Ether: Pulse of the Forgotten

The first wave of survivors arrived just as the sun started to dip, casting long shadows over the bloodstained battlefield.

They were in bad shape—wounded, hungry, and desperate, their clothes torn from days of fighting and running. Some had weapons, most didn't. They moved in groups, glancing around like cornered animals, as if expecting this to be another trap.

"Get them inside," Kai ordered, watching as Sasha and a few others began ushering the newcomers through the half-built fortifications.

He could hear murmurs—questions, uncertainty. Some of them had seen the fight against Gorran from a distance. Others had heard rumors. They all knew one thing: this place had survived something impossible. And now?

Now, they wanted in.

Kai didn't know if keeping them here was the right move. He didn't even know if this place would still exist after the tutorial was over. But right now, this land meant something, even if only for a little while.

And then he saw them.

The second group.

They weren't limping. They weren't desperate.

They were walking with purpose.

Kai felt the shift in the air as they emerged from the treeline, twenty strong, fully armed, armored, and moving like they owned the damn place.

At the front, a familiar figure strode ahead with a confident smirk—Customer Service himself.

Kai felt the exhaustion drain from his body as something far more familiar took its place.

Annoyance.

"Ah, hell," Talia muttered beside him. "Not this guy again."

"Wouldn't be a good day without a bad customer experience," Kai said, cracking his neck.

The man—Darren—stopped just outside their claimed territory, his gaze sweeping over the settlement like a shopper eyeing clearance items.

"I see you've been busy," he said. "Nice place you've got here."

Kai sighed dramatically. "Thanks, Manager."

Darren's smirk twitched. "Manager?"

"Yeah." Kai shrugged. "You got promoted. Only a matter of time, really. You've been real committed to the brand—loyalty program and everything."

There was a snicker from behind Darren, and one of his men—a wiry, sneering guy with a crooked nose—tried to suppress a grin.

Darren turned, his expression flat.

Kai grinned. "And that must be the employee of the month."

The sneering guy's smirk vanished immediately. "You—"

"Shhh," Kai cut him off, raising a hand. "Let the adults talk, alright?"

Darren let out a slow breath, rolling his shoulders. "You done?"

Kai clapped his hands together. "I dunno, depends. You guys aren't here to talk about our Lord and Savior right?"

That earned a few laughs from the people watching.

Because that's what was happening now.

This wasn't just a fight waiting to happen—it was a spectacle.

The newly arrived survivors, the ones who had been slowly entering the settlement, had stopped.

They were watching. All of them.

Darren noticed too. His smirk returned, but this time, it was sharper.

"Good," he said, stretching his neck. "That means everyone gets to hear this."

He planted his foot forward, the shift in his stance subtle but commanding.

"I'm not here to waste time, Kai," he said, using his name for the first time. "We're both holding a territory. And as you've probably realized, we don't know if these last past the tutorial."

Kai didn't react.

Darren smirked. "But I'm willing to bet they do. Or at the very least—who holds them at the end gets something for it."

A few of his men nodded, their confidence radiating off them.

"So here's the deal." Darren lifted a hand, gesturing to his assembled group. "You step down. You and your people walk away. We take the territory. And at the end of this tutorial, when we get whatever the system gives us?"

He grinned. "I'll send you a thank-you card."

Kai exhaled through his nose. Unbelievable.

"And if I say no?"

Darren's grin widened. "Then we do this the hard way."

The mood of the crowd shifted.

People who had been neutral observers a moment ago were suddenly tense.

Because this wasn't just a standoff anymore.

This was a challenge.

And everyone here was about to witness who really deserved to lead this land.

Kai let the silence hang for a moment.

Then he smiled. "You really think you can take it?"

Darren shrugged. "I've got numbers. I've got gear. And unlike you—" His smirk darkened. "I don't have dead weight slowing me down."

The words hit like a spark in dry grass.

Talia's grip on her daggers tightened. Sasha's eyes turned ice cold. Even the survivors in the crowd, people who had just lost their own allies, reacted.

Kai?

Kai just tilted his head.

"Man," he sighed, shaking his head. "That's a real manager thing to say."

Darren raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Kai continued. "Talking about your team like they're expendable. Pushing some corporate nonsense. Acting like everyone under you exists just to serve your interests. That's real middle-management energy."

Darren's smirk twitched, his teeth gritting just slightly.

Kai stepped forward, just enough to close the space between them.

"You think you can take this place?" he asked. "Then come take it."

The watching crowd stirred.

The system must have recognized the moment, because at that exact second—

DING!

CHALLENGE INITIATED: CONTROL OF TITAN'S FALL

DEFENDING PARTY: KAI [LEVEL 30]

CHALLENGING PARTY: DARREN [LEVEL 30]

Murmurs rippled through the onlookers.

Kai didn't move. Almost surprised that the system chimed in.

Neither did Darren.

For a moment, they just stared each other down, the weight of the challenge sinking in.

