Echoes of the Forsaken.

I woke up staring at the ceiling, my mind still sluggish from sleep. But my body? It knew better. Before I could even think, my head turned, my eyes scanning the room, checking for movement, for anything out of place. Old habits didn't die just because life had gotten easier.

Nothing. Just the same small, underground room. White walls. Sealed tight. No windows, just a single door. Safe by design. Or at least, that's what the humans told themselves.

I knew why they built it this way. When you live this close to the borders, where the beasts roamed, caution wasn't a choice, it was survival.

But that didn't mean I trusted it. A locked door, thick walls… that wasn't safety. Safety was knowing nothing could reach you.

And I wasn't so sure about that.

I'd heard the stories. Monsters that tunneled through stone. Beasts that could sense warmth, breath, life itself, even buried deep underground. If something like that came scratching at our walls, this place wouldn't be a shelter.

It'd be a grave.

My gaze landed on the second bed.

Empty.

Nemsus was already gone.

I exhaled and stretched, the dull ache of yesterday's fight lingering in my muscles. The memory of it surfaced again. I knew from the start, Nemsus had been holding back.

Viser had told us before: when an Eny advanced, when a mage becomes an Ascendant, their mana reserves multiplied around tenfold. Strength, speed, reflexes—at least doubled.

And yet, that idiot still lost.

I smirked.

That's what he gets for messing around with my sister.

Behind Delilah's beautiful face was something terrifying. I'd seen it before, felt it before. Even now, just thinking about it sent a chill down my spine.

I exhaled, shoving the thought aside before it pulled me under

The past was the past.

My eyes flicked to my watch. 00:30.

Late. Too late actually.

I hadn't woken this late in years. Normally, I was up two hours earlier, slipping out for a run before the others even stirred. But today was different.

Something felt… wrong.

It wasn't the kind of wrong you could see. It was the kind that settled deep in your chest, that made your skin itch and your muscles coil without knowing why. That instinct, the one that had kept me alive for years, was screaming at me now.

Something was off.

I began my day as I always did, sitting cross-legged on my bed, steadying my breath, focusing inward. I reached out with my senses, gathering the mana around me, drawing it in, letting it flow through me. My concentration focused on my Eny.

I visualized it, my heart, then deeper, until I saw it clearly. A perfect white sphere, pulsing with mana.

Four layers, each distinct from the others

The third layer, my the Refiner was nearly complete. I could feel it working, purifying the mana, pressing it into something purer.

Each time the mana cycled through, small parts of the layer broke and healed, becoming more refined with every cycle."

"A few hours more, and it would be perfected".

I shifted my attention to the fourth layer, where my runes lay.

The Level 3 Rune of Darkness was just there, as it always was solid. And then there was the Level 1 Runes of Ice and Fire… those were a problem.

When I ascend, the lowest-level rune will rise by one. Viser is bringing me a Level 2 Fire Rune, but that still leaves Ice. I need to find a Level 2 Ice Rune first.

That means waiting. Even if I could ascend now, I can't rush it. I have to wait until both runes reach Level 2, that way i will have one of them go to the next level

"Ouf" Nero let out a small breath

Patience. No other choice.

But no matter how many times I ran the problem through my head, the answer remained just out of reach.

I didn't have many choices.

Kill someone and take their rune? No, I left that life behind.

Hunt a beast? There weren't any nearby.

Steal an artifact? From where?

Nothing fit.

Nero opened his eyes, then got up and headed up stairs, looking for Nemsus. A small, mocking smile appeared on his lips.

...

In an open ground behind the orphanage...

"You know, Little Dee," Viser said, glancing at Delilah as she sat catching her breath after their sparring match, her back resting against the ground.

"You could try smiling more. Don't you think it's time to start smiling for others too, not just when you're around your brother, hmm?"

Her expression didn't change. Viser glanced at her, then at the sky, as if lost in thought.

It had been years since that day.

Four years ago, in the narrow alleys of a poor neighborhood in Ventoria, a city known for its food, Nero was almost ten, and Delilah was nine.

Viser had recently lost his wife and was searching for a place to settle when he stumbled upon them.

The two children hadn't noticed him at first, but he saw them.

Nero lay on the ground, staring at the sky, his body a wreck. His clothes were drenched in blood, clinging to his bruised and battered frame. Two broken bones, maybe more. His breath came in shallow, uneven gasps, each one a struggle.

He had gone to steal food as usual, but this time, they caught him. It didn't end well.

