Forging Cores

Four years after receiving the Black Liquid injection, Kai Kane remains the only student in Howard County unable to forge a weapon. Mocked by his peers and left behind by a system built around power, he enters Central High expecting another year of failure. But when strange creatures born from human apathy begin appearing throughout the school, Kai is pulled into a hidden war lurking beneath everyday life. Alongside a group of unlikely allies, he uncovers a conspiracy surrounding the Black Core system itself—one that threatens not only his school, but the entire county. As the truth behind the Cores begins to surface, Kai must decide whether power is humanity’s greatest gift… or its greatest curse.