Chapter 1: The Fall From Grace And A New Light

The evening sun dipped below the horizon, casting a crimson glow over the Great Amazon Forest. A young boy once known as Thomas Ashford lay sprawled in the underbrush, his clothes torn and his body trembling with hunger and fatigue. The once-proud scion of the noble Ashford family had been discarded like refuse, branded a traitor for a crime he did not commit.

He had always known that being forsaken by the spirits would lead to mistreatment, but he had never expected to be falsely accused and disowned by his own family.

Thomas wandered aimlessly through the bushy forest, his body pale and his eyes lifeless, resembling a zombie. Eventually, he succumbed to his hunger and collapsed.

Memories of his comfortable life flashed before him: his luxurious bed, exquisite meals—all gone now. He remembered the fake love showered upon him by his parents, their faces twisted in disgust when his truth was revealed.

As he lay there, staring up at the canopy above, a fleeting moment of clarity pierced through his mind. The setting sun painted the sky in hues of orange and gold, a breathtaking sight. He had never witnessed such beauty in his life—the beauty of Mother Nature.

Suddenly, a single sentence from an unnamed book surfaced in his thoughts: "Power borrowed is power that can be taken away." He had no idea why this random sentence came to mind, but the breathtaking beauty of nature imprinted it deeply into his consciousness.

""I cannot die like this. I will not die like this!" The words tore from his throat, echoing through the dark forest with a desperate resolve." This was the moment that changed his fate; this was the time when he forsook his old name.

From now on, he would be known as Yoru.

Summoning every ounce of strength, he dragged himself through the underbrush, eyes scouring the ground for anything edible. His endeavour was rewarded when he spotted some white mushrooms on a decaying log piece. This was his only hope. With no other way in hand, he proceeded to devour all the mushrooms his hand could touch.

With the last mushroom in his mouth, his mind began to lose consciousness. He hoped he could see the light of tomorrow. He pleaded, begged in his mind to live another day and with that he blacked out.

Among the rustling leaves, the chirping sounds of various birds began to be heard all across the forest as the sunlight began to bathe the great amazon. Yoru felt a warmth of his face as sunlight fell on him. He slowly opened his eyes, blinded by the sun, he lifted his hand to cover his face. He looked at the marvelous sunrise. The Red sky slowly turned orange as the sun rose. Yoru was amazed at this sight.

Feeling all motivated and grateful to see the light of another day, he got up. But he struggled. After all he had been starving for 4 days straight. He ignored all his negative thoughts and emotions and solely put his focus on survival.

He started navigation along the forest, carefully in search for more of those white mushrooms on which he gambled his life on. Soon he found dozens of rotting logs on which these mushrooms were growing. They had honeycomb-like pattern making them easier to find. He tore a piece of his ragged clothes and used it as a pouch to store the mushrooms.

Yoru might've been a noble in his past but he never acted like a typical one. As fragile and weak he seemed he was as cunning and sly. He never trusted anyone except his family, who now broke it.

As he was gathering the mushrooms, with serious face he thought to himself of ways to get stronger. He, obviously had a first hand experience of witnessing a true spirit knight's power, that is his father's.

The Ashborn house of Duchies was the one of the major military mights of the United Kingdoms. For the same reason was Yoru disowned as they can't have a child with no power. The objective of Yoru was simply not revenge, it was to make the entire UK regret this decision.

Every living being holds power within them. This power goes by many names— Mana, Chi, Ki, Chakra and many more. They seem different but fundamentally all are the same. To utilize such power is seemingly impossible as the average living being only holds a certain amount of this power. This is the same power that drives the start of life in a fetus. Depleting this power certainly calls for death. That's where spirits come in. Spirits have a large amount of this power nonetheless have the ability to restore it as well, all this at the cost of no physical existence. The symbiotic contract ensures that beings receive their vast energy pools while getting a physical form. In short, living beings borrow power by bribing spirits with physical form.

But the strange thing in all of this is that this same power exists in the atmosphere itself. Not just the air but it exists within the non-living as well. So it's not entirely impossible to harness it without the help of spirits.

This thought was bugging Yoru's mind. He was deep in thought while walking that he didn't even notice the presence of predators watching him. Of course this is the Great Amazon forest. Only a dumb person would choose to neglect the existence of great predators.

As a child he wondered how his Father, an excellent spirit knight dodged all attacks thrown at him. This question of Yoru was answered today when he got a chill down his spine pulling his mind back to Earth. He stopped in his path. Trying to stay calm he slowly turned towards the cold stare he somehow felt. 

Two emerald eyes glowed in the shadows of the forest. A jaguar, sleek and deadly, emerged, its predatory gaze fixed on him. This was not an ordinary jaguar. Every living being can form a contract with a spirit, resulting in mutations according to certain factors. This jaguar was smaller than average but had increased speed. With the spirit manifesting as its claws, it was known as Swift Death.

Yoru was terrified, well aware of its nickname. Tension rose as his heart pounded in his chest. Despite his exhaustion, his mind raced, searching for a way to survive. I can't outrun it. I need a plan, Yoru thought.

Maintaining eye contact, he saw a low-hanging branch and a nearby thicket with thorny bushes. With the jaguar slowly approaching him, he devised a simple plan.

"This has to work. It's my only option. I have to work with what I have."

The jaguar was now no more than a few feet away. With trembling hands, Yoru reached into his makeshift pouch full of mushrooms.

"Please be stupid enough for this to work", he thought, maintaining eye contact.

With a quick movement, he threw a handful of mushrooms to his left. The beast's eyes flicked towards the movement, giving Yoru a precious second.

"NICE !" he screamed internally as he leaped towards the branch.

He continued running through the bushes, thorns piercing his skin. The pain was not an issue with all the adrenaline flowing. Despite its small size, the beast was not small enough to fit through the dense thicket.

Seeing the thorns on his arms, he thought," The pain will hit hard when the adrenaline fades."

Once deep into the thicket, he curled up on the ground, making himself as small a target as possible, hoping that even if the jaguar entered, it would have a hard time finding him. The jaguar, intrigued by the sudden disappearance of its prey, approached the bushes but hesitated at the sight of the thorns. It slowly circled the perimeter, searching for its lost prey.

"Stay calm, Don't breathe", echoed repeatedly in Yoru's mind.

Slowly, he grabbed a nearby stone and flung it to the opposite side of the thicket. The sound startled the jaguar, which pounced towards the noise. Seeing the opportunity, Yoru quickly navigated out of the thicket and started sprinting.

Soon, he found himself near a flowing stream. Realizing that predators could follow their prey's scent, he decided to dive into the stream and cross to the other side, effectively removing his scent from the ground. Yoru crossed the stream and found himself vomiting. All the pain started to come once the adrenaline settled down.

"This pain...! Ahh...!" screamed Yoru internally.

He controlled his pain desperately, not attempting to scream to avoid any further trouble from the forest. He cut off some of his clothes and put it in his mouth to bear down.

Exhausted and battered, Yoru collapsed against the trunk of an ancient tree, its roots forming a small hollow that provided a semblance of shelter. He could still hear the distant roars of the jaguar, now far enough to not pose an immediate threat.

Yoru's thoughts drifted to his family and the betrayal that had led him to this moment. Anger flared within him, but it was overshadowed by a burning resolve. 

"This time I survived, not due to my power but due to my enemy's stupidity. I have to get stronger. So strong that next time I will be the predator".

He clenched his fists, feeling the rough bark dig into his skin.

"I will not be weak. I will make them regret for casting me aside. This is just the beginning"

With that his last bit of conscious faded. He blacked out once again but this time with a firm determination within him. The determination to get stronger.