An old, ransacked house lay dormant within the bounds of a destroyed pasture. No life was present.
No life anyone cared about, at least.
Within the cracked and jagged wooden house sat a single kid, a failure to all who knew his name.
Malik Praestar.
In a world revolving around the Enlightened, 16 year old Malik was the one member of a noble bloodline that had no such abilities. His ancestors, the strongest examples of a Seychlor, seemed as if they were gods compared to the scrawny, useless kid that was supposed to be the harbinger of a new dawn, a new generation - an absolute failure in every aspect of the matter.
Malik knew of his lackluster life, and he drowned in it every time he was spoken of.
The Forgotten One.
Such a nickname had been associated with Malik for as long as he could remember. A sign posted on his chest and back, constantly reminding others of the person he was.
Malik had come to resent the Enlightened.
The Holy Warriors, another name for them. Those chosen by the Orsto Dynasty to inherit the mantle of power and continue the legacy of the dynasty itself, and its one goal - fighting the Lagau, a hostile species formed of the unknown that come from the Outerworlds, a land far beyond the borders of the observable world, Shimaishi.
Malik resented them because he couldn't be them - because he was ridiculed for not being granted Enlightenment like all the other descendants of noble bloodlines.
His family situation didn't help either.
His dad, an honest, hardworking man, who Malik had loved greatly, and who Malik would never see again. Due to Malik's lack of Enlightenment, his father was ordered to execute him, as he was a stain on the bloodline. But he didn't. And due to the hesitation, Malik's father was exiled from the world itself, supposedly transmigrated to the Outerworlds, where he would be torn apart by the Lagau there.
Malik never met his mother, as she left directly after his birth.
"I don't need any of them." Malik spoke to himself, grimacing at the thought of his family that flashed through his head.
The house he was in was his childhood home, now having been annihilated and ransacked by locals after his father had been exiled from Shimaishi. Although it was vile, there was no other place to call home. Not for a person like Malik.
It sat on a pasture within the outer reaches of Shimaishi itself, bordering the edge of the world. The ground was gray and cracked, having been ages since last cultivated. More specifically, the pasture was in the Ghaisolo Reaches, the furthest east region of Shimaishi itself. A rocky, unforgiving landscape where dreams went to die.
The perfect place for Malik.
He stood up in the house, surveying his surroundings before groggily trudging to his room, a segment of the house barely holding together that lacked a proper bed. Malik simply slept on the floor.
Nighttime was fast coming, and Malik had vowed to get more sleep tonight than he had been on average before.
Why?
No reason in particular. Just a way to spice up his miserable life. Hardened by the conditions he was forced to live in, Malik was nothing short of a warrior, through and through. Tough, unkillable, but still equipped with a potent sense of humor and desire to survive.
Malik layed down on the cold, sharp wooden floor, splinters sticking up into his sides and back, which he simply ignored.
"Wouldn't it be funny if I woke up in the Widow's Realm?" Malik asked himself, shutting his eyes with a deep chuckle as he drifted off into a somber sleep, temporarily forgetting of the struggles within the real world.
A sleep cut off by a vision.
Malik, rather than waking up back inside of his house, awoke on the warm ground of a world he had never personally seen, but had heard of.
The Widow's Realm.
The purple hue of the ground and the grass and flowers upon it beneath Malik's just awoken body shone softly, and Malik made direct eye contact with it as he woke up. The first sign that his life was about to change.
He was on an isolated sky island, nothing but a light purple void below, and around him on all sides. Stars filled the sky, their vibrant lights shining down on the minuscule sky island Malik had awoken on.
In front of Malik, and on the center of the island, sat the object of interest, the gateway to a new life - the Quantum Obelisk.
The conduit of Enlightenment.
The gray, stark obelisk did not shine under the stars. It was extremely dull, reflecting no light whatsoever.
Malik, having fully awakened by this point, immediately recognized his scenery, a sense of wonder filling his mind.
