Tenjin stood there, motionless. The Wielder's body y crumpled against the wall, small fmes still flickering on his scorched coat. The scent of burned flesh clung to the air, acrid and suffocating. Tenjin's golden eyes stared bnkly at the body, as if his mind hadn't yet caught up with the reality of what had just happened.

  He's dead.

  The thought echoed inside his head, cold and hollow.

  I killed him.

  Tenjin's hands shook. He looked down. Small bck and white fmes still flickered in his palms ethereal and magical. They felt warm, alive even, and they felt right. The fmes curled perfectly along his fingers, as though they had always been there.

  What… is this?

  He should've felt something… fear, regret, anything. But instead…

  That's what he deserved.

  The thought was ugly, bitter. But it dug into Tenjin's mind like a thorn, refusing to leave. He clenched his fists, the fmes coiling around his knuckles as if responding to his anger.

  "If I can get stronger…" he muttered under his breath, his voice barely audible. He stared at the small flickering fme in his hand, its bck and white glow dancing hypnotically. "If I can get stronger… I could get rid of these scum."

  The words felt foreign coming out of his mouth, but they stuck. The Wielders. The Order. The ones who preyed on the weak, like him. Like the others in the slums. The memory of his beatings, his burned skin, his hollow screams roared back to him.

  They deserve this.

  A sound shattered his thoughts.

  WEEEOOOO-WEEE—

  Sirens.

  Tenjin's heart jolted.

  No time.

  The fmes in his hand fizzled out as his survival instincts kicked in. He gnced at the street ahead, already seeing the glint of red and blue lights reflecting off the wet cobblestones. The distant roar of engines and sirens, the police were close.

  Too close.

  Tenjin stepped back, his breath sharp and erratic.

  "There! In the alley!"

  A voice rang out, angry and commanding. A beam of light pierced through the shadows, and Tenjin's eyes darted up a fshlight. He caught a glimpse of two officers in dark uniforms bursting into the alleyway, their batons and weapons drawn.

  "Shit"

  Tenjin didn't think he moved.

  He bolted toward the alley's end, his boots pounding against the cracked pavement. The officers shouted behind him, but their words were drowned out by the sound of his thudding heartbeat.

  "Stop! Hands where I can see them!"

  He didn't stop.

  WHOOSH.

  The fmes erupted from his feet.

  "What the hell?!" one of the officers shouted.

  Tenjin barely registered it. His speed doubled, the fmes propelling him forward like a streak of fire. He zigzagged through the narrow alley, skidding around sharp corners, the fmes flickering wildly with every step. Trash cans rattled and toppled in his wake.

  The fmes felt somehow perfect. Natural. Like an extension of his body a part of him that had been waiting to awaken.

  Move faster.

  Tenjin willed the energy into his legs, and the fmes coiled tighter around his feet, bursting outward like small explosions.

  WHOOOSH!

  He vaulted off the wall of a building, leaping several meters into the air before nding smoothly on a rooftop. The city spread out before him rooftops, smokestacks, and the endless maze of the Slums. Somewhere in the distance, the sirens wailed louder.

  He didn't stop moving.

  Tenjin sprinted along the snted rooftops, the fmes trailing behind him like a comet. Each jump, each stride carried him farther, faster. He could feel the wind biting against his face, sharp and cold, but he didn't care.

  "There he is!"

  Tenjin's head snapped to the right. More officers were on the rooftops now, their silhouettes stark against the pale morning light. He could see their guns drawn.

  "Permission to use lethal force granted" one of them barked into a communicator.

  Tenjin's eyes widened.

  Lethal force?!

  He turned back, adrenaline pounding through his veins. He heard the faint click of a trigger and looked over his shoulder just in time to see it.

  The bullet

  His vision slowed the silver projectile spun toward him, cutting through the air. It was aimed right for his head.

  Move.

  The fmes around his feet burst outward. With a final push, Tenjin twisted his body mid-air, narrowly dodging the bullet.

  WHIZZ.

  It missed him barely, but the shockwave followed. A deafening BOOM rattled his bones, and he felt a sharp sting across his upper chest as a second bullet grazed him.

  "Guh!"

  Tenjin's hand instinctively shot up to his chest. Blood seeped through his tattered shirt, but there was no time to stop. His body was still moving.

  I have to get out of here.

  He focused the fmes' energy into his legs. They fred brightly, the bck and white glow engulfing his boots.

  "One shot left!" an officer yelled behind him.

  Tenjin pushed off the roof's edge.

  BOOM

  He unched himself into the air, the fmes propelling him farther than ever before. The rooftops fell away beneath him, and for a moment, he was flying.

  The wind screamed past his ears. His vision blurred.

  Then he saw where he was headed.

  "A trashcan…"

  His eyes widened. .

  CRASH.

  Tenjin smmed into the metal trashcan, sending it cttering into the wall. He groaned, his entire body aching as he rolled onto the grimy ground. The sirens were distant now, muffled by the maze of buildings and alleys.

  For a moment, he just y there, staring up at the gray sky, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Blood trickled from the wound on his chest, staining his shirt. The bck and white fmes around his feet finally flickered out, leaving only faint smoke rising from his boots.

  "What…" he muttered weakly. "What the hell… is happening to me?"

  His mind fshed back to the Wielder's body. The fmes. The wall. The blood.

