Hope.

Beneath a cloak of ink-black sky, an eight-year-old stood frozen, his face, emotionless. It would have been impossible to conceive that this child was witnessing his family being slaughtered and his home reduced to nothing but ash.

His entire neighborhood was consumed by raging flames, illuminating the small town only enough for the boy to witness the horrific transformation of his family and see them being killed with such brutality and urgency that one might think their killers were evil— but they were not.

The child's parents and the rest of the neighborhood needed to die, for they had become mindless monsters, victims of the chaostaint. These killers who took their lives were performing a necessary end to their existence.

Suddenly, one of these monster killers appeared before the boy in a blur of motion, a Quasar to be exact. She stood tall and radiant, her angelic glow casting a warm light.

"Hey, kid, do you live here?" The lady asked, her red hair fluttering in the wind against the backdrop of the flaming catastrophe.

"Yes, that house over there," the child said, pointing to a nearby house brought down by ashes. Three of the once-human monsters lay dead on the floor nearby, victims of the woman before the child.

"Oh man, you really shouldn't have seen that," the woman said with a sigh.

"Why? Why is this happening?" The boy asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

"Huh, well, it seems an ethervore infected this place with the chaostaint. I'm sorry, kid, you all did nothing wrong but be a little unlucky," the lady replied as she rubbed the boy's black hair.

"OK, but why? Why did that have to happen?" The boy persisted, his voice filled with genuine curiosity rather than sadness.

"Uh...well," the girl, Claire, began before a voice sounded from behind her.

"What are you doing, Claire? Take him out," the man's voice rang out through the night.

"What? He's a child!" Claire exclaimed.

"So? Many of these monsters we killed were children," the man replied.

"Yes, but this one's normal," Claire responded.

"For now. He just watched his family and friends die and his home burn, yet he didn't even cry or something. That kid isn't normal," the man responded, his actions one of precaution.

"You don't know that. He might have an affinity for Quasarite. We need to confirm," Claire said.

"You're always so soft. If he turns and one of us gets hurt, that's on you," the man said.

"Of course, I take full responsibility. But he's going back to headquarters with us," Claire replied firmly.

"What's your name, kid?" Claire asked, turning to the child with a smile.

"Calyx," the kid replied simply.

"That's a great name, Calyx! We'll be taking you with us so we can find out if you have any other family we can contact. Is that okay?" Claire said, receiving a nod of approval from Calyx.

"Regroup!" the man commanded as the rest of the squad gathered around him.

"Status?" he questioned, his tone authoritative.

"We located every monster, and they have all been eliminated," a woman's voice rang out from among the masked squad members.

"Any unturned?" the squad leader inquired, scanning the area with a critical eye.

"None were spotted aside from that boy," came the reply from the squad.

"Alright, good work. We are moving back to base," the man announced as they all began to head to their van.

The technologically advanced off-road vehicle was sleek and black, featuring a low center of gravity and a streamlined design. It was equipped with four massive, all-terrain tires mounted on independent suspension systems.

The vehicle's body was composed of a lightweight yet durable material.Calyx found a seat within the vehicle under Claire's guidance, while the rest of the squad boarded.

"It seems you all are done. Where to now?" The van's system inquired.

"HQ," the squad leader responded.

"And get cleaners to take care of this mess," the squad leader added, surveying the destroyed town with mutated corpses scattered everywhere.

"Will do. Also, I sense Quasarite from an unverified passenger. Should I report this?" the system voice questioned.

"No, we will handle it ourselves," Claire replied as she secured Calyx in his seat.

"Understood. Please strap in as we begin our journey," the system voice advised as the vehicle set into motion.

"So, did anyone sense the ethervore?" The squad leader inquired as the military-grade van picked up speed.

"I did, although faintly," one of the squad members admitted.

"What? Why didn't you say something?" Claire questioned.

"Because I knew you'd want us to go after it, and that's not our jurisdiction, Vice Leader. You'd get us in trouble," the squad member explained.

"Yeah, but still..." Claire sighed, sinking into her chair.

"This is the second incident in three months. The hunter squads are clearly doing a terrible job," she lamented.

"Yeah, but unfortunately, it's not our place to say anything," the squad leader replied, his tone hinting at his dissatisfaction with the situation.

"Then whose place is it? How many innocent lives do we need to take before we have that conversation?" Claire snapped, her anger evident in her tone.

"Sigh, I'm sorry. It's just..." Claire began, her tone softened.

"I understand how you feel, Claire, but that's just how things are. The universe is a terrible place. We can only hope it gets better, but hope..." The squad leader began.

"Hope only feeds the monsters, I know," Claire said, turning to the glass plane in the van that Calyx had been staring at. It ran from the roof of the van to the bottom, providing a clear view of the outside.

"I know," Claire repeated softly as she stared at the fleeting landscape. Her mind was clouded with the current state of the universe.It was impossible to pinpoint when it had begun or how.

To the current inhabitants of the universe, the Exar Realm seemed as old as time itself.

However, theories about it and its origin varied depending on who you asked. The Quasars would call it evil, the Starborn cult would call it paradise, and the ancient beings would call it the birthplace of cosmic energy.

In simpler terms, it was a realm that existed at the very edge of the universe, a place it seemed no one was meant to traverse. But, of course, they did.

There, they found the ethervores, monsters that fed on the hopes and flesh of those who dared step into the Exar Realm. And even if one somehow survived these monsters, they would still be exposed to Quasarite, a substance that inflicted the curse known as chaostaint, turning them into monsters themselves.

Yet, there were a few exceptions. Individuals who, when exposed to Quasarite, did not become monsters but instead gained strength. These individuals are known as Quasars, the ones who traverse the realm of Exar and rid the cosmos of ethervores.

And there, in the dimly lit interior of the moving van, sat Calyx. He was silent and largely oblivious to the extraordinary destiny that awaited him and the revelation that he, too, was a Quasar, destined to play a role in the cosmic drama that was set to unfold.