Kandril immediately shifted his attention to Gabron, his void-like eyes, locking onto him with a soul-crushing stare.
"Huh? You're still alive?" he growled, cracking his knuckles one by one.
Gabron only smirked, shaking off the threat with forced swagger.
"Tsss!" he hissed. "You just caught me off guard earlier cause I didn't know you were an Astralis!!"
Then the smirk shifted into a slow, cocky grin.
"However..." he continued, then tapped something on his wristwatch.
BEEP.
His grin widened further.
"What can you do now that I brought the entire syndicate with me?"
Kandril's brow twitched, irritation simmering across his expression.
"Is that supposed to scare me?" He muttered, voice low.
Bolts of lightning began to crackle around his clenched fist, quiet and controlled.
He then stepped forward—
Gabron's throat bobbed in a terse swallow. Sweat beaded on his scalp, dripping down his face. For a split second, his confidence flickered as his intimidation against Kandril failed.
As Kandril drew closer, Gabron instinctively took a half-step back.
And... Kandril noticed it.
Kandril stopped—
'Hmmm?...'
—and chuckled under his breath.
"Ke—"
"Scared?"
Then—
BZZZZZT — CRACK!
A violent surge of lightning shot up his arm, erupting outward in sharp, violent cracks and sparks.
Gabron sneered, forcing his bravado back into place. "You think you're tough just because of some fancy lightning? You're dead kid, I swe—"
But before he could even finish the sentence.
Out of nowhere...
BOIIIIINNNGGG!
A wok slammed into his bald head. The whack thundered across the shop.
Kandril's expression immediately flattened.
'Eh?'
A lump began swelling on Gabron's scalp.
"AGGGHHH! Who did that?" he snapped, clutching his head.
It was the shop owner. Red faced. Breathing like a bull that had seen enough nonsense. A wok clutched tightly in his right hand.
He was not done.
Another swing—
SWOOSH!
Straight to the face!
BOING!
Another one—
BOING!
More—
BOING!
Then, for the last strike, he gritted his teeth, and—
"GAAAAAHHH!"
BOIIIIIING!
The wok came down so hard, Gabron's face imprinted into the metal like a mold. The blow instantly knocked him out cold.
In the stunned silence that followed, without wasting any seconds, the shop owner turned toward Kandril.
"YOU!" he snarled, a menacing aura rolling off him as he pointed the wok toward Kandril.
"You stupid brat!" he added, fury rising up his neck.
Kandril flinched, pointing at himself.
He glanced around theatrically, innocence plastered across his face as if searching for someone else.
"W-who, m-me, U-Unc?!" he asked, voice trembling with fake innocence.
"Is there anyone else here who is a BRAT and STUPID?!" the shop owner snapped back, his voice cracking like thunder against Kandril's eardrums.
Before Kandril could react, the shop owner lunged forward. In one swift move, he grabbed Kandril by the collar and pulled him close.
"Hey, listen to me you idiot!" he snapped, shaking him once for emphasis. "Take this into that thick skull of yours..."
He leaned in dramatically.
"When I tell you not to go against the syndicate, don't go against the syndicate! Understand?!"
Kandril blinked. "...O-okay?"
The shop owner then releases his gripped against Kandril's collar. He drew in a slow breath and slipped back into his usual demeanor.
Afterward, he took a plain piece of white paper behind his back and and fixed Kandril with a stare filled with unreadable intensity.
Kandril stared back.
"...."
BLINK—
"....."
BLINK-BLINK
Seconds passed. Then minutes. With each moment, the air grew heavier and thicker. Kandril felt unease creeping in, his eyes narrowing as his mind drowned in countless questions about the shop owner's intent.
"Uhh? Is there any problem Unc?" He chuckled nervously.
"Ehehehe..."
"hehe.."
"...."
Then, without warning, like a sudden lightning strike, the shop owner thrust his right palm into Kandril's chest, slamming the white paper against him as he murmured under his breath.
"Spell... Unfold."
In an instant, the plain white paper flickered.
A shimmer blossomed across its surface, and in the blink of an eye, radiant light spilled to the floor.
Intricate runes and symbols spiraled outward beneath Kandril's feet, weaving themselves into a glowing sigil.
Then with a hush, the shop owner continued, "Rift Hop."
Light surged up around Kandril...
His silhouette wavered, edges trembling like heat haze. His fingers, his arms, his entire body began to blur.
Until...
SWOOP!
He vanished.
Then—
Somewhere in a dark alley of the colony.
