"Dammit! What are these creatures?!"
Screams echoed from every corner of the village. It was agonizing to hear, much more to see the sight of organs splattered all over the ground.
"They're killing everyone left and right!"
"Quick, run into the hut! They can't get us inside!"
BOOM!!!
Fire gushed out the huts, roaring like thunder. Several people ran across the village frantically as they looked for a place to hide into.
Along the flames that burned every single buildings in the small village, came a glimpse of red creatures that sought murder.
Blood spilled everywhere and humans couldn't fight back.
"These creatures must've come from hell itself!" yelled an old man with a skin so wrinkly it looked like a dry desert.
Then, a youthful man stood in front of the fire, his intense gaze locked on the burning surroundings, as well as the red creatures that destroyed everything.
"Casterice, what are you doing?!" scolded one of his friends as they stopped to stare at him, baffled by his bold actions.
Casterice stood bravely, his posture unwavering.
"Our people were meant to stand against the Ascendants, Youri. We cannot die here—not to these creatures that trespassed our home!"
The brave Casterice took a small step forward, disregarding the calls of his friends to run away.
"My comrades," said he in a poignant tone. "I will stand against these Spawns of Hell and tear apart every single one of them—just as they did to us! Do not stop me, for this is my will, my desire, and my honor!"
The bellowing fire intensified, followed by a storming creature with nails as sharp and long as swords.
With a roaring grunt, Casterice pushed his body forward and tackled the red creature. "You damned crawling Spawn of Hell!"
Veins straight against the skin of his forearms and forehead as he struggled, the effort was a visible heat in the moment.
He raised his arm before he plummeted it into the creature's chest, penetrating its tough skin through brute force and killing it with one, raging strike.
A large hole formed in its chest as a response to Casterice's fist filled with fury. However, no blood sprayed or gushed out of the hole. It was a hollow creature of pure flesh and violence.
Tears threatened to fall Casterice's eyes. It wasn't a lament for the dead—but a grieving gesture for himself losing his sense of value for life.
"I've killed," Casterice whispered under himself. He lowered his head in shame and pressed his forehead against the corpse's gaping chest underneath his body. "How shameful... For me to have resorted to such violent actions."
For a moment in time, it was as still as a frozen lake.
"But this is my own choice," Casterice added, a hint of newfound determination and resolution present in his voice. "I will stain my hands and protect everything I hold dear—even if it means throwing away my humanity."
A different kind of fire lit up inside his heart. Followed by the spark that glowed inside his wrists. The sensation was a clean, engulfing warmth, not the biting heat of the burning village, but a soothing weight, like a comforting cloak.
"Huh?" Casterice muttered in confusion as he looked at his hand. He opened his palm and wriggled his fingers, but they were normal.
Except for his wrists.
Flames slowly enveloped his wrists like it had its own consciousness, before swallowing his entire hand.
"No! I'm burning!"
Casterice screamed in protest as he shook his hand and rubbed it against the fabric of his clothes. But the fire wouldn't dissipate.
The issue wasn't even the fire—no, there weren't any issues to begin with.
All that Casterice knew was that the fire he held in his hands were his own, not the same fire that consumed his village.
After Casterice calmed himself down, he looked at his own hands once more, his expression filled with affection and acceptance.
"You are my weapon."
Casterice stared at his hands for a moment. He knew that these flames were his alone, awakened by the burning hatred inside him.
With his fire-laced hands, Casterice growled against the red creatures—or Spawns of Hell as he called them.
Full of violence and wrath, Casterice briskly sprinted all around the village, killing every single Spawns that he saw with his own two hands.
His heart continued to be fueled with rage—until he realized one thing, a mistake he overlooked.
"My mother, she's still inside the hut!"
Casterice abruptly stopped in his tracks and turned around. He looked at his surroundings, observing where his location around the village would be.
After a while, he began to run and reached his home, where his mother had stayed.
But he...
...Was too late.
"Mom?" Casterice breathed, his eyes quivered at the sight.
His mom wasn't killed by any of the Spawns.
Her corpse hung over the wall, both arms pinned by what seemingly looked to be a rod made of metal. Before her stood a tall man with pure black hair.
Casterice's heart pounded, as if something heavy was knocking right at its door, demanding entrance.
The man turned around slowly, his perfectly symmetrical features glowed underneath the light casted by the intensifying flames.
"Oh? The first mortal to ever awaken his mana. Interesting."
His eyes glowed brightly, shining like the moon.
"What did you do to my mom?!" Casterice yelled in agony as the tears he'd held back had finally spilled.
As he launched himself forward, he felt a crushing sensation in the presence of the man. It was poweful.
"You do not belong in my stage," said the mysterious man. "Cower in my presence—or bow before my grace. Either way, you are going to face death should you dare disrespect my will."
Too powerful to the point that Casterice was crushed to the ground, his body limp. He couldn't believe what he was feeling. His lungs seized. He froze, unable to move nor breath, as if he was pinned at the moment in time—not just physically.
With wide eyes, he stared at the man in front of him.
"You... You're the Primordial of ███████!"
Casterice staggered back as he gazed at the Primordial in front of him, his heart hammering in both disbelief and anxiety.
"Hm?" the mysterious man—or Primordial being, hummed in question, surprised by Casterice's knowledge of his identity. "Intriguing," he said. "Maybe you know of the Northern Guardian of Vangaira?"
"N—no, I don't..." Casterice replied, feigning innocence, to not further intrigue such powerful creature any more.
But no, the Primordial caught on his lie immediately, not even a perfect lie could ever fool him.
"Lies," said the Primordial. "I should punish you for being insolent, you puny mortal."
The Primordial moved in a flash and held Casterice's head and said, "You should die, First Torch of Mortality."
Despair loomed over Casterice's figure, consuming his entire body and hope. The flames that once burned brightly in his hands were now gone, a sign of his resignation to the Primordial.
"It is a shame," said the Primordial, before he activated his mana.
Casterice let out a final scream, filled with anguish, his eyes bloodied by the sheer pressure unleashed upon him.
As Casterice faced his tragedy, the Spawns continued to crawl, causing destruction all over the village.
And such is the start of a new age.