Finn, an orphan, used to live with his sister. "The Ruinous Crusade" instigated by the empire against the southern barbarian tribe, "Ghorak," orphaned them. The children were taken in by an old man named Ezekiel. The kids used to call him Grandpa Zeke. The old man was an imperial soldier back in the day. He enlisted at a young age leaving everything behind just to experience the fire of youth. After the war ended, he became a handicapped veteran as his right wrist was severed by the southern barbarians. As the war ended, the old man found himself all wrinkly and far from his vigorous youth. He realized it was too late to marry and start a family. He saw Finn and his sister Maria thrown into concentration camps due to their unknown origin. He took pity on them and took them in with his authority as a veteran. He then started a family with them. The old man, as a war veteran who had seen the human greed and lust for war, blood, riches, and women, taught Finn and his sister to always prioritize becoming good human beings over everything else. But Finn's morals hit rock bottom at the time of the greatest Challenge for a Man the time when a loved one is in danger. When he was 14, his sister Maria started showing signs of madness; she suddenly became aggressive and violent. She started to act like a beast. As time passed, the symptoms worsened. They then took her to the doctor, who said she was affected by a curse of madness that occurred for unknown reasons. Grandpa grasped that it was a curse faster than the doctor. It was a curse used by the 'Ghorak' on the imperial general. The petals of the nimbus flower were needed to lift the curse. Now he had to either leave his sister to fate or rather fight for her to survival. He needed a medicine worth 300 gold coins. He, along with the old man, started doing odd jobs for measly iron coins.
One night, a man wearing a grey cloak appeared out of nowhere in the abandoned alleyway near the Oakwood Library. He looked like a man in his 20s. His face was almost covered by the cloak; you would hardly notice the dagger around his waist and the claymore bulging behind his back unless you looked closely. The man had an unknown aura around him. It was as though he was emitting a hint of bloodlust. The man most likely was trying to be secretive with those scars on his arm. He suddenly looked at Finn and then he said, "oi! Kid are you Upto a job? I'm giving a really high pay!!" Finn cautiously, said, "What job? Also, how much are you going to pay? "
This little child, who never knew how to haggle, started haggling because he figured it out that higher pay meant a faster recovery for his sister's life.
"Why are you asking a child like me?!! Why not someone else?? Would it be worth the risk? Don't sell me short, mister." Finn said. The guy said, 'Well... (Thinking thoroughly) The pay talk will come after you ensure that you will do the work for me. Finn agreed but insisted on knowing what the job was before mindlessly committing to something that might not even be worth the risk. He said, 'Well... Don't tell anyone else... We, the Eidolon Vanguard memorists are going on a huge raid to the Chasm of Forgotten Souls, and we need a competent psyche carrier who to carry the Memory Prism for us. The boy, unaware of the consequences his conversation with this unknown stranger would bring, agreed and asked how much the pay would be. The guy told him he'd pay a whopping 200 gold coins, but Finn wasn't happy with it and started saying, "I'm risking my life for you, mister, a total stranger, at that pay? Pay up or leave." The guy said,"Well, I don't have any more money to offer. Instead, I can pay you with one psyche, no more, no less. You'd have to choose a psyche that your luck presents to you."
Psyches are memories of an unknown world that have existed inside the ancient soulbound labyrinths since the mythic ages. The psyches fetch a high price in the emporium, where merchants trade the psyches collected by memorists.
Finn knew that scavenging the labyrinths was fraught with danger. He began to reminisce about the past, as he felt he was heading on a death march. He and his sister used to go to the Oakwood Library reading numerous adventures of heroes who scavenged the labyrinths with great strength. They always admired the heroes for their bravery in entering the labyrinths that held the psyches. His sister used to read the stories to him as he was very little back then. The heroes had inspired little Finn. The boy suddenly broke into tears, reminded that he was no hero, no brave of the past.
—he was just a lonely orphan whose family was in danger.
He was in agony while he reminised about the past. After hearing of the high-paying job with such great risk he faltered for a moment, but as he remembered his sister's pitiful plight the boy was convinced that he would scavenge the labyrinths. So, the boy with the great ambition to save his sister from the curse of madness was ready to go on a journey of hardship. Scavenging the labyrinth might be the solution to all his problems. After thinking it through he said, "OK. I will go to the labyrinth, but don't go back one on your words—one psyche it is". The man was happy to hear someone agreeing to do the work for them. The night was hollow, as if a memory had faded into oblivion. After the agreement, Finn began following the man in the direction of the backstreets of Noctaris, the city of night.