Kael POV
The world has never been a fair or equal place. The moment you are born, your destiny is already set. My mother was a prostitute and my father was a person I never got to see. Despite being an unwanted child, at first, my mother tried to raise me. There was a kindness in her gaze that almost seemed like love. Over time, she began to blame me for all her problems, be they financial or romantic, until the abuse began. That was when I realized that look in her eyes wasn't love, but a lie she told herself to cope with the situation.
Then, when I was six, she simply left. No explanation, as if I were just a burden getting in her way. At that moment, I had to learn to survive on my own.
In the beginning, I survived on alms I begged for, which were barely enough to buy a piece of stale bread. I tried to get into an orphanage, only to be thrown out. The man in charge looked at me as if I were a filthy animal trying to infest his clean house.
At eight years old, I couldn't take it anymore. I stole an apple. The relief of the first bite was as intense as the guilt. But the hunger returned the next day. And one apple became two, then a loaf of bread, then whatever my small hands could reach. Soon, an inevitable thought blossomed in my mind: why steal scraps when I could steal the thing that buys everything? Money.
With money, I wouldn't have to sleep on the floor anymore. I could buy new clothes and a blanket to get through the cold. From that day forward, my thefts became riskier, but because I had a quick mind, I always managed to get away.
That is, until I let myself be consumed by greed and tried to rob a person in a luxurious suit. Despite my sharp mind, I could have never predicted something called magic. But on that day, I saw it for the first time. As I touched his coin purse, a shock shot through my hand.
The moment it happened, the guard beside him shoved my head to the ground and drew a sword.
"Filthy rat! How dare you try to rob Master Vlad! You'll pay for this with your head!"
Before the sword could reach my neck, the man in luxurious clothes made a gesture with his hand. "Stop." His voice carried authority.
The guard quickly sheathed his sword again. "Forgive me, Master, for acting so hastily." Vlad, as if already used to it, ignored him and turned his gaze back toward the child, an animated look in his eyes, as if he were seeing a diamond in the rough.
"What is your name, child?" he asked, then extended a hand.
Warily, Kael accepted his help and, as he stood up, answered tremulously.
"Kael… sir."
Vlad looked at the boy's thin frame.
"Kael," he said reflexively. "A fine name. From your state, I see life hasn't been very easy on you. For that reason, I'm going to make you an irrefusable offer." Pausing, he took the coin purse from his pocket and tossed it toward Kael.
"Consider this your initial payment," Vlad said in a calm voice.
Having never seen so much money in his life, Kael quickly pocketed it and looked toward Vlad. "What kind of work?"
Vlad gave a smile and said, "What you do best. You can keep the watch, by the way. It's not much of a loss to me." He pointed to Kael's pocket and then made an open-handed gesture.
The blood in my veins turned to ice. He had seen. He knew that, even in the middle of the chaos, my other hand had discreetly stolen his silver pocket watch. Without a second thought, I extended my trembling hands.
Vlad, with a smiling face, proclaimed, "It will be a pleasure to work with you, Kael."
Under Vlad's tutelage, petty thefts became grand heists. Grand heists became infiltration jobs. And infiltration, inevitably, became assassination. I became Vlad's invisible blade, his private "Sentence," a legend whispered in the alleys and halls of power, known for a single, terrifying trait: I never failed.
I knew my body had its limits. That's why, throughout my life, I invested heavily in equipment. My greatest asset was my prosthetic arm, a masterpiece of technology and magic, a Mithril prosthesis that moved faster and hit harder than any weapon I had ever wielded.
Still, it wasn't enough. I saw the so-called 'geniuses' of the world, those born with absurd talent, destined for greatness from the cradle. I hated them. I hated the ease with which they navigated a world I had to climb with tooth and nail. I didn't just want to be good at what I did; I wanted the power to crush those who never knew what it was to truly fight.
