The streets of the market faded behind me as I made my way through the winding roads towards our house.
The raven had flown off, its dark silhouette disappearing into the morning sky as if it hadn't been there at all.
But the note it brought burned like a brand in my pocket, the words etched into my mind.
The Patriarch summons you.
I did not let my thoughts linger on it. Not yet. My gaze swept over the crumbling stone walls and uneven cobblestones of the city's outer district.
This place, rough and unpolished, was a far cry from the Techno Hub of the Von Stien Empire's capital, where wealth and power dripped from every corner.
I pulled my shawl tighter around me, my footsteps steady but unhurried.
I did not give the scenes occurring around me a second thought.
In this world, if you were weak... then it was only your fault.
The brutal truth rang in my mind, as familiar as the air I breathed.
The Cassian family ruled over this territory, their banner flying high on every guard tower and castle spire.
They were the noble rulers of the Von Stien Empire, famous for their unrelenting display of power and their so-called "righteousness."
It was a delicate balance, the strong thrived and the weak were crushed underfoot.
But the world hadn't always been this way.
As my feet carried me past shuttered windows and narrow alleyways, my thoughts drifted back to the stories of old, the tales whispered by my grandmother when I was just a child.
Back then, the empires had been fragmented, locked in endless wars over land, resources, and dominance. It was chaos.
No one knew where they had come from, whether they were remnants of some ancient civilization or invaders from another world entirely.
What was clear was their intent: to usurp Earth, to take our world for themselves.
They were unlike anything humanity had ever faced.
With appearances exactly identical to ours with the only difference being the black horns on their head, many fell prey to their deceptions.
In the face of their might, the empires did something no one thought possible: they united.
The Central Government was born, a council of leaders from each kingdom and empire, sworn to defend the planet at all costs.
They had managed to drive back the Kalki, but the cost had been immense.
Entire cities were razed, and countless lives were lost.
The Kalki had been defeated—at least for now. However, the unity of the empires was short-lived.
The Central Government remained, holding ultimate authority, but the old power struggles resumed, fueled by new rivalries and grudges.
Now, centuries later, the scars of the Kalki invasion still mark our world.
Cities one, on the fringes of the empire, bore the brunt of those scars.
The Central Government kept the peace, but barely.
Beneath the surface, the empires jockeyed for position, their ambitions unchecked.
It all came down to one thing: power.
And to gain power, there were only two ways. Either integrate with a Hollow or train in Mana Arts and become a mage.
I grimaced at the thought.
The integration of Hollows—a process that I had always loathed, came to be my downfall.
The punishment for leaving the Romero Household was to be stripped of our mana cores.
It was only because of 'him' that I was able to go away with a sealed one instead.
My mind spiralled back to the good, old times but I shut them up just as quickly.
Anyways, I thought back to how if I had integrated with a hollow then, Noah and I would still have some sort of protection.
We wouldn't have had to settle in this rundown place where technology is thought of as weird artifacts instead.
During the battle with the Kalki, humans found out that the creature's innate abilities gets stored in one of their body parts.
This body part is known as the hollow.
If one can properly extract the hollow from the creature's body and integrate with it?
They are able to tap upon the creature's power and become something else entirely.
Then there was Mana Arts, the discipline of harnessing the natural energy of the world.
It required years of training, gruelling effort, and unyielding willpower.
Most people lacked the talent or resources to even attempt it.
I sighed, shaking my head as I rounded a corner.
My house was just ahead, a modest structure tucked into a quiet street.
That was when I felt it.
The air around me shifted, the faintest whisper of something unnatural brushing against my senses.
I froze, my hand instinctively going to the dagger hidden beneath my shawl.
A surge of mana erupted from somewhere ahead, raw and unrestrained, its force rippling through the air like a tidal wave.
The raw intensity of it stole the breath from my lungs, making my knees go weak as I gripped the nearest wall for support.
"What in the—?" I muttered, my voice drowned by the deafening roar of energy that followed.
My instincts screamed at me to turn back, to run, but I couldn't.
My house was in that direction, and something—someone—was inside.
Noah was inside the house!!