The settlement had served its purpose.
A testing ground.
A place where Veyrath had perfected his craft.
The Hollowed were obedient.
The Forgotten were autonomous, yet unshakably loyal.
And now, the process of Unmaking was no longer a theory.
It was a weapon.
A force ready to be unleashed upon the world.
And so, for the first time, he looked beyond the settlement's borders.
At the lands still untouched.
At the people still clinging to their fragile existence.
It was time to change them.
To make them more.
To ensure that nothing remained the same.
Veyrath did not seek a city.
Not yet.
That would draw too much attention.
The world would fight back too soon.
And he was not done preparing.
Instead, he chose a smaller place.
A settlement much like the one he had already transformed.
A place where people still believed in stability.
Where they did not yet fear what was coming.
That would make the fall all the sweeter.
The Forgotten assembled before him.
Silent.
Awaiting his will.
And he gave it.
"Go. Spread the truth."
And so they left.
Not as an army.
Not as conquerors.
But as whispers in the dark.
The new settlement was larger than the first.
More people.
More structure.
More order.
That meant it would take time.
The Forgotten did not walk in openly.
They did not announce their presence.
They blended.
Appeared as travelers.
As merchants.
As wandering souls looking for a place to stay.
And the people welcomed them.
Because they did not see the truth.
Not yet.
They saw what they expected to see.
And that was their first mistake.
The Forgotten did not convert openly.
Did not preach.
Instead, they spoke in small conversations.
They planted doubts.
"Have you ever felt… hollow? As if there was something more waiting beyond what we are?"
"Have you ever wanted to become something greater?"
The questions were not threats.
They were invitations.
And some listened.
Some were intrigued.
And that was all that was needed.
Because curiosity was the first step toward acceptance.
And acceptance was the first step toward transformation.
It did not take long.
A man, young, uncertain of his future,
Listened to the whispers of the Forgotten.
And he asked the only question that mattered.
"Can you show me?"
So they did.
They took him to the outskirts of town, beneath the cover of night.
And there, for the first time beyond the original settlement,
Veyrath's gift was shared.
The Unmaking was performed.
Not forced.
Not demanded.
Requested.
And when the man returned to the settlement,
He was no longer as he had been.
He was Hollowed.
And when others saw him—
When they felt the change in him—
They began to wonder.
To want.
And that was all it took.
One became three.
Three became ten.
Ten became a quiet force within the town.
Not an invasion.
Not a revolution.
But a movement.
And no one noticed the change at first.
Not until it was too late.
Not until the Unmaking had already taken root.
Not until people were no longer people—
But something more.
By the time the first voices of doubt arose,
By the time the first people noticed the shifts in those around them,
The town was already slipping away.
And when the leaders tried to intervene—
They found that some of their own had already changed.
That some of their most trusted had already embraced the new way.
And suddenly, they were the ones who were outnumbered.
It took weeks, not days.
It was slow.
Subtle.
There were no battles.
No raids.
By the time the town fully became Hollowed—
By the time the Forgotten had spread enough to control everything—
The people had already accepted it.
Because they did not see it as a loss.
They saw it as a gift.
And when travelers arrived and saw the town,
They did not see destruction.
They saw order.
Peace.
A place where people did not suffer.
Did not fear.
Did not argue, or fight, or hesitate.
And some of them stayed.
Because they wanted to know what made this place different.
And in time, they too would become part of it.
The Unmaking was no longer confined to a single settlement.
Now, it was a spreading force.
And the world had not even realized it had begun.
Veyrath did not seek destruction.
Not yet.
His power was not meant to conquer with fire and steel.
It was meant to reshape.
To erase and rebuild.
To make the world embrace its own transformation—without realizing it was happening.
That was why he did not march with an army.
Did not send the Forgotten as a conquering force.
Instead, he let Unmaking spread like a whisper.
A story that passed from one willing soul to another.
A slow, unstoppable infection.
The kind that no one noticed until it was too late.
The second settlement had fallen quietly.
Now, there was a template.
A proven method.
And so the process repeated.
The Forgotten moved again, to another town.
Not the largest.
Not the most fortified.
Just another place where people believed the world was simple.
Where they thought change was something they controlled.
A place that would never see the end coming.
The new town was larger than the last.
More people.
More voices.
More potential converts.
The Forgotten entered unnoticed.
They did not draw attention.
Did not move as a group.
Instead, they became part of the town's rhythm.
A merchant here.
A traveler there.
A worker looking for a fresh start.
And no one questioned them.
Not at first.
Because they spoke like normal people.
Because they seemed like normal people.
And that was what made them so dangerous.
The first to turn was always the same type of person.
Someone who felt they did not belong.
Someone who wanted more than what life had given them.
Someone who was waiting for a reason to change.
And the Forgotten gave it to them.
Not by force.
Not by threat.
But by offering a choice.
A simple question.
"Do you ever feel like there should be more?"
And when the answer was yes—
The process began.
One became three.
Three became ten.
Some resisted at first.
Some hesitated.
But hesitation was temporary.
Doubt was temporary.
