Near the South border of Antla, surrounded by a large forest, was a small village.
This village was inhabited by poor folks who had no talent at all; the people who were rendered useless, no room for growth.
This outcast tribe wasn't even known by most people; after all no one knows loosers.
There were a total of 30 people living here; their houses were made of sticks and leaves, appeared akin to a shed.
The Houses were arranged in a circular pattern, in the heart of the village stood a town hall. This was the home of the leader of the tribe, Kaz'er; not only was this his home, it was also the place where most tribe related problems were discussed.
Inside the town hall at this moment, was a heated debate going on.
"Leader Kaz'er, we can't go on like this!" A middle aged man spoke as he slammed his fist on the table; showing visible signs of distress.
"Calm down, Vazir!" Said the person sitting next to him. He had brown hair, brown eyes, nothing about him stood out.
"Alright...I am sorry for the sudden outburst." Said Vazir -who had black hair and green eyes- calming down.
In the hall, were seated 5 figures, probably the council of the tribe.
"I understand your sentiments, Vazir; I promise I do. But, we cannot approach this situation emotionally." Said Kaz'er, he had long golden hair, reaching his waist, golden eyes complimenting his hair.
Everyone in this room, was wearing simple brown robes. This was an abandoned village; the governers of the South, The Belmouth family, had rendered these people a waste of resources.
They had to survive on their own, no technology, no weapons, left alone near the border, surrounded by a forest. They had to hunt for food, by killing the beasts lurking in the forests.
Right now, they were discussing an impending danger; there had been sightings of beast mutations in the forest.
Beast mutation is a phenomana that occurs when beast are exposed to Hollow energy. Antla, had some remains of Hollow energy as a result of the clash with Hollows, 200 years ago.
Even though they had won, they weren't able to completely eradicate the Hollow energy. So as a result, even to this day, some traces of hollow energy were still present in the continent.
"How can Hollow energy suddenly appear in the forest?? It was never there to begin with." Vazir said visibly shaken.
"We have notified the border control." Replied Kaz'er calmly, it was painfully obvious that he was putting up an act.
"You know they will not do shit, who would believe us loosers? We are implying that a Hollow outbreak is happening here. After all nothing else can explain the sudden presence of Hollow energy in an area where it wasn't previously present."Vizer retorted
Room fell into silence, there has been no formation of new Hollow rifts ever since humans chased the Hollows away; they were dealing with something out of their scope.
No one would believe them; they were stuck between a wall and a stone.
Kaz'er sighed, "Everyone, go home to your wives and kids; we will continue the discussion first thing in dawn. " He said. Dispersing the crowd and walking towards his chamber, which was nothing but a 30 by 30 feet room.
The floor was covered by a carpet etched out of straws. He just had a blanket to cover himself up and a small lantern burning In the middle of the room.
Kaz'er was the strongest here, he was 'Veteran' ranked, albeit with two F-rank abilities. One was a utility type, Telekinesis, he could move objects with just a thought; since it was a F-rank ability, it had no potential.
Even after after reaching it's peak, the most he could do was move objects half as heavy as him within a radius of 10 meters. And his second ability was a defensive type.
He could erect earth walls, as tall as him. He could erect as many of these he wanted within a radius of 15 meters.
Abilities increased in performance and unlocked an aspect or two upon increase in sub-rank; however, F-rank abilities were garbage.
They had no real upgrades even when maxed out. Kaz'er himself was strong enough to get a job in the military or border defence but the people here are the reason he never did that. They were like his family, he can't abandon them.
He had reached his rank-cap, which was 'Veteran'; he can't grow anymore. Most of the people at the camp were unawakened, crippled in a sense.
Only 2 of the 4 counsilmen were awakened; Vazir and Haud -the brown haired guy- , they were 'Rookie' rank, and had F-rank abilities.
Their rank cap was 'Rookie', thus they had no more growth left to do; truly a pitiful group this was.
Kaz'er was getting ready for bed; he put the light out and went under his blanket. Just as he was about to give into his tiredness, he heard a knock on his door.
Surprised and somewhat annoyed by the unexpected interruption, he got up and wore his robe, which he took off to sleep.
He opened the door and saw Vazir standing Infront of the door.
Before he could say anything, he heard Vazir say in a hurried voice "The guards saw something they would like to report; it is urgent."
Kaz'er perplexed by this revelation, 'Urgent, at this hour; what in the world must have happened .' he thought.
1 hour ago, near the edge of the forest.
Two patrol guards were going about their work, which was guarding the village. Well, considering they were not even awakened, their job was to alert the tribe leader if something was wrong.
They suddenly heard a groan coming from the forest; the clear audibility of the voice indicating that whoever the owner was, was nearby.
"W-who's there?.." one guard called out, his legs shaking out of fear.
Silence, there was no response; further intensifying the fear in one of the guards.
"Quit being a pussy; it's just a wild wolf probably" said the other guard clad in silver armour.
"*Gulp*...If you say so." Said the first guard hesitantly as he approached the forest entrance.
Once he entered the forest, he was welcomed by complete darkness. He lit up the lantern in his hand and started walking in the direction of the voice.
It kept getting louder and louder, in sync with the guard's heartbeat.
He reached the source of the sound. 'It is coming from behind this tree' he said in his head.
He looked back to see if the other guard was still around; to his surprise he was a few steps behind him.
"I'll go and check behind the tree." He said to him, followed by "You stay here."
The other guard just nodded to him in response.
As the first guard kept approaching the tree, his apprehension kept increasing. Then he reached the tree and was standing Infront of it.
The sound suddenly stopped; causing the guard to freeze in his place. His heartbeat was so fast that the surrounding noise was being buried underneath it.
His instincts screamed at him to run; albeit, he responded too late. A large grey claw aimed at his neck suddenly entered his field of vision.
The hand grabbed him by his neck and pulled him upwards; the guard's scream died down the second it started.
The second guard watching the scene felt his knees giving up; his body trembling with fear, his thoughts erratic.
'w-what the fuck was that thing. Am I going to fucking die??..by wife, my children. No .no no.' he screamed in his head
He was brought back to reality by a thud; the first guard's body, headless, fell from the tree.
It was as if his head was perfectly decapitated by a clean sword strike; as if it was never there to begin with.
A fountain of blood squirted from his ruptured arteries and viens connected to his previously existing brain.
The onlooker pretty much shit his pants as he saw this ordeal taking place. Well, he did what any sane person would do; he fucking ran, as fast as he could.
Snot and tears falling from his eyes as he streaked past the forest into the village.
Shouting like a madman "I made it!! I made it!! I survived!!" as he ran towards his house.
He suddenly felt nauseous, his legs gave up and he fell on the ground face first and fainted.
"Ugh.." he groaned as he opened his eyes; he saw Vazir standing Infront of him.
Vazir had used his ability, paralysis, he had stopped the guards advanced but due to the sudden halt, his body fell and he felt nauseous not being able to handle the abrupt decrease in his speed.
"What the hell are you doing, where is the other guard? And why the fuck are you screaming in the middle of the night?" Vazir asked him visibly pissed off.
"Sir...the other guard is dead." He replied trembling, the memory of what he experienced still fresh in his mind.
Vazir's looked like he just ate shit; by the expression he was making.
"Give me a detailed account, in my private chamber. Get your ass up and follow me." Vazir recollected himself and said assertively.
.....
Author's note,
I have explained the nuances behind the power system in the discord server; I would encourage y'all to join it.
I will also be taking 2 days break once an arc ends, to plan out the following arc in detail. Dw, I am not starting a new arc any time soon.
Peace
-Your Favourite Author