In the hours of the early morning, an unhealthy looking man stared at the empty can of rations. The man, Arden, gnashed his teeth at the can taunting him. Looking at the rations, he couldn't tell what was worse; the fact that he had run out of food, or the fact that he considered the rations food.

The flavor was something that couldn't be described in mere words. It was so putrid that it seemed to carry with it a weight that threatened to cause decay in the digestive tract of whoever was unfortunate enough to consume it.

Arden had tried to describe it once. He couldn't get very far before words failed, and he resorted to saying, “you know?” Arden thought it was a poor description, but everyone who heard him just closed their eyes and meaningfully nodded their heads.

Unfortunately for Arden, and for everyone like him poor enough to not be able to afford real food, it was the only thing he could afford and eat. After all, the rations were free, so the only thing he needed to pay when eating the rations was his dignity, which had long been pawned off sometime in Arden’s life.

He ran a hand through his messy black hair and sighed. He needed to get more before his sister woke up. Arden proceeded through their home and quietly looked into his sister’s room, relieved that she was still asleep.

Sleep was something that was hard to come by for him, despite how exhausted he always was. There was always something he needed to do.

His sister, Sya, was different. She was perpetually sick, and couldn't do anything but stay in the house out of fear of getting killed. Such was the life of a Blight Walker.

He left the building that the pair of them had been living in, his destination the municipal building, as that was the closest place he could get the rations that was his and Sya's lifeline.

There had been many days where Arden wanted to forgo eating entirely, even if it was to his own detriment. His sister was the reason why he never went through with it, as eating together was the sole respite in the empty void of her life. Because of that, Arden wanted to have the quote on quote “food” before she woke up.

Ever since the incident that forced the pair into the slums to survive, Sya hadn't been able to do much, due to her affliction with the Blight. At first glance, the Blight didn't seem to be a bad sickness. For the majority of the time, it appeared like a strain of the common cold that gave the recipient glowing silver hair that looked like it flowed like a liquid metal.

There were two differences between the sniffles and the Blight, however besides giving those afflicted a makeover. One of them is the incurability of the Blight. Once infected, there would be no cure. 

The second was more special.

The current world heavily involved superpowered people called Starborn. They would awaken at random and go through a trial to earn their powers. However, Those who were Blighted were unable to awaken.

Sya, however, was more than just a simple Blighted. She was a Blight Walker, an advanced type of Blighted. The Blight would spread from her, infecting more people, stealing their futures. Blight Walkers, according to many, were only a few steps removed from a monster in terms of potential loss of human life.

Arden refused to abandon his sister, even if he became Blighted. His staunch defense of someone the world would rather let die drew ire from the majority of the other slum rats. For this reason, Arden was as much a pariah as Sya.

Thanks to his status as a local hate figure, Arden was thankful for his bout of insomnia. He had learned that the food was gone, and that he needed more. Now, he was walking through the slums at a time where there were very few people wandering around.

Few was not none, however, and some who had grievances for Arden were emboldened by the cover of darkness. One such person appeared halfway to Ardens destination.

Ever since the stars disappeared in the event that would come to be known as the StarFall, night had grown a lot darker. This impediment to his vision prevented Arden from seeing a figure approach from across the street. In the darkness, it was the man’s build rather than face that allowed Arden to recognize him.

Arden swore to himself and broke into a run to escape the man. He recognized the futility of his endeavor. Yaan, the person who Arden recognized, had a rotating crew of goons to join him in whatever he wanted. Escaping Yaan would be simple. Escaping his crew would be tough.

And right now, like always, Yaan wanted Arden put in his place.

Arden sprinted away from the road and rounded a corner into one of the alleys that dotted the lengthy street. He could take whatever Yaan could dish out, but it would be unpleasant and time consuming, both of which went against Arden’s goal of a peaceful breakfast.

He turned his head to look back at his pursuers. His eyes widened in surprise when he found a different shadowy figure hot on his heels. Before Arden could do anything, he was tackled to the ground.

The person who tackled him drove his knee into Arden’s back as they went down together. Arden ended up on his stomach and groaned in displeasure as his hands were held behind his back.

“It’s too early for this,” Arden muttered.

With the right side of his face pressed against the concrete, he eyed the person whose knee was currently driven into his back. He recognized the man as Staz, one of Yaan’s perpetual hangers-on.