The narrow space reeked of rot. Garbage puddled in corners, crawling with insects, while rats scuttled through the filth, gnawing at anything they could sink their teeth into.
Suddenly, a flickering glow clung to the cracked walls.
The glow began to warp—
A figure surfaced, coalescing, edges forming, and sharpening until...
Kandril emerged.
He is frozen stiff, eyes vacant, as if his soul left out of his body.
A millisecond later, a shimmer stirred beneath him. His backpack materialized between his feet, thumping softly on the littered ground.
Kandril stared at his backpack with a thousand-yard gaze, his mind still dazed and disoriented.
Then—
The silence shattered.
SKEEEEEEK!
A sharp squeal ripped through the air. A massive rat scuttled past his feet, dragging a chunk of rotten apple across the ground.
Kandril jolted back in shock, eyes flaring with sudden life as the haze in his mind snapped apart.
"F—FUCKING HELL!!" he shouted, his voice hoarse and trembling.
His gaze followed the enormous rat as it vanished into the shadows.
And then—
SNIFF.
His stomach lurched. A vile odor hit him full force.
"OOOOUUAAAGHH—"
The smell was unbearable, like ammonia mixed with chicken poop and a decayed human body.
His throat burned. The stench clawed down his lungs.
"GWAAAAAHKKK!"
His knees trembled as he vomited violently, dry retches splattering onto the filthy floor.
"UAAAAGHHH—"
"UAAAGHHKKKK!!"
Clamping a hand over his mouth and nose, Kandril fought the urge to collapse, forcing his trembling body to stay upright.
"What the hell is this smell?" he croaked.
Gasping, he steadied his gut, pushing through the choking, disorienting nausea. He snatched his backpack and staggered through the stinking, shadow-choked alley.
When he finally got out, he leaned against a lamp post, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
One breath—
"HUUUUUUU—"
Then another.
"HÀAAAAA!"
His chest heaved as he groaned weakly between gasps, head tipping back toward the alley he'd escaped.
But the moment he glanced back into the alley, his stomach twisted in violent protest.
URGHKKK!
The foul odor still lingered in the air, drifting towards his nose.
"F-Fucking hell!!"
He couldn't handle it that he spun away without a second thought and hurried off, putting as much distance as he could between himself and that stinking alley.
After putting some distance, Kandril finally slowed to a stop, resting his hands on his knees, forcing air back into his burning lungs.
"F—F—FINALLY!!!!!!"
"A Breath of fresh—"
However, when he straightened—
"—air..."
He immediately froze.
"..."
That was when he noticed it. A place he isn't familiar with.
He glanced around, confusion rooting him in place.
"W-Were the hell am I?" He ask himself.
The streets where full of garbage, lined with old, weather-beaten buildings looming on either side.
Some buildings were empty and crumbling, others were surprisingly intact, and their facades well-preserved.
Figures were everywhere. Homeless people lay huddled beneath awnings and doorways, wrapped in filthy blankets. Some slept. Others watched him with dull, sunken eyes.
This area of the colony felt like a forgotten place where progress had long since given up.
Kandril slowed his steps. His eyes narrowed, grip tightening around his backpack strap.
Then—
Not long.
Something clicked.
Kandril immediately staggered, one foot scraping against the pavement as his balance wavered. His fingers instinctively brushing against his chest.
A realization struck him like a hammer to the chest.
"T—That's right!" he gasped. His eyes widened, flaring in utter surprise. His heart slammed violently against his ribs.
Images and voices surged through his mind in broken flashes.
The shop owner's palm slamming into his chest, the unfamiliar symbols, the muttered words...
And then—
That bright light.
The light that seemed to suck him into a bottomless pit...
All of it, snapping back to his head.
A heavy silence shrouded Kandril as the street noise faded into the background.
"No way..." he whispered.
Kandril lowered his gaze to his chest, fingers trembling as they hovered there. Slowly, dread crept into his voice.
"D-Don't t-tell me..."
His throat tightened.
"U-Unc is an Astralis too?"
Kandril stiffened for a few seconds as the question hung inside his mind.
Not long, he brushed his fingers against his chest again.
"That's right!" he said sharply, breath catching.
His jaw tightened. "That teleportation technique..."
His voice dropped to a murmur. "It's the same teleportation technique my old man used against me back then."
Then—
His breath hitched. Kandril's eyes widened, pulse roaring in his ears.
"...Don't tell me," he said slowly, voice barely above a whisper, "he's on the same class as my old man?!"
