Gloomwrath

Chapter 1: I’ve been alive for seven Years



I've been alive for seven years now. Seven years of watching, thinking, and wondering about this world I was born into. But the more I try to understand, the more I feel like a stranger in my own skin. 

I don't even know what I am.

"Neubis! Where are you?" 

Aeria's voice rings out from the hallway, pulling me from my thoughts. She's always worried about me, even though I'm not really a kid anymore. Not in my mind, anyway. 

I sit in the dim light of the orphanage's library, a dusty room filled with books I can't read. They're all written in Anieton - the language of the world. Everyone speaks it, reads it, understands it. But for me, it's like staring at symbols that mock me.

I stare at the page in front of me. I should be able to read this. Why can't I? I think, frustration building in my chest. It's not fair. I should be able to understand. I've been here long enough. Why can't I read?

It's not that I don't understand the words. My mind is sharp, sharper than it has any right to be for someone my age. But no matter how hard I try, the sounds won't form. My mouth doesn't work the way I want it to.

"Neubis!" Aeria calls again, running into the room, her eyes scanning for me in a panic.

I sigh and lower the book. "I'm here," I murmur under my breath, but my voice doesn't reach her ears. I hate that feeling of wanting to say something, wanting to explain myself, but being completely mute.

"Why are you always so quiet?" she asks, standing in front of me with furrowed brows. "Do you know how worried I get? You never talk, you never ask for anything."

I look up at her, trying to express what I feel, but I know I can't. Not yet. 

"He just doesn't know how to speak yet, Aeria." Diesta's voice cuts through the silence as she enters the room. Her tone is kind, but firm. She's the one who looks after us, the one who keeps us from falling through the cracks. 

Aeria still looks at me, eyes full of concern. "But he's seven now, Diesta. Shouldn't he be… well, talking? Like a normal kid?"

"Not all kids are the same," Diesta says, giving Aeria a knowing glance. She walks over to me and smiles softly. "Maybe it's time to teach him how to read. The boy's already too clever for his age, you know."

Aeria hesitates. "You think he's ready for that?"

"He is. You'd be surprised what children are capable of these days."

I frown. I'm not a child. At least not in the way you think.I have memories and feelings of a past I can't access. But the knowledge is there, buried somewhere in the back of my mind.

I nod to Diesta, trying to show I'm willing. Even though part of me wants to scream in frustration, I hold it back. Teach me, I think, Teach me so I can understand.

So, we start. Over the next three years, Diesta patiently teaches me to read Anieton. It's harder than I expected, but I push through. I have to.

At seven years old, I can read the language now. But it still feels incomplete. The world feels so… wrong. I know what this language can do. Words can shape reality if spoken with enough force. It's not just for communication. It's for control. For power.

Diesta's words echo in my mind: The world's cruel, Neubis. You'll have to learn how to navigate it if you want to survive.

And that's what I plan to do.

Epsiloan. That's the continent I live on. A land ruled by royals, nobles, and the powerful. Power is everything here. The more you have, the higher you stand. The weaker you are, the quicker you die.

Aeria and I are nobility by blood. The Aphoban name used to mean something, but it's just a shadow now. The rest of the noble families are bloodthirsty. To rise up, you need to fight. Kill. Conquer. Nothing else matters. 

But that's not how it works for me. At least, that's what I thought.

"Diesta, what happened to Mom and Dad?" I asked one night, the question lingering in my mind for years. 

She paused, her hands stilling as she folded a piece of laundry. "They were a part of a greater scheme, Neubis. You'll understand one day. The bloodline they carried is more than just a name. It's a curse... and a blessing."

I was confused. I didn't understand at the time. But I would.

I didn't know much about my family's legacy, except that it had been broken long ago. That's why I couldn't access any special power, at least not the kind most noble families had. Our chi, our core energy, was weak. Or so I thought.

Then, everything changed. 

It was a normal night, or so I thought. I went out to buy some bread just a few coins from the market. I should've been back before sunset. But when I returned, I found a nightmare waiting for me. 

Aeria was lying unconscious, blood pooling around her. Her chest heaved weakly, but the look on her face was empty, like she was already gone. 

Standing over her, grinning like she knew something I didn't, was Diesta.

"What did you do?" I demanded, my voice shaking with disbelief. I tried to move, to help her, but my body felt heavy, like something was holding me back.

"Don't be so surprised, Neubis. You've always been the one. I've been waiting for you to reach this point." Diesta's voice was calm, too calm. "We are the last of the Aphoban bloodline. You are the last one with the potential to wield this power."

I staggered back. "What power?"

She smiled coldly, holding up an ancient, twisted object in her hands. A Dark Heart Cross. I had seen it before, in old family records. A weapon of legend. One that could force a person to awaken the darkest element within themselves.

"The power of Zen," she said. "The darkest of the magical elements. The one that comes only when a member of your bloodline dies. The last one standing will inherit it. And that one is you, Neubis."

I could barely breathe. "You killed her…"

"Yes. But it's for your own good, Neubis. You're special. You're meant to be special."

She raised the cross toward me, the air thickening with an ominous energy. 

"I was hoping you'd take this from me."

My hand shot out before I could stop it. I grabbed the cross. And everything changed.

Pain. Searing, unbearable pain. My body felt like it was being torn apart, like I was being consumed by fire from the inside out. But in that pain, something awakened.

Zen.

The magic surged into me, filling every corner of my being, seeping into my bones, my skin, my mind. I felt it. I understood it. This was the power I had been born for.

Diesta screamed, clutching her own chest, as the dark magic forced its way into her. But I wasn't paying attention to her anymore. I was focused on the power pulsing through me. My skin burned, but I didn't care. This world has made me weak. But no longer. 

I would make it bend to my will.

I could feel the world itself trembling.

And then everything went black. The last thing I remember is my hand still holding the cross, the world around me crumbling. But it's only the beginning.

I'm not a child anymore.

And I'm going to make this world bleed.


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