The slums of East Jin City stank of smoke, rot, and broken dreams.
Jin Ryu crouched in the shadows behind a butcher's stall, clutching a half-rotted cabbage like treasure. His fingers were numb from the cold, his stomach gnawing at itself. Around him, martial disciples from minor sects walked in silk robes, kicking beggars aside as if they were rats.
He was one of those rats.
"Get lost, trash."
The voice came with a boot—sharp and cruel. Jin barely rolled in time as the disciple's foot slammed into the dirt where his ribs had been a breath ago.
"I said get lost!" The young man wore the green robe of the **Ironroot Sect**, a minor group known more for arrogance than skill. Around him, others laughed.
Jin didn't respond. He just stood up, eyes low, hands still holding his cabbage like it was life itself.
But he didn't drop it.
The disciple sneered. "You've got balls. Let's crush them."
The world spun. Pain flashed white across Jin's face. Fists, boots, laughter. Dirt in his mouth. The cabbage was gone. Again.
When it ended, Jin lay broken near the outskirts of the city—past the stone wall, past the graves of nameless warriors, and into the **Scarred Ravine**, where no one dared go.
Not even the beasts.
---
The sky was bleeding dusk. Jin crawled, blood leaking from his lips. He didn't know why. Maybe instinct. Maybe pride. Maybe he just didn't want to die on streets that never cared he was born.
Then he saw it.
A crack in the ravine wall—hidden behind thorn and stone. A whisper drifted from it, cold and ancient.
**"Come."**
He should've turned back. But he didn't. The voice pulled something inside him.
He entered the ruin.
Inside was nothing but silence. Bones scattered the floor—some human, some not. Symbols pulsed faintly on obsidian walls. At the center, a black orb hovered above a broken altar.
And behind it…
Eyes.
Endless, ancient, watching.
**"You bleed. You crawl. You burn with hate."**
The voice filled the ruin like thunder wrapped in silk.
**"Will you carry me?"**
Jin couldn't speak. His mouth moved, but no sound came.
**"Will you rise with me, or rot like the rest?"**
The orb pulsed once. Black flames burst from it, slamming into Jin's chest. His body seized. His mind shattered.
Memories that weren't his. Battles. Skies set on fire. A dragon—wings like the night sky, eyes like galaxies—screaming in rage.
Pain.
Then silence.
Then—
**"I am Tenebris, the last of the Black Flame. You are my vessel now. We rise."**
Jin opened his eyes.
They weren't his eyes anymore.
---
End of Chapter 1