ARCANE DRIFTERS – Volume 1
Prologue: Legacy of the Forgotten War
Narration by Shen Karguro
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The sky was burning.
Thousands of Arcanes filled the horizon.
Cities collapsed beneath their footsteps.
Mountains shattered.
Oceans boiled.
Humanity stood at the edge of extinction.
And in the middle of that battlefield...
I stood alone.
My sword was broken.
Blood covered my body.
My vision was blurry.
Yet I smiled.
Because this wasn't where my story ended.
It was where it began.
My name is Shen Karguro.
And before you understand how I reached this battlefield...
You need to know the truth about our world.
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Before I became who I am...
Before I fought monsters capable of destroying entire cities...
Before I became an Arcane Drifter...
This world already carried countless scars.
Scars left behind by wars so ancient that most people believe they are myths.
But they are real.
Every single one of them.
---
Long ago...
There were three universes.
Each ruled by a different existence.
Universe One belonged to the Gods.
Universe Two belonged to the Arcanes.
Universe Three belonged to the Mages.
For millions of years, the three universes existed separately.
Never touching.
Never interfering.
Never colliding.
Until fate decided otherwise.
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The Arcanes were not the noble beings some stories describe today.
Back then, they were monsters.
Creatures born from pure magical chaos.
They possessed incredible power but lacked purpose.
They killed each other endlessly.
Destroyed entire worlds.
Devoured their own kind.
Violence was their nature.
Chaos was their language.
And destruction was their only law.
Then...
Everything changed.
Because one Arcane stood above all others.
His name was Diablo.
The First Arcane Lord.
---
Unlike the others, Diablo dreamed of something impossible.
Peace.
Instead of ruling through fear, he united the Arcanes.
Instead of encouraging slaughter, he taught cooperation.
For the first time in their history...
The Arcanes stopped fighting.
They built civilizations.
Created cities.
Formed families.
Some stories even claim they learned how to laugh.
How to cry.
How to love.
For ten peaceful years...
The Arcane Universe flourished.
It was a golden age.
An age that should have lasted forever.
But fate had other plans.
---
Something appeared.
Something beyond Gods.
Beyond Arcanes.
Beyond Mages.
A being whose existence should not have been possible.
The White Guy.
The God of Existence.
No one knows where he came from.
No one knows what he truly was.
Only one fact remains certain.
He arrived from beyond the three universes.
And with a single breath...
He inhaled Universe Two.
---
Entire stars vanished.
Planets disappeared.
Galaxies collapsed.
Millions upon millions of Arcanes ceased to exist instantly.
One breath.
That was all it took.
One breath erased an entire universe.
Only Diablo and a few hundred survivors escaped.
The rest were gone forever.
---
For years they wandered through endless space.
Searching for a home.
Searching for survival.
Searching for hope.
Eventually...
They found Earth.
---
Earth already belonged to two races.
The Mages.
And the Demons.
Despite their fears...
The Mages allowed the refugees to stay.
A great agreement was formed.
Three races.
One world.
A fragile balance.
For a time...
It worked.
---
Then Diablo died.
And peace died with him.
His younger brother inherited his throne.
His name was Regred.
And unlike Diablo...
Regred hated Mages.
---
He blamed them for everything.
He believed Earth should belong solely to Arcanes.
His hatred grew.
Year after year.
Until eventually...
War became inevitable.
---
The First Arcane War began.
Earth trembled.
Entire continents became battlefields.
The Mages fought desperately.
But they were losing.
The Arcanes were simply too powerful.
Every battle pushed humanity closer to extinction.
Defeat seemed certain.
Until one man appeared.
A legend whose name still echoes through history.
The Golden Mage.
---
No army followed him.
No kingdom supported him.
Yet he challenged Regred alone.
For seven days and seven nights they fought.
Their battle split mountains.
Created oceans.
Destroyed entire regions.
At the end...
The Golden Mage sacrificed everything.
His life.
His magic.
His future.
Everything.
To seal Regred and one thousand Arcane Generals.
---
The First Arcane War ended.
Peace returned.
At least...
That's what everyone believed.
---
One hundred years later...
Another enemy emerged.
The Arcane Minister.
One of the last survivors of Diablo's era.
A genius.
A monster.
A visionary.
And a madman.
---
Unlike Regred, he didn't seek simple conquest.
He sought evolution.
He created new races.
New species.
New forms of life.
Ten in total.
Each stronger than the last.
One of those races...
Was Humanity.
Us.
---
At first, humans served him.
But eventually we learned the truth.
The Minister wanted complete domination.
Every race under his control.
Every world under his command.
So humanity rebelled.
And joined the Mages.
---
The Second Arcane War began.
And it was far worse than the first.
Entire civilizations disappeared.
Kingdoms burned.
Heroes fell.
Monsters rose.
The world drowned in blood.
---
Eventually humanity gained the upper hand.
Victory seemed close.
Then the Minister revealed his final weapon.
He secretly unsealed several commanders from Regred's army.
Ancient Arcane monsters capable of destroying nations.
The battlefield changed instantly.
The Mages were overwhelmed.
Humanity was losing.
Hope disappeared.
---
Then the Mages made their final decision.
The greatest sacrifice in history.
They transferred every fragment of their magic to humanity.
Every spell.
Every technique.
Every ounce of power.
They gave everything.
And vanished.
---
The Mage Unity ceased to exist.
But humanity survived.
With the Mages' power flowing through their veins...
Humans fought back.
The Arcane Minister fell.
The commanders were destroyed.
The war ended.
Once again.
---
Or so everyone believed.
---
Six hundred years have passed since then.
Cities grew.
Technology advanced.
Civilizations prospered.
History became legend.
Legends became myths.
And myths became forgotten stories.
---
But the Arcanes never truly disappeared.
They hide everywhere.
Within mountains.
Beneath oceans.
Inside storms.
Deep within ancient ruins.
Waiting.
Watching.
Preparing.
---
That is why the Arcane Drifters were created.
An organization born from centuries of war.
A shield protecting humanity.
A sword pointed toward the darkness.
People who hunt the monsters others fear.
People willing to risk everything.
People like me.
---
I never asked for this power.
I never wanted this responsibility.
But fate rarely asks for permission.
And now...
The future of humanity may depend on people like us.
On people like me.
---
Because somewhere in the shadows...
Something is awakening.
Something ancient.
Something terrifying.
Something that should have remained sealed forever.
---
My name is Shen Karguro.
Arcane Drifter.
And this...
Is where my story begins.
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End of Prologue