The carriage rocked gently along the dirt road, leaving behind the familiar lands of Eldoria as it headed toward the Kingdom of Rafelia.
Inside, Ansel sat quietly, his small fingers wrapped tightly around a leather pouch filled with a few coins—his mother's parting gift.
His heart was heavy with nerves, but beneath it, a fragile hope stirred.
Beyond the window, endless fields and dense forests rolled by under a sky brushed with fading sunlight. Everything looked vast and unknown—just like the future awaiting him.
Ansel's thoughts stayed close to home: his mother's smile, her stories of heroes and adventures, and the dream that had taken root deep within him—to grow strong, to protect her, and to forge friendships that he had only read about in books.
He didn't know yet how wide the world truly was.
He didn't know about the shadows that loomed over even the greatest kingdoms.
For beyond the borders of Eldoria and Rafelia, there existed forces hidden from the common eye: the so-called Noble Gods.
The common folk whispered of them only in fear.
Statues of these beings—twenty in total—stood proudly in every major city across Celestria, worshiped by nobles and kings alike.
Even the grandest kingdoms, like Eldoria, Rafelia, and Sonaria, built towering temples in their honor.
Only the distant continent of Shadowfen dared to defy their worship, isolating itself from the world a thousand years ago.
The Noble Gods had once been human, long ago.
How they achieved immortality remained a mystery, but now they ruled from an unknown country—untouchable, unseen.
Every hundred years, they returned briefly to human lands, demanding a grim tribute:
From each major city, five hundred beautiful young men and women were offered up, never to be seen again.
The nobles obeyed without question.
They believed commoners are slaves existed only to serve the will of the Noble Gods.
But Ansel knew none of this.
For him, the world outside Greenal Manor was still full of dreams and possibilities.
The carriage bumped and shook as it crossed into Rafelia's lands.
Ansel leaned forward eagerly, his violet eyes wide with wonder.
The carriage rumbled forward, carrying Ansel closer to an unknown future.
He pressed the small pendant against his heart, feeling its comforting warmth.
No matter what awaited him, he vowed silently—
He would not break.
He would not be forgotten.
He would carve his own path.