Chapter 1 — Quiet Things
Morning's in Ashvale always arrived slowly.
Mist drifted through the trees surrounding the small village while pale sunlight filtered across damp grass and crooked wooden homes. Somewhere in the distance, an axe struck wood in steady rhythm while farmers prepared for another ordinary day.
Inside a modest house near the edge of the village, silence reigned.
A boy sat beside the window.
Zero.
His dark eyes followed the movement of leaves outside while faint light spilled across his face. He looked tired and frail as though even standing required effort.
He stared at nothing in particular just lost in thought.
His black hair hung loosely around his face while old scars stretched faintly across the visible parts of his arms. Some were thin and pale. Others looked deep enough that they should have killed him.
No one knew where they came from.
Even Zero didn't know.
He remembered nothing before meeting his parents.
Nothing before waking up in the woods five years ago beside a dying fire and a frightened middle aged hunter staring down at him like he had discovered a corpse that had somehow learned how to breathe again.
"You're awake already?"
A tired voice came from the doorway.
Zero didn't turn.
"I never slept."
Klaus sighed loudly.
"Yeah, that's definitely healthy."
Unlike Zero, Klaus carried energy everywhere he went. Even half-asleep, he looked alive in a way Zero never did.
His messy red hair looked barely maintained while his amber eyes practically glowed with excitement no matter the hour.
Zero sometimes wondered how someone could have so much energy this early in the morning.
Klaus walked further into the room before dropping lazily onto the nearby bed.
"You know," he muttered, "normal people sleep."
"I'm aware."
"And yet you continue acting like some cursed ghost haunting the house."
Zero ignored him.
Klaus grinned.
"There it is."
"What?"
"The face you make when you're pretending not to be annoyed."
"I don't make faces."
"You absolutely do."
Silence followed.
Then Klaus laughed.
"See? That one."
Zero looked back toward the window.
Outside, the village slowly woke beneath the pale morning sky.
Calm.
Predictable.
Manageable.
He preferred it this way.
But good things always end eventually.
They always do.
A knock suddenly came from downstairs.
"Breakfast!"
A woman's voice echoed upward warmly.
Klaus immediately stood.
"Let's go you know how she gets when you are late for breakfast."
Zero finally looked at him.
"Yeah i know."
"She's terrifying."
The downstairs dining area was small but warm.
The scent of soup and freshly baked bread filled the room while sunlight spilled across wooden floors polished from years of use.
At the table sat two people.
Elias and Mira.
The couple who had raised Zero after finding him in the forest.
Elias sat at the head of the table, his broad shoulders nearly filling the sturdy chair. Years spent roaming forests and mountains had weathered his face,leaving faint scars and deep lines around sharp brown eyes .His black hair was slightly messy ,as if he had only run a hand through it before sitting down to eat.
Zero couldn't remember a time when those eyes weren't watching everything.
And then he turned to his mother mira, her long blond hair spilled over one shoulder, and her striking red eyes gleamed warmly in the lantern light.
The moment she saw Zero descend the stairs, her expression brightened immediately.
"There you are, darling."
Zero greeted and then sat quietly beside Klaus.
Seeing her son mira couldn't help but chuckle but then she frowned slightly having remembered something.
"So z you skipped dinner again last night."
Zero paused then answered.
"I wasn't hungry."
"And why weren't you."
Mira said while staring fiercely at zero, she already knew the answer just wanted to hear him say it.
Zero sighed.
"Sorry mother, i'll try not to forget to eat even after training".
He knew his mother was just worried about him so he said that to make her feel at ease.
Klaus grabbed bread from the table.
"He's secretly a spirit. A fighting spirits don't eat but only focuses on training."
Zero calmly stole the bread from Klaus' hand.
"…You see?" Klaus pointed dramatically. "Violence."
Elias snorted quietly into his drink.
For a while, breakfast continued peacefully.
Small conversations.
Ordinary things.
Village gossip.
Repairs needed around the house.
The kind of moments Zero never realized he valued until they were happening.
Then Klaus suddenly leaned forward.
"The Citadel exams are in four months."
Mira sighed immediately.
"First thing in the morning and we're already hearing about beasts and fighting."
"It's important", klaus said
"No it's dangerous.", mira said back immediately
"That's the point."
Elias folded his arms.
"The Citadel exists because the solaryn empire keeps getting worse."
The room grew slightly quieter.
Everyone knew it.
Stronger beasts had begun appearing near the outer forests over the last two years. Hunters disappeared more frequently now.
Even Dominators were dying.
Klaus' eyes lit up slightly.
"I heard someone saw a horned serpent near Blackwater Ridge."
"You heard wrong," Elias said immediately.
"No one survives seeing one of those."
Klaus grinned anyway.
"One day I'll tame something like that."
Mira looked horrified.
"You will do no such thing."
"I'm serious."
"You've been serious since you were ten."
Zero watched quietly while Klaus continued rambling excitedly about beasts.
That dream again.
The Beast Sovereign.
Most people laughed when Klaus talked about it.
Zero never did.
Because Klaus never sounded like he was joking.
"…What about you?" Mira suddenly asked.
Zero blinked once.
"What?"
"The Citadel."
Everyone looked at him now.
Even Klaus quieted slightly.
Zero lowered his gaze toward the table.
"I'll go."
Mira smiled softly.
"You finally decided?"
"Yes."
The truth was simple.
The Citadel was the only path forward to get stronger fast.
Because strength was the only important thing in this world and he was weak.
Too weak.
And deep inside himself, Zero always carried the quiet feeling that something grand was waiting for him.
Something unfinished.
Something buried.
Klaus grinned immediately.
"See? Told you."
Elias looked toward Zero carefully.
"You're worried about the awakening."
Not a question.
Zero didn't answer immediately.
Everyone on Nyxara awakened at sixteen.
Their affinity.
Their path.
Their future.
But Zero had never even sensed essence before.
Not once.
He was almost sixteen now.
And still nothing.
"…Maybe," Zero admitted quietly.
Silence settled briefly.
Then Elias spoke calmly.
"You don't need power to matter."
Zero's eyes lowered slightly.
He appreciated the words.
But they weren't true.
Not here.
Not anywhere.
Later that afternoon, Zero walked alone through the village, to his right he saw the notorious twins rick and riley beating up a younger kid he couldn't recognise.
He stared for only a heartbeat, then turned his face and continued walking.
He then reached the woods outside the village.
The forest was quiet except for rustling leaves and distant animal calls.
Most villagers avoided these woods.
Too many beasts nearby.
Too many disappearances.
Zero preferred it because nobody bothered him here.
He moved carefully between trees before stopping near an old clearing.
The exact place Elias had found him years ago.
He didn't know why he kept returning.
Maybe because it was the closest thing he had to a beginning.
The scars on his body ached faintly.
A cold breeze passed through the clearing.
Then—
Pain exploded inside his head.
Zero staggered slightly.
Images flashed violently across his mind.
Chains.
Blood on stone floors.
A woman screaming.
A child crying.
His breathing became uneven.
Then suddenly—
Golden eyes.
Cold.
Merciless.
Watching him.
Zero's vision snapped back violently.
Silence returned instantly.
His hand trembled faintly against his forehead.
"…What was that?"
No answer came.
Only the forest.
Watching quietly.
And somewhere deep inside him—
Something stirred.
Far above Nyxara's skies, hidden beyond sight itself—
Something ancient opened its eyes.
And for the first time in years—
It felt him.