Prologue

I strained my eyes to try and take in my surroundings. I can barely make out the figures of Trona and the others just a few steps away from me. They laid on the ground, unmoving and covered in blood. With my remaining strength, I try to reach Trona’s hand.

“Wh-what have I done?” I croaked. My throat felt dry. It hurts to speak.

“You’ve betrayed them all.” A voice said as I faintly heard footsteps approaching me. The footsteps stopped. Shoes entered my line of sight. Shoes that were splattered with blood.

“I…. betrayed them?” I questioned.

“Yes. It’s your fault that they all died.” The voice was filled with mirth.

“It’s my fault they're dead?” My throat felt like it was being ripped apart. But I need to know. I need to know if it really was my fault.

“You’ve killed every single one of them. One by one.” The voice grew in pitch as their amusement became more obvious.

“I did…?” My voice finally gave out on me. I felt tears run down my face as I silently mourned the loss of my comrades. No… they were more than comrades, they were my friends, my family.

“Now, now, no need for you to cry. It’s time for you to sleep, like everyone else.” I felt something impale me. It hurts! I wanted to scream in pain, but I could no longer hear my voice.

Trona…. Everyone… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…

“Good night, Yuuta” And that was the last thing I heard before darkness engulfed me.

...Chapters 1...

We live in a world where the impossible is possible. A world where monsters and magical creatures roam freely. Our journey starts in one of the many ruins that litters the world.

This certain ruin used to be a research facility owned by a man named Viva. Viva was a man who found great joy in the success of his research. He’s love for research caused the doom of his own facility.

“Marcus, has he woken up yet?” Viva questioned turning to a tall, well-built man in a guard uniform. He had firm and determined brown eyes. His hair was swept back and he stood tall, head held high.

“Not yet, sir.” Marcus replied. As he side-eyed the boy they were referring to.

Unbeknownst to them the boy was conscious, but numbed and unable to move. His mind swirled with questions and confusion as he listened to the other two people in the room.

“Set up my magic control.” Viva ordered.

“Yes sir.” Marcus replied firmly before making his way to set up the controls.

“Is it ready?” Viva asked impatiently.

“No sir. We need a massive amount of mana crystals.” Marcus informed his boss and friend.

Too preoccupied, the two failed to notice the twitch of the boy’s fingers as he tried to regain full consciousness.

“Do it! Now!” Viva instructed as his patience continued to grow thin and his frustrations growing.

“Y-Yes, sir.” Marcus uttered in fear. He knew Viva well enough to know how violent he can get when frustrated.

The ground rumbled and shook. “Sir, the magic circle is unstable! We have to get out of here.” Marcus’s voice was lace with urgency as he informed Viva.

“For the sake of the research, we can’t stop this!” Viva stubbornly stood in place. He had a crazed look in his eyes.

The ground shook harder. The facility began to crumble. Viva was too focused on seeing his research succeed that he didn’t notice the debris closing in on him from above.

“VIVA! LOOKOUT!!” Marcus screamed, too panicked to keep up with formalities as he ran forward using his momentum to push Viva away from the falling debris. Upon doing so he ended up directly below the debris and not a minute later he was on the ground with the weight of the debris crushing him, making it hard for him to breath.

“Marcus! NO!” Viva’s voice was laced with fear, guilt and panic as he strained to lift the debris and pull Marcus out.

“Marcus! Marcus! Come on, stay with me! You can’t die!” Viva held his friend’s wounded and crushed body. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he held back his tears.

“V-viva…” Marcus looked at Viva with glassy eyes as he took a shuddering and painful breath. “W-who would have thought that the last face I’ll see is yours?” He forced himself to let out a strangled laugh. His eyes began to close.

“Marcus! I’m here ok? You’re stronger than this, you hear me? You’ll survive. You have to! For me… Please marcus.” Viva let out a heart-wrenching sob as he continued to hold the pale-cold body of his deceased friend.

His mourning was cut short as more debris kept falling. He scrambled to stand up. He took one last look at his friend's decaying body before fledging the facility. He was determined to stay alive, if not for himself then for Marcus who died to save him.

Years passed. No one had visited the ruined facility. That was until a young adventurous girl named Trona heard of hidden treasures somewhere within ruin.

“If I’m right then the ruin should be right over… there!” A young woman with glowing emerald eyes and silky black hair with a strand of white, smiled to herself as she approached the ruins. “I’m going to be so rich!” She cheered, her smile never once leaving her features.

She began to move rubbles in hopes of finding precious treasure. After moving some more rocks, she spotted flesh. To be specific she spotted a hand. She then screamed as she fell back in surprise and terror. She stops for a couple of seconds and stares at the hand contemplating what to do.

“Does it belong to a dead body?” She thought to herself and gave the hand a little poke with a stick she found laying beside her before deciding to move away more rubble. After much effort she finally sees a body. To her surprise it wasn’t a corpse. But the person was pale enough to almost look like one.

“Poor guy! He must have been running away from bandits. He must have terrible luck to be killed by debris.” She gave the body a poke, just to make sure he was indeed dead. No response. “Oh well. Since you're dead, you won’t be needing your stuff. I’d have more use for them.” She said before proceeding to search his body for anything valuable.

She gathered her loot and listed down the things she found. “Let’s see… Mana crystals and an encrypted spell book. This’ll sell for a lot of money.” She cheered to herself. Her eyes turned dreamy at the thought of being rich and her smile turned slightly feral.

She was snapped out of her daydream as she saw movement at the corner of her eye. She turned to check what it was, and suddenly she came face to face with the supposed dead body. Trona froze as the guy looked around in confusion.

The guy turned to look at her and she lost herself in his pitch black eyes. “Wh - where am I?” He questioned once again snapping her out of her inner thoughts.

It took her a minute to process the situation she was in. This boy who was just laying on the pile of rubbles is now talking to her.

Her heart rate accelerated as panic and realization dawned on her. “GHOST!!” She screamed as she jumped away.

The boy looks at her in confusion. “Ghost? Where?” He sees the girl staring at him. His face turned even paler as he slowly looked behind him. Seeing nothing there he lets out a sigh of relief. “Don’t scare me like that!” He exclaimed.

Trona continued to stare at him, her eyes reflecting fear. “Please don’t curse me! Here! You can have your stuff back! Please don’t haunt me!” She held out the spell book and mana crystals.

The guy continued to stare at her in confusion. “What are you talking about?” The guy innocently asked.

Trona blinked. Then blinked again. “Wait, you’re not a ghost? Are you tricking me or something?”

“Huh?”

“Hmm… I guess a ghost wouldn’t be this stupid.” Trona said as she stood up and dusted her clothes.

“H-hey! Who are you calling stupid!?” The guy exclaimed, offended.

“Never mind that. My name’s Trona, Trona Valde Hermet. You can just call me Trona.” She said, offering a handshake.

“Cr… Crona?”

“No! T R O N A! Tro-na! Trona.” Trona spelled out and syllabicated her name.

“Tro-na. Well nice to meet you! My name is-” His introduction was cut short as he suddenly fainted.

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