Taki Runcandel woke at dawn, his body still aching from last night's overwhelming surge of spiritual energy. He sat at the edge of his small wooden bed, breathing slowly, trying to make sense of the strange dream—or vision—he had seen.
A pair of crimson eyes.
A whisper calling his name.
A shadow that felt alive.
He shook his head. "It was just a dream… right?"
He dressed quickly and stepped outside. The village of Randel was quiet except for the rustling leaves. But something felt different. He could sense it—an unfamiliar presence.
As he walked toward the training hall, he noticed old Master Orgen standing unusually stiff, staring at the sky.
"Master? What's wrong?"
Orgen didn't look at him. His voice trembled slightly, something Taki had never heard before.
"Taki… this morning, a messenger arrived. With a seal from the Runcandel Clan."
Taki froze. The clan that abandoned him. The clan that considered him a failure.
"What do they want now?"
Orgen finally looked at him, and the deep worry in his eyes made Taki's heart tighten.
"They claim your life may be in danger… and someone is coming for you."
"…Who?"
Before Orgen could answer, a sudden gust of dark energy swept across the training grounds. The sky dimmed, and the birds fled in panic.
A man stepped out of the swirling black mist.
Tall. Cloaked in pitch-black garments.
Long hair drifting like shadows.
Eyes glowing red with a cold, merciless hunger.
Taki's breath caught.
Master Orgen whispered only one name—one that every continent feared.
"Madara Jin…"
The villain of legends. A man spoken of in nightmares.
Madara's gaze locked onto Taki.
"So… the lost Runcandel child. I've been looking for you."
Taki felt his spirit tremble, but something inside him refused to break.
"If you're here for me… then you'll have to fight me."
Madara smiled faintly—terrifyingly.
"Not yet. For now… I've come to deliver a warning."
He raised a finger, and the air cracked with dark lightning.
"The world you know is ending, Taki Runcandel. And you are at the center of it."
With that, his body dissolved into shadows, vanishing as quickly as he appeared.
Silence returned.
But Taki's fate had already begun to shift.
And the true story of the Runcandel's forgotten child… was only just beginning.