✧ Prologue ✧
From the moment I was born, they said I was incomplete…
No core, no future.
In a world where one's worth is measured by what trembles within their chest, I was silence itself.
But what they never understood… is that emptiness, too, is a kind of power.
That nothingness can turn into a blade, and the absence of a voice can become the fiercest scream.
I am no miracle, nor a hero—just a shard of sorrow, sharpened by will, and a laugh wandering on the edge of madness.
My name? Lloyd.
The one without a core… yet the one who will shatter the cores of all.
The core is not just energy, but a seal of life.
It dictates who you are, what you can do, and where your limits lie in this world.
A dragon's core? Eternal flames and thunder that splits mountains.
A demon's core? Blood boiling like molten rock, granting strength beyond flesh… only to consume them in return.
A vampire's core? Darkness that feeds on blood.
An elf's core? Healing, light, and the hidden secrets of the forests.
And humans… though the weakest, are the most diverse.
Upon these cores, the world's hierarchy of power was built:
Dragons at the peak, demons behind them, vampires lurking in the shadows, while humans and elves feed on scraps.
And me?
I am coreless. A void in a world that refuses to acknowledge the void.
Yet I alone have seen the truth: the core is not everything.
The line between the blade and nothingness… is the hand that wields it.
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✧ Chapter One: The Night of Shattering ✧
(From Lloyd's perspective)
I was eight when my world broke.
The city was slowly drifting into slumber, its torches lighting the walls of Ostria, the wind carrying the cries of merchants into the dark. Our small house still glowed with warmth.
I sat on the floor, watching my father hammer steel. Each strike of his hammer echoed inside me like a second heartbeat, sparks flying as though time itself halted before him. Behind me, my mother sewed a simple dress, her smile filling the room. A quiet life… but it was my entire world.
I asked my father in a low voice:
— "Father… why am I the only one born without a core? Am I… broken?"
His hammer paused. He turned to me with honest eyes:
— "Who told you that?"
I lowered my head, whispering:
— "Everyone… They mock me. Without a core, without power… I'm nothing."
He laughed, warm and gentle, shattering the frost inside my chest:
— "Lloyd, swords aren't forged by cores. They're forged by patience, and by a heart that doesn't break. Empty steel can become harder than any metal. Remember that always."
I smiled. For a moment, I believed I wasn't incomplete.
But those words… were the last I'd ever hear from him.
The sky trembled. Purple light split the horizon, followed by a deafening roar: demons.
My father rushed to the door, gripping his sword, while my mother clutched my hand so tightly my fingers hurt.
My father's voice was steady amidst the smoke:
— "Lloyd, no matter what happens… you run. Don't look back."
I didn't understand. But then the door shattered, and darkness surged in.
Twisted figures, crimson eyes, screams tearing through the night.
The last thing I saw was my father's smile as he fell… as if telling me: Run.
So I ran.
I ran like a child fleeing from the fate he was born with.
But the fire was faster, the blood deeper, the screams louder.
And from the ashes… I emerged alone.
A boy with eyes too dry for tears, a broken laugh spilling from his lips.
That night… everything shattered.
And that night… nothingness was born.
I walked out of the smoke like someone trapped in an endless nightmare.
My bare feet touched scorched earth, ashes clinging to my skin as though they wanted to devour me.
I laughed… a cracked, alien laugh, while tears flowed without end.
To those I passed by, I was nothing more than a homeless child, a flaw in their sacred order.
Their stares were a mixture of pity and disgust, as if my very existence poisoned the air.
No core. No family. Nothing.
The world had stolen everything from me, and then cast me aside like a broken doll.
And the worst part… was that I felt I deserved it. That perhaps I truly was just a mistake.
For endless days, I wandered aimlessly. Starving, weak, searching for scraps like a stray dog.
My mad laughter preceded me through the streets, frightening children and drawing the mockery of adults.
I no longer knew if I was laughing or crying… or if there was even a difference.
Until that night in the forest.
The wind howled as I dragged my feet like a man at the end of his life.
My stomach screamed from hunger, my vision blurred, everything swaying like phantoms.
My steps grew too heavy to bear.
And in that final moment, my fading eyes caught a shadow in the distance… someone standing there, like a fleeting hope.
I reached out my hand… and collapsed.
Darkness swallowed me, along with everything that remained of my world.
| End of Chapter One |