Kael Draven awoke to silence. Not the peaceful silence of dawn, but the heavy, suffocating quiet that gnawed at the soul. His senses screamed that something was wrong.
He tried to rise, but his body felt… wrong. Lighter. Less solid. Younger. Confusion twisted into panic as he looked down at his hands. They were smooth, uncalloused. Stronger? Perhaps but untested.
He staggered to the nearest reflective surface a cracked shard of glass and froze.
The face staring back was not his own. The weathered, battle scarred visage that had stared back for twenty years had vanished. In its place, a younger, unfamiliar version of himself still sharp, still cunning, but untested. Vulnerable.
Kael's mind raced, running over every possible explanation: curse, magic, divine punishment, system malfunction… Nothing fit.
Then reality sank in. Slowly, painfully, cruelly.
His empire was gone.
The mansion he had built on the outskirts of Ardent City the fortress that had stored centuries' worth of rare artifacts, rare metals, and gold was gone. Replaced by an empty lot, weeds crawling across the cracked stones of what was once a courtyard.
His allies? Either dead, gone, or betraying him.
His wealth? Dissolved like smoke. Twenty years of grinding, hunting, negotiating, building an empire… reduced to dust.
Kael clenched his fists, forcing himself to breathe. Rage burned hot, but he forced it down. Anger without control was useless. He needed a plan.
He remembered the first rule of survival: trust only yourself.
The streets were unfamiliar. Even the names of his former allies and rivals were now distant whispers in his memory. One thing was clearTorrin Blackfang, his fiercest rival and the one who had always coveted Kael's empire, would be laughing at this moment.
Kael shook his head. "Let them laugh," he muttered under his breath. "They'll regret it."
He moved carefully through the city, observing the hunters, merchants, and guards. Everything he had known was shifted. The power dynamics had changed, and he was now invisible a nobody. A hunter with no standing, no wealth, no influence.
And yet… he knew their weaknesses. Every trap, every scheme, every secret back alley. Knowledge was a weapon, and Kael Draven had the sharpest blade in the world.
If the world had taken everything, it had underestimated him.
He would start small gather allies, rebuild power, hunt rare beasts, uncover forbidden knowledge. And then… he would rise higher than ever before.
Because Kael Draven had survived the deadliest of hunts before. And now, even at rock bottom, the hunt had just begun.
Somewhere in the shadows, eyes followed him. Someone or something knew he had returned. And Kael would have to find out who, before they struck first.