Eldrin strolled calmly through the busy street of Pinecrest. He had nowhere he was going in particular, just following his instincts to find a place where he could sleep for the night.
The street lights flickered, dimming and brightening with a few intervals between each transition. The trade people were packing their goods, and some were just setting them out, ready to sell to people who were just coming from their workplaces.
He wore a black hoodie that covered his head. His hands were dipped in the side pockets of the hoodie.
But even from the way the wind blew the hoodie, it was obvious that his body was frail. The breeze threatened to blow him away if he was not careful with his steps.
His eyes snapped around, scrutinising the traders. Then, he saw a target, a woman whose eyes were on a building. She was not even monitoring her own goods, and that gave Eldrin the perfect chance to take what he needed.
He changed course mid-walk, approaching the woman's stall quietly. Luckily, the light dimmed at that exact moment.
With a swift movement of his hand, he swiped a meat skewer from the stall, moving away just as quickly to avoid suspicion. The searing heat did little to stop him.
He faded into the shadows, only hearing the commotion that came after the woman noticed something was missing.
Casually, he bit into the meat, chewing it softly. That was how he survived, stealing from people.
He finally found an alley with a small canopy. "That should suffice for tonight," he muttered, walking beneath the canopy. He lay on the ground, curling into a ball as the chill of the night seeped into his bones.
Eldrin was only 17 years old, and he had begun living life like this.
It all started 3 years ago when his parent were caught in a crack explosion. The demons ripped through his parent, and even their remains were not found in the scene.
From there, his uncles and aunts from both sides began to take over their companies. From the prestigious heir to the biggest conglomerate in the world, to an ordinary thief.
The most painful of all of it was his younger sister, who was killed while trying to defend their rights.
Every night, the image of his sister being shredded go pieces will pop up in his head, every detail played accurately in his mind. But instead of trying to push it away, he accepted it, embracing them like punishments for being too weak to protect his sister.
'If only I could get the calling,' he thought as he fell asleep.
The sun began to rise, slowly, casting its beautiful light on the world. The darkness in the alley began to clear.
The canopy was empty; Eldrin had left there even before the sun rose.
The morning was as busy as always, people rushing to their workplace, some even getting dressed as they ran, with bread gripped tightly between their teeth.
Everything was normal until a billboard suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
But nobody was surprised. It was already a usual occurrence to them, and it signified a returner's type announcement.
On the billboard, a woman's face was shown, with a beautiful smile on her face. She wore a corporate brown suit. Her blonde hair was packed in a ponytail.
"The great calling occurred last night, with over a thousand people confirmed to be called," she began.
"This is the biggest number of calls since the first great calling."
Everyone listened to her attentively. Although they did not stop, her words were loud and clear enough to reach them even if they were moving.
"Another year of not getting called," one of the pedestrians muttered, causing everyone to look at him simultaneously.
"You think a fatty like you will ever get called?" A person joked, not even caring to hide their laughter.
Hearing this, everyone burst into laughter, even the person who said it also laughed. The word was only said to lighten everyone's mood.
No one will be crazy enough to wish to be a returner. Their entire being was interwoven with danger. It was akin to wishing yourself death if you ever wished to be a returner. But their help was undisputed.
While everyone was joking about returners, in a space filled with darkness that was not darkness. A pitch black space that was much more terrifying than black, people began to rise, their bodies aching, and groans escaping their mouths. But none of them were together; they were only in the same space, but the distance between the closest ones was separated by at least over a billion miles.
In this space, Eldrin opened his eyes, slowly. Everything was hazy at first, things blurring between frames.
Slowly, his sight was returned to normal.
"Where am I?" he muttered, rising into a seating position. He could only see things within 5 meters of his view. Beyond that, he could not make sense of anything.
[Welcome to the awakening crack]
The transparent window popped up in front of him, its words bold.
His eyes widened. He knew this phenomenon; it was the same window that appeared whenever a person was summoned to the awakening crack. Something called the status window.
It guided all returners in and out of the awakening crack. It was a life-bound gift, similar to their awakened skill.
"I was called," he muttered, his eyes widening in surprise.
He never expected the word he said casually the night before had actually come to pass. But dread soon came.
He did not have any fighting ability before being called. And to make matters worse, his body was far from fit. It felt like a single roar from any demon could blow him away.
[Commencing full awakening of your nexus core]
The window popped up again, not aware of his internal chaos. A surge of blue light erupted from his body, covering him in thin layers of energy.
The power was too much that Eldrin was knocked unconscious. He fell to the floor limply from energy loss.
The energy that covered his body began to move, flowing towards his chest slowly like snakes coiling forward.