Staz had a stoic demeanor and a tall and toned body to go with it. Personally, Arden didn’t mind the man. Unlike almost everyone else in the slums, Staz didn’t dislike Arden for looking after his sister. It would be hypocritical if he did. Instead, Staz disliked him as a person.

“What are you guys even doing out so early?” Arden asked. “I thought this was more of an afternoon thing.”

“For you it's early, but for us it's late.” Staz said with a yawn. “Yaan was out all night celebrating so we had to take care of him. Do you have any idea how insatiable that guy is? We spent most of the night making sure there was enough for him.”

“He’s pretty jacked, so I just assume he works off whatever he eats at the gym or something.”

“Not that kind of insatiable.”

A pregnant pause deafened the alley as Arden realized what Staz meant.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

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“What’s he celebrating?” Arden asked, trying to move hastily along from the mental image he had conjured up. 

“I’m not allowed to say.”

Silence reigned for a few seconds until Yaan sauntered into the alley smiling looking every bit the smug gangster he was. He was accompanied by a short expressionless boy. Yaan threw a small light-emitting device to the ground, and chuckled upon seeing Arden’s look of disdain.

“Do you really hate me that much?” Yaan asked with a voice full of mock hurt.

“You're the guy who chased after me in the middle of the night for no reason. Hungry for round two, are we? Unfortunately, I'm worth a bit more than those girls you bought for your ‘celebration.’ Look, just go home and get one of your uncle’s men to cleanse whatever STD you have now.”

“Arden,” Yaan said in a patronizing tone. “We both know that with the exception of the Blight, diseases don’t exist anymore thanks to the Status.”

“Don’t let that stop you, Yaan. I believe in you.” Before Yaan could retort, Arden continued. “Regardless of any STD’s that you have, why don't you tell me about your cause for celebration while you hurt me. Did you finally learn to tie your shoes?”

Arden looked down at Yaan’s laceless shoes and smirked.

“Guess not.”

The smile fell from Yaan’s face as he marched to Staz, and ordered him to release one of Arden’s hands. Moments later, a cracking sound came from one of Arden’s fingers, as Arden choked back pained grunts.

Yaan looked back at Arden’s face, liking the expression of pain on his face. To him, it was picturesque. The only thing he didn’t like about the scene was the defiance that burned in Arden’s eyes. Yaan tried to remedy that, and another finger cracked.

“Don’t worry, the Status increases recovery speed. You’ll be fine. Eventually,” Yaan jeered. He pulled a glass vial filled with red liquid out of thin air and lowered it in front of Arden’s face. “I can make the pain go away, instantly. All you need to do is submit.”

Arden looked at the vial. A healing potion. Even at the lowest rank, they were able to heal grievous injuries. They were one of the many changes that appeared after the StarFall, and were hard to come by. Yaan however, was the the youngest scion of Miasma, the gang that ruled the slums.

In the cover of darkness, Staz’ expression couldn't be seen. He had always found Arden somewhat distasteful, especially when he always tried to get in the last word. Even still, he didnt want to see him tortured. Before Staz could speak up to object, Arden spoke up first, accelerating the process.

“If you’re done being superior to me, can you finish up? I have somewhere to be.”

Arden was in a great deal of pain, but it wasn’t something that he wasn’t used to. He was a pariah like Saya, so he had been the receiving end of plenty of abuse. Physical pain always disappeared, he just had to last long enough so that it did, and with the Status affecting everyone, that time he had to outlast decreased greatly.

Yaan looked down at him for a moment with hatred burning in his eyes. His lips curled upwards and he crouched next to Arden’s head, and the potion disappeared from his hand, scattering into sparks of light.

“You’re right. I’ll wrap it up quickly. You wanted to know why I was celebrating?” he broke into a manic grin. “I have to report my awakening in a few hours. But we have a little bit of time, so I’ll finish this on my terms.”

The universe seemed like it always had equivalent exchanges of give and take. It took away the stars, but gave everyone a Status. When the universe released monsters upon the world, it gave humanity a chance to evolve and gain super powers through the Status, becoming Starborn.

And now Yaan was one of these Starborn.

Yaan’s Status, an orange screen similar to that of a video game, appeared in front of Arden. Arden’s eyes went wide as he read through. For the first time since he had met Yaan, Arden stayed quiet.