Three men beat him nearly to death, then left him there, discarded behind the alleys like trash.

Beside him, a little girl knelt, her tears falling onto his broken body. She clutched his hand, helpless and afraid.

What do I do? What do I do?

Nero… You can't die. You can't leave me.

She bit her lip, her hands trembling as she pressed them against his chest, as if she could keep his life from slipping away. As if just touching him would be enough to wake him.

Desperation surged through her as she tried pouring life mana into him, willing it to work. But he didn't move.

He wasn't even breathing right.

These weren't the kind of wounds she could heal without a spell. She had none.

His chest barely rose, his face was deathly pale, and the blood, there was too much of it.

Viser kept watching.

Tears blurred her vision, but she didn't wipe them away. She didn't care. She couldn't care. She could only stare at the broken mess of her brother,her strong, unshakable brother, who had always protected her, always smiled at her, always told her things would be okay.

But things weren't okay.

She wasn't strong enough to help him. She wasn't smart enough to save him.

And if he died—

She lifted her hands to her head, fingers digging into her scalp.

No. No, no, no, no, NO!

She shook him, hard. "Nero, get up! Please, get up! You have to!"

But he didn't.

Her sobs came fast and ugly, her breath hitching in her throat as panic clawed at her chest. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know where to go. She didn't know anything.

She just knew she couldn't lose him.

Not him. Not after all that.

Then she noticed someone standing a few meters behind here.

As she saw him, she reached into Nero's pocket, grabbing something. When she turned again, her small hands were holding a dagger with all the strength she could muster.

Her wide, golden eyes, filled with terror and confusion, but also a desperate determination as she tried to shield her brother.

I'll kill him.

I'll kill him. I'll kill him. I'll kill him.

It doesn't matter who he is. All humans die if you stab them enough, right?

While Delilah was still inside her head, Viser was looking at them.

All he saw were two starving children, one hovering on the edge of death, the other teetering on the brink of collapse.

Even in that pitiful state, the moment Nero heard his sister, he forced himself to his feet, staggering in front of her. His body was broken, his face swollen with pain, but his eyes burned with wild defiance.

Brother? Delilah was even more worried now as she turned to face him.

Viser looked at Nero but he saw no child before him but a wounded beast, wild and desperate.

The boy's body was barely holding together. Bruises painted him in shades of blue and purple, deep gashes still oozing blood. One eye was swollen shut, yet the other wouldn't let him go.

He was shaking from pain, his fists clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms.

Yet, despite his broken state, the boy stood his ground, his gaze filled with pure, unfiltered hatred.

He wasn't looking at Viser as a man, no, only as a threat, he saw a monster, another predator coming to take away the only thing he had left.

Even now, barely able to stand, he was ready to fight to the death.

Viser sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. There was no reasoning with them. Even in their state, they wouldn't surrender. And if he left them here… they'd be dead by morning.

Regret settled in his chest as he stepped forward. The girl flinched, dagger raised, but too slow. Before either could react, his hand blurred.

Viser had no choice but to knock them both unconscious before taking them with him. He had seen the fire in the boy's eyes, the desperation in the girl's trembling hands, and he knew they would never come willingly.

As he carried their frail bodies through the night, a deep sense of pity settled in his chest they were barely clinging to life, yet still fighting as if the world hadn't already tried to break them.

First he didn't really know what to do with them , but after a few days He ended up deciding to raise them nemsus will need a friend anyway.

He bought an old house near the borders. Money was never the issue.

But the kids were.

It had taken nearly a year before they finally lowered their guards, before they stopped flinching at his presence and watching his every move like cornered animals. Even now, though Nero had learned to blend in with the other children he ended taking in the folowing years, at least on the surface, his sister remained different. She only ever smiled when her brother was near, as if he were the only thing keeping her from drifting away.

Viser knew she had come to care for him in her own quiet way, he saw it in the way she listened when he spoke, the way her shoulders no longer tensed when he was near. But still, that warmth never reached her smile. That was something she saved only for her brother.

"I can't" Delilah responded as she looked her eyes at viser her face still the same

Delilah really liked him. Aside from her brother, he was the only person she truly cared about. But smiling around anyone else? That never felt right.

It had become a restriction ever since the day she lost her mother. Nero was the only one left to smile for, the only one who smiled back.

And she just intended to keep it that way.

Viser remained silent, debating whether to speak. His sharp gaze lingered on her before he let out a small smile. "Alright, don't bother then," he said.

But his expression quickly turned serious. "Now… about your runes."