TEN YEARS AGO
The sky was grey. Clouds covered the sun as a boy sat alone on the cold ground, leaning against a big tree. His clothes were torn. His lips were dry. His eyes, once full of life, now looked empty.
He had been just a child when they left him. A child with nothing. No name. No family. No reason.
They called him cursed. Strange. Dangerous. A mistake. So they threw him away.
He stayed in the wild for days, then weeks. At first, he cried. He shouted at the sky. He punched the ground until his hands bled.
"Why?!" he screamed. "Why did they leave me here?!"
But there was no answer. The sky stayed silent. His anger didn't change anything. Animals still avoided him. Rain still fell. Hunger never left.
Slowly, his anger turned to silence. And the silence turned into numbness.
The boy who once felt everything began to feel nothing.
One evening, while looking for food, he saw a soft light glowing between some rocks. He followed it. It led him to the mouth of a dark cave. The light was steady, like it was calling him. Curious and too tired to be afraid, he went inside.
The cave was cold and wet. The deeper he walked, the brighter the glow became. Then the ground cracked.
Crack.
He didn't have time to move. The floor broke beneath him.
Thud.
Pain hit his side as he landed hard. Dust filled the air, but the light still shone, now brighter and closer. It came from a black gem. An obsidian jewel, glowing like it was alive. He reached out and touched it.
The moment his fingers made contact, the cave shook. The air became heavy. The light flashed. A figure appeared, made of shadow and flame, moving in the darkness. Its voice echoed in the cave.
"So… brave boy, you've come to challenge the Celestial."
The boy blinked. "What? Challenge? What are you talking about?"
The figure tilted its head. "Coming here means you're ready to face me. Win, and the Celestial Accord is yours."
"No," the boy said. "I didn't come here to fight. I just fell in."
The figure paused. "Oh. That's awkward." It shrugged. "But it's too late now. The system is active. You can't leave without a fight."
The cave shook again. Symbols lit up on the walls. Time seemed to stop.
The Trial Begins.
He had never fought before. Not really. But something inside him woke up. Something old. Something strong. Power filled him. He didn't know how but he moved. He fought. He dodged. He struck back.
The figure got stronger with every second, but the boy kept up. He didn't feel fear anymore. He didn't feel anything. Just determination. And that was enough.
With a final push, he charged and tore out the core of the figure.
The figure stumbled, laughing.
"You weren't meant to fight me, yet you won."
It smiled.
"You've earned the obsidian jewel. The power of the Celestial now belongs to you. Use it wisely."
As it faded away, the jewel floated into his chest. Darkness wrapped around him. But it didn't feel cold. It felt right.
From that day on, he was no longer just a boy.
He became something else.
He became Phantom.