Sofian_Abdullah

In a world where strength is dictated by divine relics… one boy is born with nothing—and yet, may become the end of everything.

In the shattered continent of Auraterra, every child bears the Eclipse Mark—a sigil tied to the ancient forces known as the Relics of Ecliptica. These marks grant unimaginable power, shaping the future of empires, clans, and kings.

But Kaen is different.

He was born Shadowless—a cursed child without a mark, without power, without a future. Mocked. Beaten. Forgotten. Left to rot in the ruins of a war that ended long ago.

Until the day he touches a relic that was never meant to be found.

Until he hears a voice that should have stayed buried.

Until the Archeflare awakens.

Now, Kaen holds a forbidden power that no one understands—a force that rewrites reality itself, forged not from talent, but from sacrifice. Every use burns away a piece of him. Every battle demands something greater. And the world is watching.

From noble heirs to ancient monsters, from hidden sects to celestial realms—Kaen is no longer invisible. He is a flame in the dark. A threat to fate itself.

And the boy with no shadow?

He may become the one who burns the entire system to ash.

Eclipsed Era: The Last Ember

Kaen jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat. His fingers sparked red. The mark on his back flared, pulsing like a second heart.

Lira sat nearby, sharpening her blade by firelight. Vex snored quietly, curled up like a smug fur-ball.

"Nightmares?" she asked, not looking up.

Kaen nodded. "Someone... something... whispered my name. Over and over."

Lira's sharpening slowed. "Then it's begun."

They were camping in the Hollow Verge—a ravine so deep the stars above looked like scattered embers on velvet.

Below them, the Trial Gate awaited.

> "Every Fracture-bearer must face it," Lira had said earlier. "It either kills you… or accepts you."

Kaen's hands trembled. "And if I fail?"

Lira met his eyes. "You don't fail. You vanish."

The stone doors opened like a scream.

The air inside smelled of copper and old thunder. Walls moved, slightly breathing—alive, or pretending to be.

Behind him, Lira whispered something.

> "Don't trust what speaks in your mother's voice."

Inside, there was no floor. Only mirrors.

Kaen walked on reflections—his fears, his guilt, his rage.

A shape rose from the mirrored ground.

It wore his face. But the eyes... were full of hunger.

> "You think you're chosen?" the doppelgänger hissed. "You're just the flame that'll burn it all down."

Kaen dodged instinctively. His Archeflare blade snapped into form, unstable, but sharp. They clashed—metal against magic, flame against memory.

> "Not yet," the mirror-Kaen grinned. "But wait till she dies."

He fell—down, down, into a cave beneath reality.

A creature of black flesh and silver bone. Its head was split in two, revealing teeth that curled like broken crowns. Around its neck—spines, still bleeding.

> "I smell the Fracture," it hissed. "And the boy who bleeds fire."

Kaen raised his blade. "Come get it."

Kaen barely dodged. The Maw moved like shadow wrapped in hate. It whispered secrets while it fought.

"Lira won't survive what's coming."

"The seal inside you is breaking…"

But just as the beast pinned him—

> "You weren't supposed to interfere," Kaen gasped.

Lira wiped blood from her cheek. "You took too long. And you owe me lunch."

The beast twitched once… then dissolved into black dust.

As Kaen stood, victorious but shaken, the cave shifted.

From the ground, a relic rose—one that looked like a heart wrapped in chains.

> "The Trial accepts you," Lira said, her voice reverent.

As his fingers touched the relic, a shockwave burst outward—

—and far above, across Auraterra, every Sealhunter, every Warden, every ancient order felt it.

But in the obsidian throne, the Lord of the Second Eclipse only smiled.

> "Let the monsters rise. Let him break."

Chapter 5: Beneath the Skin of the World