Chapter 1 – Ashes of a Brother
Tone: Trauma | Silence | Slow Burn Emotion | Dark Build-up
Opening Scene – The Sound of Nothing
Snow was falling.
Thick layers of flakes drifted down from the sky, as if each flake were a memory…
A memory Aura never wanted to forget, yet could not bear to endure.
Everywhere, there was only white.
But amidst this endless white, there was a single black blot—Aura.
Black clothes, a black cloak, bearing no symbol, carrying no clan name.
He sat alone on the peak of a mountain.
The forest stretched below, the sky arched above… and he sat in between, as if severed from the world.
His breathing was slow.
Cold steam escaped with every exhale, yet even in that breath, there was no life.
"Sometimes victory… is the greatest defeat."
This thought spiraled endlessly in his mind.
Flashback – The Last Night with Arzen
Night, blood, and the cold ground.
Arzen's body resting on his knees.
Aura's palms were drenched in blood—
But this wasn't just blood…
It was the color of his failure.
Arzen's eyes had closed,
But that same stubborn smile remained on his lips until the very last moment,
As if he wanted to say—"You won, little brother."
But Aura knew—this wasn't a victory.
It was a theft.
From life, from his brother, and from himself.
The Funeral That Never Felt Like Goodbye
Uno, Shoho, Arina… everyone was there.
But Aura was missing.
As Arzen's body dissolved into particles of Shadow and faded into the wind,
Everyone was silent, though their eyes were wet.
Uno had said—
"Without him… we are incomplete."
Shoho just stood watching from a distance.
That day, he made a promise to himself—
"I will find him… no matter how well he hides himself."
The Disappearance
After that day, Aura was nowhere to be found.
The Government sent multiple operatives to search for him,
Villain factions placed bounties on his head—
But no one found anything.
Headlines kept appearing in the newspapers:
"Shadow Heir Missing for 12 Months"
"Was Aura Killed, or Did He Run?"
But the truth was—
Aura had sent himself into exile.
The Jungle Exile
The jungle was dense.
So dense that even during the day, sunlight could not reach the ground.
Amidst the ruins of a broken, ancient temple, Aura had made his shelter.
Stone walls, shattered statues, and wild vines creeping everywhere.
He carried no weapon,
He wore no armor.
He had only an old cloth, and his silence.
Day and night, it was the same—
Hunting, eating, and then sitting for hours,
Just thinking… wishing he had been faster that day…
Wishing he could have saved Arzen.
The Fading Mark
The Shadow Mark on his palm had now faded.
Having not used his power for a year, his energy had begun to slumber.
Sometimes he would stare at his palm and think—
"Perhaps even this hates me."
Shoho's Search
Shoho never gave up.
He searched everywhere under the guise of missions, but couldn't even find a whisper of Aura's name.
Many times, he would simply wander the forests at night,
As if hoping Aura would suddenly appear before him.
Uno had told him—
Uno: "Sometimes… people don't want to be found."
Shoho replied—
Shoho: "Then we must search for them even harder than they want to hide."
The World Moves On
The world was changing.
The rise of Villains had begun.
One name was heard repeatedly—Kael Veyric.
A ruthless mercenary who sometimes worked alone, sometimes for a faction.
His principle was simple—"No prisoners. No mercy."
Governments, Academies, even Villain factions were wary of him.
Shoho and Arina received a mission—
To stop Kael.
Mission Location
The report stated—
"Dense forest region, 200 miles north. Kael spotted near old temple ruins."
Reading this, Shoho thought—
"Old temple… could it be the same one?"
Arina looked at him and asked—
Arina: "What happened?"
Shoho simply shook his head—
Shoho: "Nothing… just an old thought crossed my mind."
The Foreshadow
Deep inside the jungle, Aura was meditating.
But his meditation was suddenly shattered by a vibration.
From the distance came the clash of metal, screams, and a wave of strange energy.
He opened his eyes, and his breathing grew heavy.
The Shadow Mark… glowed faintly.
For the first time in a year.
Aura whispered softly—
Aura: "Shoho…?"
Closing Scene
He stood up, draped the old cloak over his shoulders,
And began moving through the trees toward the sound.
The snow had stopped falling.
But the chill in the air,
Was that of an approaching storm.
"The brother they thought they lost…
…is about to change everything."