"Capture him!"
"Don't let him get away!"
"Kill him!"
"He's finally succeeded! Don't let him escape!"
"Quick! Kill him and the treasure will be ours!"
"Stop running you bastard!"
"Hand over the scroll and we might spare you!"
Huff! Huff! Huff!
Henry Korvess was panting as he continued running from his pursuers. His figure was covered in wounds. Blood gushing forth uncontrollably.
On his back, an arrow was stuck, inflicting pain with each stride he took.
In this world divided into Dark and Light, he was the only one meant for neither.
The Bestowment Ritual, which he had undergone 40 years ago, had scarred him with a [0] mark!
Where everyone was marked with either [1], prospecting towards the path of Light or [-1] towards that of Dark, being marked as [0] earned him nothing but the ridicule and mockery of others.
Being the only heir to the weakest Korvess House, his family's influence only worsened.
The other Houses joined hands together, suppressing the Oblivion Order and slowly bringing the downfall of the Korvess House.
His father, Lord Cascius, was killed, and his mother, Lady Helena, was imprisoned, subjected to humiliation in every city and town of the kingdom.
The House servants had used their lives to let the Young Master Henry escape. Despite his lack of talent, they adored the heir too much to let him die.
Helpless and powerless, Henry had no choice but to run away and hide. His tears were shed in the dark, grieving over the loss of his family.
The four Houses never stopped their pursuit though. They were hell bent on exterminating every sign of House Korvess. They sent pursuers for Henry, issued rewards for any information regarding him, and even greater rewards for bringing his head.
Henry had no choice but to run like a fugitive and hide like a rat.
Even 40 years later, nothing had changed. He never managed to escape his chasers.
He had entered an abandoned castle in the Forest of the Progenitor. His pursuers still trailing behind, thirsting for his blood.
They shouted for him to stop. Hurling curses and threats all alike.
A girl with blue eyes stood tall. A bow clenched in her hands as she pulled the strings taut, 2 arrows nocked on it.
Her hair flowed like a waterfall over her shoulders. Her lips moved, causing one to fawn over them and a gentle voice escaped them.
"Dummy Henry, where are you going?"
A sense of serenty seemed to spread through the entire palace.
The voiced entered Henry's ears causing him to flinch. His feet stopped. A shiver ran down his spine and tears welled up in his eyes.
He turned his head to look at the source of the sound. There, he found Aria....his childhood best friend.
The blue haired girl smiled and snickered.
"Heh, caught you!"
She released her grip. The two arrows shot like lightning, piercing Henry one after another.
His arm twitched as an arrow pierced through it, pinning it to his ribs soon. And his vision darkened as another shot through his head battering the grey matter inside.
Plop!
His body fell down. Bouncing on the cold stone floor. His consciousness started fading as the voices slowly quietened down.
"Hahah! Lady Aria is the best!"
"Die you scoundr..."
"Lady Aria, you are unmatc..."
"The prettiest and the stro... Dark Warrior in the entire Kingdom of Thalyn...!"
"Long live Lady Ar..."
"The pride of House ..."
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The countless footsteps responded in the hall as they drew closer to the twitching man.
He unconsciously gripped the scroll even tighter, his blood smearing the parchment.
Just then, a bolt surged through his body. His twitching stopped. And his body gradually turned cold. His vermilion eyes losing their glow. He was dead.
"Hah, looks like he died. Couldn't even hold up against a few arrows, huh?"
"Lady Aria, don't waste your breath on this [0] trash."
"What's there to be expected of this dog?!"
"Haha, long live Lady Aria!"
***
Henry had died. He found himself floating in a sea of darkness.
He couldn't breath. He couldn't see anything owing to the darkness around him.
Just then something popped up in front of his eyes.
His eyes squinted at the only source of light in this lightless place. His sight took time, adjusting to the new addition in front of him.
Then he saw the blue rectangle flicker as some sounds entered his ears.
[Ahem. Hello! Hello! Am I visible?]
[Ah, so you're here!]
[Well, I'm sorry for what happened. I- I was a bit late. So here, take this as a token of my apology. You'll learn how to use it soon. It's not that difficult. Good luck! And do well!]
Henry was stunned for a moment. The 'thing' disappeared and his surroundings turned dark again.
Then he saw the cold stone floor of the ancient castle he had just died on come into existence below his feet.
Slowly, the pillars appeared, holding the arched ceiling of the magnificent construct up.
The people that had been chasing him appeared. Standing in front of the dead Henry.
He felt something pull him into the body. He regained his consciousness. His hearing returned. He heard the footsteps become more quieter each passing second.
A sudden pain appeared in his entire body which was washed away by a sudden jerk.
He miraculously started rising up. An arrow struck in his head started being pulled away by something, the wound it had left healing itself.
His arm that was pinned to his chest became free.
A girl entered his vision and soon he found the doorway he had been running towards in his sight.
His stillness turned into a sprint pulling him backwards against all common sense.
He became dizzier with each passing second. His speedy increasing as well.
Everything was reverting back to how it was before.
Things started reverting faster and faster. The world started spinning.
Henry's entire life flashed before his eyes.
Everything around him turned into a million everchanging colors. His surroundings turned into lines, constantly twisting and bending around him.
A sharp whistle kept ringing in his ears gradually becoming louder.
His heart started racing and his breathing became rough.
His head started throbbing. His pain getting worse with each passing second.
Just as his head was about to burst open, everything came to an abrupt halt. No sound. No light. No breathing. There was stillness in everything.
Then just a second later, his breathing returned and...
He opened his eyes.
Ding!
A melodious sound echoed.
And a screen flickered in front of his eyes. It read.
[Quest: Awaken your core!]
[Time limit: 3 days]
[Reward: ???]