In a world where awakened hunters roamed city ruins and monsters howled through cracked streets, Karn Kael was just a shadow in the crowd.
The Kael family — famed, powerful, respected. The oldest, Aaryan Kael, wielded lightning like a god. The youngest, Rhea, danced with blades and wind. But the middle child? He hadn't awakened. At eighteen, he was ordinary. Human. Forgotten.
"Kael blood runs with fire," they said. But Karn? He had never even sparked.
Until the day the sun tried to kill him.
It was supposed to be a standard guild exam in the ruins of Old Vellur. A controlled raid. Karn was only there to help monitor and carry supplies. Boring stuff. Safe stuff.
But something went wrong. A rift tore open. A beast unlike any other emerged — sun-forged, molten, divine. A Helios Wyrm. Everyone fled.
Everyone except Karn.
The wyrm opened its jaws, and from it poured a solar breath that turned stone to glass. Karn stood frozen. And then…
He screamed.
The fire engulfed him.
It should have ended there.
But when the flames vanished, Karn stood. Skin burned. Eyes glowing gold. A strange, spiraling brand etched into his chest — a sun-shaped curse that pulsed like a second heart.
The world would never be the same.