In a grand, elegant dining hall, four people sat together.
A long table stretched across the room, covered in exquisite dishes—carefully prepared meals that released a soft, warm aroma into the air.
The atmosphere was calm… almost peaceful.
"How is your training progress, Mia?" Thorn asked.
Mia, chewing slowly, lifted her gaze.
"It's going well, Father. I can already feel the mana now. Every day it becomes clearer."
Thorn nodded in approval.
"Good. That's the right direction. But don't overexert yourself. The clearer your mind, the easier it is to control mana."
"I understand," Mia replied softly.
Shadow sat quietly for a moment before speaking.
"Father, we all know how hard Mia is working," he said calmly. "Please don't add more pressure than she already has."
Thorn blinked slightly.
"What do you mean?"
Shadow tilted his head.
"You know… the emotional burden of having an incredibly awesome older brother. It must be exhausting for her."
Silence.
Mia froze mid-bite.
Then—
"What?? Who are you talking about? Where is this 'awesome brother' you keep mentioning? I don't see him anywhere!" she said loudly.
Before anyone could react—
*tap*
Something hit Mia's head lightly.
She jolted.
"Ehh?!"
She immediately started looking around in panic, thinking it was a bug.
Her reaction startled the parents.
Elena narrowed her eyes.
"Did something just fall on her?" Thorn asked.
Shadow, sitting calmly, spoke without hesitation.
"Father, I'm starting to worry about her."
"What do you mean?"
"She's denying reality and reacting to invisible threats. That's… concerning."
Mia's face turned red instantly.
"You—!"
"Stop messing with your sister," Elena said softly, though she was clearly smiling. "Both of you. Eat your food."
Shadow resumed eating like nothing happened.
Mia glared at him, but eventually sighed and returned to her meal.
Elena watched the two of them quietly.
But her gaze soon drifted to Shadow.
The mask.
It always bothered her.
It wasn't just about hiding his face.
It was a reminder.
A reminder of everything they had to hide.
When Shadow was born, they had searched desperately for answers—doctors, mages, healers.
Anything.
But no one could fix what he was.
Eventually, they were forced to accept a different explanation.
A rare condition.
A failure in mana absorption.
A body that could not properly connect to the world's energy.
And yet…
A strange anomaly.
Because instead of dying like most failed mana cases—
Shadow survived.
And grew.
But the truth was far more complicated.
The curse still lingered beneath everything.
Hidden.
Contained.
Suppressed by the mask and their careful actions.
Elena lowered her gaze slightly.
'We are delaying the inevitable…'
---
Two years later.
One week before the Stormgard family awakening ceremony.
---
Deep within a hidden hut in the forest…
A faint scream echoed.
Then another.
Inside the dim space, a nine-year-old boy stood holding a knife.
His black mask was stained dark red.
In front of him sat a middle-aged man tied to a wooden table, trembling violently.
"Ahh—! What the hell are you doing?!"
Shadow tilted his head slightly.
"Hmm…"
He glanced at his hand.
"…Ah. Wrong artery again."
He quickly scribbled something in a notebook beside him.
"I need to adjust the angle."
The man stared at him in disbelief.
This kid is insane.
"Please! Let me go! I have a family!"
Shadow paused.
Then nodded slightly.
"Good for you."
The man froze.
Shadow continued calmly.
"I have one too… for now."
"W-what does that even mean?!"
Shadow didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he took out a small white pill and forced it into the man's mouth.
"Swallow."
The man struggled—
But his body weakened instantly.
Strangely, the wounds on his body began to close.
Rapid regeneration.
Pain fading.
The man had seen this before.
Too many times.
For almost a week, he had been used as a test subject.
Again and again.
Pain, recovery, pain, recovery.
He no longer even screamed properly.
Shadow watched carefully.
"Interesting…"
He wrote something down.
"Rest well. I'll come back tomorrow. We continue the research."
The man's eyes slowly closed as he lost consciousness.
---
Shadow stepped outside the hut.
The forest air was cold.
Quiet.
Still.
But his mind was not.
For years, he had traveled with his parents under the guise of treatment.
But Shadow was not blind.
He listened.
He observed.
He connected pieces others ignored.
And slowly…
He understood.
The curse was not just a rumor.
It was real.
And worse…
It was connected to something far bigger than anyone wanted to admit.
Demons.
The word alone was enough to make entire kingdoms tense.
They had not yet launched a full-scale war.
But every encounter ended in massacre.
No survivors.
No explanations.
Just destruction.
Shadow exhaled slowly.
Books were useless for this level of truth.
Scrolls only recorded what people were allowed to know.
Real answers required something else.
Experiments.
Most people feared them.
Shadow didn't.
Because theory without proof meant nothing.
And dead bodies… still told the truth.
He glanced back at the hut.
'If I understand the structure of mana at a deeper level… then maybe the curse isn't just a curse.'
A faint pause.
Then his expression shifted slightly.
For a brief moment…
Something felt wrong in his mind.
Like another presence trying to surface.
A thought that wasn't fully his.
He frowned slightly.
"…Again."
The feeling faded.
But not completely.
It had been happening more frequently lately.
Whispers in dreams.
Fragmented thoughts.
As if something inside him was slowly waking up.
Shadow stared into the dark forest ahead.
"…Time is running out."
And with that thought—
he walked deeper into the night.