Century had passed since humanity first glimpsed the next stage of its existence. Astralis as they call it, a pinnacle of human evolution.
Yet this evolution was far from simple.
It did not follow the neat lines of biology textbooks or the predictable curves of natural selection.
Due to technological limitations, scholars and scientists often rely on speculative theories based on fragmented data and ancient myths.
One theory suggests that evolution may be linked to the arrival of the Hollowed Beasts and their mysterious world they called Lumen.
Despite the lack of data and technology, scholars and scientist until this day tirelessly work trying to understand the phenomenon.
As they dig in deep, things grew more even complex.
Evolution patterns changes every generation of any human born Astralis. Over time their DNA evolved, each born with different power ratings and affinities.
That's also the reason why a power structure was established, dividing Astralis into five classes:
Helion, Daegu, Aexon, Elementals, and Nova's.
Each class ranked an Astralis by the amount and quality of Astral Energy (AU) contained within their body, as well as the elemental affinity they could wield.
From the lowest to the highest, an Astralis' class determined not only their combat capability, but by their raw power, control, and potential.
The Helion Class.
Astral Energy Rating: 1 - 15,000 AU
Helion class Astralis were the lowest of them all.
They're limited to a single elemental affinity and aren't fitted for combat.
The Daegu Class
Astral Energy Rating: 15,001 - 50,000 AU
Daegu's were comparable to Helion, limited to a single elemental affinity as well. However, unlike being a Helion, Daegu's could evolve and had the potential to maximize their power through training and become a Aexon class Astralis.
The Aexon Class.
Astral Energy Rating: 50,001 - 100,000 AU
Aexon represented middle-tier power. According to the data, Aexon-class Astralis could wield three or more than five but not more than ten elemental affinity.
The Elemental Class.
Astral Energy Rating: 100,001 - 1X10⁶ AU
Astralis with exceptional talent and high power ratings. However, they were extremely rare, appearing at a rate of only one in ten thousand.
Often referred to as Arcanists, these Astralis were capable of wielding multiple elemental affinity and further amplifying their power through advanced arcane training.
Unlike the other classes, Elemental Class Astralis could shape Astral Energy into structured spells, allowing them to create, refine, and cast complex techniques rather than relying solely on raw output.
The Nova Class.
Astral Energy Rating: Limit Breaker. Immeasurable.
They possessed immense power beyond even Elementals. The Everlight was the first Nova to exist. According to records, no Astralis other than the Everlight and the current Primarch had ever evolved into a Nova class Astralis.
At his peak, his grandfather possessed a staggering five hundred thousand Astral Units of energy.
That number alone placed him firmly within the Elemental Class.
And Only Elemental Class Astralis were capable of spell casting. Anything below that relied on raw techniques that lacked structure or refinement.
Teleportation was not a trick. It was a spell technique. Which meant the shop owner could not possibly be below Elemental Class.
That was Kandril's surmise. Yet whether it was true or not, there was one thing he could not understand.
If the shop owner was an Astralis and is the same class as his grandfather, why would he hide his identity and endure humiliation? Why would he allow those bastards to strike him again and again, as if he were nothing more than a helpless human? Was he hiding from someone?
Protecting something?
The questions stacked endlessly in Kandril's mind, tightening around his thoughts like a noose.
As the questions grappled him in place, a sudden cold, trembling tap on his shoulder pulled him from his thoughts.
"Uh?"
Slowly, he turned.
Then—
"T H E Y ' R E... H E R E!!"
A bloodied, trembling homeless man gripped his shoulder. His lips quivered, voice ragged and broken.
Before Kandril could even react—
STRUCK!!
A thin, jagged spike pierced the man's left eye.
Blood erupted, spraying across Kandril's face.
The man collapsed in a wet, ragged heap, limbs twitching violently.
Kandril couldn't move. Shock held him in place, his chest tightening with dread.
Then—
From the street came a new sound: a rattling, metallic groan.
The manhole cover shook, then slowly lifted.
Something began to crawl out.
First came spiky, writhing tentacles, reaching and twisting in the air. Then a body followed, shaped like a human but covered in filth.
Its lower body bent and twisted in unnatural ways, like a giant octopus, as it pulled itself completely out of the manhole.
And then Kandril saw it.
Its core: a hollowed plexus, dark and pulsating, like a heart made of shadow. Its eyes flared red-orange, hunger radiating from them, piercing through him.
Then—
It screamed.
KRAAAAAAA!!
Kandril's heart slammed against his ribs. He knew what it was.
There was no doubt.
A Hollowed Beast.