1 Prologue

Long ago, the world was dominated by humans and spirits. The two races would work together to create a world in which both humans and spirits could live together in harmony.

The spirits gave life to the plants and oceans so that the humans could have food, while the humans cultivated the lands given by the spirits, creating beautiful gifts of gold and silver, which they, in turn, offered to the spirits as tokens of gratitude.

The spirits then took those gifts and consumed their essence; the feelings and sentiments, the LIFE attached to the precious minerals. Everything in existence has an essence, whether it be the smallest pebble or a full-grown person, every being that is affected by another, is in the chain of essence.

The chain connects all life, leading back to the spirits. For spirits, essence acts similarly enough like food, absorbing the warmth and tenderness of human emotion through the minerals for nourishment. However, despite the perfect harmony between humans and spirits, the two races would never truly be connected.

Humans were fated to live and die on Earth, bound by the chains of mortality, however, spirits existed in a separate world; immortal beings who cannot feel pain or death. In other words, the world of the spirits was often understood as paradise.

Humans started to believe that after they died, their essence would return to the earth, and become a part of the chain of primal essence once more. With the land of the spirits seemingly too good to be true, humans longed to reach it one day, and thus, the belief that after death, they would transform back into their original state, the spirit-state, was born.

Since the land of the spirits was the one place where suffering has no name, where turmoil and grief have no recognition, the mythical world was deemed "Eden."

With the birth of "Eden," many daring travelers began to search for the mystical paradise, in hopes of obtaining immortality and protection by the spirits.

Humans all around the world tried to find different ways to reach Eden, from diving into the deepest depths of the ocean, to soaring high into the sky, lest there be some kind of barrier between the human world and spirit world which they could reach, if only they broke past the limit; however, despite all their hopes and ambitions, every single human who dared search for the land of the spirits was unsuccessful.

Planes that soared with the wind on their wings would break down as soon as they flew too high; submarines would start to crack, as the pressure of the ocean waters weighed down on them, and the people who searched on foot were rumored to have disappeared or died along the journey.

All in all, it seemed as if all hope of finding the famed land of the spirits was fading away. However, everything changed when a young child named Jun, was introduced into the world. Jun was a special boy. His essence was incredibly high, meaning that his connection with the spirits was stronger than most others.

However, despite Jun's special connection, none of his parents or fellow villagers knew. After all, the young boy was very quiet, rarely talking to anyone but himself.

His parents would always find him roaming around outside, in the company of only the flowers around him, and the trees, providing him shade to sit under. Jun would constantly talk about the most peculiar things; from the structure of a blade of grass to the shape of a leaf. Jun was well known in his village as the crazy boy who had lost his mind. The boy who was off in his head lost in a daydream.

His parents would scold him for neglecting his responsibilities to taking care of his siblings, but Jun did not listen- he was too absorbed with having conversations with the bees and squirrels that lived in the forest behind his house.

However, one day, while Jun was out in the woods, a group of bandits attacked his village; destroying everything in their paths, setting fire to the houses, and terrorizing the villagers. Jun only realized what was happening by the smell of the smoke wafting through the air.

Understanding the seriousness of the event, Jun rushed through the forest, back to his home, however, when he opened the door to his house, he was greeted with a roaring inferno, threatening to destroy everything in his home.

Honestly, Jun couldn't have cared less if his little wooden home burned down, after all, he could always rebuild it- but a faint sound caught his ear, preventing him from turning away: the cry of his younger siblings.

He could hear his brother and sister screaming inside the burning house. Horrified, he pushed into the house, but his lungs instantly filled with smoke, causing him to step back outside. Coughing and hacking, he yelled into the fire, calling out to his siblings.

Through the heat and crackling of the flames, he could barely make out the sound of their muffled voices. However, he did hear the echo of their pained coughing, and it pierced his heart. They were too young to die... too much life left to live.

Jun rushed outside, hoping to call for help, but all the other villagers were either facing the same problem as him or had fled the area in fear of the bandits. Jun could see the bandits in the corner of his eye far down the street; they were breaking the wooden windows of homes and shops, forcing the villagers to their knees. Jun's eyes clouded with despair for his ruined village, but the sadness didn't last long, as his attention snapped back to his siblings, slowly burning away in the blazing house.

It was clear that nobody would be able to help him. With the cries of his siblings becoming fainter and fainter, Jun steeled himself, clenching his fists, taking a deep breath, and running right into the flames.

The blazing heat engulfed him as a wave of hot air pushing him back for a moment, but he forced through, nonetheless. Following the cries of his brother and sister, Jun slowly made his way towards them, the outline of their faces slowly becoming more and more visible through the smoke.

"Jun!" The two young children cried in unison.

Jun rushed to them, picking them up in his arms. Inspecting them, he saw that his younger sister, Mei, had broken her leg trying to escape from the house, and his younger brother couldn't leave his sister alone in such a dangerous place like this. Hiro was braver than Jun gave him credit for.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure we escape the house safely." Jun smiled reassuringly.

Leading them by hand, he guided the two young children through the flames, finding the least hazardous way he could; however, it wasn't easy, with the pressure of knowing that one wrong step could mean a fiery death for any of them.

The flames grew steadily, as the group crept around the fire. Bright orange sparks danced around them, threatening to burn any of them at any time, yet Jun pushed through, protecting his siblings from the majority of the flames. Leading them through the burning maze of debris that was their home, Jun spotted the back door.

For the three children, however, the door was not just any door, it was their freedom. Cautiously staying low to the ground, Jun reached the door; pulling the locks off quickly, and ushering Hiro and Mei out. However, as soon as the two siblings escaped the burning house, a blast of heat knocked Jun into a nearby wood plank, slamming the door closed.

