On that evening, veiled in the glow of three moons...
Where twilight's blue mingled with fading strands of light, the earth beneath the sky resembled a distant dream, pulsing with secrets.
In a world divided into twenty vast regions—each with its own civilization, politics, and wars—the villages clung to the edges of mountains and barriers, frail shields guarding against the fangs of the beasts that swam through the void.
Some humans were known as the Chosen—those whose powers were born from shattered hearts or scorched destinies. They wielded extraordinary abilities, fighting back the monsters that threatened existence, carving their paths as artisans or soldiers, leaving behind echoes of their names.
In one village beneath the domain of the great capital of the Twelfth Floor… there lived a young man.
Kai—with fire-red hair and golden-brown eyes that held the weight of someone who had lived with a mind older than his years.
His build was lean but firm, muscle etched in quiet discipline—not towering, but strength whispered beneath his skin.
His face bore a blend of youth and manhood, a seriousness unforced.
He helped his family without words. In a world built on mystery and ruin, he knew no path but perseverance.
That night, he sat alone on a village rooftop, staring at the horizon where the red moon kissed the drifting clouds.
His thoughts were heavy, stones pressing down from within.
"When I reach the legal age... I'll face the test. I might become Chosen… I might enter a world where the weak are devoured."
"But even if I gain power… will it heal what's already broken inside me?"
"They say I'm smart, strong enough. Yet deep within, I'm hollow—naked and false to my own self."
"I'm afraid… afraid of becoming someone I can't recognize. Or worse, remaining exactly as I am."
His thoughts drifted like smoke, until the world quaked.
A sudden roar.
The stench of blood.
Flames clawing at the sky.
Screams—then silence. A silence so thick it strangled the air itself.
Kai ran into the heart of the village... and there he saw the sight that would forever carve itself into his soul.
Scattered corpses.
Houses ablaze.
Iron and ash choking the wind.
And among the wreckage...
Someone dear to him, motionless.
Bloodied.
Gone.
He knelt, his gaze frozen in disbelief, his trembling hands cradling what was already lost.
"What... is this?"
"I don't understand... why? Why did this happen?"
"Was I meant to suffer? To lose?"
"I believed in purpose, in reason... but why now?"
"Why me?"
He lifted his head to the hollow sky, eyes void of tears, of hope—only shock, and something darker.
"Here I am… alive. But at what cost?"
"Why didn't I die with them? Why… was this pain chosen for me?"
His voice was a ghost—shattered, whispering into the scorched earth.
His lips cracked with grief.
His eyes, glassy and lost, searched for a way out of a nightmare with no door.
Then, amidst the ruin... a creature emerged.
A beast cloaked in shadow, its skin like an endless night, eyes gleaming with primal hate.
Kai stood, paralyzed. No sword. No shield.
But then—from either side of him—something stirred.
Twin obsidian blades materialized, etched with golden runes that pulsed with an eerie light.
He stood in the heart of devastation, the dark blades at his sides, the red moon casting its cold glow upon him.
In that moment… there was no past. No future.
Only a naked, inescapable truth:
"He had been Chosen—whether he willed it or not."
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