All Chapters of System Activated: Rise of Liam Mercer: Chapter 1
- Chapter 7
7 chapters
Chapter 1: The Awakening of Liam Mercer
Liam Mercer ran. His lungs burned; every breath scraped raw against his throat. The parcel pressed tight against his chest was slick with blood, his blood, and heavier than it had been ten minutes ago. Boots splashed behind him, four, maybe five men. “Stop the bloody courier!” someone shouted.“Not a chance.” Liam vaulted a toppled rubbish bin, almost slipping on the wet asphalt. His sneakers, soaked and tearing, slapped against puddles that reflected the neon glow of Soho’s closed clubs. A car horn blared; tires hissed past. The storm muffled everything except his heartbeat.He ducked into an alley, chest heaving. Water streamed down his face, tasting of metal and exhaust. He pressed his palm against the wound at his ribs, warm, slick, still bleeding.“Marcus,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “You set me up, you bastard.”The memory hit him like the rain: a normal night, a normal delivery. Marcus Vane’s voice over the headset, “Quick drop-off, easy tip.”Easy, his arse. He’d wa
Chapter 2: The Hunt Begins
Liam Mercer stepped out of the ruined laundrette, breath steaming in the cold. The glow under his sleeve still pulsed faintly, matching the thud of his heart. His clothes clung heavy with rain and blood, but his mind felt sharper than it ever had.The city looked different now, every gust of wind whispered, every light flickered like a signal. He could sense the rhythm of the air itself, as though London had veins and he could feel them beating. “System,” he said under his breath, not sure if he was mad or chosen. “You still there?”[Online.][Awaiting directive.]He swallowed. “Locate Marcus Vane.”A pause, then: [Insufficient data. Nearest trace: 1.3 kilometers, Docklands district.]“The docks,” Liam muttered. “Of course it’s the bloody docks.”He started walking. Every step hurt, but he didn’t slow. The wind seemed to part for him, sweeping debris from his path. Sirens wailed somewhere uptown, maybe for the wreckage he’d left behind. “Marcus set me up. He knew what was in that p
Chapter 3: The Acolytes’ Pursuit
Rain sliced across Liam’s face as he sprinted along the empty Docklands pier, water sloshing through his shoes. The storm had not relented; if anything, it had grown angrier, thrashing against him like some divine judge. Every gust of wind felt alive now, twisting around him, lifting his soaked coat, tugging at his hair, whispering promises he didn’t fully understand.The cloaked Acolytes had vanished into the mist after his first strike, but he could feel them. Every movement of air carried their intent, subtle distortions that tickled the edge of his awareness. “System,” he muttered, voice cutting through the roar of thunder. “Track them.”[Target signatures detected: five entities. Current vectors: converging. Distance: 400 meters.]Liam’s teeth clenched. He pressed off a crate, landing with a wet slap, sprinting toward the nearest street. The wind surged, lifting puddles in swirling patterns behind him, carrying shards of metal and splintered wood. It was instinct now, reflexi
Chapter 4: Training and Trials
The storm had faded into a dull drizzle by the early hours of morning. Liam Mercer sat on the edge of the crumbling pier, legs dangling over the black water of the Thames. The docks were silent now, abandoned except for the occasional creak of rusted metal in the wind. His clothes clung to him like a second skin, cold and heavy, but the adrenaline that had kept him alive for hours still thrummed through his veins.He flexed his fingers. The faint glow of the mark on his arm pulsed softly, almost like a heartbeat. The wind responded subtly, rippling around him, as if testing his command.“Alright,” he muttered, voice rough from shouting and storming. “Let’s see what you can really do.”[Wind Mastery: Basic Control Active. Sub-routines Available: Air Strike, Gale Step, Cyclone Shield.]The voice of the System in his head was calm, mechanical, yet threaded with an almost imperceptible tone of approval. He inhaled sharply, reaching out with his mind. A breeze tickled his face, then swe
Chapter 5: First Major Confrontation
The night hung heavy over London, fog curling around the streetlights like smoke. Liam Mercer’s boots slapped against the slick rooftop of a derelict warehouse, rain soaking him to the bone. His chest still pulsed with the aftershock of the previous day’s training, veins glowing faintly blue beneath wet fabric.Below, the Thames hissed as water hit the embankments. Shadows shifted along the docks, more than the usual drunks and stray cats. Liam’s instincts, sharpened by the System, told him: they were coming. He inhaled, letting the wind curl around him. A gust lifted a broken metal sign and hurled it toward the river. Acolytes moved beneath it, shadows fluid, coordinated, striking silently. “Show yourselves!” Liam yelled. “I’m not hiding anymore!”A chill, unnatural wind answered him. Five figures emerged from the fog, levitating slightly above the wet cobblestones, sigils glowing along their robes in crimson and gold.“Bearer of the Wind,” one intoned, voice echoing like thunder
Chapter 6: Secrets of the Divine Houses
The city was quieter now, the storm having passed, leaving the streets glistening under scattered streetlights. Liam Mercer followed the cloaked mentor through narrow alleyways and hidden passageways of London, every step silent, purposeful. The docks behind him were abandoned, the echo of last night’s battle fading into memory. “Where are we going?” Liam asked, voice low, still carrying the rough edge of adrenaline.“To a place few have ever seen,” the mentor replied, hooded face unreadable. “A place where the Divine Houses maintain their secrets. Where power is cataloged, measured, and distributed.”Liam frowned. “You mean, like a library?”The mentor shook their head. “More than that. It is a vault. A nexus of knowledge and power. Core Fragments, elemental hierarchies, forbidden rituals, all here. But the Houses guard it jealously. Few who enter leave unchanged.”“Great,” Liam thought. “Just what I need, more rules, more traps, more people trying to kill me.”The mentor led him t
Chapter 7: Rise of the Underworld
London’s night was heavy with fog, a pale glow of streetlights cutting through the mist. Liam Mercer crouched atop the roof of an abandoned nightclub, his eyes fixed on the figure below.He had been tracking him for days, a man known only as Kael Draven, a minor warlord in the underworld who had recently acquired supernatural enhancements from the Divine Houses. Rumors said he had taken Core Fragments for himself, bending their power to his will. And he had crossed Liam first.“You don’t know me,” Liam muttered, wind curling around his fists, “but you will remember this night.”Below, Kael laughed, a cruel, high-pitched sound that carried across the foggy streets. “So, the little courier thinks he’s a storm now? Come down and face me, Wind Boy.”Liam’s lips twisted into a grin. “Face me? No, I’m going to teach you respect.”The air around Liam coiled, responding to his intent. Cyclones formed around his body, lifting debris, tossing rain into spinning blades. The fog seemed to twist