaly. You will always be watched, restrained, and feared. And yet… you exist."
Her gaze lingered on him for a moment longer before she turned away.
The director stepped forward, scanning the projections. "Partial activation confirmed," she said. "Output remained within threshold. Containment remains stable. You've passed the first observation."
Aiden's shoulders slumped. Passed? He hadn't done anything. All he had done was… exist.
"Do you understand why restraint is necessary?" the director continued. "Even a partial surge like that could have destroyed this entire simulation if uncontrolled. You are… far beyond normal limits. That is the danger."
Aiden's stomach tightened. "Limits. Right. I'm a walking hazard."
"Yes," she said softly, "and we are here to keep you contained. Not trained. Contained."
The black interface pulsed faintly, almost like it was agreeing.
[Containment Integrity: 100%]
[Authority Fragment Growth Detected 0.02% Potential]
Hours passed. Simulated enemies came and went, growing in number and complexity. Every time the Fragment stirred, Aiden felt the surge within him. Each time, he forced it down.
He began to notice something new: awareness. The system didn't just suppress him. It learned from him. It adjusted. Sometimes it dampened the flow before he even felt it. Sometimes it allowed the Fragment to stir, teasing him with glimpses of power.
He clenched his fists. He hated it. And yet, a strange satisfaction coursed through him. I exist. I survived. I have power even the system fears.
By the time the simulation ended, the projection panels flickered off. The chamber returned to normal. Aiden's body was trembling not from exertion, but from the strain of controlling something he barely understood.
Hana approached again, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're learning," she said. "More than the system expected. That's… good. Or terrifying. Depends on how you use it."
Aiden didn't respond. He only stared at the empty chamber. For the first time, he realized how small the world truly was. Not because he was small, but because he could break it. And the system, the world, even his so-called allies, could do nothing to stop it except watch.
And they would. Always.
That night, in the containment wing, Aiden lay awake again. The system's interface hovered above him, black and silent.
[Observation: Ongoing]
[Authority Fragment: Dormant Partial Activation Logged]
He let the numbers wash over him, understanding fully what it meant: he could destroy cities, but he could not act. He could save lives, but only if permitted.
The system was not a friend.
The world was not a friend.
And yet, he was alive.
For now.
And for the first time since the Abyss Gate, Aiden understood something terrifying and exhilarating.
He was not just surviving anymore. He was beginning.