Chapter 1: The Awakening

The wind howled through the branches of the black forest, and with it came the scent of blood and burned wood. It was the night of the raid. The night that the Abyss first erupted into our reality. I was Sixteen years old.

My thin body shivered with cold against the chill as I hugged behind the great trunk of an ancient oak, hearing the fire burn and spit in the distance. My guardians, my parents, were out there—fighting. I could hear the ringing of metal, the roars and cries of men and beasts alike. The earth shook beneath me with each strike that landed, each power that burst from the forces at play.

The Abyss had come.

I had only heard of it in legend, in stories whispered by the old men of our village. But none of those tales had prepared me for what I was witnessing now.. The creatures, the soldiers of the Abyss, were not like the monsters of the fairy tales. They were real carnivorous and unyielding. And they had come for us.

My parents were martial artists, masters of a form of combat passed down through the the centuries. But even their skill, honed over decades of training, was not enough to protect them from the constant tides of the Abyss's forces. They had fought back bravely, repelling the beasts for as long as they could, but the numbers. the numbers were too many.

I crept closer, hugging my knees to my body, my thudding heart pounding in my little chest. My gasp was brief, but I would not make a sound. I knew that I would be killed if I got caught. I was helpless, with no way of defending myself.

Then, a burst of light—brilliant, blinding—flared from the center of the village. I took a sharp breath as the ground trembled beneath me, a shiver racing down my spine. The fire flared to life, shooting long shadows on the trees, and for one moment, the world was silent. The battle ceased, as if the world itself were drawing breath.

I didn't know what had happened, but I felt it—something had changed.

I dared a peek around the trunk of the tree, and that's when I saw it. The figure. A massive creature, humanoid but enormous, with skin as black as obsidian and purple eyes that glowed like hot coals. It was one of the Abyss's generals...an enforcer, a monster born for pure destruction. 

My parents were nowhere to be found.

A roar shook the air, and the ground appeared to ripple with the power of the beast. My parents were holding their ground, but the enforcer was too strong. I could no longer see them—only flashes of their movement, a dance of death. My father's sword, a sacred blade forged by our ancestors and worn in battle, cut through the darkness. My mother's fists were lightning, every punch a force to be feared. But even they were no match for the Abyss.

I clamped my eyes shut. My body was cold and weak, and yet within me, deep in my core, there was a stirring.

Why can't I do something?

Why am I so helpless?

A sob welled up in my throat, and I suppressed it. My parents depended on me. They had taught me that strength did not lie in the body, but in the will, In the heart.

I heard the tone of my mother's voice, determined and mad.

"Survive."

Survive?

How was that possible? How was I supposed to resist such power?

Abruptly the earth beneath me gave way. A gigantic force slammed into my back, and I was hurled forward, smashing into the ground with a sickening thud. Pain coursed through my body, but I barely had time to acknowledge it. My breathing was in rapid, gasping spurts as I tried to get to my feet. My palms were sticky with dirt and blood, but I didn't care. I had to get up. I had to...

And then I saw it.

A huge, jagged piece of metal. The blade of my father's sword, twisted and broken, on the ground a few feet away from me. The sword that had once been unstoppable now in pieces.

"No." I whispered, the words almost a breath. "Please."

It was too late for them. But not for me.

A low, rumbling growl sounded from behind me. The enforcer was coming. It was only a matter of time before it found me, before it killed me, just like it had killed my parents. I felt the weight of the monster's pressure in the air, crushing me.

Then, something. changed.

A jolt of power, deep inside my chest. It felt like fire and ice mixed together. Something new to me. My hands extended automatically, closing over the shattered blade.

The moment I touched it, my body awakened. The world whirled around me as the sword hummed with a power beyond this world, and I.

I wasn't alone.

A voice was heard—not in my ears, but in my mind.

"System Activation…"

What?

The words were barely even realized before the knife in my hand began to glow, its broken form reshaping itself as though it had a consciousness of its own. The power flowed through me, into me. My muscles howled in pain, but the pain was. changed. It was strength. I killed one of its minion,, then 

"First Kill Completed… 0.01 Credits Earned…"

I blinked in amazement. What was happening? What was this power?

The enforcer had moved closer, its shadow falling across me. I could hear its footsteps, feel its eyes piercing into my very soul. And yet, as I stood there, with the shattering blade in my hand, I felt something I never had before.

A spark.

"Kill it…," the voice whispered. "Show your power."

I didn't hesitate.

I attacked, the broken blade now a fiery source of otherworldly energy, the air charged with power. The enforcer gave a roar and swung its massive fist at me, but I was faster. The blade arced through the air, a blur of steel, and in a snap, I struck.

The enforcer let out a howl of pain, its massive form staggering backward. I could feel the energy fueling my body, the credits flooding into the system, but I couldn't stop. I didn't want to stop.

The Abyss had taken everything from me.

And now, I would take it all back.