"No way… this is impossible…" He muttered to himself, standing up straight and slowly approaching the Quantum Obelisk, where his destiny awaited. He took careful, steady steps, approaching the towering obelisk slowly. It was about 3 times the height of Malik, and he stood next to it, making the height difference even more visible than before
Suddenly, as if it had been activated, the Quantum Obelisk produced a stone slab from nothingness, from the absence of matter. New matter was created from none.
The true power of the Orsto Dynasty, the Overseer of Shimaishi, was being displayed in front of Malik.
Malik grasped the stone slab, which had been floating magically in the air, awaiting his touch. Upon grasping the stone tablet, engravings appeared on it all at once, flashing a bright purple before dissipating into normal writing.
It was at this point Malik realized this was his destiny, right here in his grasp. His Soul Construct.
He was obtaining the one thing the world had forbidden him from getting - Enlightenment.
The tablet itself read his stats, the words engraved clearly into the hard rock.
[Malik Praestar]
[Ascendant Evolution: No]
[Jurisdiction of Class: Stark]
[Articulate Essences:]
[Blank]
[Blank]
[Blank]
[Inherited Birthmark: Stallion Sigil]
[Unique Aspect: Homebound Blight]
[Upgrade Medallions:]
[Blank]
[Blank]
[Blank]
[Blank]
[Blank]
[Blank]
[Blank]
[Blank]
[Counter Aspect: Swift Travels]
[Total Amplifier Count: 0]
Malik could understand most of what he read engraved on the stone tablet. He was educated in the ways of Enlightenment, although having not received it until now.
This was good. Very, very good.
Malik was glad with the aspects he had been given, but they weren't his main focus, at least not yet. Malik's main focus was the last statistic engraved onto the stone tablet, below everything else. The statistic entitled:
[Enlightenment Subdivision]
This single category would depict what class of powers he received from the Enlightenment, and what he would be stuck with for the rest of his life. Many different classes existed, some more powerful or potent than others, and those others more helpful and support-based than others. When looked at in its full scope, the Enlightenment system always came full circle.
Malik, preparing himself for the reveal on the tablet, quickly glanced down, his brain exploding as he read what was listed.
[Enlightenment Subdivision: Shroudwalker, Lord Of Blight]
"W - what the hell?! Shroudwalker?!" Malik yelled out in surprise, dropping the stone tablet to the ground with a booming thud. "And… what is that title?" He added on, thinking of what had appeared on the tablet.
"There's no way in hell, I mean, seriously! Me, of all people?! I get Shroudwalker?!" Malik exclaimed in confusion, pacing back and forth on the small sky island he was stationed on. "And what does 'Lord of Blight' even mean? I've never seen something like that…"
Malik had just been Enlightened, and received a Soul Construct, but not the one he would have anticipated - not the one anybody would have anticipated.
Shroudwalker.
Out of 16 different classes and subdivisions of Enlightenment, Shroudwalker stood as the rarest one by an enormous margin.
As far as Malik was educated on the subject, Shroudwalker had only been obtained less than 100 times in history, making himself one of the greats - almost immediately. He didn't even have to be powerful.
"I've got Shroudwalker. I've actually got Shroudwalker. Holy fuck. Holy hell! I've got goddamn Shroudwalker!!!" Malik cheated, pumping his fist in the air as he danced around the sky island in joy.
This can be the start of my true life! Malik thought to himself as he continued parading around the island. He couldn't care less about any other aspects on the tablet at the moment, only the bottom one.
He couldn't care less about anything else in general.
Now was his time to shine, his time to show the world who he could really be.
And that time began now.
Shroudwalker - One of the 16 Enlightenment Subdivisions. The rarest subdivision by far, and the most unique. Shroudwalkers possess the ability to transfer their soul, their entire being into a realm known as the Sunken Isles, where they can traverse Shimaishi at a speedier rate compared to traversing it in the world itself. The Sunken Isles also act as a hub, a get together area for all Shroudwalkers to meet and discuss any matters. Shroudwalkers draw their power from the Sunken Isles themselves, an essence called Damnation - the ability to drag souls down into the depths of the Sunken Isles to be forgotten - forever.