Chapter One – BIRB

  Long ago, in the realm of the gods, there existed a being known as the Chaos Eater. One of the first gods in existence, he was by far the most powerful. After slaying the Creator God, the God of Rebirth, and the God of Light and Dark, he became the mightiest force the cosmos had ever known—or ever would know.

  The other gods, fearful of his growing strength, devised a plan to seal him away before he could destroy everything. They offered their lives to him willingly, tricking him into devouring them to gain more power. Unbeknownst to him, they had planted powerful seals within their very souls. Once he consumed enough of them, the seals activated, stripping him of nearly all his power and memories. It cost half of the remaining gods their lives, but they succeeded.

  Stripped of 90% of his power and all his memories, the Chaos Eater was cast down into the mortal realm, where he was given a human name: Damon.

  “Very good, Damon. Now just lift that boulder another hundred times and we can move on to the next part of your training,” said the gruff old master.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Heaving... thud.

  “Okay, done. Now what, Master?”

  “Now you are ready. After fifteen long years, you’re finally ready to learn Shadow Movement. And that's just the first technique. There are fifteen in total. Master this one, and I will find you when it's time to unlock the next. For now, go to the Library of Souls, learn Shadow Movement, and begin your journey in the world. Gain experience, grow stronger, and remember: I will return when you’re ready.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you for everything over these past fifteen years. I’ll never forget it.”

  Though honestly, Damon thought to himself, I hope I never see that old geezer again. That was fifteen years of hell. I don’t even know why I was brought here in the first place.

  “Anyway, time for you to be off. Goodbye—for now. I hope we meet again soon.”

  Flash. Blink.

  “Ugh, where am I now?” Damon grumbled. “I swear, I can't stand that old man just randomly teleporting me places. Where even is this? Looks like forest for miles… Guess I’ll just walk until I find a town. Not like I’ve got any better ideas.”

  Three days later...

  “Egh… Forest. More forest. Still more forest. Nothing but trees! I’ve looked through that book from the library a dozen times, and it still makes no sense. Like, how am I supposed to read this? It’s not like someone who understands it is just gonna fall out of the sky—”

  “HEYYY! LOOK OUT!”

  Crash!

  “Ow—What the hell just hit me? Wait… is that a bird?”

  “HEY! WHO THE HELL HIT ME WITH A BIRD?!”

  A small child ran up, waving. “Sorry, mister! That was me. I’m training my bird to fly, and I thought if I threw it off a high rock, it’d just, you know… fly.”

  It’s a kid, Damon realized, rubbing his head. And clearly not the brightest one, either... Might as well ask while I’ve got the chance.

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  “Hey, kid. Do you know where the nearest town is? I’ve been walking for days.”

  “Yup! I can take you there. I was just heading back anyway. Wanna come with me?”

  “Sure. Why not? It’s not like I’ll find it just wandering blindly.”

  “Great! Follow me!”

  As Damon walked with the random kid, he noticed some movement out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to look, it vanished—like it had never been there.

  "Hey, you coming?" the kid called back.

  "Yeah, I'm coming."

  "Hurry up, slowpoke! I'm smaller than you—you should be the faster one."

  "That's not how that works, but okay," Damon muttered. "I mean, my master is pretty small, but he's fast. Wait—there it is again..."

  Whatever it was seemed to be following them. But as far as Damon could tell, it didn’t seem threatening.

  "Here we are!" the kid said cheerfully. "My village—it doesn’t have a name, and it’s not on any map, but it’s a nice place."

  I asked for a town, Damon thought, but I guess this will work. Maybe someone here knows where I can find a real town. I need to find a guild—no way a small village like this has one. Still, at least I can talk to someone.

  "Let me show you around!" the kid offered.

  He led Damon to a small inn that doubled as a restaurant. A large sign above the door read Dragonbone. As they entered, Damon saw it again—just out of sight. The shadowy presence vanished the moment he tried to focus on it.

  "God, that's going to get annoying," he muttered.

  "Huh? You say something?" the kid asked.

  "No, I didn’t. Anyway, where do I go to get a room?"

  "Oh, right over there. Just head to that desk and ask."

  "Okay, thanks."

  "No problem! Have a nice day!"

  Damon walked over to the counter. "Hey, miss, can I get a room? One bed, please."

  "Yeah, that'll be two copper."

  "Two... what?"

  "Copper. Wait—do you not have any money? How do you expect to get a room with no coin?"

  "I... didn't think that far ahead."

  The woman behind the desk gave a sigh. "Okay, tell you what—we're short-staffed, and you’re not bad-looking. How about this: I’ll give you a room, but you work for us to pay it off. It comes with meals. Sound good?"

  "That sounds amazing! When do I start?"

  "Get some sleep first. I’ll wake you when your shift starts. You look exhausted—we can't have you working like that. Your room’s number 12, just head upstairs."

  "Thanks... uh..."

  "Just call me Jully."

  "Okay, Jully. I’m Damon."

  "That’s a unique name."

  "Yeah, it was given to me by my master. Anyway, I’ll go rest before my shift. Thanks again."

  "No problem. Have a good sleep."

  (Four hours later...)

  Wait... where am I? This isn’t the inn. It’s so dark... I can’t see a thing. But I feel... powerful. Like I could do anything—except see, I guess. Still... how do I get out of here?

  “Damon! Damon, wake up—it’s time for your shift.”

  "Huh? What... I was just... wait—"

  “Come on! Let’s go! It’s packed! Hurry and get down here!”

  “Oh, right. I’m on it. I’ll be there in a second—just let me change.”

  A few minutes later, Damon stood at the bottom of the stairs. "Alright, I’m here. What do you need?"

  "Take these to tables 5, 6, and 9," Jully said, handing him a tray full of food and drinks.

  "Got it."

  As Damon moved between tables, voices called out from all sides. Someone asked for another glass of ale. Another complained that their food was cold. More and more requests came, one after another, until he was barely holding it together.

  Finally, his shift ended.

  "Made it... and god, that was hell."

  "Yeah," Jully chuckled. "Now imagine doing that every day on your own instead of with help."

  "Please don’t make me imagine that."

  "Ha! Anyway, get some sleep—we’re doing it all again tomorrow."

  "Yeah... I’ll do that. Please, let tomorrow be better than today... today was pain."