Back at his cottage, Aedan found himself lost in thought, grappling with conflicting emotions. He knew he couldn't escape the tangled web of village politics and internal clan struggles. His grandfather's fading influence and the elders' interference weighed heavily on his mind.
Six Months. He had six months to prove his worth, or be exiled from the village. The pressure mounted as he realized the immense task ahead, and the consequences that would follow.
In the midst of his turmoil, an unexpected visitor appeared. His frail-looking grandfather, Kon, stood at the door, a man with unwavering determination despite his aged appearance.
With a heavy heart, Kon urged Aedan to leave the village and never return. The clan's instability and the elders' hostility left little room for his protection. Aedan's heart sank, realizing that he was being asked to leave everything behind, including the life he had known.
Kon's memories of Aedan as a child filled his mind, recalling the warmth he had felt when the boy was brought to the village. Aedan had grown up with love and care, and now Kon couldn't bear to see him suffer further. It was clear that Aedan had to leave, to escape the storm that brewed within the clan.
Before departing, Kon handed Aedan a golden pendant with the tiger-shaped crest, the symbol of a new identity. He was to become the son of a fallen noble house in a far-off kingdom, blending in with humans in a distant land.
Aedan's mind raced as he clutched the golden pendant in his hand, uncertain of what the future held. He knew he couldn't simply run away from his problems, yet he also understood the need to protect himself and his grandfather.
In his straw bed, Aedan was still thinking about what his grandpa just told him. "So this is how it ends. Will I have to run away again?"
"No! I won't flee like that. Those old geezers in the clan are nothing compared to what I have seen. I have faced experts much greater than that. I don't ever remember whatever happened before I was brough home."
Aedan then stood up and roared to the sky as anger and despair flashed past his eyes. "See heavens, no matter what you throw at me I won't give up. Those old geezers in the clan are nothing compared to what I have seen. I have faced experts much greater than that. I was at the heart of the soul empire, I saw an Undying King and was offered as a sacrifice to a greater demon yet I still lived to tell the story. So no, I'll not stop, no now, not ever. It may take months, years, decades I will make those demons pay.
"Boom!" Suddenly, the previously clean sky was encased in darkness as thunder and lightning howled shortly before it raining outside.
As he lay on his straw bed that night, memories long forgotten resurfaced, unveiling a past that had been shrouded in mystery. His true origins, a starship crash, and the love of a blue-skinned woman and a burly man came flooding back.
The revelation brought clarity to his existence and ignited a fire within him. Aedan's determination intensified; he was no longer just the outcast of Yellow Wood Village, but a survivor with a mission to confront the demons of his past.
Minutes later, he suddenly moved his bed away, revealing a hidden compartment. It was where he hid the few items he brought with himself from the outside world such as medicines for his headaches, his old axe and a small wooden box.
Inside it was a single heart shaped crystal, and upon seeing it Aedan was almost unable to contain his calm. How could he forget that day, when he was suposed to share the same fate as everybody else in that place yet he still survived.
The Sacred Soul Sect is still unaware and wording how a crippled disciple could resist the soul refining artifact, be Immune to the Soul Ancestor's powers and even break away their defenses. Aedan who had faced death up close knew it was impossible to survive yet he also understood he's only here today because of this crystal which he knows little about.
Back then, when his soul was mostly devoured. Aedan was on the brink of death when a mysterious wheel appeared within his consciousness and whispered a name. His mind was covered in red as crimson threads emerge from his chest and when least expected, a thin red gemstone flew out of his chest before it released the brightest light one has ever seen, scaring away the demon in the darkness and leaving a path for him to escape.
He knew immediately the crystal was a mysterious relic with untold powers, powers different from anything in the scriptures. Even it's light, it was completely different from the feeling of lifeforce and it didn't have the same aura as any of the known Astras.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Aedan left the cottage in a flash and dashed towards an old road leading to the outside of the village.
The only clue he had was the name filled his mind; Enigma.
Aedan felt a strong pressure as well the feeling of impotence and dread and when he looked down, he grew terrified.
He had never see it before, blood red fire and lightning hovered the gemstone which now floated near his waist.
