Beyond the darkness, in the ruins and devastation, as if an earthquake had shattered this empire, stood a small child, no older than ten. His long black hair swayed slightly in the cold wind, and his dark eyes were like an abyss, devoid of light. He walked in utter silence, his footsteps barely making a sound, as tears trickled down his face with every step.
His eyes widened in horror as he saw them—his parents, lifeless on the battlefield, their bodies cold and motionless. His knees gave out beneath him as he collapsed onto the scorched ground, his trembling hands reaching toward the sky. A broken cry escaped his lips:
"Why...? Why must I live in this hell? Why couldn't I have died with them?"
At that moment, something stirred deep within him. His eyes began to glow—an eerie, ominous light, dark and filled with grief. A sinister aura pulsed around him, thick and suffocating, wrapping around his small frame. Power surged through his body, wild and untamed, awakening something dormant. His voice trembled, but his words carried a newfound resolve.
"I am Shin... of the Nine Dragon Empire."
The truth began to unveil itself—his right eye, the Eye of Shadows, had awakened at the cost of his parents' lives. He clenched his fists, his body shaking with unbridled rage and sorrow. His voice, now colder than before, cut through the silence like a blade.
"I swear... I will become stronger. I will avenge my father. I will reclaim the honor of the Nine Dragon Empire. The ones who conspired against us... I will make them pay."
His once sorrowful gaze now burned with a mix of anguish and determination. Darkness coiled around him, his aura shifting, growing heavier. He turned his back on the ruins of his past, his heart now set on a new path. He pulled the hood of his black cloak over his head, concealing his identity, and made his way north—toward Mount Hua, the first step in his long journey.
As he walked, his thoughts swirled like a storm inside him. "Ever since I gained this eye, everything around me has fallen apart. When they slaughtered my family... I felt something strange inside me. It was painful—like I was losing myself."
A whisper, almost inaudible, escaped his lips.
"Is it this eye's doing? Or have I become... something else?"
His body, once fragile, would soon be reforged through hardship. His spirit, once drowning in despair, would rise again, tempered like steel. He ventured deep into the forest, searching for food, but his mind remained elsewhere—lost in the questions that haunted him, in the destiny that awaited him.
To be continued…
---