THE F-RANK THAT BUILDS ABILITIES

Donnie didn't ask to be on The List.

He didn't even know what it was until Trace Zero told him.

They were sitting beneath the fractured skylight of the abandoned practice dome, the sun leaking through cracked glass above, scattered across the dirt and rubble like forgotten starlight.

Zero passed him a thin, black tablet with no logo. Just a blinking icon on the corner of the screen.

Donnie tapped it.

It opened to a locked folder.

> FILE: UNSIGNED THREATS

ACCESS LEVEL: T.Z. OVERRIDE

CLASSIFICATION: GUILD INTERNAL – EYES ONLY

Inside were names. Dozens. Maybe hundreds.

Some crossed out.

Some highlighted in gray.

Most marked red.

Donnie's eyes moved down the list until he saw his own name.

Reeve, Donnie – Status: Pending Termination – RANK: UNDEFINED (Break Arc Builder)

He didn't say anything for a moment.

"Why is this real?" he asked.

"Because the Guild doesn't forget what it fears," Zero said. "Most of these names are dead. Or locked away. But some survived. Some disappeared completely."

"And I'm one of them now."

Zero gave a tired nod. "The second you unlocked Crimson Bloom."

Donnie's hand hovered over another name.

Mara Tais – Class: Unknown | Known Abilities: Flame Threads / Vocal Binding / Disruption Loops

Last seen: Northern Range Vaults.

"Who was she?" Donnie asked.

"A Break Arc specialist. One of the first to break out of an S-rank trace cage. They sent an entire squad for her. Only one came back."

"And now she's gone?"

Zero shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. She's off-grid."

Donnie set the tablet down gently.

"They've been hiding this."

"Would it surprise you if I said Ridgewood helped?"

"No."

Zero didn't smile.

"That's why you matter. You're not the first—but you're the first they tried to catch early and failed."

Donnie stood up.

He looked through the dome's ruined glass ceiling.

"They won't stop, will they?"

"No. But they'll hesitate now."

"Why?"

"Because if a Break Arc gets away once… it gives others permission."

---

That evening, Donnie trained alone for the first time since Room 2C collapsed.

The others gave him space.

He moved through his formations slowly at first. Spiral Surge. Shatterstep. Collapse Edge. Then into the final motion—Crimson Bloom.

But something felt… different.

More refined.

Like the trace wasn't just obeying him anymore. It was syncing to his instincts. Anticipating. Echoing his decisions mid-motion.

That night, he sat with his sketchpad and drew the entire sequence in ink.

Not as pieces.

As a map.

Every movement had a purpose now. Every step, a thread. Every flow, a reason.

At the bottom, he finally gave it a name:

> TRACE: VANTA

CLASS: Break Arc (Live Evolution Model)

IDENTITY: Unranked – Operator Status Undefined

THREAT LEVEL: TBD

He stared at the words until his eyes blurred.

Then something in his Trace Band lit up.

Not a warning.

Not surveillance.

A message.

> "You're becoming what they tried to erase."

– M.T.

Donnie blinked.

He checked the sender ID.

It was blank.

He opened it again.

The message was gone.

---

In the tower far across the city, Deputy Valen stood at the center of a new strategy meeting.

Four Guild officers stood around him, watching the projections.

Donnie's data hovered on a massive 3D trace chart.

"He's accessed Vanta-class mobility now," one officer noted. "No student's reached that level without a contractor license."

Another chimed in. "We're getting ripple reports from the east zone. Someone copied his collapse movement during a simulation exam."

Valen nodded. "Contagion confirmed, then."

"So what's the plan?"

Valen smiled faintly.

"Nothing."

The others exchanged glances.

"Nothing?" one asked.

"We stop chasing. Let him move. Let him run. Let him be seen."

A long pause.

"Why?"

"Because one anomaly inspires fear," Valen said. "But many create disorder."

He turned to the group.

"Let him break the system from the inside. When it's weak… we step in."

---

Meanwhile, Ridgewood Academy had returned to its scheduled drills.

The general student body believed Donnie had transferred out.

Most didn't even question it. Some asked once or twice. A few were curious.

Lucen smirked when his name came up.

"About time. The unranked can't keep up forever."

Veera overheard him, said nothing.

But that night, she went to the west yard.

And found nothing but ash.

---

Back in the dome, Donnie stood before the group.

"I'm leaving Ridgewood," he said.

Kaito blinked. "Now?"

"They'll try to wipe my trail again. I need to stay ahead."

Zero gave a small nod. "You've outgrown the dorms."

Lora looked down. "Where will you go?"

"I don't know yet," Donnie said. "But wherever I go, I'll leave the door open."

Zero raised an eyebrow. "For who?"

"For the next unranked."

---

End of Chapter 13

© Anthony Osifo 2025 – All rights reserved.