The darkness within the Soul Abyss didn't just obstruct vision; it felt heavy, a physical pressure that crawled against the skin. For most, this was a place of terror. For Kian, it was just another Tuesday.
He knelt silently behind a jagged obsidian outcrop, his breath measured, his form completely still. He didn't need to hide. The scavenger creatures—Vile-Rats and boneless oozes—scurried past him without a second glance. To them, he was inert matter. A rock. A shadow.
Born with a Soul Weight of exactly (0.00), Kian was a mathematical impossibility in Aetheria. He was the Void Existence. He was invisible to everything that valued spirit, which meant everything dangerous.
"Position A, secure," a voice whispered through the magical communication earpiece. It was Captain Thorne, a bulky man with a 'Heavy' Soul Weight of 150, famous for his radiant shield magic. "The target is sleeping. Remember the plan: I engage, Lyra provides mana support, and the rest of you focus fire. We need this kill to secure our rank."
Kian's job, as always, was 'The Lure.' When the target woke up, he was supposed to run directly into its path, confusing its senses just long enough for Thorne to strike. It was suicidal, but Kian's unique void nature meant he could survive longer than anyone else.
"Scavenger, you ready?" Thorne's voice cut back into his ear, dripping with disdain.
Kian didn't respond verbally. He simply touched the earpiece twice, the signal for readiness. He had no name in this group, only 'Scavenger.'
The air grew suddenly cold. A faint blue glow emanated from the center of the cavern, revealing the target: a Rank S Void-Stalker. It was a mass of shifting shadows, translucent bone, and multiple empty eye sockets that absorbed the light. Its estimated Soul Weight was over 800. If it woke up, the entire squad would be vaporized.
The plan was simple. It was also a lie.
As Captain Thorne raised his massive, glowing shield to begin the assault, Kian felt a hand grip his shoulder. It was Lyra, the squad's graceful mana caster, whose elegant facade now twisted into a mask of cruel desperation.
"Thank you for your service, Scavenger," she hissed, her voice low. "But Captain Thorne only needs one Rank S core to reach his milestone, and our guild's contract says we must split the profits equally among all survivors."
Kian's eyes widened, but before he could react, Lyra drove a dagger—specially coated in mana-nullifying poison—deep into his back, just below the shoulder blade.
The pain was like molten lead spreading through his veins. Kian gasped, his breath hitching. The unique poison wasn't meant to kill him instantly; it was meant to freeze his body, ensuring he couldn't even crawl away.
At the same moment, Thorne abandoned his defensive stance. He didn't strike the Stalker. Instead, he slammed his shield against the rock formation Kian was leaning on, causing the outcrop to shatter and loud, resonant vibrations to echo through the cave.
The Void-Stalker stirred.
"Thorne, what are you doing!" another squad member screamed, terrified.
"Securing my future!" Thorne bellowed. He pulled a small, pulsating orb from his belt—a Pheromone Lure, tuned specifically to attract S-Rank entities—and tossed it onto Kian's paralyzed, bleeding body.
"Let's go! Lyra, activate the Teleport Scroll! The Scavenger will keep it occupied while we escape with the map!"
Kian could only watch through blurred vision as a blue magic circle enveloped his 'comrades.' They didn't even look back at him. They only saw a tool that had served its final, fatal purpose.
They vanished.
Kian was alone.
Alone, but not for long. The multiple sockets of the Void-Stalker turned, and Kian, whose existence had been zero just moments ago, was now glowing like a beacon under the pheromone lure, his blood spilling onto the cold stone.
The Stalker let out a soundless shriek, a vibrational wave that shattered the glass in Kian's dead earpiece.
The shadow beast advanced, its ethereal jaws opening, ready to devour the anomaly that dared to exist.
Kian closed his eyes, accepting the end. His life had been defined by a zero, and it would end in a void. He felt the cold breath of the monster, the sensation of being erased.
But as his blood seeped deeper into the tomb floor, it didn't just pool. It followed invisible channels, old and worn.
And then, he felt it. A pulse.
It wasn't his heartbeat. His heartbeat was fluttering, dying. This pulse came from below.
Deep within the cold, black earth, something ancient and forgotten felt the touch of the only thing that could wake it: the blood of a zero-weight soul.
A screen, burning with blue, spectral fire, materialized in Kian's dying mind.
[NOTICE: Aetherial Signature Detected.]
[Processing...]
[WARNING: Subject possesses NULL Soul Weight (0.00).]
[Anomaly Confirmed.]
[CRITICAL SUCCESS: Unforeseen Compatibility Detected.]
[The Forgotten Tomb has found its Heir.]
[Do you wish to forge your existence, Zero?]
Kian had nothing left. No life. No future. Only the burning, icy desire for revenge.
He mentally screamed his answer.YES.
The ground beneath him shattered, not from a monster's strike, but from within. A vortex of dark-blue energy erupted, enveloping Kian and the Void-Stalker.
From the depths, a single object flew into Kian's hand. It was a massive hammer, heavy and crude, made of dark metal. It should have been impossible for his dying body to hold, but as his fingers gripped the handle, it felt lighter than a feather.
A new screen flashed.
[EQUIPMENT ACQUIRED: The Hammer of the Forgotten Tomb (Rank: NULL).]
[Passive Ability: Void-Soul Forging (Lvl 1).]
[The Heir may désormais "Deconstruct" and "Forge" souls, using their weight as materials.]
The Void-Stalker, confused and sensing the sudden, monumental shift in power, tried to retreat. It was too late.
Kian, with the dagger still in his back and his eyes burning with new-found azure light, raised the impossible hammer. He didn't use his muscle. He used the Void itself.
He swung.
The hammer made no sound as it connected. It simply passed through the beast's ethereal form.
But the monster didn't shatter; it dissolved. Its soul—its very essence, its 800 units of weight—was violently ripped apart, not as an attack, but as raw material. Kian watched, awestruck, as the monster's shadow-flesh was instantly deconstructed and sucked into the hammer, which began to glow with a blinding, terrifying blue flame.
[SOUL ACQUIRED: Rank S Void-Stalker (Weight: 821).]
[Status: Forging Material.]
[Host Condition: Critical. Emergency Soul-Repair Initiated.]
Kian collapsed, the hammer falling to his side, its blue flame illuminating his pale face. The pain of the dagger was still there, but a cold, stabilizing force was spreading through him, holding his consciousness together.
The betrayal. The zero. The scavenger. It was all gone.
Kian smiled, a jagged, terrifying look.
"I will deconstruct the whole world," he whispered into the darkness of the tomb, "and I will forge a throne from your souls."
[END OF CHAPTER 1]
[Next Chapter: The First Forging and The Bloodstone Debt]