BORN WITHOUT MAGIC; In A World That Eats The Weak.

THE POWER THAT HURTS

For two days, I hid the veins. I wrapped my arms in stolen cloth and kept my hands in my pockets. No one asked questions. Down here, everyone had secrets they didn't want to explain.

But I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. About the relic's power flooding into me. About the strange words that appeared in my vision whenever I focused on something.

On the third morning, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to know what I could actually do.

Lirae was working near the fire, muttering curses at a small device in her hands. It was a fire-starter, the kind weak mages used to light their lamps. A Tier 1 magical tool, barely worth anything in the upper cities.

Down here, it was valuable.

"Come on, you piece of junk," she hissed. A tiny flame flickered at the tip of the device, then died. "Almost had it."

She tried again. This time the flame held for three seconds before going out. I moved closer, fascinated. The flame was so small, barely bigger than a candle's, but it was real magic. Actual fire pulled from nothing but Vire energy.

The words in my vision suddenly flared to life.

[SPELL DETECTED: EMBER FLAME (TIER 1)] [SOURCE: FIRE-STARTER DEVICE] [COPY AVAILABLE: YES] [COST: 10% SELF INTEGRITY] [ACCEPT? Y/N]

I froze. Copy? Self Integrity? What did any of that mean?

"Want to try?" Lirae held the device out to me.

"I can't use magic."

"It's not real magic. It's a tool. Anyone can use it if there's power left in it." She pushed it into my hands. "Just press the button."

My fingers closed around the device. The moment I touched it, the words in my vision pulsed brighter.

[DIRECT CONTACT ESTABLISHED] [COPY EFFICIENCY INCREASED] [ACCEPT? Y/N]

I didn't know what would happen if I said yes. But I was tired of being powerless. Tired of watching others have what I couldn't.

I focused on the word "YES" in my mind.

The world exploded.

Magic flooded through me like lightning. I felt the fire-starter's spell, felt every detail of how it worked. The way it pulled Vire energy from its core. The way it shaped that energy into flame. The exact pattern, the precise technique.

And then I had it. Fire erupted in my palm. Lirae screamed and stumbled backward. "What the hell!"

The flame spun above my hand, orange and warm and alive. I could feel it responding to my thoughts, growing bigger when I focused, shrinking when I pulled back.

The device in my other hand went dark. Dead. All its power drained. New words appeared in my vision.

[COPY SUCCESSFUL] [SPELL STORED: EMBER FLAME (TIER 1)] [SPELL SLOTS: 1/1] [SELF INTEGRITY: 90%] [WARNING: BACKLASH INITIATING]

"Kael," Lirae's voice shook. "How are you doing that?"

"I don't know." The flame danced across my knuckles. It should have burned me. Should have melted my skin. But it felt natural. Right.

Then the pain hit. It started in my chest, a sharp stabbing feeling like someone had shoved a knife between my ribs. The flame in my hand sputtered and died as I doubled over, gasping.

Heat built inside me. Not the comfortable warmth of the flame. This was different. Wrong. Like I was burning from the inside out.

I screamed.

My skin turned red. Sweat poured down my face. I could smell something burning and realized with horror that it was me. My own flesh cooking from the inside.

"Kael!" Lirae grabbed my shoulders. "What's happening?"

I couldn't answer. The pain was too much. I collapsed, my body shaking uncontrollably. Through blurred vision, I saw the blue veins under my skin flashing like lightning.

Then strong hands grabbed me. Rhex appeared, shoving Lirae aside. "Get water! Now!"

Lirae ran.

Rhex held me down as I thrashed. His scarred face was grim. "Don't fight it, boy. Let it burn through."

"It hurts," I gasped.

"I know." His voice was rough but not unkind. "I've seen this before."

Lirae came back with a bucket of filthy water and dumped it over me. Steam hissed off my skin. The pain started to fade, slowly, leaving me shaking and weak.

Rhex sat back, staring at me like I was a ghost. "Show me your arms."

I was too exhausted to argue. I unwrapped the cloth. The blue veins pulsed steadily beneath my skin, brighter than before.

"No," Rhex breathed. "That's not possible."

"What?" Lirae crouched beside him. "What did he do?"

"He copied a spell." Rhex grabbed my wrist, pulling my arm closer to examine. "Did you cast just now? Did you use magic?"

"There was a flame," I admitted. "It came from your device, Lirae. But then it was mine. For a few seconds."

"A copy." Rhex let go of my arm like it had burned him. "You copied the spell."

"What does that mean?"

Rhex stood up, pacing. He looked scared, and that terrified me more than the pain had. "There's a type of magic. Old magic. From before the Rewrite."

