All Chapters of System Within: Rise Of Frank Williams: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
10 chapters
CHAPTER 1: THE THING IN THE BOTTLE
Rain pelted the half-collapsed rooftop, dripping through holes that turned the dusty floor into patches of dark mud.Frank Williams sat on a broken wooden beam, chewing the last piece of his biscuit. The wind outside howled like a starving animal.He whispered to himself, “Another day, another storm. Guess even the sky hates me.”A bottle rolled near his foot, clinking softly. He picked it up, frowned, then sighed. “Empty. Just like me,” he muttered. “Talking to yourself again, Frank?” a mocking voice called from the doorway.Three silhouettes stood there Roderick and his gang, faces half-lit by lightning. Roderick smirked. “What’s the genius up to this time? Counting raindrops?” Frank didn’t answer. He’d learned silence hurt them more than words.Roderick kicked over his meager belongings a torn blanket, a notebook filled with strange sketches.“What’s this crap? Still dreaming of being somebody?”Frank stared at the ground. “Dreaming’s free. You wouldn’t understand.”The gang laughe
CHAPTER 2: THE FIRST MISSION
The night hadn’t ended for Frank Williams. He lay on the cold floor, breathing fast, watching the last pulses of blue light fade beneath his skin. The whisper in his head was gone, but the silence felt heavier.He sat up slowly. “Luna?”, No response. “Luna, where are you?” Still nothing.His chest glowed faintly right where the creature had entered him. He pressed his hand there and felt warmth, almost like a heartbeat. “Don’t tell me… you’re inside me now.”A cold digital hum filled the air. System Online. User identity confirmed: Frank Williams. Status: Weak but functional. Frank jumped. “Okay, that’s new. Who said that?”System response: Celestial Echo Interface. Your guardian, guide, and evaluator. He blinked. “Evaluator? Of what?” Your potential.Frank rubbed his temples. “This can’t be real. Maybe I’m hallucinating. Maybe that hit on the head finally did it.” Doubt detected. Emotion intensity: 72%. Initiating calibration task.“What task?” Mission 001: Prove Your Worth.Object
CHAPTER 3: THE CLOAKED HUNTERS
Frank’s heart slammed against his ribs as the water’s golden glow spread wider, distorting the air.Three cloaked figures stepped forward, their robes rippling though there was no breeze. He whispered, “System… what are they?”"Unknown entities. Origin: Extra-dimensional. Energy signature matches the one detected during Luna’s integration."“So, they’re after her?”"Correction: They’re after you."Frank’s fists clenched. “Wonderful.”The first figure spoke, a voice that sounded both male and female, echoing like a broken bell. “Release the fragment, human.”Frank’s throat went dry. “Fragment?”The figure tilted its head. “Do not feign ignorance. You carry what belongs to the Ascended Court. Hand it over, and your death will be painless.”Frank swallowed. “Yeah, no thanks. I’ve had enough people telling me to die lately.”Another figure raised a hand, and the air shimmered. A wave of gold energy shot forward.Frank dove aside, but it wasn’t fast enough. The blast tore through the wal
CHAPTER 4: THE KING’S DECREE
Morning came red and loud. Bells clanged through the capital like warnings from the heavens. Frank woke on the floor of an abandoned inn, muscles aching, mind still humming with echoes of last night’s battle.He whispered, “System… status?”[Vitals stable. Energy reserve: 62%. Warning: Multiple distress signals detected across the city.]“Distress? From what?”[Royal announcement in progress. Source: Central Plaza.] He pulled his hood up and slipped into the streets. The plaza was overflowing , merchants, soldiers, beggars, everyone pressed close around the marble stage. At its center stood King Alaric Vorn, draped in gold armor, his crown glinting beneath the rising sun. His voice boomed across the square. “Men of Draefen!” he declared. “Our numbers dwindle. The frontlines devour our strength while our homes overflow with widows. I will not watch my kingdom rot.” The crowd murmured uneasily. Alaric’s eyes, cold and fever-bright, swept the masses. “From this day forth, every man
CHAPTER 5: THE VAULT OF SECRETS
Rain lashed against the marble walls of the capital that night, turning the streets into rivers of silver and shadow.Frank and Elara crouched beneath the ruined archway of the old cathedral, soaked and breathless. Frank whispered, “You sure this is the way in?”Elara nodded. “Every secret has a crack. The king’s vault is below the royal chapel. There’s a tunnel that leads straight under it.” “Convenient,” he muttered. “Not convenient,” she replied, eyes glinting. “Cursed.” [System Analysis: High concentration of unknown energy signatures ahead.]Frank frowned. “System’s nervous. That’s never good.”Elara smirked faintly. “Get used to it. The Vault feeds on fear.”They slipped into the tunnel , stone steps spiraling downward, the air thick with dust and age. The deeper they went, the louder the hum beneath their feet grew. Elara whispered, “That sound,do you hear it?” “Yeah,” Frank said. “It’s alive.”[Correction: It’s resonating. Frequencies match System architecture.]“What does
