THE UNMOVED

Nilos has a Class no one in the Bastion Hero Bureau can categorize. They've classified his file four times. They've sent their best to assess him. They've watched him eliminate threats that should have killed Tier 2 heroes — without standing up. The problem isn't that he's lazy. The problem is that his power grows when he doesn't move. The more effort he refuses to expend, the stronger he becomes. Sleeping is training. Sitting is combat practice. Walking three blocks is "excessive." The Hero Bureau doesn't know what to do with him. His disciple has filled three hundred and forty pages of a logbook trying to figure out how he works. A clerk in the basement is writing an anonymous newsletter about him. A golden-boy rival just walked past him in a hallway and felt something he couldn't name. Nilos hasn't noticed any of this. He's asleep on a bench. The shade is at the correct angle. There's a pigeon next to him. He has noodles for later. He is the worst hero in Bastion. He is also, quietly and without trying, becoming the strongest.