"The what?"

"Three hundred years ago," Rhex said slowly, "a group of twelve arch-mages changed the fundamental rules of magic. They performed a ritual called the Rewrite. Before that, anyone could use magic. It was free. Wild. But they locked it into bloodlines. Made it so only certain people could cultivate power."

"Why would they do that?"

"Control." He stopped pacing. "They wanted to be gods. So they rewrote magic to flow only through specific families. Everyone else became Hollowborn. Broken. Empty."

Lirae was staring at me now. "And Copy Magic?"

"During the Rewrite, some people resisted," Rhex continued. "Their bodies rejected the change. Instead of losing magic completely, they developed a different ability. They could copy spells from others. Steal them. And when they did, they could see magic in its original form. Before the restrictions."

"They were called Reverters," Lirae whispered. "I've heard the stories. I thought they were myths."

"They were real." Rhex looked at me. "And they were hunted to extinction. The Council couldn't allow people who could prove the bloodline system was artificial. So they killed every single one."

The words in my vision flickered.

[HISTORICAL DATA CONFIRMED] [REVERTER CLASSIFICATION: ACCURATE]

"So I'm one of them," I said quietly. "A Reverter."

"If you are, you're the first one in three hundred years." Rhex crouched in front of me. "And that means you're in more danger than you realize. If the city finds out what you can do.."

A sound cut through the air. High and piercing. An alarm. All across the Undercleft, people looked up. The sound came from above, from the floating cities.

Rhex's face went pale. "That's a Vire fluctuation alarm."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means the city's magic sensors detected an unauthorized power surge." He grabbed my arm, hauling me to my feet. "Your spell. They felt it."

"But I barely used any magic!"

"Doesn't matter. Hollowborns aren't supposed to use magic at all. Even a tiny flame sets off their sensors."

Above us, massive screens flickered to life on the underside of Skyreach. Magical projections that displayed messages to the Undercleft below.

My face appeared on every single one. The image showed me from the Ascension Rite, chains and all. But beneath it, text scrolled in glowing letters.

WANTED: KAEL VEYRIN CLASSIFICATION: REVERTER CONFIRMED THREAT LEVEL: APEX REWARD: 10,000 VIRE CRYSTALS CAPTURE ALIVE IF POSSIBLE

The entire Undercleft went silent. Ten thousand Vire crystals was more money than most people down here would see in their entire lives. Enough to buy passage to another city. Enough to start a new life.

Enough to make every outlaw, scavenger, and desperate soul in the Undercleft want me dead or captured.

Lirae backed away from me slowly. "Apex threat level? That's the highest classification. They only use that for.."

"Mass murderers and war criminals," Rhex finished. "They're saying this boy is as dangerous as someone who could destroy a city."

"I'm not dangerous!" I protested. "I just copied one spell!"

"You're dangerous to them," Rhex said. "To their system. To everything they've built."

Then came the sound of boots. Heavy. Organized. Marching in perfect formation. I looked up and saw them descending from Skyreach on beams of light.

Enforcers.

Dozens of them, wearing armor that gleamed even in the dim light. But these weren't regular enforcers. These were Blaze ranks. Elite soldiers. The ones who could hold twenty spells and level buildings. The words in my vision activated automatically as I looked at them.

[ENTITY DETECTED: ENFORCER CAPTAIN] [RANK: BLAZE (4TH RANK)] [VIRE CAPACITY: 15,000] [SPELLS AVAILABLE: 18] [THREAT ASSESSMENT: FATAL]

More soldiers appeared behind the captain. Each one showed similar readings. Fifteen thousand capacity. Eighteen to twenty spells. All of them aimed at me.

"Run," Rhex said quietly.

"What?"

"RUN!" He shoved me toward the ruins.

But it was too late.

The enforcers landed in the Undercleft for the first time in decades, their weapons glowing with deadly magic.

And they were here because of me.

The captain stepped forward, his voice amplified to reach every corner of the settlement. "Kael Veyrin. By order of the Council, you are under arrest for unauthorized magic use and suspected Reverter activity. Surrender peacefully, or we will use force."

I looked at Rhex. At Lirae. At the dozen enforcers spreading out to surround us.

The words in my vision showed me exactly how screwed I was.

[ENEMIES DETECTED: 12] [AVERAGE THREAT LEVEL: FATAL] [RECOMMENDED ACTION: FLEE] [SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 8%]

Eight percent.

I'd survived worse odds just falling from the city.

But as the enforcers raised their weapons, magic crackling in their hands, I realized something.

This time, I wouldn't just fall..