1 Prologue concept 1

Deep clouds obscured the skies over the Paramita Mountains. Dotted with soaring peaks, dark silhouettes stood upon nine lush mountains that formed a circle. Their forms obscured by strange powers, bright eyes gazed upon the barren mountain in the center of the circle. Low whispers reached the ears of each other as they contemplated the situation. There was a great barrier preventing them from approaching the barren mountain, obscuring their own vision.

Within a plain cottage upon the barren mountain, an elderly man lay within a bed. His eyes opened into narrow slits, he brought his boney hand out from within the many blankets covering him. The elderly man lifted the chin of a youth kneeling by the bedside, eyes full of tears.

"Harden your heart child, for the days ahead are long and treacherous." The elderly man sucked in a shaky breath, "You must be firm and unwavering, your every decision planned five steps before and your thoughts calculated. This is a dark and unending path, from which there is no retreat." The elderly man drew his hand back beneath the blankets.

The youth stifled his tears and steadied his breath, "I'm confused master, I don't know where to start, much less how to accomplish anything."

The elderly man gazed out the only window of the cottage, staring at the black sky. There was no light from the moon or stars, no movement from the expected mountain wind, his eyes shining like stars themselves. After what appeared to the youth as an eternity, the old man finally looked back at him.

"The basis for everything is strength, and without it, you're nothing. In that aspect, you are already far short of your peers." The elderly man held his hands out, palms turned upward. "I used my twilight years to prepare something to help you, but it's up to you how far you can go with it." His words barely finished when a brilliant light shone from his hands, it's radiance blinding to the youth.

Within the light laid a pair of impossibly dark pupils, seeming to suck in encompassing light. The crimson flames of it's irises tinged the radiant light red, and soon the blinding light was gone. When the youth was able to open his eyes again, what stared back at him were too black holes surrounded by crimson, appearing to contain the horrible might of the pupils.

The youth looked at the bed before trembling and calling out, "Master? Where did you go? What are these things?" Yet the youth was greeted only by silence. Dejected, the youth turned back to the pupils.

Suddenly, the youth's master appeared next to the eyes, beckoning the youth forward. Unable to resist his master's calling, the youth stepped forward, before realizing that everything seemed to slow.

Looking for his master again, the youth was suddenly assaulted by immense pain around his eyes. He quickly looked back at the abyssal pupils before trembling, and then he passed out.

When he awoke, he was dazed to see his master's bed empty, and the pupils gone. Holding his suspicion in, he scrambled to the nightstand and withdrew a mirror. Reflected back to him were a pair of pupils darker than the purest black, surrounded by crimson irises that burned like the sun.

Shocked, the youth stared into his reflection before putting away the mirror and stepping outside the cottage. He needed to uncover the secrets of his new eyes. Upon stepping outside, he realized that nothing within the darkness could evade his vision. He. could see beyond the veil of night to the shadowy figures standing upon neighboring mountains.

Looking up, his eyes pierced through the dense clouds to see the stars beyond, upon which his gaze was drawn to a large but dim star. Upon seeing his master's fate star, the youth desperately looked around the mountain before his gaze stopped at his own cottage, where the door was ajar.

The youth rushed into his cottage and saw his master standing there, book in hand. "Master! You should still be resting in bed, why have you come to my room, and what are these eyes?" Spittle flew from the youths mouth, before he felt something off and stilled his wild breath.

"I've not much time at all, I came here to reminisce the time I found you and brought you here. This book will explain some things to you, and will act as a guidebook of sorts. The contents will imprint themselves upon your mind before the book dissolves to dust."

With those words, the master gave his apprentice the book before leaving the cottage. The youth followed closely behind before abruptly realizing that his master began glowing a deep gold, before cracks began appearing along his body. Knowing his situation, the youth grew sombre and looked once more upon his master's face.

"My end has arrived. I regret much of my life, but never saving you. You abandoned your old name and I refused to grant you a new one, so I still can only call you Apprentice. Use your new powers to witness my absolution, and engrave it upon your heart. Though I may scatter today and the light of my fate star extinguished, I may yet be reborn tomorrow. The road ahead of you is already treacherous as it is, you needn't burden yourself with avenging me."

"Master, you are my greatest benefactor. I will avenge my family, and I will avenge you."

With a light sigh, the master closed his eyes and accepted the youths words. The cracks upon his body multiplied, before he waved his hand and a runic circle appeared beneath the youths feet.

The circle began glowing with light, and the master's body began to radiate different colors. Surprised, the youths attention quickly returned to his master's fragmenting body, before a great explosion ripped a hole through the mountains barrier.

At the same time, the master's body exploded with great force and shot outwards, preventing the approaching figures from getting close.

The youth felt immense sadness as his master was no more, having channeled his absolution into a force to block their enemies. The youth leveled a furious gaze at the surrounding figures, scorning their resplendent armor and golden halos.

The youth saw through their righteous facade and into their black hearts, resenting the absurdity of it all.

The youth felt their auras pushing through the corona of his master's life. Before they could arrive, the runic circle lit up and the youth's world turned black

When the youth came to, he was laying on a small hill, gazing upon a void within the starry sky. The youth trembled as a silent tear escaped his eye.