Hollow Sun

The military vehicle rocked slightly as it rolled across the uneven terrain. The low rumble of the engine and the faint scent of oil and steel filled the enclosed space. The red interior lights cast eerie shadows on the walls, making the two soldiers seated across from Kael seem even less human.

He barely spared them a glance.

His wrists were bound together in reinforced metal cuffs, a short chain linking them to his ankles in a cruel imitation of shackles. He could barely shift without the metal biting into his skin.

The entire time, neither soldier spoke.

It was suffocating. But it was all a memory.

'Why does it keep replaying in my mind?' He thought. Then, he looked up, attempting to suppress the grueling memory by focusing on something—anything—else, and there it was. Still suspended in his mind.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[Quest Complete: Kill the Soldiers and Escape]

[Experience Gained: +240 XP]

[Level Up! Current Level: 3]

[Stat Points Earned: 3]

[New Feature Unlocked: ABILITY TREE]

Kael blinked, and his breath halted mid-exhale.

"This is my reward for killing?"

His fingers curled involuntarily, and a subtle pulse of heat stirred in his chest—a presence he still hadn't grown used to. The next moment, his gaze fell on the slain MPs lying dead by his hands.

"This is nuts. Am I a murderer now? I don't even remember why I did it."

But that was a lie.

All of the stares. The taunting. The ridicule. All of the constant reminders that he was Lesser—that was his excuse, his excuse to take it out on whoever. Something he'd only dreamed about since the day he was born.

Then something in him began to shift, and he could feel the static hum of change crawling beneath his skin. It wasn't painful, but it was unsettling. Like his very being was shifting at a molecular level, adjusting to something unnatural. Then, his vision darkened momentarily as another prompt appeared.

[CURRENT STATS]

[Strength: 8 → 9]

[Agility: 10 → 12]

[Endurance: 7 → 9]

[Spirit: 3 → 5]

"That's it?"

Kael scowled. The stats had barely moved. And while, scuffing about something resulting from a thing so... inhumane felt wrong, the changes in his stats somehow bothered him more than his violent spiral.

"Sure, Agility and Spirit got decent boosts, but Strength and Endurance barely improved," he said. And to make things that much more bothersome, he didn't feel any stronger—if anything, his limbs still ached from the bruising he'd taken during the capture.

But then again, this wasn't a normal. He had a system now, something he still hadn't fully grasped the concept of. He needed more information, so he flicked his eyes to the new icon at the bottom of the interface.

[ABILITY TREE UNLOCKED]

A strange tugging sensation pulled at the back of his mind. A nudge, perhaps.

"Alright… let's see what this thing is."

He reached out for the icon but nothing happened. Confusion settled in his expression as he waved his hand furiously through the transparent screen.

"What the hell? How do I work this thing?"

Unaware of it listening to his every words, his every thoughts, Kael heard the voice. It came from no particular direction, but he heard it clearly, nonetheless. The language it spoke was in a tongue alien to Kael, yet somehow he understood it.

"Kael Solis. You have unlocked points within the system, which you are now able to access and use as you wish."

Kael had been still when it spoke. He hadn't even noticed that he'd stopped breathing altogether, until his lungs fought back. It wasn't until they had regained back control from Kael's self-paralysis, that Kael himself found control and finally spoke.

"Wh—who the hell are you? And why are you in my head?"

"I am. There is no name to which I go by. Though, your kind calls me Hollow. However... I am only but an existence, a system, if you may, tethering all in my design."

Kael was in shock, still—so much so—that his words caught in his throat before they could reach his lips. This was by far the strangest thing he had ever experienced, and being that he was the mule of Ash Canyon's worst bullies, that was saying a lot.

But the system knew his every thought, so it never needed a formal response.

"Kael Solis. To activate my system you'll need only to focus on a single command in you mind. A description will appear and you will be given an option to confirm the action. Once chosen, the intended icon will activate, and you will have access to its functions."

Kael frowned, beginning to understand, but weary all the same.

"I think I get it, but... what did you mean by 'my kind calls you Hollow'?"

There was a brief pause, before the voice.

"Hollow. A term created by humans to describe my system. Your fathers before you sought to understand my existence through their own perspective, eventually, theorizing my intent to be a simple infection, one that strips away the souls of Earth's inhabitants'. Thus, the title 'Hollow' was given."