The fire and lightning held some king of power which Aedan felt very familiar and without any reason his hand unconsciously reached out to it as if expecting to meet an old friend.
"BAM!"
"Ohh, my soul is burning."
"What is this?"
Voices of the people brought with him to the dark pit echoed in his mind followed by voices of his few friends he made in the sect.
"Senior brother, we done for but you, at least you must escape...."
In a less than a hour, Aedan had reached a desolate little valley in the middle of nowhere without nothing but a single crater and ruins that looked a little strange such as metallic pillars, large iron doors and such. It looks like this is the crash site of a mobile artifact.
While he didn't know why, Aedan was drawn in to this place by a extremely familiar yet painful feeling.
Soon he saw glimpses of a beautiful lady in a strange orange suit staring at him from above.
"Right, you are our only hope. It's okay if you survive."
The humming within the stone got stronger and stronger as if it was calling out to something, Aedan felt a intense pain in his abdomen when something even scarier happened. A glassy objected emerged from the depths of his body, hugging him across the waist. The material was as transpired as the glass windows found the the imperial palace yet soft as silk and cold as water.
Aedan could barely believe something a object this size was inside his body and before he could utter a word, the gemstone flew into the belt. Inserting itself into one of three small slots near a big sphere on the center of the belt.
[Heartspark: Anger]
But right at this moment, a thunderous sound echoed across the vast forest, shaking the heavens and earth.
Three blue-eyed wolves leap over the boy and landed a ten feet away. The existence of such beasts in the forest is kind of common, and those three were probably attracted by the powerful energy exhaling off the belt and gemstone.
The beasts exchanged glances before locking at the red jewel, three pairs of eyes shone brightly as if spotting a treasure.
The beasts pounced right away, not leaving any chance to Aedan.
Aedan understood immediately he was being attacked, he could also tell the wolves weren't that strong of a opponent, comparable to early stages of Core Formation at most.
An aged voice then echoed.
"From the fall of one, many had risen and from the many, all returns to one as it is in the will of chaos....."
"Thou who has been graced with a fragment of a great power, hear those words."
"The name has been engraved in thy spirit. Say the words and one with Chaos thou shall become."
With eyes closed, Aedan felt a surge of numerous, powerful and malevolent energies, all erupting simultaneously and rushing straight to his eyes.
Aedan felt a burn in his eyes as a crimson red glyphs formed over the surface of his pupils.
The brilliant vermilion blade painted the interior of the cottage in red, it's appeared shocked the two remaining wolves cried out. The young man's pupils turned into a crimson abyss which drew them in.
This mirror of blood where they saw their own reflection, for some reason it gave birth to an inexplicable fury burning deep in their hearts that made the beasts incapable of fleeing.
Unconsciously, Aedan waved his hand and patted the large pearl on his belt.
One of the beast had noticed something was strange, with Aedan standing still with fixed eyes, seemingly oblivious to what was happening yet he and his comrade approached the boy as they knew didn't saw this kid as a threat.
A layer of an mist, red as blood oozed out of the stone, bathing Aedan in a brilliant yet ominous light.
"Soak in my blood and feast on my heart, Enigma!"
Just as a sharp claw made it's way towards him, they were stopped by something and couldn't move forward no matter how much they tried.
The crystal flew away like an arrow and went through the beast's head like it was butter before it returned to its spot at his waist.
Crack!
Aedan was still in a state of trace and with a swift movement he pressed the large crystal in the core of the belt causing the small red crystal to eject just before it was caught in his hand.
The moment the crystal made contact with his skin, it burst into a ray of light reaching over fifteen inches long, thin and sharp like a blade of pure light.
The beasts who now seemed to have suddenly lost all fear rushed towards the boy even when knowing it was a path leading to demise.
Wielding the blade of light like it was natural, Aedan slashed towards beasts.
The crimson light cut through the body of the beasts like it was fruits and when it ended, Aedan noticed thin crystals over the heads of the wolves. When the light faded from their eyes, these mysterious crystals immediately shattered, same went for the crystal in his hands right before the belt at his waist vanished without leaving a trace.