In the high halls of Heaven, where the winds sang with purpose and the clouds shimmered with wisdom, Gaia stood alone before the Pool of Reflection. The abyss had opened, and though it was only a crack, its poison seeped into the world below.
The nascent world, meant to evolve on its own, now twisted under fear.
Gaia, ever the embodiment of order and life, would not allow chaos to shape it first.
She lifted her hand above the pool. Light gathered—pure and golden, drawn not from power, but from potential.
> "Let the worthy rise," she whispered.
---
Across the world, dreams turned to visions.
A young warrior from the desert tribes woke in sweat, clutching the sand beneath him. In his dream, he held a glowing spear and stood between his people and a wall of shadows.
A mountain-born woman with arms like boulders and eyes sharp as obsidian felt her hammer hum as if it too had heard the voice.
A mute orphan boy, always shunned, saw a great silver wolf approach him in his sleep. The wolf bowed.
They were scattered—unremarkable to most—but Gaia had seen what others could not:
The fire within.
---
Within a fortnight, they came—each led by instinct, signs, or dreams, drawn to a towering stone in the center of a forest untouched by monsters. It was here Gaia descended, cloaked not in divine glory, but in gentle radiance.
Seven of them stood before her:
Thalen, the desert spear-bearer. Sharp-eyed and faster than thought.
Runa, the mountain blacksmith, her warhammer bound with the strength of stone.
Elien, a wind-dancer who saw threads of fate in the air.
Boro, the silent boy, whose eyes burned with silver flame.
Mira, the healer, who spoke to trees and soothed wounds with her hands.
Garr, a runaway prince with a blade older than memory.
Lina, the weaver of light, whose laughter banished fear.
Gaia stood before them.
> "You are the first," she said. "Not because you are strong. Not because you are perfect. But because you chose to walk toward the shadow instead of away from it."
Their hearts thundered. They had come alone. Now they were something more.
> "The world does not yet know what evil is," Gaia said. "You will teach it what it means to resist."
She extended her hand. A gentle glow enveloped each of them—not power forced upon them, but strength drawn from within. Their souls responded, awakened by the divine spark.
Thus, the First Lightbearers were born.
---
Their trial came sooner than they expected.
Only a day's journey from the sacred glade, a Grimsnatcher tribe had begun to nest in a ruined village. The stench of decay clung to the air, and bones littered the ground like gravel.
Thalen, scouting ahead, returned with a grave face.
> "Twelve. Maybe more. They're feeding. Fast."
> "Then we stop them," Garr said, hand on his blade.
> "We don't even know how strong they are," Mira warned.
> "We don't need to," Runa said. "They're killing innocents. That's enough."
Elien looked to Gaia, but the goddess only watched from afar. She would not fight this battle for them.
It was their world too now.
---
The battle was not glorious.
It was messy.
The monsters were fast, their claws sharp, their bodies slippery with abyssal slime. Runa's hammer broke bones with every swing, but even she stumbled under the weight of two creatures at once. Thalen moved like a storm, his spear a blur of sand and precision.
Boro unleashed silver fire from his hands—instinctual, wild. The boy screamed in silence as the flames obeyed.
Elien weaved around claws, striking the Grimsnatchers in the eyes, guiding the team with calm calls. Garr held the line, his sword glowing faintly, moving as if it remembered a thousand battles he'd never fought.
By the end, their bodies were bruised, their breaths ragged.
But the monsters lay dead.
Twelve corpses. Black ichor seeping into the soil. The first victory of the Lightbearers.
They stood in silence for a moment, surrounded by smoke and ruin, hearts pounding, weapons bloodied.
> "That's one," Lina said softly.
> "One tribe," Elien added. "Hundreds more to come."
Gaia watched from above.
And far below, in the Abyss, Shinsui snorted as he watched through a floating shard.
> "They beat those guys? Heh. Cute."
He tossed the shard aside.
> "Guess I should keep an eye on the little heroes now."