  He clenched his fists, dirt and grime digging into his palms.

  He closed his eyes and let the realization sink in.

  I killed him.

  The thought threatened to pull him under. But then another voice rose in his mind cold, angry.

  He deserved it.

  Tenjin sat up slowly, wincing at the pain in his chest. He wiped at the blood on his face, smearing it across his cheek. His body ached, his head pounded, but his eyes burned with something new.

  Determination.

  If I can get stronger… I'll make them all pay.

  ONE WEEK LATER

  The days bled together in a blur of fire, pain, and exhaustion. Tenjin had no choice but to adapt.

  Every sunrise brought new threats shouts in the distance, boots stomping through the alleys, and fshing lights chasing shadows. The Order's presence suffocated the slums of Noval like a thick fog. He could feel their eyes everywhere, on every street corner. Posters bearing crude sketches of his face were pstered across brick walls: WANTED: The Yin Yang Killer

  It made him sick to his stomach.

  But Tenjin didn't stop. He couldn't.

  "Focus. Breathe."

  Tenjin sat cross-legged on the cold, cracked floor of an abandoned warehouse. Moonlight poured through shattered windows, painting pale streaks across his bruised face. His eyes were closed, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead as he struggled to focus.

  Feel it.

  The fmes burned faintly on his fingertips, coiling like serpents. But deeper within, beneath his skin, his muscles, his bones there was something else.

  Mana.

  Tenjin inhaled slowly, his chest rising and falling in rhythm. He imagined the mana flowing through him, tiny, invisible particles surging through delicate veins. Like rivers carrying raw energy to every corner of his body.

  "Control it" he whispered.

  Mana control.

  He had stumbled upon the concept a few days prior, when he tried to push the fmes without burning out. By closing his eyes, breathing in deeply, and tuning into his body, he found that he could manipute how the mana flowed. Optimize it. Strengthen it. Every particle mattered.

  And every practice session left him stronger.

  Tenjin opened his eyes,

  The fmes surged to life.

  WHOOSH

  Two massive fme-arms erupted from his shoulders, swirling with raw power. The fmes curled outward, stretching like limbs perfectly shaped extensions of his body.

  Tenjin grinned faintly. He shifted his fingers, and the fmes followed. He extended his right hand, and the fme-arm shot forward, grabbing onto a steel beam several meters away.

  WHAM.

  The force was strong enough to shake dust from the rafters.

  With a flick of his wrist, the fmes retracted, pulling him forward. He unched into the air, fmes propelling him like grappling hooks. The moment his boots hit the ground again, he was already moving, darting around the warehouse.

  WHOOSH.

  THUD.

  The fme-arms smmed into nearby pilrs, flinging Tenjin across the room in rapid bursts of speed. He could feel the rush of air against his skin, the thrill of movement. Each push became smoother, sharper. His body felt light, alive.

  He slid to a stop, nding perfectly banced. The bck and white fmes rippled around his feet before flickering out. His breathing was heavy, but his grin widened.

  The sound of distant sirens broke his focus.

  Tenjin's expression darkened, his grin fading.

  "They're getting closer."

  The slums were no longer safe.

  The Order's hunt for him had grown relentless. Guards swarmed the streets day and night, interrogating locals, tearing apart homes, and arresting anyone suspicious. The city buzzed with rumors of the "Yin Yang Killer" the boy who killed a C-Tier Wielder and managed to escape the Authorities using some strange kind of magic.

  Tenjin crouched low on a rooftop, watching the streets below. The flickering gas mps painted the cobblestone roads in pools of orange light. Guards patrolled in pairs, their shadows dancing across walls. Their voices carried through the empty streets, harsh and impatient.

  "Still no sign of him?"

  "None. He's like a rat hiding in the gutters."

  "Doesn't matter. Did you hear the announcement?"

  Tenjin's ears perked up. He leaned closer, careful to stay hidden behind a crumbling chimney.

  "They're sending an A-Rank Wielder to deal with him."

  "An A-Rank?! No way. They'd send someone that strong just for a kid?"

  "The Order doesn't take chances. You saw what he did. Bck fmes like that… it's unnatural."

  "Who is it?"

  The guard hesitated, his voice lowering. "Riven."

  Riven?

  "If Riven is coming" the guard muttered, "that kid doesn't stand a chance."

  Tenjin's fists clenched, the fmes in his palms flickering to life instinctively. The guards below didn't notice, their voices fading as they marched down the road.

  He took a deep breath, steadying his nerves.

  An A-Rank Wielder.

  A cold sweat beaded on his brow. He wasn't ready for that. Not yet. But running away? That wasn't an option either. He couldn't let The Order keep chasing him like this cornering him like an animal.

  I need to get stronger.

  He stood, fmes curling around his legs like smoke. His golden eyes burned as he stared out over the city.

  "Let them come."

  The next two days were a blur of chaos.

  Tenjin fought for survival, darting through alleys, rooftops, and abandoned buildings as The Order tightened its grip on the slums. Patrols had doubled. Every turn was a trap, every shadow a potential ambush.

  But Tenjin didn't slow down.

  With every time, his skills grew sharper. He learned to weave his fmes around his body like armor, deflecting baton strikes and gunfire. He used them to sh out WHIP! sending guards sprawling with bsts of searing heat. His movements became fluid, precise.

  He was no longer just running.

  He was fighting back.