Before everything changed, people shared stories of miners, brave individuals who disappeared into the earth, searching for relics of a forgotten time.
They believed these caves were not mere ruins. They were graves, the final resting places of kingdoms that had fallen before history began; gateways to the First World, carved by civilizations long forgotten.
Deep within were monsters, secrets, and echoes of power too ancient to name.
Now, the continent of Kalahari is split among three waning forces: Vostok, Kuri, and the Celestial Union. Each clings to its territory like a dying man holding onto a knife, desperate for survival, longing for more.
Unawa's parents were neither nobles nor warriors. They were miners, skilled and respected, known throughout Kuri.
They weren't legends, but people whose names were spoken with quiet respect.
As resources on the surface ran low, kingdoms turned their attention underground.
They employed miners to excavate ancient fortresses, stripping them of anything valuable—metal, crystals, minerals—all to fuel the next conflict.
Yet, those fortresses were never just places to dig. They were wounds history left open. When the knights from Vostok arrived, everything changed.
Vostok and Kuri had just formed a fragile truce. Together, they aimed to resist the rising strength of the Celestial Union. To prepare, they needed brave individuals to explore a newly uncovered fortress—one dangerously close to the Celestial Emperor's borders.
Too close.
Unawa remembered the tension in the air that night: the whispers, the forced smiles, and how the knights avoided eye contact.
Even his older brother, Jiro, who never flinched at anything, couldn't hide his discomfort.
That evening, their mother, Hanna, knelt before them. Her eyes burned with determination, but her voice shook.
"Promise me, Jiro, you'll protect your sister and younger brother—no matter what happens."
Jiro nodded without a word. Their mother turned to Unawa and his sister, Yuna Hinori, pulling them in close.
"And you two… grow strong."
Her embrace was powerful—warm, but heavy with an unspoken weight. It felt like goodbye.
The next morning, Hajiro and Hanna left them at an orphanage until Hajiro's Brother came back from his travel.
By nightfall, they were gone.
The miners' caravan reached the fortress border three days later. Before them lay a vast chasm concealed by mist.
When they looked over the edge, there was no bottom—only endless darkness.
As they descended, ropes creaked and torches flickered.
The deeper they went, the heavier the air became, making it feel like they were swallowing ash.
Then, the entrance above sealed itself, consumed by a thick wall of black mist.
Inside, the walls dripped with shadows. The miners split into two groups: one went left, the other right. The guards stayed behind, watching for movement.
"Over here! There's ore!"
A miner's voice echoed through the cave. The sound barely reached the guards before a shadow flickered behind him. Cold hands silenced his scream, and he vanished into the darkness.
Suddenly, chaos erupted.
A shadow appeared next to the troop leader. It twisted grotesquely—then transformed into the leader himself, striking with a dagger.
Pain exploded across his back. He fell silently, leaving the group without a leader.
Unawa's father, Hajiro Isugi, dropped his pickaxe and lifted his sword, his voice shaking.
"It can't be… How did you know we'd be here?"
From the shadows stepped a figure in golden armor. Light reflected off him like a small sun, but darkness twisted and whispered behind him.
"Master… master… what should we do with them?"
The knight's voice rang out, calm and frightening:
"Look at you… crawling into my domain, uninvited, unprepared. Pitiful mortals, clinging to life where it no longer belongs. Witness your strength… shatter."
A wave of force slammed into the soldiers.
"FALL!"
Every miner was to the ground, wind knocked from their lungs, pinned by an unseen force. Only Hajiro remained, teeth clenched, gripping his sword.
He realized he now led the group. The weight of responsibility struck him hard.
The knight approached, golden armor gleaming, shadows crawling behind him like living creatures.
A faint glimmer on his belt—a hilt unlike any sword Hajiro had ever seen—shimmered with a strange light. His voice was soft, but every word hit like steel:
"You are expendable. You will watch your allies disappear, one by one. You will feel betrayal, death, and despair... and still, you will kneel before me."
Driven by love and desperation, Hajiro pushed himself upright.
"Fall…" the knight whispered, his voice like ice, as he lunged for Hanna.
"No! How dare you!" Hajiro shouted, dragging her body forward.
The knight's blade sliced through Hanna, and the shadows surged to swallow her scream. Hajiro fell to his knees beside her, blood and tears on his face, holding her lifeless body. Rage and grief burned like fire.
The knight smirked and made one final cruel move. With a swift kick, he sent both of them off the cliff. The walls shook as they fell deeper into the abyss, shadows rushing after them, whispering voices of the dead.
A faint light, almost undetectable, lingered around the golden hilt. Hajiro didn't notice it in his sorrow, but the sword seemed… aware. Waiting. Watching.
Weeks passed. Rescue teams entered the fortress. None returned. The alliance between Vostok and Kuri collapsed. The Celestial Union struck soon after—swift, merciless, unstoppable.
Within months, Vostok and Kuri fell. Cities turned to ash. Survivors were enslaved. History was rewritten.
Now, everything belongs to the Celestial Empire. No one knows the Emperor's true name. They call him The Honored One—a man no one sees, a god no one dares to challenge.
He speaks through others, commands armies with whispers, and rules through fear. Those who remain mine what little is left, struggling to survive on scraps of a dying era.
Ten years later, Unawa turned sixteen. He joined the Empire's Fortress Exploration Program—not out of loyalty, but necessity. It was the only legal way to enter the ruins and uncover the truth about his parents.
There, he learned about Reiki—the life energy that flows through all living things. Everyone possesses it, but only a few can shape it. With training, it can be concentrated into powers known as Rin and Kin.
Rin: Negative energy transformed into positive energy. Triggered by grief, determination, or deep emotions. Allows control over elements, healing, and manipulation of matter.
Kin: Positive energy transformed into negative energy. Triggered by pain, trauma, or intense stimuli. Allows dark powers, manipulation of space, and creation of constructs.
Emotions could fuel these powers, resulting in attacks stronger than expected. Every gift requires a price: overuse leads to nosebleeds, loss of senses, depletion of Reiki, and, for some, death.
And somewhere in the shadows of the ruins and the unseen realm beyond, faint glimmers of blades remained—dormant, patient, waiting for the worthy.
Those who could harmonize their will and their Reiki with the mysterious hilt might awaken a power beyond even Rin and Kin.
The gates of the Empire's Fortress Exploration Program loomed ahead. Beyond them lay lessons in power, danger, and truth—the first step toward uncovering the secrets buried by the abyss, the First World, and the forces still lurking in the shadows.