THE BEYONDER

In a world where power determined everything, being ordinary was almost the same as being invisible.

For Axel Whitlock, invisible was the best he could hope for.

He was seventeen. An orphan. And completely powerless.

Axel sat at the back of the classroom, his eyes fixed on the training field outside the window, where the morning sun lit up dozens of students practicing their abilities. A girl raised her hand and flames gathered around her fingers, blooming brighter before she let them collapse back into her palm, smiling. Nearby, a boy stomped his foot and the ground cracked beneath him. Another student stretched out his hand and summoned glowing blades of energy into the air. Someone else vanished completely - then reappeared several meters away, and the classroom erupted in excitement.

Ability Orbs were rare, valuable objects capable of containing a supernatural ability - an awakened person could use one to unlock a new power, or strengthen one they already carried. But the strongest orbs were treasures, guarded by powerful families for generations, passed from parent to child until an ability had lived inside a single bloodline for hundreds of years. Even the common orbs sold in markets were expensive. For an orphan like Axel, they might as well have been priceless.

There were other paths, too - awakened individuals willing to teach their techniques to someone else. But that required resources, or talent, or someone willing to bother. Axel had none of it. No parents. No family orb. No powerful teacher. No natural talent.

Nothing.

He was simply Axel Whitlock - the orphan everyone expected to fail.

"Hey, Whitlock."

Axel's thoughts scattered. He looked up to find three students standing beside his desk. The one in front - Darren - came from one of the wealthier families in the city, and a faint glow of lightning flickered around his hand. His family owned a powerful Lightning Ability Orb, and Darren had awakened its power at thirteen. He was one of the most talented students in the class.

Axel was the exact opposite.

Darren's eyes dropped to Axel's empty hands. "Still nothing?"

Axel said nothing.

Darren grinned. "I almost feel sorry for you."

One of his friends laughed. "Don't. He's an orphan. Maybe his parents didn't leave him anything because they knew he was useless."

More laughter. Axel's fingers tightened around his pen, but he kept his head down. He'd learned a long time ago that fighting back only made things worse.

Darren set his hand flat on Axel's desk, and a small bolt of electricity jumped between his fingers. Axel flinched back on instinct, and the class laughed again.

"Look at him." Darren shook his head. "Seventeen years old and still powerless." He leaned in close. "You know what happens to people like you after graduation?"

Axel said nothing.

"They become ordinary workers." Darren smiled. "While people like us become hunters." He straightened up and turned away. "Know your place."

The three of them walked off. Axel stared at his desk, his face carefully blank. But underneath it, something burned - not hatred, not anger, something deeper.

A question.

Why?

Why has everyone else been given something? Why had he been born with nothing? Why did everyone else seem to have a path carved out for them, while he had none at all?

He didn't know. But he refused to believe his life was already decided.

After school, Axel walked home alone. The streets were crowded with people using their abilities for the smallest, most ordinary things - a delivery worker steering packages along on currents of wind, a mechanic coaxing a strange energy into a broken machine, a street vendor cooking over flames conjured from nothing, children playing with tiny drifting spheres of light. The whole world ran on power.

Axel had none of it.

He passed beneath the enormous walls that ringed the city. Beyond them lay the territories of the Devoras - the creatures that had once nearly wiped out humanity. Humanity had survived them. Humanity had grown stronger because of them. And now the world belonged to whoever held power.

Axel looked up at the towering walls.

One day, he thought, I'll find a way to become strong. Even if I have to start with nothing. Even if nobody believes in me. Even if the entire world laughs.

I'll find a way.

Then-

DING!

Axel stopped walking and looked around. No one else seemed to have noticed anything at all.

A strange blue window appeared in front of his eyes, and Axel froze.

[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]

His heart lurched into a sprint. "What?"

The window hung there in the air, unmoving.

[Host detected.]

[Host: Axel Whitlock.]

[Compatibility confirmed.]

[Supreme System successfully bound.]

Axel stared at the words, then reached out toward the screen. His finger passed straight through it.

SYSTEM

Name: Axel Whitlock

Level: 1

Experience: 0 / 100

Abilities: None

Skills: None

Techniques: None

Ability Beyond: Locked

System Store: Locked

Quests: Available

Axel stared at the screen.

He was shocked.

For a long moment, he didn't move. He just stood there in the fading light beneath the city's outer wall, staring at four floating words that no one else on the street seemed able to see.

But one line at the bottom held his eye longer than the rest.

Ability Beyond.

"What is that?"

The System gave no answer. Only one word sat beneath it, glowing faintly.

[LOCKED]

Axel looked down at his empty hands.

For the first time in his life, he felt something he had never felt before.

Hope.

He smiled