The air was tainted, it was plauged with a foulness that kept to the skin and invaded the lungs.
Blight seeped into everything here—air, water, even the soil. Streets were cracked and littered with refuse, the buildings no more than crumbling memories of what had been a thriving district.
Kael's eyes darted to the horizon, past the ruins and decay, where the shimmering force fields of the protected cities stood.
Their glow was a reminder of the paradise just out of reach.
Within those walls, the air was clean, the streets unsullied.
Etherion flowed, promoting growth and vitality. Kael had heard stories of how the rich lived there, untouched by the suffering that plagued the outskirts.
He had never been close to the force field, but he'd seen the Lightforged who passed through it.
Figures in armor, wielding weapons infused with Etherion. They were said to be protectors, hunting the Ravagers and keeping the cities safe.
But to Kael and the others in the outskirts, they were nothing more than symbols of inequality. The poor toiled in the Blight while the Lightforged basked in Etherion's blessings.
Kael crouched behind an overturned cart, his eyes scanning the street ahead. He adjusted the tattered cloak wrapped around his wiry frame, doing his best to shield himself from the biting cold.
His stomach growled, the pangs sharper than usual.
Days had passed since his last decent meal. He eyed the scraps of bread on a broken windowsill just across the street. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep him moving for another day.
He bolted forward, his bare feet silent against grime-covered ground. He grabbed the bread, stuffing it into his cloak, but the sound of movement stopped him.
"Oi! That's ours!"
Kael turned, his heart sinking as two men emerged from the shadows. Both were taller and heavier, their ragged clothes barely covering their scarred, muscular frames.
"Hand it over, rat," one growled, stepping closer.
Kael stumbled backward, his heart dropping. He could run, but he wasn't fast enough. He could fight, but his body was weak, malnourished.
"Didn't hear me?" The man lunged, grabbing Kael by the arm and yanking him forward. The bread fell from his cloak, landing in the dirt.
Kael struggled, a sharp pain throbbing in his head. Images flickered in his mind—a battlefield drenched in blood, a figure clad in radiant energy, and a sword larger than anything he could imagine.
The pain forced him to his knees, and he clutched his head, gasping for breath.
"What's wrong with him?" the second man muttered, hesitating.
Kael didn't know either. The flashes came and went, leaving him disoriented and weak. They made no sense, but they always felt… familiar.
"Doesn't matter. Grab the bread and—"
The ground trembled, cutting the man off mid-sentence.
The tremors grew stronger, the floor cracking beneath Kael's feet. The two men fled, their bread forgotten, but Kael remained frozen.
Ahead, the air sparked, distorting like ripples on water. A low whirr moved through the air, growing louder and more grating.
Then, with a roar, the ground split open, and a gaping void tore into reality. Dark energy spilled from the breach, warping everything it touched.
Kael stumbled back, shielding his eyes as a monstrous form emerged.
The creature simply put, was a nightmare—its body a mass of twisting limbs and jagged edges, it had eyes glowing with a sickly green light.
Its entire form oozing Blight, the air around it turning toxic.
Kael's chest tightened, his breaths shallow and uneven. His legs refused to move, his body frozen as the creature turned its gaze toward him.
For a moment, something flickered in his mind—a memory of facing creatures like this before. He didn't know how or why, but the feeling was there, faint but present.
The Ravager let out an ear-splitting roar, its tendrils surging forward.
Kael braced himself, his mind screaming for his body to move.
And then—
A flash of light cut through the air.
The creature screeched, one of its limbs severed so cleanly that Kael's eyes could barely track what had happened.
A boy, looking around sixteen, stood between Kael and the monster.
His hair was short and wild, his figure covered in an armored suite with faint lines of Etherion running across it. A sword, glowing slightly, rested in his hand.
"You okay?" the boy asked, sparing Kael a quick glance over his shoulder.
Before Kael could respond, the boy's attention snapped back to the creature. He burst forward, moving with speed Kael couldn't believe, his blade slicing through the air as he met the Ravager head-on.
Then from the streets shadows, his squad emerged—four in total.
They were armed, their movements almost synchronized as they surrounded the creature.
Kael could only watch in silence as the squad worked, lashing precise and devastating strikes at the monster.
Etherion bled from their weapons, cutting through the Ravager's flesh with ease. The monster roared, thrashing in frustration, but it was no use.
Within moments, the battle was over. The Ravager let out a gurgling cry as the boy leapt into the air, driving his sword through its core.
The creature collapsed, its terrifying form dissolving into ash-like particles that swirled into the air.
One of the squad members crouched beside the remains, reaching into the ash to pull something out. A glowing orb, flicking dimly with light—the Ravager's soul core.
"Nice," one of them said, tossing the core up and catching it. "If we clear this Void Breach, we can one-up Marvis's squad in the rankings."
The boy who had first stepped in nodded, his blade resting on his shoulder. "Yeah, let's make it quick."
Kael stared. The squad didn't even glance back at him. They had totally forgotten his existence.
Their attention shifted to the Void Breach—the rift that remained where the creature had came. Without hesitation, they stepped forward as it sucked them in, their bodies disappearing into the breach one by one.
The last to enter was the boy.
He paused for a moment, his gaze staying on the glowing crack in space before stepping in and vanishing from sight.
Kael stood frozen, silence settling over the street.
The bread he had fought so hard to claim left on the ground. He bent down to pick it up, clutching it in his hands.
But then, a flicker surrounded his body, like the distortion of heat on hot days.
Kael blinked, confusion and fear growing as the flicker grew stronger.
"what…" he muttered, clutching the bread as his hands began to fade in and out of view.
The Void Breach grew, its energy latching onto him.
Kael tried to resist, his legs digging into the ground, but it was pointless.
The last thing he saw before being pulled in was the bread, falling to the ground once more.