Once the Hollowed existed among them—
Once people saw that change was possible—
They no longer feared it.
And when they no longer feared it,
They accepted it.
And just like before,
The town shifted.
Without war.
Without conflict.
Without anyone realizing how much they had already lost.
It was always the same.
The leaders held on the longest.
The merchants, the guildmasters, the guards.
They saw the changes in their people and resisted.
Tried to understand what was happening.
But by the time they realized how deep the roots had grown,
They were already surrounded.
By their own people.
People who no longer saw them as authority.
Because they were still clinging to the past.
And the past had no place here anymore.
And so, one by one, they fell.
Not to swords.
Not to shackles.
But to Unmaking.
Because in the end, they chose it too.
They just didn't realize it until the moment it happened.
By the time outsiders took notice,
By the time someone asked the right questions,
It was already too late.
This town, like the others, was no longer what it had been.
But unlike the others—
It was now close enough to a major city to matter.
Close enough that whispers would begin to reach the ears of people with power.
And that meant the world would start to notice.
Not yet.
Not fully.
But the first shadows of suspicion would form.
And that was the next challenge.
Because subtlety could only last for so long.
And when the world finally understood what was happening—
They would try to stop it.
But by then, it would already be too late.
Because the Hollowed were everywhere now.
And the Forgotten were still spreading.
Three settlements had already fallen.
Not to war.
Not to conquest.
But to inevitability.
To the whispers of the Forgotten.
To the desire of those who sought to become more.
Veyrath had not forced their transformation.
They had asked for it.
And now, the process would repeat.
Not in one place.
Not in two.
But everywhere.
Because now, the Unmaking no longer needed his direct hand.
It had become a movement.
A spreading truth that traveled on its own.
And that meant it could no longer be stopped.
The Forgotten entered the next settlement as they had before.
Not as an invasion.
Not as an army.
But as new faces in a familiar world.
Merchants.
Travelers.
Workers looking for opportunity.
And as before, the town accepted them.
Because they looked like everyone else.
They spoke like everyone else.
They acted like everyone else.
And that made them invisible.
As always, the first ones were the easiest.
The lonely.
The lost.
Those who felt that the world had not given them enough.
They listened to the whispers.
And the whispers told them what they already wanted to believe.
That they were not meant to be ordinary.
That they were meant for something greater.
And so, they stepped forward.
And they were Unmade.
Before, the process had been slow.
Measured.
A quiet infection that moved in the shadows.
But now, with three settlements already lost,
The rate of spread was increasing.
The Hollowed were no longer just inside the settlements.
They were traveling.
Carrying the change with them wherever they went.
A merchant who had been Hollowed did not remain in one place.
He traveled to the next town, selling goods—
And spreading the whisper of something greater.
A former guard who had been turned did not retire.
He sought out others, bringing them into the fold.
It was no longer just Veyrath's will moving this forward.
It was momentum.
And momentum was a force that could not be undone.
For the first time, the Forgotten did something unexpected.
Something they had not been ordered to do.
They approached a man of influence.
A noble.
Someone who had power, had connections, had reach.
Someone who could spread the word faster than any merchant or traveler.
But it was a calculated risk.
Because the higher one stood, the harder they fell.
And if this man chose Unmaking—
He would take hundreds with him.
The Forgotten did not offer the Unmaking immediately.
They planted the seed first.
They spoke of potential.
Of change.
They let him see what had already happened in other places.
Let him witness those who had already become more.
And they let him believe it was his decision.
That he was choosing to take this step.
Not because he was being deceived—
But because he wanted to.
And in the end, he did.
Not because he was forced.
But because he saw what was coming.
Because he realized that change was inevitable.
And he wanted to be on the right side of it.
A single noble did not rule a kingdom.
But he had contacts.
Had wealth.
Had power.
And that meant the Unmaking was now in places even Veyrath had not yet reached.
Because this man did not just accept his transformation.
He spread it.
He wrote letters to others like him.
He spoke of a movement—
A philosophy.
A belief that the world was evolving.
That they could become part of something greater.
And people listened.
Because when power spoke, others followed.
And now, the Hollowed were no longer just appearing in settlements.
They were spreading into the circles of nobility.
Into places of wealth, into places of command.
And that changed everything.
Because before, the world would have ignored small settlements falling.
But now?
Now, when men of influence began to change—
The world would take notice.
Veyrath had always known there would be a point when the world would resist.
And now, it had begun.
Not in the form of armies.
Not yet.
But in the whispers of those who feared what was happening.
There were now people who spoke against the Unmaking.
People who saw the signs.
People who had noticed that something was wrong.
And while they were few—
They would grow.
Because doubt, like Unmaking, could spread.
And if it was not stopped early—
It could become a true threat.
The world was no longer ignorant of what was happening.
It was no longer a quiet expansion.
People were noticing.
Some were embracing it.
Some were fearing it.
And that meant Veyrath had a decision to make.
Should he continue expanding quietly, letting Unmaking spread naturally?
Or was it time to prepare for the first true conflict?
Because for the first time,
There were those who wanted to stop him.
And soon, they would act.
But by the time they moved—
Would it already be too late?