Kael Ardyn ducked as the first stone sailed past his head, clipping his ear with a sting that made his eyes water.
He stumbled back, his thin arms flailing, he lost his balance, and hit the muddy ground hard.
Laughter erupted—sharp, mean, like the cawing of crows. The baker's boys, Thom and Rigg, loomed over him, their grubby faces twisted with glee.
Thom, the bigger one, spat into the dirt near Kael's hand.
"Magicless runt,"
Thom sneered, kicking a clod of mud into Kael's chest. "What's it like, huh? Watching even the little kids spark flames while you're scraping pig shit?"
Kael clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms, but he didn't swing. He never did.
At 15, he was scrawny, all knees and elbows, with matted brown hair plastered to his forehead from the damp air. The other kids circled tighter—village brats who'd tamed sparrows or summoned embers by age 10.
Kael had nothing. No mana, no beast, just a patched tunic and boots with holes.
But the main problem was poverty, he couldn't afford the necessary items required for his growth.
They hated him for it.
Rigg grabbed Kael's collar, yanking him up. "Say it—say you're a waste."
His breath stank of stale bread. Before Kael could choke out a word, a shout cut through the jeers.
"Leave him be!"
Mara Ardyn shoved through the pack, her 18-year-old frame wiry but fierce. Her dark hair whipped in the wind, and her hazel eyes blazed as she planted herself between Kael and the boys.
She wasn't big, but she'd bound a thornwolf pup last year—enough to make Thom hesitate.
"Aw, Mara's here to save her baby brother," Rigg taunted, but he stepped back.
Thom smirked, tossing another stone that grazed her shoulder.
She didn't flinch.
Kael scrambled up, wiping his face. A tear stung his eye, hot and shameful, but he squared his shoulders, jaw tight.
She's older, stronger, he thought, but I'm still a man. I should protect her. He hated how small he felt, how her shadow always swallowed his.
"Get lost," Mara snapped, shoving Thom hard enough to make him stumble. The boys scattered, laughing as they melted into the land's crooked alleys, leaving Kael and Mara in the muck.
She turned, brushing mud off his cheek. "You okay, Kael?"
He nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Yeah. I'm fine." A lie, but he'd never let her see him break. Then the ground shook.
A low roar rolled through the village, and screams pierced the air. Mara's face hardened—she knew that sound.
"Beast raid,"
She hissed, grabbing his arm. "Run home, Kael. Now. Hurry."
"But—" he started, but her glare silenced him.
"Go!"
She barked, shoving him toward their shack. "I'll hold them off with the patrol."Kael bolted, legs pumping, heart slamming against his ribs.
The dirt path blurred under his feet, the ramshackle huts flashing by.
Shouts echoed, villagers grabbing pitchforks, kids wailing. He glanced back once; Mara was gone, swallowed by the chaos. Halfway home, a snarl stopped him cold. A direboar loomed ahead—bristled, tusked, eyes red as blood.
Its hooves gouged the earth, and Kael froze, breath hitching. Behind him, footsteps—Thom, Rigg, and a girl, Lila, sprinting from the market.
They saw him, saw the beast, and panic twisted their faces. "Get it away!" Thom yelled, shoving Kael hard. He stumbled forward, right into the direboar's path, as the three darted past, diving into a stone shelter.
The iron door slammed shut, the bolt clanging like a death knell.
"No—wait!" Kael pounded the door, fists bruising. "Let me in!"
The metal didn't budge. Tears burned down his cheeks, mixing with mud.
He was alone.The direboar charged. Kael tripped, his tiny figure sprawling in the dirt, its tusks glinting inches away.
He screamed, a raw, broken sound—then a blur of motion. Mara leapt in, thornwolf at her side, her shortsword slashing the beast's flank. It roared, rearing back, and she shoved Kael behind her.
"Run, Kael!" she shouted, voice cracking. "Get Home, now!"
He staggered up, legs shaking, and ran.
He knew his sister was strong, but that boar seemed even stronger. She needed help.
"Help! Somebody!"
He yelled, his voice echoing along the empty streets as he dashed through the village. Faces peeked from windows—hunters, smiths, mothers—but the doors remained slammed shut.
Poor orphans, they'd always said.
Trouble.
Useless.
No one came.
He was alone.
Gasping, he turned back, totally gassed. The street was silent now, too silent. He rounded the corner. What he saw made him freeze.
The direboar hunched over Mara, it's jaws tearing into her chest. Her sword lay broken, the thornwolf limp beside her.
Her eyes stared skyward, blank, wide with terror, blood pooling under her torn body.
Kael's knees buckled.
"Mara…"
The word was a whisper, then a scream. "Mara! No—no—no!"
He shouted until his throat bled, each cry ripping through him as the horror sank in—her strength, her laugh, her everything, gone.
The beast turned, gore dripping from its maw, it hadn't gotten enough. It lunged.
Kael didn't move, he couldn't—until a spear whizzed past, piercing the direboar's skull.
It collapsed, twitching, dead.
But Kael wasn't impressed, he wasn't happy.
"Why...now?"
A figure strode forward—Garren, a Beastwarden, one of Thornskull's protectors against the wilds.
His cloak was tattered, spear bloodied, but his face was stone.
"Too late,"
Garren muttered, eyeing Mara's corpse. He didn't look at Kael.
Rain began to fall, heavy and cold, drumming the earth. Kael crawled to Mara, hands trembling as he knelt beside her.
Her pendant—a silver teardrop—hung from her half-eaten neck, smeared with blood.
He clutched it, fingers slipping in the wet, and pressed it to his chest.
The rain soaked him, plastered his hair, but he didn't feel it. Everything was numb—except the ache, the void where she'd been.
He didn't know how long he knelt there, rain pooling around him, when it happened.
A sound—so soft, so sudden—cut through the storm.
Ding!
Like a bell, bright and delicate, it pierced his haze. A voice, crisp and mechanical, echoed in his skull:
"Congratulations, Host. You have been selected by the SSS Rank System. Initialization begins…"
Kael's breath caught. His vision blurred, not from tears, but a shimmering screen flaring before his eyes.
Words scrolled: Soul Thread – Passive Blessing Activated. A faint warmth pulsed in his chest, mana tingling through his nerves for the first time.
The pendant glowed briefly, then dimmed. He stared at it, then at Mara, rain washing her blood into the mud.
"System…"
he whispered, voice cracking. The world had taken everything—but now, something answered.