Name: Yaan

Starborn Tier: Red

Starborn Rank: Protostar

Constellation: Kiln

* Rank: Main Sequence

* Description: Hidden

Protostar Ability: Stoke the Fire

* Description: Hidden

Yaan extended a hand slowly towards Arden's face. Arden began struggling from beneath Staz as Yaan’s hand started glowing with heat. In the cool early morning, sweat was pouring from Arden’s face as the hand approached. It radiated heat like the name suggested.

“You’ve always had a smart mouth, Arden. You have no idea how happy I am to burn it away.”

“Yaan, don’t do this,” Staz warned. “We won’t be able to get out of this.”

“You mean you won’t get out of it, Staz. With my uncles backing, I can get off scot free.”

“None of us will get out of this,” Staz reiterated. “Two mundanes fighting is whatever. The same goes for a Starborn duel. But if a Starborn attacks a mundane human, the Starborn gets hunted down. It's the worst crime a Starborn can commit.”

“You doubt my uncle’s authority? You’re lucky I don’t burn you alongside him.” Yaan said, looking down at the silently glaring Arden.

“And you are doubting the authority of the Starborn Association. Do you really think that an Orange Giant from the slums is capable of going against them? Stop this while you can,” he urged.

Yaan held his cupped hand a few centimeters from Arden’s mouth. This would be worth it.

“This’ll be fun!” he hissed.

As Yaan yelled, Arden bit down on Yaan’s hand. He didn’t have much time until his teeth failed him, so Arden repeatedly crunched down on Yaan’s fingers, trying his best to ignore the horrible sizzling noises coming from his own mouth. A Protostar was only one step up from a mundane human. They had one power, but their body was just as frail as a mundane human, which Arden was betting on.

Yaan tried to pull his hand out of Arden’s mouth, but the desperate strength of Arden’s teeth prevailed. He yelled in pain as he managed to pull his hand free of Arden’s mouth. Pain turned to rage as he realized several of his fingers were gone.

His eyes traveled to Arden who spat out the mangled fingers and parts of his burnt, destroyed mouth.

Arden didn't know how to describe the sensation. He was long accustomed to pain, but only up to a point. The pain of having his mouth melt from the inside was more immense than anything he had felt before. It felt like he could taste the pain, despite being certain that his tongue and taste buds had been destroyed.

“Damn you!” Yan screamed. 

He grabbed Arden by his hair with his remaining hand, and repeatedly slammed it into the ground. The smell of burning hair overpowered everyone in the alley. By the time Yaan had finished, Arden was unconscious. Only the sight of his chest rhythmically rising and falling let them know that Arden was still alive. Despite being unconscious, Arden had a self-satisfied smirk on his face, though with the damage done to his face, it looked nightmarish.

Yaan wanted to continue. To wipe the smug look off of Arden’s face. To kill him. But the adrenaline had worn off, and the pain of having his fingers torn off was almost debilitating to him. He needed to get healed. He grabbed his fingers off the ground with his undamaged hand, and shoved his gnawed hand under his other arm.

“We’re leaving!” Yaan barked, storming out of the alley, leaving Staz and the other henchmen behind.

Staz looked between Arden and Yaan and took a deep breath.

“Do you agree with what I said, Dest?” Staz asked the silent henchman.

The silent henchman, Dest, looked down at Arden's body. His normally expressionless face cringed as scenarios ran through his head. 

Dest wasn't much of a talker. He'd rather think of all of the ways he could resolve problems, and being one of Yaan’s men meant he had no shortage of problems to deal with.

“Not at all,” Dest replied. “Yaan is an idiot if he thinks his family will protect him. We’ve been by his side long enough to know that he is indeed an idiot. Now, he’s a dangerous idiot who's had a taste of power and thinks himself invincible.” 

Dest sighed as he prodded Arden’s body with his foot. 

“And now he’s committed one of the few taboos that being a Starborn can’t protect him from. With us caught up in the middle.”

“So what now?”

Dest turned his back to Arden and Staz and began to walk out of the alley to follow Yaan.

“We stick with Yaan for now, until we find a way to get away from his family.”

Staz gave an apologetic look to Ardens unconscious form on the ground and reluctantly joined Dest, while praying that nothing would come of this.

He knew it was unlikely that there would be a good resolution to this, but he could at least hope.