CHAPTER 1 -: Awakening of the Bound Soul :-
On the magical land of Ethelgard, every person's identity and power were determined by their "Soul Level." The higher the level, the stronger and more respected the individual. In this world filled with guilds, dungeons, and mysterious powers, a small village called Elderwood lay quietly in peace.
In this very village lived Kyle.
His Soul Level was zero. He was called "Soulless." The glowing, crystal-like object known as a Soulstone, which appeared in every person's chest at birth, was missing from Kyle. His chest was flat and empty—an emptiness that stood as proof of his weakness.
"Look where the Soulless is hiding!" a sharp voice echoed.
Kyle was picking potatoes in his field. He didn't look up. He already knew whose voice it was—Orion, the village chief's son, whose Soul Level was fifteen and who was on the path to becoming a Pyromancer. Behind Orion stood his two companions, Brack and Finn, grinning.
"How many potatoes did you steal today, Kyle?" Orion said, standing at the edge of the field. A small flame danced between his fingers. "If you don't have a soul, maybe you don't even need food."
Kyle silently continued his work. His back ached, his palms were scraped raw, but he never complained. He knew replying would only make things worse.
"Why don't you speak?" Orion growled. He flicked his finger, sending a small fireball that scorched the ground near Kyle's feet before fizzling out. "Are you really alive? Or just an empty shell?"
Brack laughed. "Maybe his soul ran away the moment he was born!"
Their cruel laughter mixed into the air. Kyle clenched his fists. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he held them back. Crying never helped—only invited more mockery.
"Leave him," Orion said suddenly, bored. "A rock is more entertaining than this. Come on, today we're heading to a dungeon. That's where the real XP is."
"You'll take us with you, Orion?" Finn asked eagerly.
"Yes. There's a small dungeon in the Whispering Woods. Killing a few Shadow Sprouts there will raise all our levels." Orion puffed out his chest proudly. He turned back to Kyle. "You can come too, Soulless. Maybe some monster will pity you and give you a soul."
Laughing, they walked away.
Kyle stood alone, their laughter still ringing in his ears. He looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, painting the horizon in shades of orange and purple. Sometimes he wondered—was he truly alive? If he had no soul, what was life? Was he just a body that breathed and felt pain?
He returned home—a small, worn-out hut where he lived with his elderly grandmother, Amra, the oldest woman in the village. People said she carried the ancient magic and stories of old times within her memories.
"My child, why does your face look so sad?" she asked, sitting near the fire. Her eyes were cloudy, but her perception was sharp.
"It's nothing, Grandma. I'm just… tired."
"Orion was bothering you again, wasn't he?" Her voice was gentle. "Ignore him, my child. The pride of arrogant people always breaks one day. You have your own strength, even if the world cannot see it yet."
"What strength, Grandma?" Kyle said, pointing to his empty chest. "I don't even have what every child is born with."
Grandma fell silent. Her gaze drifted far away, lost in a tunnel of time.
"A soul… is not always trapped inside a stone, my child. Sometimes it is bound elsewhere… in another form."
"What do you mean?"
She took a deep breath. "Long ago, there was a great warrior. His name was Draken. He was cursed with the Curse of the Bound Soul. A dangerous sorcerer sealed his soul inside a stone and hid it somewhere in the world. It is said that whoever touches that stone will have their soul bound to Draken's. And then… the path to breaking the curse will begin."
Kyle listened carefully. It sounded like just another fairy tale. "Where is that stone?"
"No one knows," she shook her head. "But the stories say the stone will glow when the world needs it the most—when a pure-hearted, soulless person finds it."
Her words echoed in Kyle's mind. A soulless person. Could that be… him?
No. Nonsense. Just an old woman's imagination.
That night, as Kyle tried to sleep, he heard a strange echo—as if someone was whispering from far away. One word, repeated again and again:
"…Soul…stone…"
He sat up. The room was dark. The air was still. Maybe it was just a dream.
But then his eyes fell on the view outside the window. Far away, toward the Whispering Woods, a faint purple glow flickered in the sky—just for a moment, then vanished.
His heart began to race. Could that be… the Soulstone? The very stone Grandma had spoken of?
No. Impossible.
But tomorrow, when Orion and his friends would be inside the dungeon… what harm would there be in taking a look? Just to see. Just to know what that light was.
Kyle made up his mind. Tomorrow morning, he would head toward the Whispering Woods.
Unaware that this decision would change not only his fate—but the fate of the entire world.
Cliffhanger:
Kyle sets out toward the Whispering Woods, but Orion and his friends secretly follow him. Inside the forest, Kyle discovers a hidden path… leading to a deep abyss. And at the bottom of that abyss, a glowing stone awaits.