By the time Kael pushed open the doors of the Adventurer Guild, the sun had already begun setting behind the city walls.
The inside of the guild was loud as usual.
Adventurers sat around long wooden tables drinking cheap ale, arguing over quests, laughing too loudly, or complaining about bad luck in the field.
But the noise dropped slightly the moment Kael stepped in.
He looked a little rough.
Mud on his boots.
A few scratches on his arms.
But otherwise calm.
He walked straight toward the counter.
The receptionist looked up from her papers.
"You're back," she said. "That was fast."
Kael nodded and placed a small pouch on the counter.
The contents spilled out.
Sharp white wolf fangs rolled across the wooden surface.
One.
Two.
Three.
More kept coming.
The receptionist's eyes slowly widened.
"…Seven?"
A few nearby adventurers turned their heads.
"Seven wolves?" someone muttered.
"That kid took a pack?"
Kael leaned casually on the counter.
"They attacked first."
The receptionist picked up one of the fangs and examined it carefully.
"These are forest wolves," she confirmed.
"Meaning the entire pack was eliminated?"
"Looks like it."
The murmurs around the room grew louder.
"Seven wolves alone?"
"No way."
"He must've gotten lucky."
The receptionist ignored them and wrote something in the large guild ledger.
"Quest completed," she said.
Then she pulled a small pouch from under the counter and placed it in front of him.
"Eight silver coins."
Kael took it quietly.
The coins clinked softly as he slipped the pouch into his pocket.
For a moment it felt strangely satisfying.
His first real reward as an adventurer.
But not everyone in the guild looked pleased.
At one of the nearby tables, three adventurers were staring at him.
One of them stood up.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, and looked like he had been drinking.
"Hey," the man called.
Kael turned slightly.
"You're the new guy, right?"
"Something like that."
The man walked closer, his two friends following behind him.
"You expect us to believe a rookie took down seven wolves alone?"
Kael shrugged.
"You don't have to believe it."
The man's expression hardened.
"Maybe you stole the fangs."
A few adventurers around them leaned back in their chairs.
Everyone knew what was about to happen.
The man stepped closer until he was right in front of Kael.
"New adventurers need to learn respect," he said.
His hand grabbed Kael's collar.
Kael sighed quietly.
"I just got back," he said. "Can we not do this?"
The man threw a punch.
It never landed.
Kael moved slightly to the side and grabbed the man's wrist.
Before anyone realized what happened, the large adventurer was suddenly on the floor.
The wooden boards shook when he hit the ground.
The room fell silent.
The other two adventurers froze for a moment before rushing forward.
Bad decision.
Kael stepped forward and struck one in the stomach with the shaft of his spear.
The man doubled over instantly.
The third tried to grab Kael from behind.
Kael twisted his body and swept the man's legs out from under him.
Three adventurers.
Three seconds.
All on the ground.
The guild hall went completely quiet.
Even the receptionist looked surprised.
Kael glanced down at the men.
"You done?"
None of them answered.
He turned back toward the counter.
"Sorry about that," he told the receptionist.
She blinked once.
"…No furniture was broken."
"I'll try to keep it that way."
The murmurs slowly returned as Kael walked toward the door.
Some adventurers were whispering now.
"Did you see that?"
"That rookie's not normal."
Kael ignored them.
But someone else had been watching the entire time.
Near the back of the guild hall, standing quietly beside a wooden pillar, a girl lowered the book she had been holding.
Her dark eyes followed Kael as he left the building.
"…Interesting," she murmured softly.
Then she closed the book and slipped out the door as well.
The evening air outside was cool.
Lanterns flickered along the streets while the city slowly settled into its night rhythm.
Kael walked without rushing.
His mind wasn't focused on the guild fight anymore.
Instead, it kept returning to the same question.
The system.
The Abyss Core.
The strange power growing inside him.
He stopped walking when he saw the large stone building at the end of the street.
The city library.
"Answers," he muttered.
"Hopefully."
Inside the library, the atmosphere was completely different from the guild.
Quiet.
Calm.
Rows of tall bookshelves filled the room.
The smell of old paper hung in the air.
Kael walked between the shelves slowly, scanning the titles.
Eventually he found a section labeled Ancient Energy and Cores.
He pulled out a thick book and sat down at a nearby table.
The pages were old but readable.
As he flipped through them, information slowly appeared.
Cores were rare energy fragments that granted extraordinary power.
Different types existed.
Flame Cores controlled fire.
Storm Cores manipulated lightning and speed.
Earth Cores strengthened the body and controlled stone.
But those were only the common cores.
Further in the book, rarer ones were mentioned.
Gravity Cores.
Mirror Cores.
Pulse Cores.
These represented deeper forces of reality.
Kael leaned closer.
Then he saw something interesting.
A short section titled:
Origin Cores
According to the book, these were fragments left behind from an ancient war thousands of years ago.
Seven powerful beings known as the Sovereigns had once ruled the world.
When their war ended, pieces of their power scattered across the world.
Those pieces became the first Cores.
Kael frowned slightly.
"So that's where they come from…"
"Partially correct."
The voice came from across the table.
Kael looked up.
The same girl who had been watching him in the guild sat across from him now.
She placed a book on the table.
"That one only tells half the story," she said.
Kael studied her.
"You followed me?"
"I was already coming here."
She opened her book.
"The Sovereigns weren't just powerful beings," she continued.
"They were the first rulers of reality itself."
Kael leaned back slightly.
"And you know this how?"
"I study ancient history."
Her finger tapped the page.
"There were seven of them."
She began listing them quietly.
"The Radiant Sovereign."
"The Storm Sovereign."
"The Stone Sovereign."
"The Ocean Sovereign."
"The Dream Sovereign."
"The Void Sovereign."
Then she paused.
"And the Abyss Sovereign."
Kael felt the Abyss Core inside his chest pulse softly.
The girl noticed the small movement.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"The Abyss Sovereign was different from the others," she said.
"Her power controlled the cycle of life and death itself."
Kael remained silent.
"She was known as the Goddess of Eternal Life and Death."
The words hung in the air.
"During the ancient war," the girl continued, "the other Sovereigns feared that power."
"So they sealed her."
Kael slowly closed the book he had been reading.
"And the Cores?"
"Fragments of their power."
She looked directly at him now.
"Some people believe if enough fragments are gathered…"
"…their Sovereign could return."
Kael frowned slightly.
"That sounds like a terrible idea."
"Many organizations disagree."
Silence filled the table.
After a moment Kael spoke again.
"What's your name?"
"Ari."
"Well, Ari," he said calmly.
"You seem to know a lot about this."
She gave a small smile.
"More than most people."
Kael stood up and picked up the book she had brought.
Its title read:
The Fall of the Seven Sovereigns
As he opened the first page, the Abyss Core pulsed again.
Stronger than before.
And somewhere deep in his mind, a faint whisper echoed.
"…the cycle begins again."
Kael froze for a moment.
But when he looked up, Ari was already walking away between the shelves.
Leaving him alone with the ancient history… and far more questions than answers.