"I think I understand," Kael began, shifting his weight to one knee. "But what does that mean for me? Does that mean I'm a... Hol—"

But the system cut him off before he could finish.

"All will be reveal. Though at this time, I am only able to vocalize temporarily, as this action is limited for now. Further communication will return to my original settings, effective immediately."

"Ding!"

Before Kael could protest, the familiar sound abruptly ended the conversation.

It had been a short one which, perhaps, meant that he would need to earn more stats—or points—to unlock more time. In any case, he still lack too much information.

"Okay. Maybe I'm losing my mind. Or maybe I never had one to begin with. I don't know. I don't think I know anything at this point."

Then, the system's message appeared again. In that moment, Kael search through his mind, recounting his conversation with the system. Then, he remembered what the system said, and with a single thought, he focused on the Ability Tree.

"Ah. Come on. Works you damn system!"

Suddenly, he wasn't in the transport anymore.

The world had shifted. Now, with open eyes, Kael found himself standing in a vast expanse of absolute darkness. No sky. Nor ground. Just an endless, depthless void. And in the abyss—a sprawling web of golden threads stretched in every direction. Thousands of tiny glowing nodes pulsed faintly like distant stars. Some were dim and locked away. Others... flickered, waiting to be chosen. The structure extended infinitely, branching out like the veins of some colossal celestial body.

Kael took a slow, measured breath.

"This is... the Ability Tree?"

His gaze swept across the constellation of options, taking it all in. Then, he noticed something strange.

Three orbs.

Unlike the rest, they weren't connected to the tree by any means. They floated separately, isolated with no names, no descriptions, and no clear function at first glance. And curious of all—

They were already unlocked.

A sick, cold feeling coiled in Kael's gut.

"Wh... What the hell are those things?"

Nothing about this system had felt right since the moment it appeared. But this? This was different, a thought that made his pulse quicken. He had never touched them, never made a choice—yet these three abilities were already his. His thoughts were racing to a finish line that seemingly didn't exist. Did they belong to him? Or did they belong to something else?

He shook his head, trying to ignore the unease creeping into his veins.

"Later. Focus on what you can control now, Kael."

He turned back to the main tree, scanning the possible abilities. And one stood out.

[Umbral Reflex (Starter Tier)]

[Enhances reaction speed and agility while in shadows]

A solid first pick, he thought. Then, without much time wasted, he focused on mentally selecting it. Slightly to the right, one Spirit Point hovered near the node, ready to be spent.

Just then, before the connection formed—

Pain

Something struck the back of his skull hard. And Kael's mind shattered. What happened next was simultaneous. The system collapsed around him, and the golden lines and glowing orbs were beginning to flicker into nonexistence. A second later, his vision tunneled, and for a moment, he had no idea where he was.

Then the pain exploded in full force.

He lurched forward, the cold chain restraints biting into his wrists, something that hadn't been there just a moment ago. His vision swam, a sickening dizziness pulling him into a void of nausea and disorientation, but still, the metal binding his wrists now were unmistakable. He had been cuffed.

Dimly, he registered a voice.

"Target secured. Your Orders?"

A figure loomed in the doorway of the transport, framed by the harsh glow of a transport's floodlights.

Tall. Statuesque.

She stepped into the dim red glow of the transport cabin, her movements refined—controlled.

The woman's uniform bore the insignia of the Chosen Corps, but the rank markings were unlike any he had seen. And strapped to her waist—a katana. The sheer realization sent a jolt of fear through him.

'She's S-Class.'

A voice crackled through her comms.

"S-Class Kurogane, target secured. I await your orders, Command?"

In that moment, her dark eyes flicked downward, meeting his with the cold detachment of a battlefield surgeon. Then—the faintest smirk.

She rested her sheathed katana against her shoulder, exhaling slowly before she spoke again—this time, to him—as if she'd read his confused little C-Class mind.

"Hn. How's that saying goes again? Oh, right—"

She tilted her head, and her voice was smooth, but edged with quiet amusement.

"The weak don't get to ask questions."

The, the world faded, along with her mocking laughter, and—Kael—fell into blackness.