Ezra dreamed of screaming bones.
Not voices. Not pain. Bones.
A chorus of femurs clacking together, of jaws moaning without breath, of fingers clawing at the dirt. They weren't begging. They were calling.
And he was answering.
He jolted awake, his hand flying to his dagger before he remembered—he wasn't in the Gate anymore.
The Bone Rat squeaked beside him in protest.
The fire in the corner crackled quietly. Rei was asleep across from him, wrapped in a stolen wool blanket, her chest rising and falling steadily. Bandages dotted her arms and side, taped haphazardly over the wounds she'd taken helping him survive the Mourner.
Ezra exhaled.
He sat up and opened his status panel.
———————————————
Name: Ezra Vale
Level: 8
Rank: Rankless
Classes: [Necromancer] / [Brute]
HP: 230/230
MP: 58/58
STR: 16
VIT: 11
INT: 8
WILL: 9
AGI: 7
Luck: ???
Soul Slot 1: Soul Siphon (Lv. 1 – Passive)
Skills:
• Bone Armament (Lv. 2)
• Raise Lesser Dead (Lv. 2)
• Strength Surge (Lv. 1)
• Mark Prey (Lv. 1)
• First Summon (Passive)
Inventory (4/5):
• Fractured Core – Mourner
• Iron Dagger
• Leather Chestplate
• Guild I.D. Chip (Deactivated)
———————————————
Still no rank. Still invisible to the world. But something had shifted.
He could feel it in his bones — a strange pressure inside his skull, like whispers echoing from deep underground.
And the system... it was watching him.
[Soulbound Entity Class Confirmed: Hollowborn]
[Classification: Unknown Threat]
[You are outside the expected evolutionary path. Observation initiated.]
Ezra stared at that line longer than any other.
Unknown Threat.
Not a player. Not a pawn. Something new.
Something the system didn't understand. Or control.
He looked down at his hands. They were steady.
But his future wasn't.
Later That Morning – Sector 9, Laundromat Safehouse
Rei stirred awake, coughing again. Ezra tossed her half a water bottle, which she caught without looking.
"You always wake up like a hunted animal?" she rasped.
"Only when I dream about bones."
Rei blinked. "Is that a joke or...?"
Ezra gave her a look.
"Right," she muttered. "Not a joke."
She sat up slowly, groaning. Her shoulder had stiffened, and the side wound still leaked blood in pulses. Ezra handed her one of the stim patches they'd looted from a dead scavver.
"Stick it and breathe."
She did.
The silence stretched as the patch hissed, pumping quick-mend foam into her bloodstream. Her color returned a little.
"You've changed," she said finally. "Since that Gate."
Ezra didn't answer.
Rei frowned. "You know what that place was, don't you?"
"No."
"But it knew you."
Ezra leaned back. "It said I shouldn't exist. That I was wrong. That's all I needed to hear."
"That thing—The Mourner—it wasn't just a monster. It had intelligence. Purpose."
Ezra met her eyes. "So do I."
Rei studied him for a long moment. Then: "You ever think that maybe the system didn't give you powers for free? That maybe this... Hollowborn thing... is part of something bigger?"
Ezra didn't flinch. "I don't believe in fate. I believe in survival."
"Those two things might not be separate anymore."
Ezra's fist clenched.
Before he could reply, the Bone Rat tensed and growled.
A second later, a knock echoed at the door.
Three slow. Two fast. One slow.
Ezra stood immediately, drawing his blade.
Rei's eyes widened. "You expecting someone?"
"No."
He moved toward the door, undead silently rising in his shadow. He cracked the door an inch—
—and found a boy no older than fifteen, eyes bloodshot and face dirty, holding up a cracked comm device.
"Ezra Vale?" the boy whispered. "Someone's looking for you."
Ezra stiffened. "Who?"
The kid flinched. "Didn't say. Just that they wanted to talk. Said to give you this."
He handed Ezra a thin metal coin with a skull etched on one side and a gear symbol on the other.
Ezra's eyes narrowed.
He recognized that symbol.
The Black Gate Brokers.
Underground info dealers. They tracked illegal Gates, sold dungeon maps, and made contracts with entities the Guilds wouldn't touch. They didn't come to you. You had to find them. Pay them. Bleed for them.
Someone had changed that.
Ezra flipped the coin once in his hand. "Where?"
"Old Foundry. Sector 5. Tonight."
The boy ran before Ezra could say another word.
Rei stood. "You're going, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Then I'm coming with you."
Ezra turned to her. "You don't have to."
She raised an eyebrow. "You think I'm gonna let the guy who dragged me into a collapsing Gate and murdered a half-god with bone magic walk into a den of underworld psychos alone? At least let me get killed too."
Ezra's mouth twitched. Barely.
"You're still hurt."
"I'm always hurt."
He handed her a stim patch.
She handed him a look.
And just like that, they prepared to move.
That Night – Sector 5, The Foundry
The Foundry was a rotting industrial complex from before The Surge. Steel towers covered in rust and fungal growth leaned toward the skyline like dying titans. Smoke rose from broken vents. The scent of oil and mana lingered like a ghost.
The entrance was guarded by two figures wearing plague doctor masks, both carrying mana-laced spears and branded cloaks.
One raised a hand.
"Name."
Ezra didn't speak. He flipped the coin.
The masked figure took it, examined it, and nodded once.
"Third floor. Don't touch anything glowing. Don't answer the whispers. If the lights go out, pray."
Rei grumbled. "Super comforting."
They ascended three levels of twisted stairs, stepping over broken chains, old body bags, and glowing lines of runes etched into the walls.
On the third floor, a single room stood illuminated by crimson lanterns.
Inside was a figure wearing a hooded cloak, their face hidden in shadow. Six monitors buzzed behind them, each displaying static, death tolls, and system errors.
Ezra stepped in.
The voice that greeted him was male, smooth, and unnaturally calm.
"Ezra Vale."
"You called for me."
"No. Something else did."
Ezra didn't flinch.
"You are not supposed to be alive," the Broker said. "Let alone ranked. Let alone awakened."
"I'm aware."
"You've touched a Hollow Gate. Survived it. Bound it. That hasn't happened in two decades."
Ezra crossed his arms. "Why do you care?"
"Because the last person who did what you did," the man said, "broke the world."
The monitors changed.
They showed a name:
Nyra Vale.
Ezra's blood ran cold.
He hadn't heard that name in years.
"You know my mother."
"I know what she became," the Broker said. "And what she left behind."
He pulled something from his desk.
A black shard.
It hummed faintly. Ezra's Soul Slot burned just looking at it.
A Soul Gem.
"This," the Broker whispered, "belonged to her."
Ezra stepped forward slowly.
The shard reacted to his presence.
[Soul Slot 2 Unlocked – Inert]
Insert Soul Gem to activate.
"I'm offering you information," the Broker said. "But not for free."
"What do you want?"
The lights dimmed.
"A deal."
Ezra stared. "What kind?"
The Broker smiled.
"A contract with Death."