A boy stood with a sword in his hand, but his feet weren't touching the ground. He was watching the destruction of the four realms with strange eyes—eyes that longed to stop it.
As he opened them, he found himself in a new place.
Here, the wind screamed like a wounded creature.
No sun. No stars.
Only ashen clouds swirling endlessly in a barren sky.
This was the Crack—the forbidden space between the worlds of the four elements.
Nameless. Cursed.
The boy stood barefoot on a stone that throbbed like a heartbeat.
His eyes were closed.
His breaths, scattered.
His clothes torn, as if shredded by a storm.
His name was Aeren.
But he didn't know that.
All he knew was pain.
His body looked like it had once held great power, but now it was thin and broken, wrapped in rags.
The ground beneath him trembled… and then stilled.
As if testing—is he alive?
He was.
Somehow.
A gust struck his back, and he stumbled forward.
As soon as his hand touched the ground, the stone beneath lit up—red. Blue. Green. White.
Four colors. Four lights. Four elements.
And then—
A fifth glimmer appeared.
So faint… like a dying flame.
Before he could grasp it, it vanished.
Aeren staggered back, breathing heavily. "What… was that?"
He didn't remember who he was.
Where he came from.
Or why he felt so… wrong.
But deep inside, somewhere buried in the corners of his soul, something was calling—not in words, but in emotion. A forgotten memory.
"Remember," the wind whispered in his ear.
Then… silence.
Thunder rumbled through the sky.
A white light tore across the heavens—but it wasn't lightning.
It was something else.
A bird?
No… a human.
Draped in robes like silver, a woman descended slowly, as if the wind cradled her steps.
Her feet brushed the ground without touching it.
Her eyes were misted, yet her gaze locked onto Aeren.
"You've awakened," she said.
Her voice carried awe… and fear.
Aeren tried to stand, but his legs failed him.
"Who… are you?" he asked.
"I am Veera, Oracle of the Sky," she answered.
"And you… are a mistake."
Aeren's eyes widened. "What?"
"No one can be born here.
Not in any realm,
and certainly not in the Crack.
You are something that should never have existed."
"But I'm alive," he said.
"Yes," Veera replied.
"And that's what makes you dangerous."
Suddenly, the ground cracked—a fiery line split through it.
The air burned with heat.
The sky turned orange.
Soldiers of the Fire Realm emerged, cloaked in flames, their armor burning with living fire.
"There he is! The Crackborn!" one soldier shouted.
"Seize him!"
"Wait—!" Aeren stepped back, raising his hands.
But it was too late.
They hurled fire at him.
And yet—Aeren instinctively lifted his hands, and the flames split apart, swirling around him.
From his palms, water burst forth, dousing the fire.
The ground rose to shield him.
A rush of wind swept the soldiers away.
Silence fell.
Even Aeren was stunned.
"W-What… did I just do?"
Veera's eyes widened.
"You… control all four elements?"
Aeren stared at his trembling hands—not from fear… but from something trying to return. A memory.
"I didn't even think… it just happened."
"No one has done that since the Old War," Veera whispered.
"Not since the fifth element disappeared."
"Fifth?" he echoed.
"Do you… remember it?"
"No. But… I saw it. A light. The fifth light."
Veera began to tremble.
"Then it's true. You really are… the one who started all this.
And the one who was cursed."
The soldiers stood again, but this time, they hesitated.
"Enough!" Veera roared.
"If you touch him… the sky will bleed!"
One soldier hissed, "The Council will never accept this. He must be sealed."
"I decide whether he misuses his power," Veera said.
"And I remember a time when your Council didn't even exist."
The soldiers stepped back… and vanished into a gate of fire.
Veera turned to Aeren.
"You don't have much time. Others will come—some to help, most to erase you."
"Why?" Aeren asked.
"Because you were born from the very place where the realms began to fracture."
She placed her hand on Aeren's chest.
"You're not just the Master of Elements, Aeren."
"You are… the key to the forgotten fifth element."
"What is it?" Aeren whispered.
Veera leaned in, and murmured in his ear:
"That… is what you must discover.
And restore balance across the four realms."