Then Darren grinned.

"Good," he said. "I was hoping you'd say that."

⸻

The moment the system notification rang out, the tension in the air thickened into something heavy, something almost suffocating.

Survivors—both those who had fought under Kai and the new arrivals seeking shelter—froze, watching the two groups face off.

Kai could feel the weight of it.

The way people held their breath, the way even those who had just arrived froze, caught between curiosity and dread.

Because this wasn't just some territorial dispute.

This was a battle for survival, and everyone here knew that fighting another war so soon after Gorran could destroy them.

And Kai wasn't about to let that happen.

He took a slow step forward, letting Darren's cocky smirk settle in his vision, before exhaling.

"You want this place?" he said, voice even. "Then fight me for it. One-on-one."

Darren blinked once. "What?"

"A duel," Kai repeated. "You and me. No one else. One hour from now."

A murmur spread through the gathered survivors.

Darren studied him for a second, then let out a short laugh. "You're kidding."

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Darren stood at the front of his men, his arms relaxed, his smirk carved in stone as if this was already over. "You're making this difficult, Kai," he mused, tilting his head. "I figured you'd at least consider the smart move."

Kai exhaled through his nose. "Oh? And what's the smart move, Manager?"

Darren's smirk twitched.

"You step down," he said simply. "You let me take this place, and we don't have to make a mess of things."

Kai sighed dramatically. "What happened to customer service? I thought the customer was always right."

A few chuckles rippled through the watching crowd.

Darren's eyes narrowed. "I care about winning. And I've got twenty fighters at my back who feel the same way."

Kai's arms crossed. "And we've got close to eighty." Kai was bluffing sure. Their group had about 10 fighters left worth mentioning, The rest were still recovering from Gorran. Yeah there were plenty new survivors in their camp but they just arrived, Kai doubted they'd risk their lives for no reason.

But it worked. For the first time, Darren hesitated.

It was small—a flicker of realization behind his smug confidence. His men behind him didn't react at first, but a few of them started looking around, seeing the sheer number of survivors gathered behind Kai's people. Even the ones behind them still waiting to enter and seek shelter.

They weren't just outnumbered, they were Surrounded

They were also outnumbered four to one.

Darren clicked his tongue. "Numbers aren't everything. I'd rather have twenty killers than eighty dead weight."

Kai's smile didn't fade. "That why you're trying to avoid a fight? Or are you afraid of me?"

Darren's jaw tightened just slightly.

Kai stepped forward, voice calm. "You don't want a full-on war. Not because you can't win it—but because you don't want to risk losing."

The words hit deep.

Kai took another two steps forward, he was an arms length away from him now, looking Darren dead in the eyes. "So much people have died already since this tutorial started and here you are throwing lives away for nothing, when in less than 2 days we will need everyone together to fight the last boss. The way I see it, the only person who needs to die today is you."

Darren's men shifted slightly, stealing glances at the people behind Kai.

It was subtle, but Darren saw it too.

He was losing control of the narrative.

If he ordered an attack now—if he forced a slaughter—he wouldn't just be fighting Kai's people.

He'd be turning everyone else here against him.

Kai let the moment sink in before speaking again.

"You think you can take this place?" His voice was low, even. "Then come take it from me."

Silence stretched over the camp.

Then, Darren grinned.

"One hour," he said. With that, he turned to his men, motioning for them to set up camp outside the settlement.

Kai exhaled, rolling his shoulders as he turned back to his own people.

Talia crossed her arms. "A duel, huh?"

"It's the best way to stop people from dying," Kai muttered.

Sasha nodded, tension still lingering in her posture. "Then we better make sure you win."

Kai cracked his knuckles. "Time to change classes"

______

Kai sat on the edge of a half-broken wall, staring at the glowing system window in front of him.

The words flickered in his vision, heavy with meaning.

Class Evolution Available

Select your path:

• Etherblade – A warrior who wields ether like a blade, carving through anything in their path. To raise their weapon is to decide the battle before it begins.

• Aether Striker – A storm that never stops moving. Speed, momentum, and power become one, turning every strike into an unstoppable force.

• Gale Reaver – The wind does not roar—it cuts. Silent. Unseen. A blade moving through empty space, only felt when it is too late.

• Ether Vanguard – An unbreakable wall, a force of nature that does not yield. To fight a Vanguard is to fight the weight of the world itself.

• Voidwalker – Ether is not bound. It bends. It shifts. A Voidwalker does not follow a path—they create one.

Kai let out a slow breath. His fingers flexed against his knees.

Each of these… they were more than just words.

Etherblade. A clean, direct style, built for warriors who knew their way and cut through obstacles instead of going around them. He imagined himself standing at the center of a battlefield, shearing through enemies like wind through tall grass. He liked the thought. But something about it felt… too fixed. Too predictable.

