Two years have passed since the village of Vareth was erased by flames. To the world, it was a forgotten skirmish—one of many in the long war between Elvaria and Duranthal. But to Eris, it was the true beginning—not as a child of man, but as something far darker.
Surviving the Shadows
After his parents' death, Eris' small body crawled away into the northern woods. No one searched for him. No one cared. He survived among the beasts and the bitter cold—his limbs small, his breath short, but his mind sharp and unrelenting.
> He ate what he could find, trapped small creatures, and used the ruins of his village as a laboratory.
> "My body is weak, but my mind is not. This world will be mine—but first, I must survive."
For months, he observed everything. He scavenged books from the corpses of soldiers, stole scraps of parchment from burned temples, and taught himself the ancient runes from half-burned scrolls.
But the more he learned, the more he grew disgusted.
> "Magic here is slow. Conditional. Weak. It begs for permission."
> "I don't beg. I devour."
Awakening of Void and Shadow
On a moonless night, Eris performed a forbidden ritual: The Meditation of the Void. It promised contact with the primal source of emptiness. He had no rare ingredients, no holy relics—only blood, bone, and will.
Inside the ritual circle drawn in ash and blood, Eris meditated… and fell into the Void.
There, he met no gods.
Only himself—reflected in countless, whispering shadows.
> "We are you. The hunger you buried. The ambition you feared."
"You are duality. Shadow and Void intertwined."
"Accept us… and cease to be human."
Eris smiled.
> "Humanity is weakness. Show me how to become more."
And the powers welcomed him.
His body convulsed. Blood dripped from his eyes, his ears, and even his shadow. But he did not scream. He endured. He conquered.
> [New Skills Acquired]
Voidstep – Instantly cross short distances through the void. Undetectable. Silent.
Shadowbind – Manipulate the shadows of living beings. Control, strangle, deceive.
After that night, no beast could touch him. No step could be traced. Behind the innocent face of an eight-year-old, a predator was reborn.
Into the World Beyond
Now armed with forbidden powers, Eris knew it was time.
The world didn't know who he was.
Not yet.
But he knew them—the noble houses that ordered his parents' deaths, the ancient relics buried in holy cities, the empires hiding behind masks of order.
And he would infiltrate them—not as a beggar or orphan, but as a silent architect of ruin.
> "The first step begins now.
I will weave my shadow into every crack.
And when the world crumbles, only the name 'Crimson Veil' shall remain."