The answer came: "Hunters," legendary warriors who hunted the monstrosities of the Abyss. Their power didn't come from birth, but from a profane alchemy: genetic mutations that rewrote their very bodies, granting them superhuman strength and senses at the cost of their own humanity.
Without wasting time, I hunted down this information, and when I found it, I applied the procedures to myself, enduring an agony that would have killed others. When the pain passed, I was something new. Something better. Finally, I could not only compete with the 'geniuses,' but I could also hunt them. And I developed a special preference for those services.
Until one day, a mysterious figure appeared, offering sums that would make the richest merchants weep with envy.
"We want you to kill the Northern Twins."
Kael looked at the child before him and couldn't help but admire her calm gaze, as if the outcome of this fight were as clear as day.
"If you'll permit me, my lady, how did you know I wasn't Edwin? I believe my disguise was impeccable," Kael asked with genuine curiosity.
Aurora tilted her head to the side, as if she didn't understand.
"Sir, I think you're misunderstanding something," Aurora said with an innocent voice.
Indignant, Kael raised his voice.
"Don't play innocent with me! You clearly knew about the anti-mana stones, and if you didn't suspect me, you wouldn't have revived those creatures."
Aurora, in a cute yet sinister voice, said, "As I said, sir, you are misunderstanding something. If you see a swarm of insects gathering on your most precious possession, isn't it normal to kill them?" she said, as naturally as could be.
Kael, seeing that common sense wouldn't work on this girl, advanced quickly, pulling his daggers and aiming for Aurora's neck. But before he got close, an explosion threw him toward a tree, breaking it in half.
With blood coming from his mouth, Kael quickly drank a potion and advanced for his second attack, but this time he went for Bjorn, grabbing him by the legs and throwing him toward Aurora.
Aurora, in turn, used a spell that held Bjorn in the air before releasing him to the ground. Then, she put a hand to her mouth as if she found the fight boring, charged a giant ball of purple fire, and, as if intending to end the fight right there, threw it toward Kael with surprising speed.
Kael quickly pulled a scroll from his bag, and the moment he finished chanting the activation words, a giant explosion occurred, creating a huge crater and raising a massive cloud of dust.
Aurora, as if to create another spell, drew a huge rune on the ground while continuing to murmur indecipherable words.
After the dust settled, it was possible to see that the upper part of Kael's armor was completely destroyed. His beloved prosthesis wasn't enough to withstand the direct impact of the explosion, even with the defense scroll activated.
With pure strength, Kael got up and drank his last potion, which still wasn't enough to heal the extent of his injuries. Without armor, several tattoos could be seen on his body.
After finishing his last potion, Kael looked toward Aurora, and with a bloody mouth, he said,
"You know, before this fight began, I simulated millions of possible outcomes, and in none of them did I survive. However, in one of them... I wasn't the only one who died." And with a sinister smile, all the tattoos on his body began to glow.
"Before the North as we know it existed, it was a savage land that belonged to the Barbarians, a people who could not use magic but who defeated the empire in several battles. Among these barbarians were the Malakor—barbarians with tattooed bodies that were said to nullify any kind of magic and grant superhuman strength."
After she finished murmuring her incantations, Aurora threw a purple fireball toward Kael.
As if unconcerned, Kael received the magic with open arms. As it got close to him, the surrounding tattoos absorbed the fireball.
After this, Kael gave a triumphant smile.
"Blame your arrogance, child. This world is giant; there is always someone superior. A pity that this advice will now be useless, because your mana is useless against me." The moment he intended to advance on Aurora, he saw that inexpressive face give a hideous smile.
"Sir, I think you don't understand. The moment your filthy hands touched my precious brother, your fate was already sealed." And with a snap of her fingers, Bjorn's corpse began to rise, a purple aura surrounding it. As if recognizing its killer, it looked toward Kael with a crushing pressure. It was not the presence of a giant before an ant.
It was the authority of a tomb opening to claim its victim.