Near the Southern border of Antla, surrounded by a large forest, was a small village named Oikos.
This village was inhabited by poor folks who had no talent at all; the people who were rendered useless, with no potential.
This outcast tribe wasn't even known by most people; after all, in a world run by the strong, what significance did they have?
There were a total of 30 people living here; their houses were made of sticks and leaves, they appeared akin to sheds.
The Houses were arranged in a circular pattern, and in the heart of the village stood a town hall. This was the home of the leader of the tribe-Kaz'er; not only was this his home, it was also the place where most tribe related problems were discussed.
Inside the town hall at this moment, was a heated discussion in progress.
"Leader Kaz'er, we can't go on like this!" A middle aged man spoke as he slammed his fist on the table, showing visible signs of distress.
"Calm down, Vazir." Said the person sitting next to him. He had brown hair and brown eyes, nothing about him stood out.
"Alright...I am sorry for the sudden outburst." Sighed Vazir (who had black hair and green eyes)calming down.
In the hall, where seated 5 figures, probably the council of the tribe.
"I understand your sentiments, Vazir; I promise I do. But, we cannot approach this situation shrouded by emotional bias." Said Kaz'er.
He had long golden hair, reaching his waist, and golden eyes complimenting his hair.
Everyone in this room, was wearing simple brown robes. This was an abandoned village; the governers of the South, The Belmouth family, had rendered these people a waste of resources.
They had to survive on their own, no technology, no weapons, left alone near the border, surrounded by a forest. They had to hunt for food by killing the beasts lurking in the forests.
Right now, they were discussing an impending danger; there had been sightings of beast mutations in the forest.
Beast mutation is a phenomana that occurs when beast are exposed to hollow energy. Antla had some remains of hollow energy as a result of the clash with the hollows 200 years ago.
Even though they had won, they weren't able to completely extirpate the hollow energy. So as a result, some traces of hollow energy lingered across the continent to this day.
"How can hollow energy suddenly appear in the forest?? It was never there to begin with." Vazir said visibly shaken.
"We have notified the border control." Replied Kaz'er calmly. It was painfully obvious that he was putting up a facade.
"You know they will not do shit; who would believe us ? We are insinuating that a hollow outbreak is happening here. After all, nothing else can explain the sudden presence of hollow energy in an area where it wasn't previously present."Vizer retorted.
The room fell into silence, there had been no formation of new hollow rifts ever since humans chased the hollows away; they were dealing with something which was beyond them.
No one would believe them; they were stuck in a limbo. This predicament was proving too difficult for them to solve.
Kaz'er sighed, "Everyone, go home to your wives and kids; we will continue the discussion first thing in dawn. " He said dispersing the crowd and then headed to his chamber which was nothing but a 30 by 30 feet room.
The floor was covered by a carpet etched out of straws. He just had a blanket to cover himself up with and a small lantern burning In the middle of the room.
Kaz'er was the strongest here, he was 'Veteran' ranked, albeit with two F-rank abilities. One was a utility type, Telekinesis. He could move objects with just a mere thought; since it was a F-rank ability, it had no potential.
Even after after reaching it's peak, the most he could do was move objects half as heavy as him within a radius of 10 meters. And his second ability was a defensive type.
He could erect earth walls as tall as him. He could erect 5 of these within a radius of 15 meters.
Abilities increased in performance and unlocked an aspect or two upon increase in sub-rank; however, F-rank abilities were garbage.
They had no real upgrades even when they were maxed out. Kaz'er himself was strong enough to get a job in the military or border defence, but the people here are the reason he never did that. They were like his family, he couldn't abandon them.
He had grown to his utmost potential, and was never going to go past Veteran rank. Most of the people at the camp were unawakened, crippled in a sense.
Only 2 of the 4 councilmen were awakened; Vazir and Haud (the brown haired guy). Both of them were 'Rookie' rank and had F-rank abilities.
Their rank cap was 'Rookie', thus they had no more growth left to do-truly a pitiful lot they were.
Kaz'er was getting ready for bed. He put the light out and went under his blanket. Just as he was about to give into his tiredness, he heard a knock on his door.
Surprised and somewhat annoyed by the unexpected interruption, he got up and wore his robe which he took off to sleep.
He opened the door and saw Vazir standing in front of the door.
Before he could say anything, he heard Vazir say in a hurried voice "The guard saw something they would like to report. It is urgent."
Kaz'er was perplexed by this revelation. 'Urgent, at this hour? What in the world must have happened .' he thought.
...
1 hour ago, near the edge of the forest.
Two patrol guards were going about their work, which was guarding the village. Well, considering they were not even awakened, their job was to alert the tribe if something went wrong.
They suddenly heard a groan coming from the forest; the clear audibility of the voice indicated that whatever the source was, was nearby.
"W-who's there?.." one guard called out, his legs shaking out of fear.
His question was responded by silence ;, which further intensified his fear .
"Quit being a pussy. It's just a wild wolf probably" said the other guard clad in a vest made with animal hide.
"*Gulp*...If you say so." Said the first guard hesitantly as he approached the forest entrance.
Once he entered the forest, he was welcomed by complete darkness. He lit up the lantern in his hand and started walking towards the direction of the voice.
The noise kept getting louder and louder, in sync with the guard's rising heartbeat.
'It is coming from behind this tree' he said in to himself as he stood before a large tree.
He glanced over his shoulder to see if the other guard was still around; to his surprise , he was a few steps behind him.
"I'll go and check behind the tree." He said to him, followed by "You stay here."
The other guard just nodded in response.
As the first guard kept approaching the tree, his became more anxious . Now he stood under the tree, in aww of it's mere size.
The sound suddenly stopped; causing the guard to freeze in his place. His heartbeat was so fast that the surrounding noise was buried underneath it.
His instincts screamed at him to run; albeit, he responded too late. A large grey claw aimed at his neck suddenly entered his field of vision.
The claw grabbed him by his neck and pulled him upwards; the guard's scream died down the second they started.
The second guard watching the scene felt his knees giving up-his body trembling with fear, and his thoughts were erratic.
'w-what the fuck was that thing. Am I going to fucking die??..my wife, my children... No!no!no!' he screamed in his head
He was brought back to reality by a thud. The first guard's body, headless, fell from the tree.
It was as if his head was perfectly decapitated by a clean sword strike-as if it was never there to begin with.
A fountain of blood squirted from his ruptured arteries and viens which were onnected to his head.
The onlooker pretty much shat his pants as he saw this. Well, he did what any sane person would do. He ran, as fast as he could.
Snot and tears were falling from his eyes as he streaked past the forest into the village.
Shouting like a madman "I made it!! I made it!! I survived!!" as he ran towards his house.
As he was about to enter his house, he suddenly felt nauseous, his legs gave up and he fell on the ground face first and fainted.
"Ugh.." he groaned as he opened his eyes;what welcomed him was the sight of Vazir standing with a stern expression.
Vazir had used his ability, paralysis. He stopped the guards advancement, but due to the sudden halt, the poor guard fell forward.
"What the hell are you doing? Where is the other guard? And why the hell are you screaming in the middle of the night?" Vazir asked him, visibly annoyed.
"Sir...the other guard is dead." He replied trembling.
The memory of what he experienced was still fresh in his mind.
Vazir's pupil suddenly expanded.
"Give me a detailed account in my private chamber. Get your ass up and follow me." Vazir recollected himself and said assertively.
.....
Author's note,
I have explained the nuances behind the power system in the discord server; I would encourage y'all to join it.
I will also be taking 2 days break once an arc ends, to plan out the following arc in detail. Dw, I am not starting a new arc any time soon.