CHAPTER 6 : THE AWAKENING BELOW
The earth rumbled beneath the capital, deep and endless. Every tower groaned, every bell trembled.Inside the shattered vault, golden dust hung in the air like dying stars.Elara coughed through the smoke. “Franktalk to me. Please.” Frank stood motionless in the center of the room, eyes burning with molten light. The air shimmered around him, alive with static.“System?” he whispered. “Are you still there?”"Yes… and no."The voice was different, slower, deeper, as if something ancient now shared the same breath.“Frank,” Elara said carefully, stepping closer. “You’re scaring me.”He looked at her, his gaze unfocused. “It’sloud. Too many voices. I can hear them all.”"Residual data of past users. Systems merged. Memory corruption detected."Elara frowned. “You absorbed them… all the previous hosts?”"Correction: They are not gone. They are awake."Frank clutched his head. “They’re inside mewhisperingshouting""Warning: Neural overload imminent."“Stop it!” he yelled. The golden light
CHAPTER 7: THE KING’S BARGAIN
Lightning tore across the sky as Frank and Elara burst through the shattered palace gates.The once-glorious halls were chaos,guards running, banners burning, marble cracking under the weight of golden light leaking from the floors.Frank’s system flickered, its voice fractured and cold.[Warning: Root influence spreading across royal network. Defensive capacity reduced to 11%.]Elara drew her blades, scanning the corridor. “He’ll be in the throne room. That’s where he always hides when the world burns.”“Sounds like a king,” Frank muttered.They sprinted past bodies of fallen guards and glowing veins of energy crawling up the palace walls like vines. Every step deeper made the air heavier, hotter.At last, the massive golden doors of the throne room loomed before them, half-melted, half-alive.Frank hesitated. “You sure about this?”“No,” she said. “But we’re out of options.”She pushed the doors open.The throne room was no longer a room,it was a cathedral of light. The ceiling was
CHAPTER 8: THE VESSEL ASCENDS
The palace trembled like a living thing. Cracks split the marble pillars. Torches flickered blue. Every windowpane shimmered as if the air itself was holding its breath. “Frank!” Elara’s voice echoed across the throne hall. “Fight it,please!”He stood at the center of the devastation, back arched, arms trembling as streaks of light pulsed beneath his skin,gold and black interwoven like veins of fire and shadow. His eyes, once gentle and curious, were mirrors now. No pupils, no warmth,just reflections of the world he was about to unmake. “Elara…” His voice was layered, two tones,one human, one ancient. “Why do you resist evolution?”“Because it’s not you talking!” she shouted. “It’s that thing inside you!”The throne behind him collapsed under invisible pressure. The Root’s whisper slithered through his mind, a sound no one else could hear. Merge completely. End the chaos. Become what they fear.Frank gritted his teeth, holding his head. “I can hear everything,their thoughts, their f
Chapter 9: Ashes of the Fallen Sky
The world was still burning when Frank opened his eyes.Silence stretched for miles. The air smelled of iron and dust. What was once the grand city of Lyrendale now lay in ruins—a vast graveyard of stone and smoke. The palace that had ascended now hung above the horizon in shattered fragments, frozen in the sky like constellations torn apart.Frank stood at the heart of it all, barefoot on the ashen ground, untouched by the fire.“Where…” His voice came out strange—flat, layered, too calm. “Where is everyone?”The Root inside him pulsed softly, like a second heartbeat. They are part of you now. You’ve transcended them.Frank’s gaze drifted over the destruction. “No… I didn’t want this.”You wanted to be seen. Now, the world looks only at you.He took a step forward. Each movement bent the air, rippling like heat above a desert. In his reflection on a pool of molten glass, he saw not a man—but something vast, half-shadow, half-light, his veins glowing faintly through transparent skin.
Chapter 10: The Whispering Light
Darkness wasn’t the absence of light anymore. It was light, inverted, folded, turned inward until it burned without color.Frank opened his eyes into it and realized there were no eyes to open. He floated, weightless, surrounded by pulsing threads of gold that stretched into infinity. Every heartbeat echoed like a drum in a hollow world. “Where… am I?”His own voice came back to him, distorted. “Where… am I?”Then another voice answered, smoother, colder, familiar. “Inside. Where you belong.”“Root.”“You broke the order. You turned your power against me.”“I tried to fix what I broke.”“You failed.”The light flared, showing flashes of memory, the palace, the people, Elara reaching out, the city falling. Then everything went black again. Frank whispered, “Is this death?”“This is the consequence.”A shape began to form from the darkness, human at first, then shifting, stretching, too tall, too fluid. It wore his face, but the eyes glowed white. “You’re me,” Frank said quietly.“I am