Aether Striker. The constant motion, the relentless momentum—this was about flow, about keeping your opponent off-balance, never letting them recover. It fit him in some ways, but it also locked him into a tempo. A rhythm he'd have to maintain, or else he'd fall behind. Not quite right.

Gale Reaver.

He read the words again.

The wind does not roar—it cuts.

Something about that line settled deep in his chest.

His Shear Cutter had always been about raw force, about tearing through the enemy with compressed ether and air pressure. But what if it wasn't just about force? What if it was about edge? About shaping the attack into something so sharp, so clean, that nothing could stop it?

A future technique. Not for now. But later.

Kai filed that thought away.

Ether Vanguard. The tank, the immovable force, the fighter who could take any hit and keep standing. He wasn't against durability, but that wasn't him. Not yet.

Which left…

Voidwalker.

The description felt different.

It didn't talk about strength. It didn't talk about speed.

It talked about control.

His energy wasn't fixed. It didn't have to be a blade, or a wave, or a wall.

It could be whatever he wanted it to be.

Kai's heart pounded a little harder.

This wasn't a path. This was all paths at once.

A fighter who didn't need to commit to a single style. Someone who could change the rules mid-battle—not because they were stronger, not because they were faster, but because they were unpredictable.

Darren expected a straight fight.

Kai was about to give him something he'd never seen before.

His decision was made.

Class Selected!

Processing Evolution…

A pulse surged through him.

Kai gritted his teeth as something inside him shifted, expanded, cracked open.

The world around him dimmed for a second—like the space itself was pulling inward, curling around him like a storm ready to be unleashed.

Kai clenched his fists as apulse surged through his body, twisting like a storm beneath his skin. It wasn't painful, but it was different—like something unraveled and rewove itself within him in the span of seconds.

His breath came slow, steady, but he could feel his heart pounding.

Then-

A system prompt blinked into existence before him.

⸻

Class Evolution Complete!

Skills Adjusted

• Force Palm + Air Palm → Rift Palm (Fused Skill)

• New Skill: Echo Strike

• New Skill: Phase Shift

⸻

Kai exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders. His ether felt different now. Not just stronger, but looser, more fluid—as if the rules that once governed it had softened, giving him more room to shape it.

He flexed his hand, and instinctively, the air warped around it.

A faint shimmer followed his movements—not quite visible, not quite invisible.

Rift Palm.

The moment he thought about it, his body already knew how to use it. That was the difference between growing a skill through practice and having it rewritten by the system itself.

When he trained and developed Shear Cutter on his own, it had been trial and error, failures and refinements. He had felt its growth in every fiber of his body, learning the way ether compressed, the way force could be shaped into something sharp instead of blunt.

But this?

This was different.

It was instantaneous.

Like his muscles and instincts had been reprogrammed, like Rift Palm had always been there waiting to be used.

Kai clenched his fist again, then released it, watching the subtle disturbance in the air fade.

"Feels like cheating," he muttered.

But at the same time…

He liked it.

There was an edge to it, a sense that his energy was no longer bound by the same rigid limitations.

He stepped off the broken wall, rolling his shoulders as he tested the feeling in his limbs. There was no stiffness, no discomfort—just a strange lightness, like gravity had loosened its grip just slightly.

Then came the next change.

Kai moved his hand, and his own afterimage remained.

A faint imprint of his movement, an echo, flickering before fading into nothing.

Echo Strike.

He took a step forward, throwing a light jab at the air. His strike landed—then a half-second later, it landed again.

The aftershock of his attack reverberated through the space in front of him, a delayed phantom hit that would force an opponent to react twice to the same attack.

A grin pulled at his lips.

That's nasty.

Darren was in for a surprise.

But there was still one more skill.

Kai exhaled slowly, focusing inward.

Then—

He stepped forward.

And for a single instant, he felt nothing.

The world flickered, his body felt weightless, and then—he was already a step ahead.

No resistance. No drag.

It wasn't teleportation. It wasn't a dodge. It was just… absence.

A single moment of being untouchable.

Phase Shift.

Kai let out a slow breath, running a hand through his hair.

This was more than just an upgrade.

This was a fundamental shift in how he fought.

And the best part?

No one knew what to expect now, not that they ever did.

His grin widened.

———

Kai blinked as another system window materialized in front of him.

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name: Kai

Level: 30

Class: Voidwalker

Title: Lord

[Attributes]

Strength: ???

Dexterity: ???

Endurance: ???

Intelligence: ???

Wisdom: ???

[Voidwalker disrupts standard stat displays]

[Skills]

Rift Palm. Sheer Cutter. Echo Strike. Phase Shift. Ether Control. Meditation.

Kai squinted. "Huh." He waved a hand through the floating text, as if that would somehow fix it. It didn't.

"Did I break the system, or did it just give up trying to figure me out?" He rubbed his chin. "Either way, kinda flattering."

The question marks just sat there, unhelpful and cryptic.

Kai shrugged. "I'll take it. Being a mystery sounds more fun anyway."