As Jun was reorienting himself, he inhaled a lungful of smoke, causing him to stumble back confusedly. He heard Hiro screaming outside for him to come out, but Jun's senses were too muffled by the smoke and fire.

Gasping for air, Jun stretched his hands outwards, reaching for the door. However before he could grasp the handle, he was greeted by a million bright orange sparks, dancing in front of his eyes; burning through his shirt, and searing his skin. Blinded by pain, he stumbled back into the burning wood plank behind him.

This was a fatal mistake.

The plank was already unstable from Jun knocking into it the first time, but the second time, it came off its hinges and fell off the wall- its weight completely crushing Jun. Gasping in pain, Jun tried to claw his way out from under the burning plank, but it seemed as though the house had already taken enough damage from the fire and could not go any longer. The floor under Jun gave way, plunging him into a blazing inferno of red hot sparks.

Jun closed his eyes and let the sparks engulf him.

The echo of Hiro and Mei's screams reverberated through the walls of the house, reaching Jun's burning body. Their desperate faces and pleading eyes flashed through his mind, yet even though his head told him to get up and protect them, his body was trapped under the wood plank slowly being eaten away by the flames. Yet curiously enough, Jun didn't feel any pain. He needed to get up.

Mei and Hiro needed him.

"Why do you want to help them so much? They're only humans." A voice whispered.

"Yeah well, those humans mean the world to me. I need to protect them." Jun responded faintly.

"Why do you need to protect them?"

"Because they can't protect themselves."

And with that, a rush of soft blue light filled the house, whipping away the flames and creating a protective ring of light around Jun.

"What... what is this?"

Jun looked down at his own hands and saw that the power was coming from him. His hands were... glowing. He was glowing. His entire body was brimming with power, all his wounds seemed to have completely disappeared. The voice that he was talking to... it was a spirit. It was the spirit that SAVED him.

By absorbing the spirit's essence into his own body, he had adopted the spirit's power; healing his burns and erasing the flames around him. A small smile tugged at the corner of Jun's mouth, and he stood.

The instant he rose, a blast of blue light illuminated the whole house, wiping away all the flames that had once frightened him just a moment ago. Looking at his newfound power in awe, Jun suddenly remembered his siblings who were still outside, in danger of being taken by the bandits.

Rushing to check on Hiro and Mei, Jun ran back upstairs and whipped open the back door, terrified of not seeing his siblings standing there. However instead, the instant the door cracked open, Hiro and Mei threw their little arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. Looks like they were super worried, huh?

Jun held onto Hiro and Mei tightly, clutching them in his arms. He let himself sob along with them. The entire experience was terrifying and heart-wrenching, but now it was over... they were safe. Well, maybe not entirely, because the bandits must still be around...

Jun raised his head, expecting to see the houses around him burning in flames just as his home was, but instead, he was greeted by the sight of all the villagers standing outside his house, staring at him in wonder. The other houses in the village all stopped burning, and instantly, Jun knew what had happened.

It seems as though his blue light had not only stopped the flames in his house but had also encompassed the entire village; putting out all the flames and smoke that engulfed their homes.

The bandits also seem to have disappeared... probably running away after seeing the flash of light. Jun knew that people were bound to question what had happened, but- the entire village right outside his house... all staring at him? Really? Jun's face flushed red with so many eyes on him, but hey, I guess it makes sense, considering Jun was still emitting that faint blue light from his body.

The village chief stepped out from among the crowd and stood in front of him. Looking into Jun's forest-green eyes, the chief smiled. Jun smiled awkwardly back at him. He was never good with human interaction. Yet after that, the chief did the unthinkable. He bowed his head low, with one knee kneeling on the ground.

"My king." He rumbled.

The villagers followed suit, all bowing their heads and kneeling on one knee towards Jun.

"My king." They echoed.

"W-wait a second... king?" Jun asked, bewildered.

The chief looked up at Jun and winked.

"You can't mean... THE king... in the prophecy?"

The chief rumbled in laughter. "Jun, you, my boy, are the king in the prophecy."

You see, many centuries ago, the spirits gave the humans a prophecy, that one day, a human would be able to obtain the power of a spirit; finally connecting the two races at last.

This is why so many people tried to search for the lost world of Eden, for they were hoping to obtain the power of the king for themselves. The chosen human would be deemed king, and pass down the power generation after generation for each new heir assigned to the throne.

If the king was not able to do so, the power of the spirit would choose the next worthy host of being king. However, with great power, came great responsibility. After all, the king would need to govern the people fairly and kindly, just as the spirits had intended from the beginning.

"All hail King Jun!" The people that Jun grew up with, and lived with, chanted.

"All hail Kiju!" Mei laughed. Jun smiled warmly down at her, cupping her little face in his hands. Jun, Mei, and Hiro shared a silent kind of bond at that moment, and Jun nodded, standing up.

"I promise to do my best to fulfill my duties as king... even if I still don't quite understand what's going on." Jun chuckled nervously.

Closing his eyes, Jun took a deep breath. He could feel the soft blue light in the back of his mind. It remained there, just barely in his reach. He summoned it to himself, letting it wash over him.

He felt the gentle presence, and a kind of peace seemed to enfold him. Jun tipped his head towards the sky, letting the cool summer breeze dance at his fingertips. When he opened his eyes once more, he could feel himself stand a little taller.

Something was different.

This time, his eyes weren't filled with the absent, daydreaming reflection he's always had. Now, they were filled with a deep-set determination and a newfound purpose.

"The spirits have chosen. I am your king."

And with that, the first King of Veris was born- with the power of both humans and spirits, laced into his blood.